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Untitled Document
The
Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band
the
Band
John Gorka – banjo
Russ Rentler – mandolin
Doug Anderson – rhythm guitar
Richard Shindell – lead guitar
Tim Germer – bass guitar
The
Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band reunion
concert
on
September 30, 2022
After
42 years a Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band reunion concert!
Click
here to listen to WDIY's
Dave Fry who talks with John Gorka two days before this reunion...
Dave Fry is a veteran folksinger,
Lehigh Valley roots-radio programmer (WSAN, WMUH, WDIY) and
co-founder and former artistic director of Godfrey Daniels
in Bethlehem.
John
on his Facebook (sept 30, 2022):
This is going to be fun!
Russ Rentler on mandolin, me, Alex Radus on guitar, and
Doug Anderson on guitar and vocals. Alex, Doug’s nephew,
is an excellent musician and singer, a welcome second generation
Razzy Dazzy Spasm member. Russ is letting me borrow his
Baldwin Ode banjo!
Russ
on his Facebook (Oct 1, 2022): The reunion
of the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band last night was truly magical.
We had such a great time! Friendship and music transcends
time and space. I am so grateful to be able to play with
these great musicians 42 years later. Thank you John Gorka
and Doug Anderson and Alex Radus and to all the folks who
traveled great distances to share the experience with us.
!
The
Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band Reunion concert live at Godfrey Daniels
Photo by Michael J Cuoco
The Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band Reunion concert
Both videos made by Patrice Masluk Schwartzman.
Listen
or download 5 The Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band live tracks I would
like to thank Dave Fry for these songs.....
Dave is
artistic director of Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem
Doug Anderson on his Facebook (October 1, 2022): What a special day...played two
shows with my good friends John Gorka, Russ Rentler, and Alex Radus.
Saw friends from all times in my life; what a treat! From NH, VT,
State College, PA, and NJ...and three of my best former students.
RDSB
members played on Doug Anderson's new CD:
Ol' Moose - No forever Road
(release date April 1, 2023)
Russ
Rentler about this CD on Facebook:
My old bandmate, Doug Anderson, of the “ legendary “Razzy Dazzy
Spasm Band has just released a new CD! My other old bandmate,
John Gorka contributed vocals and tasty banjo! I played uke, autoharp
and octave mandolin on a few tracks. Doug Anderson ‘s nephew Alex
Radus who played with us at our Reunion gig also contributed some
nice tracks. This is the first time all three original Razzy’s
appear on a recording since a recording session we did at Godfrey’s
one Sunday morning in 1979 with Dave Fry as our engineer . I am
admittedly biased but I think Doug has made a beautiful album
with great songwriting, vocals and instruments.
Click
here to listen to Nothing but the wind (96 kbps)
Doug is playing guitar and
singing lead. John is singing harmony and playing banjo and
Russ is playing mandolin.
John
Gorka and Russ Rentler
Live at Godfrey Daniels
December 7 & 8, 2023
Click
here for great audio recordings made by
Dave Fry in the club were it all started!
The
Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band (History)
The
Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band was formed in 1976 at Moravian College
in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The band consisted initially of John
Gorka, Russ Rentler, and Doug Anderson. Later, Richard Shindell
joined the group on lead guitar. Tim Germer was also part of the
group, playing bass guitar. As
Gorka would later describe it, "It
was kind of a bluegrass band, but not a real formal, traditional
one." Although the band never recorded an album or even went on
a tour, three members (Gorka, Shindell, and Rentler) went on to
have significant careers in folk music. Doug Anderson, is now
a philosophy professor at Southern Illinois University, he lives
in Denton (Texas) and continues to play music locally and Tim
Germer is a software engineer in Northern Virginia.
Rich Shindell,
Doug Anderson, John Gorka, Russ Rentler at the Floating Folk Festival
-1978 Bethlehem, PA
(click on the photo to enlarge)
The
original three members of the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band met
as freshmen at Moravian
College at an open mic held as part of freshman orientation.
Gorka was performing on banjo and Rentler on mandolin. After meeting
guitarist Doug Anderson in the audience the three formed a band.
According to Rentler, "John played incredible 5-string banjo and
Doug Andersen provided the solid rock rhythm on his custom made
Froggy Bottom guitars." A year or two later the group was joined
by "Rich" Shindell on lead guitar.They were also joined by Tim Germer
on bass guitar.
Click
here to listen to John & Russ about the early
days of the band and the influence Dough had on them.... (from the "Sit
Downs And Session" by Chris Poh, March 26, 2021)
In
1979 (or 1980) The Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band recorded a live session at
Godfrey Daniels Coffeehouse. Doug Anderson was the singer and played
guitar on most of the tracks Richard Shindell played lead guitar and
he did harmony vocals. Russ Rentler was the mandolin player and John
Gorka played 5 string banjo
and he also did the harmony vocals.
Dave
Fry recorded the songs and played bass from the recording
booth.. On the first track Dough Anderson is playing on his Froggy
Bottom guitar!
As
webmaster of www.johngorka.nl
(the John Gorka videowebsite) I am glad I can present these 18
songs from the legendary Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band.
If you ever saw John Gorka live, you must remember
the funny stories about the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band. We heard a
lot about the band but we did not hear a song from the RDSB.
