White Lightning was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...

 band, active from 1968 through 1971. The band was founded by guitarist Zippy Caplan and bassist Woody Woodrich. The band was very popular in Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, mostly due to Caplan's fame playing with The Litter

The Litter

The Litter was an American psychedelic and garage rock band, formed in 1966 in Minneapolis. They are best remembered for their 1967 debut single "Action Woman." The group recorded an album in 1972 but would re-unite in 1990, 1992, and again in 1998, when they recorded a new studio album consisting...

. The manager of radio station KDWB

KDWB

KDWB-FM is an American commercial radio station broadcasting in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, the radio format was known for over fifty years as a major contemporary hit radio Top 40 pop music outlet. Its transmitter is located in Shoreview, Minnesota. It broadcasts in 5.1 cinema-quality...

 mistook the single "Of Paupers and Poets" for a song by Cream

Cream (band)

Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...

, giving valuable early airtime to the band.

"White Lightning" was on ATCO Records, a division of Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

.

Eventually, the band broke up due to musical differences, especially between Woodrich and Caplan.

Band members

• Tom "Zippy" Caplan (lead guitar)
• Woody Woodrich (lead & bass guitars & vocals)
• Ronn Roberts (lead guitar & bass, vocals)
• Mick Stanhope (lead singer & drums)
• Bernard Pershey (drums, marimba, xylophone)
• Garr Johnson (drums)
• Russ Paul (guitar)
• Joey Boom Boom Winters (drums)
• Peter Dean Korellis (guitar)
• Ron Merchant (bass, keyboard)
• Dan Burniece (drums, vocals)
• Nickolas Jack Miller

Discography

• Of Paupers and Poets (1968)
• Lightning (1970)
• (Under the Screaming Double) Eagle (1995)
• The Lost Studio Album 1969 (1995)
• White Lightning Strikes Twice (1997)

Band members' whereabouts as of 2010

Ronn Roberts toured with numerous acts in the 1970s and early 1980s, including Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...

, David Bowie

David Bowie

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

, The Righteous Brothers

The Righteous Brothers

The Righteous Brothers were the musical duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. They recorded from 1963 through 1975, and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003...

, Ike and Tina Turner, Jim Messina, John Mayall

John Mayall

John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...

, Bread

Bread (band)

Bread was a rock band from Los Angeles, California. They placed 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1970 and 1977 and were a prime example of what later was labeled soft rock....

, James Taylor

James Taylor

James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....

 and The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...

. He has formed two companies, Esoteric Pictures and Rave On Entertainment. He is married to the former Mary Catherine Percy and the couple have five daughters: Paris, Ashley, Regan, Ryanne and Taylor. In the summer of 2010, Roberts and Pat Robinson are at work on "Kidz That Rock (USA)", a concept for teaching music to children across the Los Angeles area.

Zip Caplan is recording another music project with his Ventures

The Ventures

The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...

 tribute band, The Surf Dogs, in Minneapolis.

Bernie Pershey has toured with Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...

, Walter Trout

Walter Trout

Walter Trout is an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter.-Biography:Trout's career began on the Jersey coast scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He then decided to relocate to Los Angeles where he became a sideman for Percy Mayfield and Deacon Jones...

, Edgar Winter

Edgar Winter

Edgar Holland Winter is an American musician. He is famous for being a multi-instrumentalist. He is a highly skilled keyboardist, saxophonist and percussionist. He often plays an instrument while singing. He was most successful in the 1970s with his band, The Edgar Winter Group, notably with their...

 and for eight years with The Animals

The Animals

The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...

/Eric Burdon

Eric Burdon

Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer-songwriter best known as a founding member and vocalist of rock band The Animals, and the funk rock band War and for his aggressive stage performance...

. Currently he is in Norway with Eric Sardinas

Eric Sardinas

Eric Sardinas is an American blues-rock guitarist born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is noted for his use of the electric resonator guitar and his live performances. He sometimes sets his guitar alight on stage and during shows....

, playing gigs. Bernie & Eric et al, also played gigs with ZZ Top

ZZ Top

ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...

 in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

and other parts of the world during their fall swing through Europe.

Mick Stanhope is married and living in Las Vegas.

Sources

• Official The Litter, (White) Lightning Site