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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