SAM TAYLOR - Born in Mobile, AL on 10/25/34, Sam cut his teeth early in music, beginning singing gospel at age 3. His Long Island connection began in 1957, during his service in the Air Force. He was stationed at the Westhampton Beach AFB and was only a short haul from the blues mecca of the east end, Flanders, where the Blue Bird Inn was infamous, and nascent guitarist Sam 'Bluzman' Taylor learned the ropes. During much the same time, Sam was a championship boxer, so he learned other ropes, as well.

After leaving the service in 1959, Sam lived in Riverhead. His first major pro gig was as Maxine Brown's band leader at the Apollo. The author of hundreds of songs, many of them hits which went gold, like "Do It 'Til You're Satisfied", performed by the BT Express, Sam's compositions have been covered by Freddie King, Son Seals, Jimmy Witherspoon, Jay and the Americans, Joey Dee, Maxine Brown and Joe Tex. Sam also was bandleader/guitarist for the likes of Big Joe Turner, the Isley Bros., Tracy Nelson, Otis Redding and Sam and Dave as well as being a noted vocalist with Joey Dee and the Starliters, the Drifters and the Rascals. That iconic whistle at the end of "Dock of the Bay" was provided by Sam, and he chose as his replacement in the Starlighters, a young guitarist named Jimmy James, later known as Jimi Hendrix.

Through the '70s, Taylor spent his days writing, producing, arranging and teaching, but the changes wrought by the Disco era pushed Sam off Long Island. He moved to California, and then to Tucson, where a supportive blues community helped his body and spirit heal. In the mid 90s, Taylor realized it was time to get back to his roots- his family and Long Island. Now a resident of Bay Shore, Bluzman has come back and is widely recognized as the Blues' elder statesman here. Since he has returned, Sam has released almost a dozen CDs including Blue Tears, Voice of the Blues and a live recording from his 2004 Riverhead Blues Fest set, Bluzman Back Home.

A mentor of innumerable musicians striving to learn the blues, a teacher, a role model, the voice of the Blues on WUSB-FM's Blues With A Feeling radio show, Sam is a widely and prolifically recorded artist, an inductee into the Blues Hall of Fame, a gold record winning composer, a desired sideman and arranger and a high-profile artist at national and international blues festivals, renowned for his fiery gospel singing and stinging guitar.

www.bluzman.com

THE TOKENS - Young men singing Doo Wop in high school bathrooms and on street corners across New York City was hardly extraordinary in the late 50s and early 60s. What is extraordinary, though, is the incredible feat that one of those groups from Brooklyn has accomplished with such style.

That style, as well as is elegantly defined by Jay Siegel, whose tenor lead and trademark falsetto have characterized all The Tokens' music since the group began recording, and continues to do so today as they perform around the country. The original members of the group were Jay Siegel, Phil & Mitch Margo and Hank Medress (who died in June of 2007). Today, the group consists of Jay Siegel, Bill Reid & Jay Traynor (he was the original "Jay" of The Americans, who sang the lead vocal on "She Cried").

First breaking onto the pop charts in 1961, The Tokens got back on the charts in the 1990s and were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall Of Fame in 2004.

The Tokens continue to distinguish themselves with the second-longest chart span in the history of Rock & Roll. More than 30 years after the debut of their first big hit, "Tonight I Fell In Love", they re-emerged on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart in August, 1994 with a re-release of their chart-topping 1962 single, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." The release of the Disney motion picture "The Lion King" prompted RCA to re-release the Tokens song – a re-working of a South African folk song that charted as "Wimoweh" for The Weavers in 1952 – along with a CD featuring a unique compilation of twenty of the groups hit tunes from the 60s.

The Tokens were one of the first and youngest groups to independently produce recordings for a major label, breaking into the really big-time in 1962, when they became the first vocal group to produce a #1 record for another vocal group (remember "He's So Fine" by The Chiffons?). They also produced all the records by The Happenings, Randy & The Rainbows, as well as "Candida", "Knock Three Times", & "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" by Tony Orlando & Dawn. They have performed & produced many major radio & TV commercials, including spots for Clairol, General Foods, Wrigley's gum, Eastern Airlines, Cool Whip, Wendy's and many other companies.

The Tokens also sang backup vocals for such diverse artists as Del Shannon, Melissa Manchester, Connie Francis, The Blues Project, Keith, Mac Davis, Al Kooper & Bob Dylan.

