Jerry Chamberlain
Encyclopedia
Jerry Chamberlain is a United States singer, songwriter
, guitarist
, and producer
, best known for his work with the rock
bands Daniel Amos
and The Swirling Eddies
(credited as "Spot").
In late 1974, Chamberlain was asked to join Jubal's Last Band, a band that consisted of Terry Scott Taylor
, Steve Baxter
and bassist Kenny Paxton. Marty Dieckmeyer
was soon brought in as a replacement for the departing Paxton. Sometime in the middle of 1975, Jubal's Last Band or Jubal (as a shortened form of the name was briefly used) auditioned for Maranatha! Music
and Calvary Chapel
(without Baxter, who couldn't get off work) in hopes of signing a recording and performance contract. At a Maranatha Music meeting, another band led by Darrell Mansfield
, was
also using the name, Jubal. The two bands decided to change their names to avoid confusion. Mansfield renamed his band Gentle Faith
, and Jubal's Last Band/Jubal became Daniel Amos
.
Daniel Amos succeeded in landing a recording and performance contract, and quickly recorded their first song for the label, Taylor's "Ain't Gonna Fight It" for the Maranatha 5 compilation. A full album, produced by Al Perkins
, followed. Chamberlain quickly became an important part in the sound of D.A. In the band's early days of country/rock, Chamberlain would often launch into a rock and roll guitar solo inappropriately in the middle of "Happily Married Man." In the later years, his guitar playing drove songs like "Endless Summer" and "I Love You #19."
Although Chamberlain left DA in late 1983, he did return on a few later albums including Motor Cycle (1993) (which he co-produced), BibleLand
(1994) and Songs of the Heart
(1995).
Chamberlain was married to singer/songwriter/guitarist/bassist Sharon McCall from 1980 to 2005. The couple had a band together in the mid-1980s called Boy-O-Boy, shopping demos and playing clubs of L.A.
In 2001, Chamberlain and McCall recorded a song ("Message From The Country") with pop rocker Doug Powell (Swag), drumlord Ken Coomer (Wilco, Uncle Tupelo
, Swag) and session ace Jonathan Yudkin (The Chain Smoking Altar Boys) for the Jeff Lynne
tribute Lynne Me Your Ears (2002) under the moniker, The Balls of France.
The years 2004–2005 saw Chamberlain and McCall join forces with friends to form an all-British Invasion
outfit called The Pickled Beats. The band continues, with slight lineup changes, to play the occasional live performance.
In 2006, Chamberlain once again joined forces with Terry Taylor by lending a hand on the Lost Dogs
album The Lost Cabin and the Mystery Trees
. Chamberlain also returned to his Swirling Eddies pseudonym "Spot," for the 2007 release The midget, the speck and the molecule
.
After meeting and doing gigs together over 30 years ago in California, Chamberlain and veteran folk
-pop
-rock
singer-songwriter
/record producer
/musician
/vocalist Pam Mark Hall
joined forces as the duo, Pamelita and Parker, in the Fall of 2008.
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, best known for his work with the rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
bands Daniel Amos
Daniel Amos
Daniel Amos is a rock band formed in 1974 by Terry Scott Taylor on guitars and vocals, Marty Dieckmeyer on bass guitar, Steve Baxter on guitars and Jerry Chamberlain on lead guitars. Current members include bassist Tim Chandler, guitarist Greg Flesch and drummer Ed McTaggart...
and The Swirling Eddies
The Swirling Eddies
The Swirling Eddies are a band that began as an anonymous spinoff from the band Daniel Amos, along with new drummer David Raven.-Career:For each Swirling Eddies release, band members adopted pseudonyms for the liner notes; "Camarillo Eddy" , "Berger Roy Al" , "Gene Pool" , "Arthur Fhardy" , "Spot"...
(credited as "Spot").
In late 1974, Chamberlain was asked to join Jubal's Last Band, a band that consisted of Terry Scott Taylor
Terry Scott Taylor
Terry Scott Taylor is an American songwriter, record producer, writer and founding member of the bands Daniel Amos and The Swirling Eddies . Taylor is also a member of the roots and alternative music group, Lost Dogs. He is currently based in San Jose, California, USA.Taylor is highly regarded for...
, Steve Baxter
Steve Baxter
Steve Baxter is an American songwriter and guitarist, best known as one of the founding members of the rock group Daniel Amos.In 1972, Baxter was performing in a band with friends Kenny Paxton and Freddy Sakehama. All three men attended San Jose Bible College...
and bassist Kenny Paxton. Marty Dieckmeyer
Marty Dieckmeyer
Marty Dieckmeyer was the bass guitar player for the Christian rock band Daniel Amos from 1974 to 1981. Dieckmeyer sang the lead vocal on the song "Props" from the ¡Alarma! album in 1981...
was soon brought in as a replacement for the departing Paxton. Sometime in the middle of 1975, Jubal's Last Band or Jubal (as a shortened form of the name was briefly used) auditioned for Maranatha! Music
Maranatha! Music
Maranatha! Music began as a non-profit outreach of Calvary Chapel in 1971. The Jesus People of the late 1960s and early 1970s began to write new hymns and worship songs with a folk-rock style. Maranatha! Music was founded at this time in order to publish and promote this new type of Christian...
and Calvary Chapel
Calvary Chapel
Calvary Chapel is an evangelical association of Christian churches with over one thousand congregations worldwide. Calvary Chapel also maintains a number of radio stations around the world and operates many local Calvary Chapel Bible College programs. It presents itself as a "fellowship of...
