Josefus

Josefus was one of the first American bands to bridge late-'60s hard rock with early-'70s heavy metal. Their two albums, both released in 1970, were extremely influenced by early Led Zeppelin, and to a lesser degree other heavy British and American rock groups from the end of the '60s. Blues-rock formed much of the base; Pete Bailey's high tortured vocals owed much to the Robert Plant school, and the songs were built around crunching riffs. But the songs and riffs, mostly in a downbeat foreboding posture, weren't all that good. If Josefus was a pioneer, it was in the sense that the band was one of the first models for the blunt sound of Texas hard rock and heavy metal, to be expounded upon with much greater success by the likes of ZZ Top. Josefus' lead guitarist, Dave Mitchell, and bassist, Ray Turner, had played together in the high-school band Rip West (a couple of Rip West tracks appear on the three-CD Josefus box, Dead Box). Mitchell, Turner, and drummer Doug Tull later played together in a pre-Josefus band whose demo, "I Love You," can also be heard on Dead Box. Mitchell, Turner, and Tull changed their name to Josefus when singer Pete Bailey joined. Although Phillip White was in the first Josefus lineup as a second lead guitarist (and is heard on three early live tracks on Dead Box), he dropped out in late 1969. Shortly afterward, in December 1969, Josefus recorded an album's worth of material in Phoenix. The producer, Jim Musil, wanted the band to change its name to Come before the album came out, against the group's wishes, although the band did perform as Come for a few weeks. A single,"Crazy Man"/"Country Boy," from those sessions was released on the Dandelion label. But the album remained unissued, though it came out many years later under the name Get Off My...