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Thread: Origins of Sweet Smoke

  1. #1

    Origins of Sweet Smoke

    Sweet Smoke was a jamming hippie band from New York that, due to a strange turn of events in great part induced by the adventurous nature of its musicians, ended up living in Germany in the early seventies and recording three albums when Krautrock was in its prime.
    Their music is characterized by its intense and very long guitar jams, and the first one in particular -Just a Poke- is included in many top Krautrock albums lists.
    The band had a convoluted history that included, besides their stay in Germany and living in a commune, travelling to India in search of an spiritual guru.
    Before all this, however, in 1968, they performed regularly in the Café Wha club in Greenwich Village and, for a few months, had a residency in two clubs owned by the same Café Wha owner, one in the Virgin Islands and the other one in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
    Being from Puerto Rico, I’ve always been curious about this after reading about it in the band’s official web page (http://sweetsmokeband.com/), and a few days ago I had the chance to interview, via E-mail, lead guitarist and vocalist Marvin Kamminowitz, now known as Marvin Kane “because it was easier for people to remember”.
    Here’s a summary of our conversation.

    QUESTION - From what I read in you history, the band played both in Old San Juan and the Virgin Islands for a six month period in clubs owned by the Cafe Wha owner.
    ANSWER- The length of the gig was three months. We played for one month in San Juan followed by two months in St. Thomas

    QUESTION - Do you remember how often did you play in Old San Juan? Where? Did the band reside here or in the Virgin Islands during this period?
    ANSWER - We played six nights a week in Old San Juan. The name of the club was the Jet Set, owned or managed by a man named Jack Roach. It was located on Calle Recinto Sur near the port of San Juan. While there we stayed in an apartment a few blocks from the club.

    QUESTION - Any remembrance of the set list? Was it covers?
    ANSWER - The set list was mostly covers of popular tunes plus a few originals. We liked to jam a lot so many of our songs were quite long with extended solo sections.

    QUESTION -
    Any remembrance of the audience you attracted here in San Juan? Was it mostly tourists?
    ANSWER - Not many tourists. The club was near a US Coast Guard base so we got a lot of Coast Guard people, Navy people. There was a group of 5 or 6 Puerto Rican girls who were at the club every night, probably working. They befriended us and would often come back to our apartment with us after the gig. They showed us around Old San Juan. I think the tourists were uncomfortable with the location of the club so we didn't see many.

    QUESTION - Any contact with local artists or musicians?
    ANSWER - Strangely we didn't meet many local artists and musicians. Not sure why. I do remember walking the streets of Old San Juan and hearing many bands playing the most wonderful salsa y merenque music outside on different street corners. I loved the way people would gather to listen and just start dancing in the street. I developed a taste for Latin music that still remains.

    QUESTION - Did this period of regular playing in the same venue become an important step in the band's development, or had Sweet Smoke more or less already found its style before that?
    ANSWER - Our style continued to evolve but our experience in Puerto Rico and St. Thomas laid the foundation for what came later. If you've followed the Sweet Smoke story then you know that a few years after Puerto Rico and St. Thomas we ended up in Europe where we lived and worked for over three years recording three albums and enjoying a fair amount of success.

    QUESTION - Any tapes exists of the band playind during this period?
    ANSWER - Sadly, no.

    QUESTION – Did you consider yourself part of the krautrock movement?
    ANSWER - We never considered ourselves part of the Krautrock scene. Krautrock was a distinctly German phenomenon and we were a distinctly American band. Our influences were American (except for the Beatles of course). Although we were familiar with and enjoyed the music of bands like Amon Duul and Kraftwerk, we sounded nothing like them. Coincidentally, Conrad Plank, one of the engineers and producers of Kraftwerk and other Krautrock bands also engineered Sweet Smoke's first album.

