Sal Valentino
Encyclopedia
Sal Valentino is an American rock musician, singer and songwriter
, best known as lead singer of The Beau Brummels
, subsequently becoming a songwriter as well. The band released a pair of top 20 U.S. hit singles in 1965, "Laugh, Laugh
" and "Just a Little
." He later fronted another band, Stoneground
, which produced three albums in the early 1970s. After reuniting on numerous occasions with the Beau Brummels, Valentino began a solo career, releasing his latest album, Every Now and Then, in 2008.
section of San Francisco. In 1964, he received an offer to play a regular gig at a local club. Needing a band, he called childhood friend and songwriter/guitarist Ron Elliott
, who recruited drummer John Petersen
, rhythm guitarist/singer Declan Mulligan
, and bassist Ron Meagher
. The gig led to a more lucrative deal at the Morocco Room, a club in nearby San Mateo, California
. There, the Beau Brummels were discovered by prominent San Francisco deejay
Tom Donahue
, who quickly signed the band to his label, Autumn Records
. The band released "Laugh, Laugh
" in December as their debut single. The song peaked at number fifteen in February 1965. "Just a Little
", the followup single, fared even better on the charts, peaking at number eight.
Valentino appeared with the band in the 1965 science-fiction
/comedy movie Village of the Giants
, which was featured in a 1994 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000
.
Valentino also appeared with the band as The Beau Brummelstones on The Flintstones
television animated sitcom
in the season six episode "Shinrock A Go-Go," which originally aired on December 3, 1965.
Although the Beau Brummels' subsequent releases were not as commercially successful as their debut album and its first two singles, the band earned underground credibility with 1967's Triangle
and 1968's Bradley's Barn
.
Critics noted the works as early contributions to the country rock
genre.
The band, which by 1968 consisted of only Valentino and Elliott, split up, and following a stint recording singles for Warner Bros. Records
, Valentino assembled a new band, Stoneground
. After the group released three albums in the early 1970s, Valentino left the group in 1973. He participated in numerous Beau Brummels revivals over the next two decades.
After a hiatus from music, Valentino contributed to a 2003 Bob Dylan
tribute album
, Positively 12th and K, with musician Jackie Greene
. In 2006, Valentino released Dreamin' Man, the first solo album of his 45-year career.
Another album, Come Out Tonight, followed later that year, and his third solo album, Every Now and Then, was released in 2008.
With Stoneground
Solo albums
Collaborations
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...
, best known as lead singer of The Beau Brummels
The Beau Brummels
The Beau Brummels were an American rock band. Formed in San Francisco in 1964, the band's original lineup included Sal Valentino , Ron Elliott , Ron Meagher , Declan Mulligan , and John Petersen...
, subsequently becoming a songwriter as well. The band released a pair of top 20 U.S. hit singles in 1965, "Laugh, Laugh
Laugh, Laugh
"Laugh, Laugh" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, written by guitarist Ron Elliott and produced by Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone. Released in December 1964 as the band's debut single, the song reached number 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart the following February...
" and "Just a Little
Just a Little (The Beau Brummels song)
"Just a Little" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels. The song is included on the band's debut album, Introducing the Beau Brummels, and was released as its second single, following "Laugh, Laugh". "Just a Little" became the band's highest-charting U.S. single, peaking at number eight...
." He later fronted another band, Stoneground
Stoneground
Stoneground was a rock band formed in 1970 in Concord, California. Originally a trio, Stoneground expanded to a 10-piece band by the time of their eponymous 1971 debut album. The group appeared in two films, Medicine Ball Caravan and Dracula A.D. 1972 , and released three albums before singer Sal...
, which produced three albums in the early 1970s. After reuniting on numerous occasions with the Beau Brummels, Valentino began a solo career, releasing his latest album, Every Now and Then, in 2008.
