Russell DaShiell

Journeyman rock musician Russell DaShiell was born July 23, 1947, in Philadelphia, PA, the son of Daniel Harrison DaShiell, a radio electronics engineer, and Francis (Wolfe) DaShiell. The family moved to the island of Oahu, HI, when DaShiell was three years old, and he lived there until he was 15. His first musical instrument was the ukulele, but when he was 14 he heard a neighbor playing guitar and found it a life-changing experience. Although he never took lessons, the guitar became his passion, and he learned to play by ear while listening to records and the radio, his early influences including Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and the Ventures, and later the Beatles, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix. In 1963, his family moved to Florida, and there, while attending high school, he formed his first band, the Beau Gentry. In addition to DaShiell on guitar and vocals, it featured Doug Killmer on bass and vocals, and Rick Jaeger on drums. After graduating from high school in 1965, DaShiell attended junior college locally for a year before transferring to Wisconsin State University, but eventually dropped out to be a full-time musician. After playing in the Midwest for two years, the Beau Gentry changed their name to Crowfoot and relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in December 1968 in hopes of securing a record deal. Despite numerous local gigs including the Fillmore West, that deal was not forthcoming, however, and the three musicians took session work and backup jobs to make ends meet. DaShiell played on the self-titled album by A.B. Skhy in 1969; DaShiell and Jaeger joined the band of former Canned Heat guitarist Harvey Mandel and DaShiell played on Mandel's album Games Guitars Play; and, DaShiell and Killmer played on Norman Greenbaum's album Spirit in the Sky, the...