The Tokens - http://www.jaysiegelandthetokens.com

Tokens Performance on Video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-gVu1Ld3dk

TWISTED SISTER- Founded in December 1972 by guitarist Jay Jay French, Twisted Sister was initially a glam rock cover band modeled after the New York Dolls.

It was with the arrival of Dee Snider in early 1976 that the band found a true leader. Snider brought a strong Alice Cooper influence to the band, giving their by-then antiquated glam sound a welcome hardened edge. He also quickly developed into the band's dominant songwriter and, with new drummer Tony Petri in tow, Twisted Sister finally began making a name for themselves in and around the New York area. Their transformation from glam rock into metallic hard rockers was completed later that year with the arrival of ex-Dictators bass player Mark "the Animal" Mendoza.

November 1979 saw their first single "I'll Never Grow up Now!," released on the band's own TSR label in early 1980, with another single, "Bad Boys of Rock 'n' Roll," following that summer. But for all their hard work, by 1981 the band had nothing to show except a growing collection of record company rejection slips.

Finally, independent Secret Records decided to take a chance on the group and, after cutting the four-track Ruff Cuts EP (initially released only in Britain), the group flew to England with new drummer A.J. Pero (ex-Cities) to record their first full-length album, Under the Blade, with famed UFO bassist Pete Way producing. The album became a surprise underground success and created enough of a buzz to attract giant Atlantic Records, which came calling with a major distribution contract - the final ingredient for Twisted Sister's assault on the charts over the next two years.

1983's You Can't Stop Rock 'n' Roll laid the groundwork for their success with their more polished production values and strong material, which garnered instant credibility with the metal crowd. Twisted Sister took advantage of this sympathetic musical climate to unleash their definitive statement, Stay Hungry. Digging deep into his pop and glam roots, Snider added new commercial appeal to the band's hard rock onslaught. And with such monster hits as "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock" (with their hilariously tongue-in-cheek accompanying videos) leading the way to radio and MTV saturation, the album would exceed the multi-platinum barrier. In 2004, they released Still Hungry to mark their 20th anniversary.

Audio Portrait

Performances on YouTube Here, Here and Here.

www.twistedsister.com

KENNY VANCE-Kenny grew up in Belle Harbor, in the New York City borough of Queens, where he developed an interest in rock'n' roll as a teenager. He was particularly fascinated with the vocal styling of doo-wop. By the time he was fifteen he was traveling back and forth to Manhattan's Brill Building, meeting and befriending other singers and songwriters.

In 1961, Vance formed the highly successful group Jay and The Americans, along with 'Jay' Traynor, Howard Kane, and Sandy Deanne. The band recorded fifteen albums, toured extensively, and opened for The Beatles and The Rolling Stones during each of their first U.S. performances. The band's hit records, including "She Cried," "Only in America," "Come a Little Bit Closer," and "This Magic Moment", helped to establish their legendary status.

Kenny remained with Jay and The Americans until the early 1970s when he launched a solo career that kicked off with him producing the first sessions by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen - Steely Dan. Soon enough, Vance had racked up a wide range of successes, as he began to compose, supervise and produce a long list of scores and soundtracks for feature films and television.

Vance gave the Alan Freed story, "American Hot Wax," its musical life by recreating the groups of the 50's and 60's for the screen. His group The Planotones was formed for the film, where they gave their first on-screen performance. In addition, Vance was musical director for Saturday Night Live, as well as serving as music supervisor for "Animal House," "Eddie & The Cruisers," and "Looking for an Echo." As an actor, Kenny Vance has appeared in "Hurly Burly," "Billy Bathgate," "American Hot Wax," "Eddie & The Cruisers," and in several Woody Allen films.

Kenny's passion is singing and throughout a long and successful career in the entertainment industry he has never lost his love and need to sing. He re-formed The Planotones in 1992, and he has brought his passion, along with his soulful vocals, to new heights as he continues to tour as the leader of this talented band of vocalists and musicians.

Kenny Vance - http://www.planotones.com/pl2a.htm

Kenny Vance Performances on Video Here.
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/91120 and
http://www.vodpod.com/pod/show_video/91078.

VANILLA FUDGE -Vanilla Fudge was one of the few American links between psychedelia and what soon became heavy metal. While the band did record original material, they were best known for their loud, heavy, slowed-down arrangements of contemporary pop songs, blowing them up to epic proportions and bathing them in a trippy, distorted haze.

