RJ Fox

RJ Fox was one of the most phenomenally talented harmony groups to emerge in the heady climate of Marin County circa the early '70s. The acoustic trio made all the right artistic choices and had all the appropriate business connections, not to mention a backlog of haunting, exploratory songs. Unfortunately, that fact was lost on all but a select group of music insiders because the wealth of material that the combo recorded was never released commercially. Through an ill-fated turn of events -- the proverbial bad record industry dealings -- their music was left to languish in tape vaults until it finally saw proper (albeit limited) release more than 20 years after it was originally recorded. By that point it may have been too late for any sort belated success, but it at least shed light on some exceptional, criminally neglected music. RJ Fox came together in Detroit at the twilight of the '60s when singer/songwriters Richard Hovey ("R"), Joel Siegel ("J"), and Sherry Fox ("Fox") formed a vocal trio inspired by acoustically and harmonically rich groups like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and America. They honed a gorgeous live mixture of labyrinthine melodies and arrangements and a highly involved vocal blend, as strong and unique in its way as that of their heroes, because they didn't realized that many of the harmonies they were emulating were achieved and perfected through series of overdubs. They eventually added bass player Marty Lewis and guitarist John Garlak to the band. In 1971, RJ Fox drove all the way from Michigan to San Francisco with the intention of auditioning for David Crosby. Upon their arrival, the band talked a security guard at Wally Heider's Studio, where Crosby was finishing up the mixing on his stoned solo masterpiece If I Could Only Remember My Name...