Marin Independent Journal
Friday, April 11, 1997
LIFESTYLES

Paul Liberatore THE SONS of Champlin have been holed up in a Marin studio, rehearsing for their sold-out reunion concert at the Fillmore April 26. There is so much interest in the resurgent Sons, Marin's first homegrown rock band, that a second Fillmore show has been added the next night.

Bill Champlin, now a singer for Chicago, is up from L.A. to front his legendary old group, which played its first gig at College of Marin in 1965 and went on to record critically-acclaimed but ill-fated albums for Capitol and Columbia.

In their salad days, the Sons looked and acted like Marin County hippies, but they had a sophisticated, jazz-inflected R&B sound, the first rock band with a horn section, long before Chicago and Blood Sweat & Tears. They were so advanced musically that they had little in common with less accomplished (at the time) San Francisco psychedelic bands.

"We were a Marin band," says guitarist Terry Haggerty. "We didn't have any desire to be part of the San Francisco scene in the `60s."

The reunion group includes Champlin and Haggerty with original band mates Geoff Palmer on keyboards, bassist Dave Schallock, drummer Jim Preston, plus a horn duo of Tom Saviano and former Tower of Power stalwart Mick Gillette.

At the Fillmore shows, they'll be playing their anthem, "Freedom," and lots of Sons standards like "Welcome to the Dance" and "Get High."

The Sons disbanded in 1977 when Champlin left after 12 years with the group, moving to Southern California seeking fame and fortune. Now, 32 years after they played their first gig and 20 years after they split up, the Sons are hot. "This is really taking off," Haggerty says. "We've been offered gigs and a couple of record contracts. What a goofy thing the music business is."

Write to Paul Liberatore at Lifestyle, Marin Independent Journal,
P.O. Box 6150, Novato 94948 Phone: 382-7283