Originally, Vanilla Fudge was a blue-eyed soul cover band called the Electric Pigeons, who formed on Long Island in 1965. Organist Mark Stein, bassist Tim Bogert, and drummer Joey Brennan soon shortened their name to the Pigeons and added guitarist Vince Martell. They built a following by gigging extensively up and down the East Coast, and earned extra money by providing freelance in-concert backing for girl groups. In early 1966, the group recorded a set of eight demos that were released several years later as While the Whole World Was Eating Vanilla Fudge, credited to Mark Stein & the Pigeons.

Inspired by the Vagrants, another band on the club circuit led by future Mountain guitarist Leslie West, the Pigeons began to put more effort into re-imagining the arrangements of their cover songs. They got so elaborate that by the end of the year, drummer Brennan was replaced by the more technically skilled Carmine Appice.

In early 1967, their manager convinced producer George "Shadow" Morton (who had handled the girl group the Shangri-Las and had since moved into protest folk) to catch their live act. Impressed by their heavy, hard rocking recasting of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On," Morton offered to record the song as a single; the results landed the group a deal with the Atlantic subsidiary Atco, which requested a name change. The band settled on Vanilla Fudge, after a favorite ice cream flavor. "You Keep Me Hangin' On" didn't perform as well as hoped, but the band toured extensively behind its covers-heavy, jam-oriented debut album Vanilla Fudge, which gradually expanded their fan base.

Things started to pick up for the band in 1968: early in the year, they headlined the Fillmore West with the Steve Miller Band, performed "You Keep Me Hangin' On" on The Ed Sullivan Show, and released their second album, The Beat Goes On. The LP was a hit, climbing into the Top 20. That summer, Atco reissued "You Keep Me Hangin' On," and the second time around it climbed into the Top Ten. It was followed by Renaissance, one of Vanilla Fudge's best albums, which also hit the Top 20. The band supported it by touring with Jimi Hendrix, opening several dates on Cream's farewell tour, and late in the year touring again with the fledgling Led Zeppelin as their opening act.

Performances on YouTube Here, Here and Here

www.vanillafudge.com

LESLIE WEST - Born Leslie Weinstein on Oct 22, 1945 in Forest Hills, into a show business family (his uncle, Will Glickman, was a writer for the Jackie Gleason show), Leslie West has gained fame the world over during his 30-plus year career as one of the most innovative and influential musicians in the history of rock music. He is most noted for his role as leader of the explosive hard rock trio, Mountain, which was named by VH-1 as one of the Top 100 Hard Rock Groups of all time.

With Mountain, he climbed the heights of rock stardom on the strength of a unique, signature guitar sound and classic songs such as "Mississippi Queen", "Never In My Life" and "Theme From An Imaginary Western", and "Nantucket Sleighride" which are still staples of rock radio to this day. Leslie has earned the admiration of a long list of famous peers. During his career, he has recorded or played with a litany of rock icons, including Billy Joel, Van Halen, The Who, Mick Jagger and Jimi Hendrix to name just a few. In fact, Eddie Van Halen, Michael Schenker and Richie Sambora have all cited Leslie as an important influence on their own music.

Leslie's bold, expressive and unique guitar style is really a mirror of his own personality. His boundless creativity has often involved him in projects that take him outside his traditional roles of guitarist, singer and songwriter. In 1986, he acted alongside Tom Hanks and Shelley Long in the hit comedy film, The Money Pit and has lent his distinctive voice to the popular animated series, Beast Wars Transformers which ran for three seasons on the WB network beginning in 1996 before going into syndication. He has also contributed the theme music to the WB show, Mutant X.

Leslie has long been a popular personality on the Howard Stern Radio Show and was Musical Director for the shock jock's FOX series, as well as for the late comedian Sam Kinison. Most recently, he lent his production and songwriting skills to an album by Atlantic Records' modern rock group, Clutch, and has released his own instructional guitar DVD, Big Phat Ass Guitar. Leslie West has been a creative force for over three decades and shows no sign of losing his ambition or his desire to continually reinvent himself. His ability to adapt his creative spirit to a diverse range of projects is a key ingredient in the longevity of this multi-faceted entertainer's success.

Performances on YouTube Here and Here.

www.mountaintheband.com