A Bill Champlin History Lesson

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In 1965, Bill was in a band originally called 'The Masterbeats,' which performed Beatles and Rolling Stones material. This band later became 'The Sons of Champlin.' The band personnel included, Tim Caine (sax), Terry Haggerty (guitar), Geoff Palmer (keyboards), Al Strong (bass), Bill Champlin (guitar/vocals), and Jim Myers (drums), who joined the Armed Forces and was later replaced by Bill Bowen (drums). This group made three albums, "Loosen Up Naturally" 8/69, "The Sons" 11/69, and "Minus Seeds and Stems". They disbanded in March 1970. That month, Bill joined a group known as the 'Rhythm Dukes,' whose personnel included Bill Champlin (guitar/vocals), John Barrett (bass/vocals), John Oxendine (drums), Don Stevenson (drums/vocals), and Jerry Miller (guitar/vocals). He was with this group 'till the fall of 1970. In November of 1970, 'The Sons' got back together, this time without Tim Caine or Jim Myers. They released an album "Follow Your Heart" in April 1971, but they didn't feel that things were working out. Bill Bowen and Al Strong left the group, and were replaced by David Schallock (bass) (from Big Brother and the Holding Co.) and Bill Vitt (drums) (a session musician). With this line-up, the band became 'Yogi Phlegm' from June 1971 to January 1972. That same month, it was back to being 'The Sons', Bill Vitt was replaced by Jim Preston (drums), and added to the group were Michael Andreas (woodwinds), Mark Isham (brass), and Phil Wood (brass). This was the most stable Sons line-up. They released "Welcome To The Dance" 7/73, "Sons Of Champlin" 3/75, and "A Circle Filled With Love" 5/76. In November 1976, David Schallock was replaced by Rob Moitza (bass), who had been with Bill in 'The Opposite Six.' A new brass section was brought in, which included, David Farey (trumpet/flugelhorn) and Steve Frediani (sax/flute). This group recorded the last Sons album, called "Loving Is Why" 4/77. In August 1977, The Sons disbanded. Since then, Bill has released 7 solo albums, "Single" 1978, "Runaway" 1981, "No Wasted Moments" 1990, "Burn Down The Night" 1992, "Through It All" 1994, "He Started To Sing" 1995, and "Mayday" 1996. And since 1982, Bill has been a lead singer, guitar player, and organ player for the rock group, 'Chicago.' In 1998, 'The Sons of Champlin' re-organized, with Bill Champlin, Jim Preston, David Schallock, Geoff Palmer and Terry Haggerty back, with new members, Tom Saviano (sax) and Mic Gillette (trumpet/trombone) from 'Tower of Power.' They have toured recently in both Northern California and Portland, Oregon. Hopefully they will be on the road sometime in the near future. If you would like to see 'The Sons' come to your hometown, drop them a line!