In September 2016 I spoke with Richard Shindell in Leiden (NL)
about the Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band. I asked him if he ever wrote
a song together with John Gorka. He said there was one song "You
can Run" and Richard thought Dough Anderson still had a copy
of that song.
I wrote a letter to Dough and he wrote John Gorka was the singer
of that song. unfortunately Dough could not find a rough copy.
But Dough made me happy with other unique matarial played by the
RDSB!
I
would like to thank Dough Anderson for sending me the "Godfrey
Daniels recording tape"
Jos van Vliet
John
Gorka
The band played at various venues in Pennsylvania's
Lehigh Valley, particularly Godfrey Daniels, throughout four years
of college. John Gorka, a history and philosophy major, shifted
his focus to music before the end of college and went on to become
a major figure in the contemporary folk of the 1980s till now.
Click
here for the John Gorka Biograpy on this website
Doug
Anderson
Doug Anderson followed a more academic
path completing a Ph.D. and later joining the Department of
Philosophy at Penn State University and the
University
of North Texas, as
well as becoming author of the children's book Too Big To
Dance. Doug Anderson continues to play music locally with
the alternative country bands Bone Dry River Band (in Illinois)
and
a variety of Ol'
Moose projects including
new on in Denton.
After 55 seconds
you can hear John's story about "The Razzy
Dazzy Spasm Band world tour".
John Gorka live at Wheeler Community Arts Center. Indpls
IN - April 26, 2014.
Russ Rentler
Russ Rentler went on to medical school and
continued to practice general internal medicine for several years.
During that time he continued to pursue music on the side. Sometime
around 2003 Rentler
left his medical practice to pursue music full-time.
His initial efforts have been well received in the press. In 2017
Russ made his first CD in eight years: Escaped
the Tide. Russ: "Some of the songs have been banging
around in my head for decades but were never put on tape including
3 that were written in my
early college years at Moravian College "
John
Gorka and Russ Rentler live at Godfrey Daniels Bethlehem PA with
"That's how legends are made" (April 7, 2017)
Richard
Shindell Richard
Shindell eventually left Moravian and pursued his musical interests
at Hobart College in Geneva, New York. Now
dividing his time between Buenos Aires, Argentina and New York's
Hudson Valley, Richard Shindell is a writer whose songs paint pictures,
tell stories, juxtapose ideas and images, inhabit characters, vividly
evoking entire worlds along the way and expanding our sense of just
what it is a song may be. From his first record, Sparrow's Point
(1992) to his current release, Careless
(September 2016), Richard Shindell has explored the possibilities
offered by this most elastic and variable of cultural confections:
the song.
Richard
Shindell
Doug
Anderson
Russ
Rentler
John
Gorka
Recent
videos
..
John Gorka (2016)
"Love
is our Cross to Bear" was one of the four song John Gorka
recorded February 8, 2016 in the Hague, the Netherlands for the
"John Gorka video website".
.Richard
Shindell (March
2017)
Richard
Shindell Performs "Careless" and "Your Guitar" [Acoustic Guitar
Sessions, March 2017]
He stopped by the Acoustic Guitar Sessions to perform two songs
from his most recent album Careless: the heart-rending title track
and “Your Guitar,” in which the Argentina resident sings of his
travels from from California to Patagonia from the perspective
of his guitar.
The
Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band is a result of John Gorka's studying the
history of street bands in New Orleans
The Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band was
an early New Orleans band regarded by some as the first jazz band. A 1897
photograph of an early New Orleans band led by Emile “Stalebread
Charlie” Lacoume (second from the far left). Members of the group
were Harry Gregson, Emile “Whiskey” Benrod, Willie “Cajun” Bussey,
Frank “Monk” Bussey and a boy known only as “Warm Gravy.” Another
member who was known as “Chinee” and a singer known as “Family
Haircut.” This band performed in the streets of Storyville in
the 1890’s and early 1900’s. From a book “Storyville, New Orleans”
by Al Rose.
Russ
Rentler & Dough Anderson played together after 40 years (September
7, 2019)
..............
Russ
Rentler & Dough Anderson live - "One eyed grandma"
Russ
Rentler played on mandolin and dobro with Doug Anderson (on Harmonica)
live at Nod Hill Brewery in Ridgefield, in western CT. (March
8, 2020).
Also
with Alysia Love (Fiddle) David Anastasia on bass and Matt who
sat in on electric guitar. Russ about this performance: "A great
time was had by all. It’s an extra treat to play “one eyed grandma
“ with a fiddle player"
John Gorka with Russ Rentler live at New Hope Winery in New Hope
(Pennsylvania) on December 14th, 2019
On
May 24, 2020 John Gorka wrote on his webpage:
"Home Video # 8 is a song by my friend Doug Anderson from our
Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band days. Doug is making a lot of music presently
under the name Ol’ Moose. I hope live music comes back some day.
I’d love to hear him and maybe play together again."
Click
here to go to the webpage with You Can Run....
.jpg)
After 55 seconds
you can hear John's story about "The Razzy
Dazzy Spasm Band world tour".
John Gorka live at Wheeler Community Arts Center. Indpls
IN - April 26, 2014. 
..............
.jpg)