Career
Valentino grew up in the North BeachNorth Beach, San Francisco, California
North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco's Little Italy, and has historically been home to a large Italian American population. It still holds many Italian restaurants today, though...
section of San Francisco. In 1964, he received an offer to play a regular gig at a local club. Needing a band, he called childhood friend and songwriter/guitarist Ron Elliott
Ron Elliott (musician)
Ron Elliott on October 21, 1943) is an American musician, composer and producer, best known as songwriter and lead guitarist of rock band The Beau Brummels. Elliott wrote or co-wrote the band's 1965 U.S...
, who recruited drummer John Petersen
John Petersen (musician)
John Petersen was an American drummer, most notably for rock bands The Beau Brummels and Harpers Bizarre. In 1964 he joined the Beau Brummels, whose first two singles, "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little", reached the U.S. top 20...
, rhythm guitarist/singer Declan Mulligan
Declan Mulligan
Declan Mulligan is an Irish rock musician, singer and songwriter, best known as a guitarist of American rock band The Beau Brummels...
, and bassist Ron Meagher
Ron Meagher
Ron Meagher is best known as bassist of American rock band The Beau Brummels. When guitarist-songwriter Ron Elliott was putting the band together in 1964, he asked a friend, Kay Dane, if she knew any good bass players....
. The gig led to a more lucrative deal at the Morocco Room, a club in nearby San Mateo, California
San Mateo, California
San Mateo is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of approximately 100,000 , it is one of the larger suburbs on the San Francisco Peninsula, located between Burlingame to the north, Foster City to the east, Belmont to the south,...
. There, the Beau Brummels were discovered by prominent San Francisco deejay
Deejay
A deejay is a reggae or dancehall musician who sings and toasts to an instrumental riddim .Deejays are not to be confused with disc jockeys from other music genres like hip-hop, where they select and play music. Dancehall/reggae DJs who select riddims to play are called selectors...
Tom Donahue
Tom Donahue
Tom "Big Daddy" Donahue , was a pioneering rock and roll radio disc jockey, record producer and concert promoter....
, who quickly signed the band to his label, Autumn Records
Autumn Records
Autumn Records was a 1960s San Francisco-based pop record label. Its most prominent contract was considered The Beau Brummels, a band who released a pair of top 20 singles, "Laugh, Laugh" and "Just a Little"....
. The band released "Laugh, Laugh
Laugh, Laugh
"Laugh, Laugh" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels, written by guitarist Ron Elliott and produced by Sylvester Stewart, later known as Sly Stone. Released in December 1964 as the band's debut single, the song reached number 15 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart the following February...
" in December as their debut single. The song peaked at number fifteen in February 1965. "Just a Little
Just a Little (The Beau Brummels song)
"Just a Little" is a song by American rock group The Beau Brummels. The song is included on the band's debut album, Introducing the Beau Brummels, and was released as its second single, following "Laugh, Laugh". "Just a Little" became the band's highest-charting U.S. single, peaking at number eight...
", the followup single, fared even better on the charts, peaking at number eight.
Valentino appeared with the band in the 1965 science-fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
/comedy movie Village of the Giants
Village of the Giants
Village of the Giants is a 1965 science-fiction/comedy movie with many elements of the beach party film genre. It was produced, directed and written by Bert I. Gordon, and based loosely on H.G. Wells's book The Food of the Gods...
, which was featured in a 1994 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
.
Valentino also appeared with the band as The Beau Brummelstones on The Flintstones
The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It...
television animated sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
in the season six episode "Shinrock A Go-Go," which originally aired on December 3, 1965.
Although the Beau Brummels' subsequent releases were not as commercially successful as their debut album and its first two singles, the band earned underground credibility with 1967's Triangle
Triangle (The Beau Brummels album)
Triangle is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Beau Brummels. Produced by Lenny Waronker and released in July 1967, it was the band's first album to include songs that vocalist Sal Valentino and guitarist Ron Elliott composed together...
and 1968's Bradley's Barn
Bradley's Barn
-Personnel:* David Briggs – keyboards* Kenny Buttrey – drums* Ron Elliott – guitar, vocals* Norbert Putnam – bass* Jerry Reed – guitar* Sal Valentino – vocals-External links:* [ Bradley's Barn] at Allmusic...