(without Baxter, who couldn't get off work) in hopes of signing a recording and performance contract. At a Maranatha Music meeting, another band led by Darrell Mansfield
Darrell Mansfield
Darrell Mansfield is an American gospel/blues musician.-Biography:Mansfield got his musical start in 1974, releasing his first album Gentle Faith in 1976. He later formed the Darrell Mansfield Band...
, was
also using the name, Jubal. The two bands decided to change their names to avoid confusion. Mansfield renamed his band Gentle Faith
Gentle Faith
Gentle Faith was a Christian country rock band in the 1970s, during the Jesus Music era, before the rise of the CCM industry. The group formed in 1974 and released one self-titled album in 1976 under the Maranatha! label....
, and Jubal's Last Band/Jubal became Daniel Amos
Daniel Amos
Daniel Amos is a rock band formed in 1974 by Terry Scott Taylor on guitars and vocals, Marty Dieckmeyer on bass guitar, Steve Baxter on guitars and Jerry Chamberlain on lead guitars. Current members include bassist Tim Chandler, guitarist Greg Flesch and drummer Ed McTaggart...
.
Daniel Amos succeeded in landing a recording and performance contract, and quickly recorded their first song for the label, Taylor's "Ain't Gonna Fight It" for the Maranatha 5 compilation. A full album, produced by Al Perkins
Al Perkins
Al Perkins is a Texas-born American guitarist. The Gibson guitar company called Perkins "the world's most influential Dobro player", and even began producing an "Al Perkins Signature" Dobro in 2001 - designed and autographed by Perkins....
, followed. Chamberlain quickly became an important part in the sound of D.A. In the band's early days of country/rock, Chamberlain would often launch into a rock and roll guitar solo inappropriately in the middle of "Happily Married Man." In the later years, his guitar playing drove songs like "Endless Summer" and "I Love You #19."
Although Chamberlain left DA in late 1983, he did return on a few later albums including Motor Cycle (1993) (which he co-produced), BibleLand
BibleLand
Bibleland is the title of a 1994 album by rock band Daniel Amos, released on BAI Records.Bibleland is a rough and gritty rock record with lots of noise and distortion recorded mostly live-in-the-studio....
(1994) and Songs of the Heart
Songs of the Heart
Songs of the Heart is the title of a 1995 album by Christianrock band Daniel Amos, released on BAI Records.The album's concept is a musical journey down legendary Route 66 with the fictional couple Bud & Irma Akendorf. This concept was partially conceived after discovering an LP hanging on the wall...
(1995).
Chamberlain was married to singer/songwriter/guitarist/bassist Sharon McCall from 1980 to 2005. The couple had a band together in the mid-1980s called Boy-O-Boy, shopping demos and playing clubs of L.A.
In 2001, Chamberlain and McCall recorded a song ("Message From The Country") with pop rocker Doug Powell (Swag), drumlord Ken Coomer (Wilco, Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo
Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994. Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the lead singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend college. The trio recorded three albums for Rockville...
, Swag) and session ace Jonathan Yudkin (The Chain Smoking Altar Boys) for the Jeff Lynne
Jeff Lynne
Jeffrey "Jeff" Lynne is an English songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who gained fame as the leader and sole constant member of Electric Light Orchestra and was a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys together with George Harrison, Bob...
tribute Lynne Me Your Ears (2002) under the moniker, The Balls of France.
The years 2004–2005 saw Chamberlain and McCall join forces with friends to form an all-British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
outfit called The Pickled Beats. The band continues, with slight lineup changes, to play the occasional live performance.
In 2006, Chamberlain once again joined forces with Terry Taylor by lending a hand on the Lost Dogs
Lost Dogs
Lost Dogs are an American musical supergroup formed in 1991, comprising vocalists, songwriters, and guitarists from multiple Christian alternative rock bands. Their current lineup includes Terry Scott Taylor , Michael Roe , Derri Daugherty and Steve Hindalong . The original lineup included Gene...
album The Lost Cabin and the Mystery Trees
The Lost Cabin and the Mystery Trees
The Lost Cabin and the Mystery Trees is the title of an album by Roots music band Lost Dogs, released on Fools of the World records in 2006.-Track listing:# "Broken Like Brooklyn" # "Devil's Elbow"...
. Chamberlain also returned to his Swirling Eddies pseudonym "Spot," for the 2007 release The midget, the speck and the molecule
The midget, the speck and the molecule
the midget, the speck and the molecule is the title of the latest album by rock band The Swirling Eddies, released in 2007 on Stunt Records....
.
After meeting and doing gigs together over 30 years ago in California, Chamberlain and veteran folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
-pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
-rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
/record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
/musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
/vocalist Pam Mark Hall
Pam Mark Hall
Pam Mark Hall is a Christian singer, songwriter, musician and producer.-Career:Cutting her musical teeth on the renaissance explosion of pop, folk and rock in the 1960’s, Pam Mark Hall began playing piano at age 6. By age 9, she was playing guitar, writing songs and performing as a soloist...
joined forces as the duo, Pamelita and Parker, in the Fall of 2008.