Mystiques / Raw Umber / Sons Of Slum Interview

[boba]

Hi. Today on my radio show I interviewed Kevin Rowan, who was a member of the Mystiques, Raw Umber, and the Sons of Slum. Kevin's father was a drummer in the King Fleming Trio, and Kevin also began to play drums at a young age. Kevin was from the Morgan Park neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago. Kevin joined the Mystics (later the Mystiques, due to a name conflict, likely with the other Chicago Mystics from Pilsen), in the 6th grade. Even in grade school the group performed in small, private adult clubs. The group continued to perform throughout high school and are even pictured in the 1970 Fenger High School year book. The group's only single, "So glad to have you home again" / "put out the fire" was released on the tiny ORR label and later the Twinight label. The record featured tight, Five Stairsteps inspired harmonies and was one of the best indie sweet soul records to come out of Chicago. The group was unusual in that they were not just a self-contained group but actually were a band where the band members sang -- on their record the band members played on the record and then overdubbed their vocals. The group stayed together throughout high school and even became the backing band for local Morgan Park group Drake and the Ensolids.

After the Mystiques broke up, Kevin played in many other bands, including a mixed-race funk-rock group called Orange. Kevin was also a member of the group Raw Umber, which featured Mystiques' vocalist Bobby Magee (and which later released a 45 on Bobby's father's Virginia label). Kevin even played in Chuck Bernard's backing band. Kevin ultimately became the drummer for the Sons of Slum. Although he does not play on their released material, he does play on their unreleased Capitol album. In the interview Kevin describes the exciting Sons of Slum live act and tells all the behind-the-scenes stories and contract near-misses that the group experienced in the 70s.

You can check out the interview at the bottom of my interviews page at:

https://www.sittinginthepark.com/interviews.html

Thanks for your interest,

Bob

[Munchkin]

Hi. Today on my radio show I interviewed Kevin Rowan, who was a member of the Mystiques, Raw Umber, and the Sons of Slum. Kevin's father was a drummer in the King Fleming Trio, and Kevin also began to play drums at a young age. Kevin was from the Morgan Park neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago. Kevin joined the Mystics (later the Mystiques, due to a name conflict, likely with the other Chicago Mystics from Pilsen), in the 6th grade. Even in grade school the group performed in small, private adult clubs. The group continued to perform throughout high school and are even pictured in the 1970 Fenger High School year book. The group's only single, "So glad to have you home again" / "put out the fire" was released on the tiny ORR label and later the Twinight label. The record featured tight, Five Stairsteps inspired harmonies and was one of the best indie sweet soul records to come out of Chicago. The group was unusual in that they were not just a self-contained group but actually were a band where the band members sang -- on their record the band members played on the record and then overdubbed their vocals. The group stayed together throughout high school and even became the backing band for local Morgan Park group Drake and the Ensolids.

After the Mystiques broke up, Kevin played in many other bands, including a mixed-race funk-rock group called Orange. Kevin was also a member of the group Raw Umber, which featured Mystiques' vocalist Bobby Magee (and which later released a 45 on Bobby's father's Virginia label). Kevin even played in Chuck Bernard's backing band. Kevin ultimately became the drummer for the Sons of Slum. Although he does not play on their released material, he does play on their unreleased Capitol album. In the interview Kevin describes the exciting Sons of Slum live act and tells all the behind-the-scenes stories and contract near-misses that the group experienced in the 70s.

You can check out the interview at the bottom of my interviews page at:

https://www.sittinginthepark.com/interviews.html

Thanks for your interest,

Bob

excellent stuff, thanks for the link

munchlin

[boba]

excellent stuff, thanks for the link

munchlin

thank you