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Pete Bradstreet ~ Keyboards Bill Darnell ~ Guitar Buddy Emmons ~ Guitar Randy Fuller ~ Guitar Terry Gregg ~ Bass Harvey Kagen ~ Bass Steve Lefever ~ Bass Dewey Martin ~ Drums

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Rating: 3 stars ***

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Year: 19

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Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+

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Dewey Martin (born Walter Milton Dwayne Midkiff, September 30, 1940 – January 31, 2009[1]) was a Canadian rock drummer, best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

Career Dewey Martin was born in Chesterville, Ontario, Canada in 1940. He was raised there and in the surrounding Smiths Falls, Ontario and Ottawa, Ontario areas.[2] In Ottawa, he attended Glebe Collegiate Institute, where he was elected "head boy".

Martin started playing drums when he was about 13 years old. His first band was a high school outfit, The Jive Rockets, which also featured guitarist Vern Craig, later a member of the Staccatos. He soon progressed and played with various dance and rockabilly groups in the Ottawa Valley area, including Bernie Early & the Early Birds. Through rock and roll singer Andy Wilson, a veteran of the Ottawa-area scene, he was allowed a short guest appearance singing "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" backed by Wilson's group, Larry Lee and the Leesures, during the Leesures' appearance as part of a package rock & roll show in Ottawa in the early 1960s. A Nashville producer was sufficiently impressed and agreed to record him in Nashville.

Moves to United States and Nashville Interrupted by a brief stint in the U.S. Army, Martin's next couple of years were based out of Nashville, where he worked as a freelance (some say itinerant) drummer for many Country music legendary artists including Carl Perkins, The Everly Brothers, Patsy Cline, Charlie Rich, Faron Young and Roy Orbison, among others. In 1963, he travelled to Las Vegas with Faron Young's band and then to Los Angeles, California, where he was later quoted as having said he loved the climate[3] and decided to stay. However, various tours also took him out of town "on the road."

Sir Raleigh & The Coupons Through Mel Taylor of The Ventures, Martin began working in the Pacific Northwest with a group called Lucky Lee & The Blue Diamonds. In November 1964, he used some local musicians to record his first single, a cover of "White Cliffs of Dover" backed by the band original, "Somethin' or Other" for A&M Records, which was released under the guise Sir Raleigh & The Coupons.

During 1965 Sir Raleigh & The Coupons released two more singles on A&M – "While I Wait" c/w "Somethin' or Other" and "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day" c/w "Whitcomb Street" and a single for Tower – "Tell Her Tonight" c/w "If You Need Me."

During this period Martin returned to Los Angeles and picked up local group the Sons of Adam to support him as a permanent outfit back in the Northwest. The new line up opened for The Beach Boys and Herman's Hermits during this period.

Martin also recorded a final single for Tower – "I Don't Want to Cry" c/w "Always," which was released in February 1966. In 1980, Picc-A-Dilly/First American label pulled together most of The Sir Raleigh & The Coupons material for the Dewey Martin album, "One Buffalo Heard."

The Standells, MFQ and The Dillards Back in Los Angeles in late 1965 Martin spent a few months with The Standells when drummer/singer Dick Dodd left. When Dodd returned in February 1966, Martin briefly joined The Modern Folk Quartet before touring and recording a demo with The Dillards. During late March/early April, Martin was working with The Dillards at the Ice House in Pasadena when Doug Dillard told him that his services were no longer needed and gave him a telephone number for a new group that needed a drummer. The band was Buffalo Springfield.

Buffalo Springfield Martin became the last member to join the legendary group at its founding. Along with Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, he was one of only three musicians to stay with the group from its inception in April 1966 to its disbandment on May 5, 1968. During his time with the group Martin also did session work for The Monkees.

