The Prime Movers

Although they never released any records, the Prime Movers were a pivotal band in Southeastern Michigan during the late '60s. Where many of their Michigan contemporaries played straight, frat-house rock & roll, the Prime Movers were a blues band. They were purists, inspired first by classic Chicago blues and then by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, who proved that white boys could play the blues. Led by brothers Michael and Dan Erlewine, the Prime Movers set out on the same path as Butterfield, playing countless gigs at clubs, frat parties and festivals around the Ann Arbor and Detroit area. They were slightly older than contemporaries like the Rationals, the MC5 and the Amboy Dukes, and were a core part of the scene -- not only as a blues band, but they also touched on folk and avant-garde music, as well -- and they earned a large local following. They did venture out to San Francisco, playing a few opening dates at the Matrix, Straight Theater, Haight "A", and Fillmore West, yet they never quite achieved national success. Nevertheless almost all of its core members made their mark in music one way or another. The Prime Movers were formed in the summer of 1965. Initially, the group featured Michael Erlewine on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Dan Erlewine on lead guitar and vocals, Robert Sheff on keyboards and vocals, Robert Vinopal on bass and Spider Winn on drums. All the members lived in a house on North Division street. Before too long, Michael began playing amplified harmonica, in addition to lead vocals and rhythm guitar. Vinopal left the band and was replaced by Jack Dawson, while James Osterberg, a former member of the Iguanas, took over the drums. (Since Osterberg played in the Iguanas, the other members called him "Iguana," which metamorphisized to "Iggy,"...