Denise Kaufman

I borrowed a CD a couple of months ago from a work colleague, titled the 60's Garage collection, but basically a collection of US Mod singles from the 60's (for the Ignorant, if you've ever heard the tracks "Louie Louie" and "Liar Liar"- alliterative character unintended- then you've heard Garage- not to be confused with the modern British urban variant). Garage was the fare of several bands around the California area mainly which spread hence to the rest of the US, some kind of rebellious reaction to the more bland offerings of Surf Rock available. In short a kind of Punk forebear. More info on this genre here if you're interested. http://www.finerecordingstudio.com/g45/

I shall confess that only about 5 of the 16 tracks on the album appealed to me, now one in particular struck me significantly, the song kicked off with a raw Harmonica Intro and straight into the body and did it rock! A totally off-key but powerful Bassline, a fairly simple progression and some kick-ass raw and almost harsh female vocals. Put this in context, I was listening to this CD whilst driving to work on my daily masochistic pilgrimage and on a particularly horrendous day of gridlock around the A13/A12 circuit.

The lyrics were another thing- "you saw me out with your best friend, I did it then and I'll do it again, boy if I leave you what would you then.....you know the wild life I like to live and I can take more than you can give........take me as I am or else we're through.." Now these were pretty bold lyrics, not shocking in a 90's sense but certainly for the time 1965.

A bit more digging and I found out the song was written by a young lady, basically reading the riot act to her preppie boyfriend, who was obviously trying to keep her wayward ways students from the California area, the young girl- a diminutive, mousy, poker-faced, tough little cookie, by the name of Denise Kaufman (bottom picture above and left in middle pic) and the preppie boyfriend? Well.. a certain Jan Wenner, who so happened to have been freed by the end of his relationship with Kaufman to found Rolling Stone Magazine in 1967.

The song was originally recorded by Denise as a solo artiste and I believe subsequently with her band the- Ace of Cups, hence the song can be found on certain compilations under the heading- Denise and Company or plain Denise Kaufman.

Denise, was born in 1946 in Boston to a British mum and American dad. learning her trade from an early age at the San Francisco conservatory, she played the Piano and wrote Poetry. She met a guy called Lonnie Hewitt at UCB and actually recorded the solo single under his label. It does appear however that the band was formed before this single was recorded, as she didn't join the band till late 1965, with existing members being- Mary-Ellen Simpson, Diane Vitalich, Marla Hanson and Mary ? (she doesn't give her surname).

The Band did not have a particular direction until the advent of Kaufman, here's a quote from Mary on this:

"We didn't have a "concept" at that time - a thought of what we were going for, but that was soon gonna change when the fireball with the cowboy boots and a full set of harmonicas showed up. She was Denise - I don't know what she got to 1480 Waller or what she thought of us, but something clicked in her I know, She opened up everything for us. Her friendship with a holy man named Ambrose Hollingworth, her friendship with Wavy Gravy and members of the Grateful Dead, with whom she had hung around on "The Bus," her connections with Leslie Scardelli through Ambrose and through herself, and also her friends at Fantasy Records to say the least; - all these people she shared with us, and at that point we became something more than just a bunch of straggling artists/musicians. She was connected to the scene - and she had a vision of what we could be. At that time, we were blind - but still moving, she gave us a destination. Denise also had a friendship with Ralph Gleason and his family, and that would bounce us up to a lot of good reviews in the SFCronicle (We earned them -Ralph was an honest reviewer)."

This band's style was rough, raw, liberated and rebellious and they took the California scene by storm, playing several gigs around the area. I don't believe they broke the National market..no, no too radical. However the California scene was pretty big and they made some very strong impressions, notably opening for Hendrix at the Panhandle Concert in 1966. They formed a close relationship with Hendrix, and the Grateful Dead. The Band also opened for Muddy Waters in a couple of gigs in Chicago.

Its unclear how the Band broke up, though more likely they simply drifted apart, pursuing different Hippy goals. Undeniable however is their influence, they were one of the first successful all-female bands and particularly interesting was their strong feminist message at a fertile period in American history. They were the forebears of the girls with attitude principle, carried on by Suzi Quatro et al. They may not have had global popularity, but they certainly were gutsy pioneers in their own right and as they would admit, they weren't virtuosos but played from their hearts and did it show.

Denise Kaufman today plays in small venues around San Francisco and teaches Yoga, the band had a recent reunion, more spiritual than musical. I'm definitely a fan.

Do take a listen to the song and others here http://www.mp3.com/ace-of-cups/artists/36418/songs.html?tag=tabs;songs&om_act=convert&om_clk=arttabs

Also here's a link to their website http://www.theaceofcups.com/acesite1.html