The Deep | |
|---|---|
| Origin | New York,New York, United States |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1966 |
| Labels | Cameo-Parkway |
| Past members | Rusty Evans Mark Barkan David Bromberg D. Blackhurst C. Blue L. Pogan A. Geller |
The Deep was an Americanrock band formed inNew York City in 1966. They traveled toPhiladelphia to record a one-off LP,Psychedelic Moods, released onCameo-Parkway Records, which was later recognized as one of the earliest albums to use the word "psychedelic" in its title.[1][2]
The group was a studio-only project led by musician Rusty Evans and producerMark Barkan. Evans later formedThe Freak Scene, releasing the albumPsychedelic Psoul in 1967. Evans also co-wrote and recordedThe Third Bardo’s only single, "I’m Five Years Ahead of My Time." While Barkan would record several songs in 1967 with the group Inner Sanctum (later known as Hydro-Pyro).
Rusty Evans was born Marcus Uzilevsky in 1937 in New York City and was the Deep'slead guitarist, primarysongwriter, andvocalist. Evans initially recorded in 1958 as arockabilly singer, before performing as aGreenwich Village folk musician in the late 1950s and early 1960s. He recorded three albums as Rusty Evans –Songs of Our Land,Railroad Songs (both 1964) andLive at Gerde's Folk City (1965) – and was later a member of the folk groupThe New Christy Minstrels.[3] MusicianDavid Bromberg is also known to have played on The Deep's one and only album, although it is unknown on which tracks he played.[4]
In the early summer of 1966, Evans convinced producerMark Barkan to help him record a psychedelic album. They secured arrangements with the Philadelphia-basedCameo-Parkway label, where they became labelmates toQuestion Mark and the Mysterians, for a meager budget of $1200. In August, Evans and Barkan assembled a group of New York musicians to record as the Deep, and they drove in a rundown car to Philadelphia to record what would becomePsychedelic Moods, the band's sole album which was done in the short period of four days and would necessitate late-night sessions in order to be finished on time.[5] The all-night sessions also provided the musicians, who were unable to afford a hotel, with a place to sleep.[5]
At the time of recordingPsychedelic Moods, only Rusty Evans had a career in the music industry prior to recording, the other members in the Deep were his friends. Evans "directed the band to let loose and get crazy". He created the cover art and pressed "about 5,000 copies" of the album. The Deep existed as a studio-only band, and, aside from sessions for their album, produced no other recordings under that name nor performed live.[6][7]
The album released in November 1966 was one of the earliest to include the word "psychedelic" in its title around the same time as theBlues Magoos'Psychedelic Lollipop, but predated bythe 13th Floor Elevators'The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators in October 1966.[8][9][10]
Evans left Cameo-Parkway to record a new album for theColumbia Records label in 1967. Abandoning the "Deep" name, this second album was credited to the bandThe Freak Scene and entitledPsychedelic Psoul. Despite the name change, the band continued to be the same studio-only lineup from the first album. However, the Freak Scene's album met the same results asPsychedelic Moods. The group disbanded in late 1967. The album was later re-released by Sony BMG through Columbia Records on vinyl.[11]
After this venture, Evans returned to performing as a solo musician. He recorded under his birthname,Marcus, for a self-titled album in 1969, which produced compositions conceived aspsychedelic folk in nature. He did not record another album until 1979, when he releasedLife's Railway Heaven, another folk effort. Evans recorded sporadically until his death, usually in the style of folk or rockabilly music,[3] and in the 1990s released twonew age CDs,Slice of Light andGypsy Dreams, credited as Uzca.[12] He also led aJohnny Cash tribute band. Under his real name of Marcus Uzilevsky, he was a respected visual artist best known for his landscape paintings, and was exhibited widely in California.[13]
On December 5, 2015, Rusty Evans passed away inWoodacre, California.[12]
In April 1967, Barkan recorded material with the New York psychedelic rock band the Inner Sanctum which was composed by Kevin Michael (lead guitar), Gerry Michael (drums), Vince Taggart (rhythm guitar) and Frank Thumhart (bass guitar). The Inner Sanctum recordings were intended as a potential follow-up toPsychedelic Moods by the Deep, similar to Evans'Psychedelic Psoul with the Freak Scene. However, the songs went unreleased for decades until Barkan released them for the first time in the 1980s under the name "Hydro-Pyro" due to copyright reasons. The original band members went uncredited.[14]
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