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Following the overnight success of "Mr Tambourine Man", a generation of folk
musicians abandoned the traditional form to follow The Byrds' lead and merge
folk with rock elements. One of the most promising outfits was the little
known, and decidedly short-lived
Mastin & Brewer, formed in the spring of
1966 by aspiring singer/songwriters Tom Mastin and Michael Brewer.
Sadly,
the group's initial promise was undermined by internal problems; Mastin
reportedly suffered from severe bouts of depression, and ultimately walked
out of the group during sessions for the band's debut album.
Brewer
meanwhile recruited his brother Keith to replace Mastin, and the duo, abetted by Barry Friedman, readied the Mastin & Brewer
single, "Need You/Rainbow" (Columbia 4-43977), for release, with Keith
Brewer's vocals replacing Mastin's. Columbia duly released the single,
albeit in limited numbers, as
Brewer & Brewer
that autumn, but it failed to attract much interest.
Early in the new year, the duo began work on a new batch of material
including "Love, Love", and for a brief period, the brothers called
themselves Chief Waldo and The Potted Mum,
although no performances or
recordings took place under this name.
By the summer, Keith had moved on and Mike found work as a songwriter at
Good Sam Music, an affiliation of A&M Records. He was soon joined by another
old friend from the Blind Owl Coffeehouse days, Tom Shipley, who had just
arrived in Los Angeles in search of work, and soon afterwards they forged a
new partnership, Brewer & Shipley. |
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