    QUESTION – I see... although there were a lot of jamming bands in Germany in that era -Agitation Free, Ash Ra Tempel, etc.-, and also a few non German or partly non German bands (Nektar, Message, Epitaph, etc.)
    ANSWER – Yes, I particularly remember Nektar.
    QUESTION – Thanks!
    JORGE L. PEREZ PUERTO RICO

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  3. #3


    Thx for this! Always enjoyed Just a Poke quite a bit, and their backgound story was (almost) notoriously dim, even with collectors and chroniclers.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
    "[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM

  4. #4
    "Just a Poke" is excellent, I remember buying it blind because it had a beautiful cover and two long song filling each side of the vinyl. I was not disappointed!

  5. #5
    Member Joe F.'s Avatar
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    I only have the Live album, but I dig the hell out it.

  6. #6
    I once heard the drumsolo of Just a poke in a music store and I bought the record, which at that time was a disapointment for me, so I returned it. Now I have all albums on CD. My taste has changed over time. It was the same with Kraftwerk - Autobahn. I liked the single, when I was young, but when I heard the long version, I didn't like it at all. Now it is my favorite song by them.

  7. #7
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    The live album is rather good too... I've got everything they did in two double cd sets (the 2on1 for the studio + the live one - expanded)
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  8. #8
    Lapicero Verde, a cultural page published in Puerto Rico, has just published in Spanish my article about Sweet Smoke, based on a Email interview with one of the band's members.
    http://lapiceroverde.com/la-extrana-...e-sweet-smoke/

  9. #9
    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
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    Once in a great while, someone here starts a thread about a band I've never heard and/or heard of.

    Extremely infrequently, that band will cause me to reflect, "why the fuck didn't any of my many bandmates (68-74) know about this band????".

    This band is not just in my wheelhouse. They easily fit in my one car garage. This is exactly the kind of music I was listening to at the time SS recorded.

    What a story! And...many thanks, yoyiceu, for making an old man happy that he's still alive to hear one more band that he's never heard before, that he's locked into after maybe 8 bars .
    "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"

    President Harry S. Truman

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    Member Steve F.'s Avatar
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    Didn't see this posting until now. Great to learn a little background on a mostly forgotten, but good band.

    Quote Originally Posted by progeezer View Post

    This band is not just in my wheelhouse. They easily fit in my one car garage. This is exactly the kind of music I was listening to at the time SS recorded.
    Jeez, Geez, with all the weed you smoke, you never even heard of a band called Sweet Smoke?

    Steve F.

    www.waysidemusic.com
    www.cuneiformrecords.com

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    Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]

    "Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"

    please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.

  11. #11
    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
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    ^^^^

    Made me cough, Steve.
    "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"

    President Harry S. Truman

  12. #12
    Member Jay.Dee's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe F. View Post
    I only have the Live album, but I dig the hell out it.


    Yeah, this album really... smokes. One day I played it inadvertently while thinking that I was spinning a Grateful Dead's live disc and ended up glued to the speakers murmuring in disbelief: "what a red hot string of Dead's improvisations!".

  13. #13
    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
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    I just ordered the 2 for 1 reissue of Just A Poke and Darkness To Light and the live album.

    This is a "kid in a candy store" band for me. Wish they had been more popular and/or prolific.
    "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"

    President Harry S. Truman

  14. #14
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steve F. View Post
    Didn't see this posting until now. Great to learn a little background on a mostly forgotten, but good band.

    Quote Originally Posted by progeezer View Post

    This band is not just in my wheelhouse. They easily fit in my one car garage. This is exactly the kind of music I was listening to at the time SS recorded.
    Jeez, Geez, with all the weed you smoke, you never even heard of a band called Sweet Smoke?

    You can bet The Geez would've heard of them if their debut album had been called Just A Toke


    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  15. #15
    Geriatric Anomaly progeezer's Avatar
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    You guys are making me cough too much!
    "My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"

    President Harry S. Truman

  16. #16
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    I've never heard of the band but I opened the thread just to see if the Geezer would be involved. No surprise but the context did. I think there still may be five more bands he us unaware of....

  17. #17
    An audience tape from 1973 was released a few years ago, and it includes a full concert: almost two hours.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRNN6duDUyU

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