.
Critics noted the works as early contributions to the country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
genre.
The band, which by 1968 consisted of only Valentino and Elliott, split up, and following a stint recording singles for Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
, Valentino assembled a new band, Stoneground
Stoneground
Stoneground was a rock band formed in 1970 in Concord, California. Originally a trio, Stoneground expanded to a 10-piece band by the time of their eponymous 1971 debut album. The group appeared in two films, Medicine Ball Caravan and Dracula A.D. 1972 , and released three albums before singer Sal...
. After the group released three albums in the early 1970s, Valentino left the group in 1973. He participated in numerous Beau Brummels revivals over the next two decades.
After a hiatus from music, Valentino contributed to a 2003 Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
, Positively 12th and K, with musician Jackie Greene
Jackie Greene
Jackie Greene is an American singer-songwriter and musician.-Career:Greene was born Chris Nelson in Salinas, California, and developed an interest in music at an early age, starting with the piano. At 14, he began to play guitar and within a short time, was able to sit in with local bar bands. As...
. In 2006, Valentino released Dreamin' Man, the first solo album of his 45-year career.
Another album, Come Out Tonight, followed later that year, and his third solo album, Every Now and Then, was released in 2008.
Discography
With The Beau Brummels- Introducing the Beau BrummelsIntroducing the Beau BrummelsIntroducing the Beau Brummels is the debut album by American pop rock band The Beau Brummels. It was produced by Sly Stone, lead singer of Sly & the Family Stone. Unlike most debut albums of the era, ten of the twelve songs on this album are originals. The album peaked at number 24 on the U.S...
(1965) - The Beau Brummels, Vol. 2 (1965)
- Beau Brummels '66Beau Brummels '66Beau Brummels '66 is the third studio album by American rock group The Beau Brummels, and their first on Warner Bros. Records. The album consists of twelve cover songs and no originals...
(1966) - TriangleTriangle (The Beau Brummels album)Triangle is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Beau Brummels. Produced by Lenny Waronker and released in July 1967, it was the band's first album to include songs that vocalist Sal Valentino and guitarist Ron Elliott composed together...
(1967) - Bradley's BarnBradley's Barn-Personnel:* David Briggs – keyboards* Kenny Buttrey – drums* Ron Elliott – guitar, vocals* Norbert Putnam – bass* Jerry Reed – guitar* Sal Valentino – vocals-External links:* [ Bradley's Barn] at Allmusic...
(1968) - The Beau BrummelsThe Beau Brummels (album)The Beau Brummels is the sixth studio album by the American rock band of the same name. Released in April 1975, the album features the work of all five original bandmembers for the first time since the band's debut album, 1965's Introducing the Beau Brummels. The album peaked at number 180 on the U.S...
(1975)
With Stoneground
- StonegroundStoneground (album)Stoneground is the debut studio album by American rock band Stoneground, released in 1971 on Warner Bros. The album featured seven different lead vocalists, including Sal Valentino on four of the album's ten songs....
(1971) - Family AlbumFamily Album (Stoneground album)Family Album is the second album by American rock band Stoneground, a double album released in late 1971 on Warner Bros. It consists of both live and studio recordings and includes a mix of original songs and covers.- Composition and recording :...
(1971) - Stoneground 3Stoneground 3Stoneground 3, sometimes stylized as Stoneground Three, is the third album by American rock band Stoneground, released in 1972 on Warner Bros...
(1972)
Solo albums
- Dreamin' Man (2006)
- Come Out Tonight (2006)
- Every Now and Then (2008)
Collaborations
- Positively 12th and K: A Bob Dylan Tribute (by Jackie Greene/Sal Valentino & Friends) (2003)
External links
- BeauBrummels.com, official site of Sal Valentino
- http://www.gragroup.com/valentino.html