In concert he sang covers of Wilson Pickett's "In The Midnight Hour" and Richie Furay's "Nobody's Fool" and "Good Time Boy." The latter appeared on the band's second album, Buffalo Springfield Again. He also sang Neil Young's "Mr. Soul" as the introduction to Young's "Broken Arrow" on the same album. Martin also sang backing vocals on the band's biggest hit, Stephen Stills's classic political rock anthem "For What It's Worth."

New Buffalo Springfield When the original band broke up Martin formed a new version in September 1968. Dubbed "New Buffalo Springfield", the lineup comprised guitarists Dave Price (Davy Jones' stand-in in The Monkees) and Gary Rowles (son of jazz pianist Jimmy Rowles); bass player Bob Apperson; drummer Don Poncher; and horn player Jim Price, who later became a top session musician for The Rolling Stones and Joe Cocker among others.

The new band toured extensively and appeared at the highly publicised "Holiday Rock Festival" in San Francisco on December 25–26 but soon ran afoul of Stephen Stills and Neil Young who took legal action to prevent Martin from using the band's name.

In February 1969, Martin and Dave Price formed a second version of New Buffalo Springfield with guitarist Bob "BJ" Jones and bass player Randy Fuller, brother of Bobby Fuller. The band did some tentative recordings with producer Tom Dowd overseeing but they were scrapped. They performed live at the Easter Rock Festival in Fort Lauderdale, FL on April 1 of 1969.

The second line up was expanded with another guitarist Joey Newman in June 1969, but two months later Martin was fired and the remaining members carried on as Blue Mountain Eagle.

Medicine Ball In September 1969 Martin signed a solo deal with Uni Records and recorded a cover of the country favourite, "Jambalaya" with session ace and TCB Band member James Burton on guitar. It was released as a single with Martin's own composition "Ala-Bam" on the b-side.

He then briefly worked on some new material with guitarist John Noreen from the folk-rock group, Rose Garden but by December the pair had split.

Martin next put together a new group called Medicine Ball, which featured mainstays, guitarist Billy Darnell and pianist Pete Bradstreet, who later recorded with the band Electric Range. The band also featured at various times, guitarists Bob Stamps and Randy Fuller, and bass players Terry Gregg, Harvey Kagan and Steve Lefever. An album, "Dewey Martin's Medicine Ball", was released in August 1970 and featured steel guitarist Buddy Emmons and former Buffalo Springfield bass player Bruce Palmer.

In late 1970 Martin and Darnell formed a new version of Medicine Ball with pianist Charles Lamont and bass player Tom Leavey and made some tentative recordings which were subsequently scrapped.

Martin then recorded five tracks with the TCB Band for RCA. Two of the songs – a cover of Alan O'Day's "Caress Me Pretty Music" and a cover of Joe Cocker and Chris Stainton's "There Must Be A Reason" were put out as a single in early 1971. In June of that year Martin traveled to Bakersfield, California, where he judged a Battle of the Bands sponsored by a local radio station. There he spotted the Bill Shaw Madness, whose members included, in addition to Shaw (guitar and vocals), Mark Yeary (piano, organ and vocals), Lew Wilcox (bass and vocals), Daddy Ray Arvizu (saxes), and Eric Griffin (drums). That night Martin tapped Madness as his backup band, intending to tour in support of the material he had recorded for RCA. Following several months of rehearsal and two Bakersfield performances, creative differences led to Martin's return to Los Angeles. After producing an album for Truk in late 1971, Martin retired from the music industry to become a car mechanic. By the mid 1970s he was back in hometown Ottawa, living with his mother and taking an interest in the career of a local group, Maxwell Train. Together with Toronto-based Bruce Palmer, he sought to introduce the group to US industry contacts, but nothing substantial came of the project - though Martin remained in the US.

Eighties revival and beyond During the mid-1980s Martin briefly worked with Pink Slip and the Meisner-Roberts Band. In the late 80's while touring with Roberts and Meisner, he decided to stay a few extra nights in San Antonio following a gig for the San Antonio Jaycees to see his buddy, musician Augie Myers. Martin told concert producer/musician Raven Alan St. John he had been robbed by hotel maids at the Sierra Royale Suites and couldn't pay for the extra nights. The hotel comped him for two more nights and fired one maid.

