Crow is a Minneapolis-based blues rock band

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

, that was first active from 1967 to 1972. They are best known for the song "Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games With Me)," which was notably covered by Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

.

History

Crow was formed in 1967 by singer David Wagner, guitarist Dick Wiegand, bassist Larry Wiegand, keyboardist Kink Middlemist, and drummer Harry Nehls under the name South 40, which was used until the group went national. Nehls was replaced by Denny Craswell at that time. Columbia Records

Columbia Records

Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 brought them in to record a demo

Demo (music)

A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

 in 1969; they passed, and Crow was signed to Amaret.

In 1969, Crow’s debut album Crow Music was recorded

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

. The single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 "Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games With Me)" made the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 that fall, peaking at #19. Crow by Crow and Mosaic were the follow-up releases in 1970 and 1971 respectively. Singles released off Crow's later albums were not as successful; the band wanted to move to Elektra Records

Elektra Records

Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....

, but Amaret would not release them from their recording contract

Recording contract

A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

 while retaining their name. Wagner left the group in 1971; the band replaced him with Mick Stanhope and attempted to move forward, but collapsed for good in 1972. David Wagner recorded a solo album for Amaret in late 1972 titled: d/b/a Crow.

They disbanded in 1972, but reformed again in 1980. This version of Crow included original lead vocalist David Wagner, John Richardson

John Richardson

- Politics :*John Richardson , Deputy Governor of Anguilla* John G. Richardson , former Speaker of the Maine House and current candidate for Governor.* John S...

 and Jeff Christensen on lead guitar/vocals, Denny Johnson on bass and Robby Belleville on drums. From September 1980 to July 1981, they recorded many sessions, which resulted in a new studio album titled Crow on the Run in 1982. This version of Crow disbanded in early 1982. In 1988, Crow reformed and they continue to play concerts all over the United States and have released numerous albums. All the members have won Minnesota Music Awards for their own individual instruments. In 2005, they were inducted into the Minnesota Rock/Country Hall of Fame and, in 2009, the Iowa Rock & Roll Music Hall of Fame.

Crow still play occasionally in the Midwest with Dave Wagner on vocals.

Studio albums

• 1969 Crow Music
• 1970 Crow by Crow
• 1971 Mosaic
• 1972 d/b/a Crow (David Wagner – solo)
• 1982 Crow on the Run (local release only)
• 2005 Before the Storm

Compilation albums

• 1972 Best of Crow
• 1992 Evil Woman: The Best of Crow
• 2000 Classics 1969–1972

All releases on Amaret, except for Live at Someplace Else (Metrobeat) and Evil Woman: The Best of Crow (K-Tel

K-tel

K-tel International is an "As-Seen-On-TV" company, which is most noted for its compilation music albums, such as "The Super Hits" series, "The Dynamic Hits" series and "The Number One Hits" series...

).

Singles

• 1969 "Time To Make a Turn"
• 1969 "Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games With Me)"
• 1970 "Cottage Cheese"
• 1970 "Slow Down"
• 1970 "(Don’t Try To Lay No Boogie Woogie On The) King of Rock N' Roll"
• 1971 "Watching Can Waste Up Time"
• 1971 "Yellow Dawg"
• 1972 "Mobile Blues" (David Wagner – solo)
• 1972 "Cado Queen" (David Wagner – solo)

All releases on Amaret.

Members

• David Wagner – vocals (1967–1971)
• Dick Wiegand – guitar (1967–1972)
• Larry Wiegand – bass (1967–1972)
• Dave "Kink" Middlemist – keyboard
  Electronic keyboard
  An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
  
  (1967–1972)
• Harry Nehls – drums (1967–1969)
• Denny Craswell – drums (1969–1972)
• Mike Mlazgar – drums (1969)
• Mick Stanhope – vocals (1971–1972)
• Chico Perez – percussion (1971–1972)

External links

• "Official Web Site" Official Web Site, retrieved [May 7, 2009].
• "Crow: page" Scott Q's Midwest Music Tribute page to Crow, since 2001
• [ “Crow”] by Jason Ankeny, “All Music”, retrieved August 7, 2006.
• “Minnesota’s 50 Greatest Hits” by Nate Patrin, “City Pages”, June 8, 2005, retrieved February 23, 2010.