1966 to 1968 | fohhoh bohob-1969 | 1970 to 1973 | 2000 reunion | today

After years of prodding by fans and reviewers, The Patron Saints will be releasing a 2-CD, 45-song set of cover tunes recorded from September, 1966 to late spring/early summer 1968, entitled Before Bohob, Vol. 1. (subtitled Birth Of A Garage Basement Band). If all goes well, it will be available in late 2007. Here's a portion of my liner notes:

"When the Patron Saints formed in 1966, I was able to couple my love for tape recorders with my other obsessions, electric guitars and rock ’n’ roll, and record us at various stages in our ‘career’, culminating in our most famous project, our 1969 independently written, produced and distributed LP, Fohhoh Bohob, now an unexpected cult classic. When our musical genre is listed in numerous musical websites and catalogs, it is invariably “psychedelic garage rock” or something equally obtuse. We’re usually presented as three dorky ‘emo’-like teenagers who must have spent all of our formative years in our bedrooms penning our angst-ridden musical ideas and who, finally, painfully, put them down on tape. Often, reviewers will attempt to ‘nail down’ our musical influences, often naming groups we’d never heard of, let alone were influenced by.

The truth, as you will hear in this musical chronicle, is that the early Patron Saints were never a Psych band…we were a hardcore R & B/Blues/Pop/Rock/Folk Rock/Country/Surf band. Well, maybe a little
Psych, too, I guess. And we weren’t a garage band, either…we were, in reality, a basement band. I don’t recall ever playing in anyone’s garage, quite honestly; we honed our craft in each other’s basements.

Over the years, a surprising number of fans and reviewers have written to ask me if there were any recordings of the Patron Saints made before Fohhoh Bohob. As well-known as the threesome on the Fohhoh Bohob sessions are, and the four Patron Saints who recorded The Latimer Sessions in 1970-71, for me, the real Patron Saints are the original five who started the group together in ’66; me, Frank Stapleton, Jeff Alfaro, Jon Tuttle and Bruce Miller. The songs presented in this CD set are all live recordings made by the five of us, presented chronologically, spanning the period from September, 1966 to late spring/early summer, 1968. Recorded in a number of different situations with tape recorders of varying features and quality, I believe that our energy and ability shines through, despite any equipment
limitations and engineering inadequacies."

The Patron Saints released a new studio CD in December 2005, Time And Place, featuring Me (Eric Bergman, original member), John Doerschuk and Kirk Foster (from the Latimer Sessions period), Jeff Alfaro (original Patron Saint drummer before Paul D'Alton on Fohhoh Bohob), and Roy Ellingsen (guitarist from the group Garrison, which was basically a re-named Patron Saints, 1978-1980), so it truly is a real Patron Saints album.

If all goes well, we'll do some radio interviews and see if we do a live concert or two (or more?). Stay tuned...

The 'Time and Place' Patron Saints (l-r):
Eric Bergman, Roy Ellingsen, Kirk Foster, Jeff Alfaro, John Doerschuk

1966 to 1968 | fohhoh bohob-1969 | 1970 to 1973 | 2000 reunion | today