Pure prairie league full#
Pure prairie league trial#

As a result of their heavy schedule, particularly at colleges, their songs became well known “Amie” (Craig Fuller’s ode to an on-again/off-again relationship), from the second album, became a particular favorite.Īs “Amie” grew in popularity, radio stations began receiving requests for it. Pure Prairie League hit the road and began playing gigs constantly, mostly in the Northeast, Midwest and Southeast. Goshorn played in a popular Ohio band called The Sacred Mushroom. Reilly took over as the band’s leader and brought in his friend Larry Goshorn (vocals, guitars) to replace Fuller in November 1973.

Pure prairie league full#

He was eventually given a full pardon by President Gerald Ford. requirements and was not inclined to rejoin at that time. Fuller, though out of prison by now, was working the late shift in a community hospital to satisfy his C.O. At this point, RCA dropped the band and their future looked bleak.īy August 1973, the band members were in Cincinnati and managed to persuade Call to return. Before conscientious objector (C.O.) status could be arranged, he was sentenced to six months in jail and forced to leave Pure Prairie League in February 1973.

Pure prairie league trial#

Shortly afterward, the group returned to Ohio and Fuller had to face trial for charges of draft evasion in Kentucky. Bustin’ Out was released in October 1972. Michael Reilly, who would become the longtime bass player and front man for the band, joined them in early September 1972, after the record’s completion. Mick Ronson, of David Bowie and Mott the Hoople fame, contributed string arrangements on several tracks, most notably “Boulder Skies” and “Call Me Tell Me”. Billy Hinds from Cincinnati (drums, percussion) and Hinds’ friend, Michael Connor, contributed piano to the sessions and would become a regular in the Pure Prairie League line-up for years to come. Fuller, Powell, and producer Bob Ringe decided to record the album in RCA’s Toronto studio, so in the summer of 1972, they began work on album number two, Bustin’ Out, which was produced, as was their debut, by Ringe and featured the songs of Fuller and Powell. After releasing their debut album in March 1972 (recorded in New York City) and embarking on a nationwide tour, Call, Caughlan and Lanham left the band.Īt that point the band owed RCA another album. Their eponymous first album used a Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post cover featuring a trail-worn cowboy, named Luke, who would appear on the cover of every Pure Prairie League recording thereafter. He then placed Pure Prairie League as an opening act with many of the concerts he was producing. Abramson was able to obtain a contract with RCA Records. Adams area in Cincinnati and later signed them to a management contract. At the behest of Jim Westermeyer, Pure Prairie League’s roadie, Abramson saw the band at New Dilly’s, a nightclub in the Mt. Jim Caughlan, who’d played guitar and drums with Fuller, Call and McGrail in earlier bands, took over on drums and Jim Lanham from California replaced Stokes.Įarly on, the Pure Prairie League was looking for national artist representation and they made contact with a well-known Cleveland based rock and roll promoter, Roger Abramson. In 1971 McGrail and Stokes left the band to rehearse with Bill Bartlett (of Beechwood Farm, Ram Jam and The Lemon Pipers fame). Call’s steel guitar added country credibility and sparked guitar duels with Fuller that reinforced the signature sound of the band. In 1970 the first solid Pure Prairie League lineup was Fuller, McGrail, George Ed Powell, Phil Stokes on bass and Robin Suskind on guitar and mandola, with steel guitar player John David Call joining the band later that year. Fuller, McGrail, Caughlan and Call had played together in various bands since high school, notably the Omars and the Swiss Navy. As of 2015, they are still doing at least 100 shows a year.Īlthough the band has its roots in Waverly, Ohio, it was actually formed in Columbus and had its first success in Cincinnati. The band has had a long run, active from the 1970s through the late 1980s and was revived in the late 1990s for a time, then again in 2004. The band had five Top 40 LPs in the 1970s and added a sixth in the 1980s. In 1970 McGrail named the band after a fictional 19th century temperance union featured in the 1939 Errol Flynn cowboy film Dodge City. Pure Prairie League is an American country rock band whose history goes back to 1965 and Waverly, Ohio, with Craig Fuller, Tom McGrail, Jim Caughlan, and John David Call.