He also played with Buffalo Springfield Revisited, the band formed by original bass player, Bruce Palmer. During the early 1990s Martin revived the mantle under the name "Buffalo Springfield Again" with Bruce Palmer and Joe Dickinson (father of singer Laura Dickinson) for further live work but retired around 1998. Since then he spent time developing his own drum rim.

In 1997 Martin invented and filed a patent application for a drum with a three-part rim that could be used to make three different rimshot sounds. He received patent 5,834,667 on this drum on Nov 10, 1998; the patent was issued to him under his legal name, Walter M.D. Midkiff. In 1997 Dewey was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with Buffalo Springfield.

In 2008 Martin joined the cast of Matt Alan's live Internet radio program, OUTLAW RADIO. His unique personality, fascinating stories, and quirky wit soon endeared him to the show's worldwide audience. A special three-hour tribute to "The Great Dewey Martin" was broadcast Saturday, February 9, produced by Matt Alan, and featuring tributes by those who knew and loved him, including record producer John Hill, author Burl Barer, Prescott Niles of The Knack, Micky Dolenz of The Monkees, media legend Shadoe Stevens, and many more. The program is available in the archives at Outlawradiousa.com.[citation needed]

Death Martin died on January 31, 2009. His body was found the next day by a roommate in his Van Nuys apartment. Longtime friend Lisa Lenes said Martin had health problems in previous years, and she believed he died of natural causes. He was 68.[1]

ewey Martin, Canadian-born drummer for the short-lived but influential 1960s rock group Buffalo Springfield, has died. He was 68.

Martin was found dead Sunday in Van Nuys, Calif., his friend Lisa Lenes said in a statement Thursday. No cause of death has been determined, but it is believed he died of natural causes.

Martin joined with Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Bruce Palmer to form Buffalo Springfield in Los Angeles in 1966.

Their unique sound, melding country, folk and rock, had a strong influence on 1970s rock.

Martin played drums on songs such as Bluebird, Mr. Soul, Rock 'N' Roll Woman and For What It's Worth.

Fellow Canadian Young recalled Martin's style in his autobiography, Shakey.

"He can feel the music, you don't have to tell him," Young wrote. "You get harder, he hits harder. You pull back, he hits back."

Buffalo Springfield released three albums, including Buffalo Springfield Again, which Rolling Stone magazine ranks No. 188 on its list of greatest rock albums.

The band, known for its sparring members, broke up in 1968.

Session musician Martin was born Walter Milton Dewayne Midkiff on Sept. 30, 1940, in Chesterville, Ont., near Ottawa.

He did a stint in the U.S. army and worked as a session musician in Nashville, playing with country greats including Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison and the Everly Brothers before going to California.

While other members of Buffalo Springfield went on to high-profile careers, Martin was not as successful.

He attempted to keep the band's name alive after its split, recruiting members for the New Buffalo Springfield. But he was sued by Young and Stills over use of the name and his new group became Blue Mountain Eagle.

Martin later worked with musicians such as Buddy Emmons and Rose Garden's John Noreen. In the 1970s, he formed a group called Medicine Ball, which also was short-lived, and then worked as a mechanic.

In the mid-1980s, he played with Bruce Palmer in the tribute group Buffalo Springfield Revisited.

In 1993, Martin moved to Canada and did several tours in Western Canada as Buffalo Springfield Revisited with a different group of musicians, according to British rock writer Nick Warburton.

He retired from live work soon afterward.

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the rest of Buffalo Springfield in 1997.

