The Lamp of Childhood was a short-lived American folk rock

Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...

 band formed in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 in 1966. The band release three singles which failed to chart and disbanded in 1967, but had several notable members.

History

The band was founded by Jim Hendricks

Jim Hendricks (musician)

James "Jim" Hendricks is an American folk musician. Born in Atkinson, Nebraska, Hendricks began playing guitar and lap steel guitar in his youth, and began performing publicly while working as a teacher in Omaha, Nebraska in the early 1960s...

, former member of The Mugwumps

The Mugwumps

The Mugwumps were a 1960s rock band. The Mugwumps made some recordings in the mid-60s, but the short-lived New York group, formed in 1964, is principally remembered for what its members did after they split up....

 and husband of Cass Elliot

Cass Elliot

Cass Elliot , born Ellen Naomi Cohen and also known as Mama Cass, was an American singer and member of The Mamas & the Papas. After the group broke up, she released five solo albums. Elliot was found dead in her room in London, England, from an apparent heart attack after two weeks of sold-out...

. Elliot and Hendricks previously performed together in the New York based folk trio The Big 3 in 1963–4. The lineup of The Lamp of Childhood featured Hendricks on vocals and guitar, lead guitarist Fred Olson, bassist Mike Tani (stage name of Michael "Mick" Takamatsu), drummer Billy Mundi

Billy Mundi

Billy Mundi is an American drummer, who has played a multitude of sessions and been a member of countless bands, most notably The Mothers of Invention and Rhinoceros. He sometimes used the name Tony Schnasse.A former Hells Angel, his career dates back to the late 1950s, when he majored in music at...

 and recording session-only keyboardist Gabriel Mekler

Gabriel Mekler

Gabriel Mekler was a songwriter, musician, and record producer who attained fame in the 1960s, helming classic albums for Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, and Janis Joplin...

. The band released three singles after signing with Dunhill Records

Dunhill Records

Dunhill Records was started by Lou Adler, Al Bennett, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts in 1964 as Dunhill Productions, originally for the purpose of releasing Johnny Rivers recordings on Imperial Records. It became a record label in 1965 and was distributed by ABC Records...

, beginning with a cover of Donovan

Donovan

Donovan Donovan Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...

's "Season of the Witch" in late 1966. Mundi departed the band after the initial release failed to garner sales and joined The Mothers of Invention

The Mothers of Invention

The Mothers of Invention were an American band active from 1964 to 1969, and again from 1970 to 1975.They mainly performed works by, and were the original recording group of, US composer and guitarist Frank Zappa , although other members have had the occasional writing credit...

. The band released additional singles with Marty Tryon on bass.

Hendricks left the band just before they appeared in their final performance, at the KFRC Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival, a seminal rock festival

Rock festival

A rock festival, or a rock fest, is a large-scale rock music concert, featuring multiple acts.The first rock festivals were put on in the late 1960s and were important socio-cultural milestones. In the 1980s a minor resurgence of festivals occurred with charity as the goal.Today, they are often...

 held in Marin County, California

Marin County, California

Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...

 at the start of the Summer of Love

Summer of Love

The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, creating a cultural and political rebellion...

. Hendricks was replaced in the group for the June 1967 festival by John York

John York (musician)

John Foley York is an American bassist and guitarist, born in White Plains, New York on August 3, 1946. He is best known for his work with The Byrds, who he joined in September 1968 as a replacement for the band's original bass player Chris Hillman. He remained with the group until September...

. In an interview, Tryon recalled that at the festival, the band had the misfortune of following two rousing performances by eventually famous groups on each day: The Doors

The Doors

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...

 finishing with Light My Fire

Light My Fire

"Light My Fire" is a song by The Doors which was recorded in August 1966 and released the first week of January 1967 on the Doors' debut album. Released as a single in April, it spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and one week on the Cash Box Top 100, nearly a year after...

 on Saturday and The 5th Dimension ending with Up, Up and Away

Up, Up and Away (song)

"Up, Up and Away" is a 1967 song written by Jimmy Webb and recorded by The 5th Dimension, that became a major pop hit, reaching #7 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart and #18 in Canada...

 on Sunday.

Following the breakup of the band, York went on to join The Byrds

The Byrds

The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...

, while Mekler reached fame as producer of hard rock group Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf (band)

Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...

's hit albums. Mundi left the Mothers of Invention to join the supergroup Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros (band)

Rhinoceros was a rock band established in 1967 by Elektra Records as that label's intended supergroup. The band, while well respected in many circles, did not live up to the record label's expectations...

, and Tryon worked as a studio musician and with the Smothers Brothers

Smothers Brothers

The Smothers Brothers are Thomas and Richard , American singers, musicians, comedians and folk heroes. The brothers' trademark act was performing folk songs , which usually led to arguments between the siblings...

. Hendricks eventually established himself as a gospel and country artist based in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

.

Recordings

The Lamp of Childhood released three singles:

Season of The Witch / You Can't Blame Me (October 1966) – Dunhill 4051

First Time Last Time / Two O'Clock Morning (March 1967) – Dunhill 4063

No More Running Around / Two O'Clock Morning (1967) – Dunhill 4089

External links

YouTube: The Lamp of Childhood - No More Running Around, rare original 45