Black Merda!

Black Merda were a funky rock combo with a significant debt to <a href="spotify:artist:776Uo845nYHJpNaStv1Ds4">Jimi Hendrix</a>, mixing fuzz-toned, psychedelic blues-rock with folky acoustic passages and contemporary late-'60s soul. Featuring guitarists Anthony and Charles Hawkins, bassist <a href="spotify:artist:2eyhKyzykyeEojVlWOxNzt">VC Veasey</a> (aka <a href="spotify:artist:2eyhKyzykyeEojVlWOxNzt">Veesee L. Veasey</a>), and drummer Tyrone Hite, the group got its start in the late '60s after <a href="spotify:artist:2eyhKyzykyeEojVlWOxNzt">Veasey</a>, Hite, and Anthony Hawkins had spent time in a band called the Soul Agents, backing <a href="spotify:artist:1B8AXU6gIIafpyLEpbcv1u">Edwin Starr</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:52uMkSFt2RVO6XxTEt5VeW">Gene Chandler</a>. Inspired by <a href="spotify:artist:776Uo845nYHJpNaStv1Ds4">Jimi Hendrix</a>'s Are You Experienced?, they added Anthony's younger brother Charles on second guitar and christened themselves Black Merda. Despite some interest around their Detroit base -- including <a href="spotify:artist:1EVNxK3nqJ9gy9BwAZ3w3Q">Norman Whitfield</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2Uuon75BhnuuxdKLYn4wHn">Eddie Kendricks</a> -- Black Merda signed to Chess, thanks in part to the psychedelic soul eccentric <a href="spotify:artist:0pGr20E3bbDRhSg2omEmKn">Fugi</a> (aka <a href="spotify:artist:2VcdfdzCemU5ajyF0pj47Q">Ellington Jordan</a>), who they also backed on his Mary, Don't Take Me on No Bad Trip LP for Chess.

Black Merda's self-titled album sounded revolutionary enough, although the bandmembers were disappointed that it didn't reflect their heavy live shows. They then moved to the West Coast to continue playing with <a href="spotify:artist:0pGr20E3bbDRhSg2omEmKn">Fugi</a>, but returned to Chicago to record a second album. Shortening their name to Mer-Da, the group returned in 1971 with Long Burn the Fire, a funkier outing that bore a likeness to early <a href="spotify:artist:450o9jw6AtiQlQkHCdH6Ru">Funkadelic</a>. The band quickly fizzled out, but over the next three decades, continued record-collector interest in the group eventually resulted in a reunion with <a href="spotify:artist:2eyhKyzykyeEojVlWOxNzt">Veasey</a>, both Hawkins brothers, and <a href="spotify:artist:0pGr20E3bbDRhSg2omEmKn">Fugi</a>, although Hite had died in 2004. ~ Steve Huey & John Bush, Rovi