The Sons Of Adam formed in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1962 as The Iridescents, and featured bassist Mike Port, and guitarist Randy Holden, who had previously played in other local rock and roll bands. By 1963 they had enlisted Sonny Lombardo on drums, then added Joe Kooken (later known as Jac Ttanna) on guitar to complete the original line-up. They started out as a surf rock and instrumental group, as Holden was a fan of Duane Eddy, and by the end of 1963 the band's repertoire had become completely dominated by surf influences. They changed their name to The Fendermen, and made arrangements to relocate to Southern California, in hopes of riding the crest of the then-current surf rock craze, and to find success in Los Angeles, which was becoming a centre of the recording industry. As drummer Sonny Lombardo was unable to accompany them to California, the band recruited a new drummer, Bruce Miller, and in order to play gigs at nightclubs and bars, where the drinking age was 21, the band members went to Tijuana, Mexico and had fake IDs made. They were eventually able to get steady work playing gigs at the popular night-spot, Gazzarri's, and in 1964 they changed their name to The Fender-Menn IV, and later The Fender IV, a move partially motivated by a deal they made with Fender to provide the group with free equipment. They signed with managers Bill Doane and Ozzie Schmidt who were familiar with surf and the West Coast scene, and in the summer of 1964 they recorded two singles as The Fender IV for the Imperial Records label.
Several months before they recorded this first single, The Beatles had appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and the British Invasion had swept the music industry, so the flip side of the record, 'You Better Tell Me Now', was a Mersey-inspired vocal track, but despite the other band members beginning to feel the pull of The Beatles, Holden was reluctant to make the full switch away from instrumental music. However, after having a chance to meet and jam with Brian Jones and Bill Wyman before The Rolling Stones' performance on the Hollywood Palace TV show, his reluctance to embrace vocal rock subsided. In 1964 drummer Bruce Miller was drafted into the Army, so they found Keith Kester to take his place, and they became a frequent attraction at clubs on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. By 1965, the band's musical direction had shifted dramatically to a beat group orientation, and after being seen by Dewey Martin, who had been performing as the leader of Sir Raleigh & The Coupons, they recorded a single, 'Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day', on the Jerden label. Back in Los Angeles, they resisted Martin's attempts to replace Holden with Neil Young, and continued to perform as The Fender IV with Kester, whose personality and image differed from that of other group members, and so was replaced by drummer Michael Stuart.
It was during this time that they changed their name to The Sons Of Adam, which was suggested by record producer and impresario Kim Fowley, and they replaced The Walker Brothers as resident band at Gazzarri's. After auditioning for producer Gary Usher, they secured a recording contract with Decca Records, and they made a brief appearance playing in a nightclub scene in the 1965 movie 'The Slender Thread', starring Anne Bancroft, although the music was later overdubbed by session musicians. In 1965 they recorded their first single with Usher producing, and 'Take My Hand' was released in mid-October, although it failed to gain any traction on the charts. By the end of the year, disappointed in lack of record sales, the band broke off connections with Bill Doane and Ozzie Schmidt, and they entered into an unwritten agreement with Dick St John (of Dick & Dee Dee) and Mike Post. In 1966 they returned to the studio with Usher to record 'Saturday's Son', an anthem of alienation featuring Randy Holden on lead guitar and vocals, and it was released in July with their version of 'You're A Better Man Than I' as the flipside.
The band believed that they had a strong record that had a chance to break them in the charts, but the single failed to catch on, and as the year progressed, Holden's behaviour, and emphasis on volume, became increasingly erratic, and his relationship with the other band members became strained. They eventually pushed him out, a decision they later regretted, and replaced him with Craig Tarwater on lead guitar, with Holden going off to join The Other Half. The Sons Of Adam continued to play and record, releasing another single on Alamo records, featuring 'Feathered Fish', written by Arthur Lee of Love, who was attempting to convince drummer Michael Stuart to join his band. However, without Randy Holden the band lost much of its former musical chemistry, and following Lee's constant requests, Stuart finally decided to join Love as their drummer, just in time for the recording of the seminal 'Forever Changes' album. He was replaced by Randy Carlisle from The Yellow Payges, but Tarwater soon left to join The Daily Flash, and by June 1967 The Sons Of Adam had disbanded. By this time they'd recorded three singles and some demos, and were a well-respected live act, so they had enough material to release their debut album in 1966, and if they had then it could have sounded very much like this.
Track listing
01 Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day
02 Without Love
03 Mr Sun
04 Saturday's Son
05 It Won't Be Long
06 Baby Show The World
07 You're A Better Man Than I
08 Take My Hand
09 Gloria
10 The Long Road
11 Feathered Fish
12 Go Away
13 You Make Me Feel Good
14 I Told You Once Before