Most rock fans know that after Buffalo Springfield broke up, three of its members -- Neil Young, Stephen Stills, and Richie Furay -- went on to record numerous notable records, in bands and as solo artists, in which they figured strongly as talented singer/songwriters. It's far less known that the other two members of the original band, drummer Dewey Martin and bassist Bruce Palmer, also continued to make records, both releasing LPs as solo artists in the early '70s. As Martin (unlike Palmer) had a respectable voice, one might think he was better positioned to make a go of it under his own name than his old rhythm-section partner, if not nearly as well equipped for solo stardom as Young, Stills, or Furay. In all frankness, however, the 1970 album Dewey Martin & Medicine Ball is not an overlooked nugget, though it's far more polished and song-oriented than Palmer's legendarily uncommercial The Cycle Is Complete. Instead, it's ordinary country-soul-rock, handicapped by Martin's lack of songwriting chops, Dewey contributing just one original tune, "Indian Child." While he actually had a decent husky soul-rock voice that was arguably underrepresented in Buffalo Springfield (although he did sing lead on that group's "Good Time Boy"), it's not showcased to its best advantage here, both because his vibrato-laden delivery can be erratic and because the songs aren't great. A couple notable players are in the supporting cast (particularly Buddy Emmons on steel guitar and ex-Bobby Fuller Four member Randy Fuller on rhythm guitar), and a pair of songs are written by Ron Davies, most known for penning a tune covered by David Bowie, "It Ain't Easy." Bruce Palmer is heard on acoustic guitar, also writing the folk-raga instrumental "Recital Palmer" -- which, since it doesn't have any drumming behind its lone acoustic guitar, is presumably an actual Bruce Palmer solo track (and actually one of the best cuts). Martin doesn't do himself any favors, however, by trying to interpret classics by Buddy Holly ("Maybe Baby") and, in a weird country-pop arrangement, the Beatles' "Yesterday."

fter separating from The New Buffalo Springfield around late July 1969, drummer Dewey Martin signed a solo deal with Uni Records in October.

Shortly afterwards, he returned to the studio and, abetted by several session musicians (including guitar ace James Burton), he recorded a version of the country favourite “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)” backed by his own composition “Ala-Bam”, as a prospective single.

Record World, 22 November 1969

Advert in Record World, 22 November 1969 to promote new single release Under the musical direction of Mike Zalk, his former group meanwhile changed its name to Blue Mountain Eagle and recorded an eponymous album for Atco Records under the direction of David Geffen. Listening to it, the record bears all the hallmarks of The Buffalo Springfield sound.

By the time Blue Mountain Eagle’s album finally appeared in the shops in May 1970, Martin had been busy working on his next project, which was a more straightforward country-rock affair.

The seeds of the new group, later to be called Medicine Ball, had been sown shortly after the release of his solo single “Jambalaya (On The Bayou)” in October.

Credited to Dewey Martin, the single attracted little attention and even fewer sales, although this probably had something to do with the fact that only a handful of copies were pressed.

Undeterred, Martin set about piecing a new group together with 12-string guitarist John Noreen (b. 13 August 1950, Los Angeles, California), a former member of folk-rock band The Rose Garden – and best known for scoring a top 20 US hit in 1967 with “Next Plane to London”.

“I think Dewey and I got together through a mutual business partner, Charlie Greene of Greene and Stone,” recalls Noreen.

“They produced my band The Rose Garden and they also produced The Buffalo Springfield among many others.

“It was just myself on guitar and steel guitar, Dewey on drums and a bass player named Terry O’Malley. We would rehearse at my house in the San Fernando Valley. I remember making some recordings of the rehearsals to check our progress.

“Two of the songs I remember were ‘When The Telephone Rings’ and ‘Sittin’ Here Thinkin’. Anyway, it was decided to try another bass player, and we tried a few [but] I do not remember any names.”

Sometime in mid-December, Noreen bailed out. “I was going through a bad period in my life at that time. Uncle Sam was trying to send me off to Vietnam and I was a mess. My recollection of Dewey was that he was a good guy, he was funny and a good drummer.”

Starting from scratch, Martin ran into lead guitarist Billy Darnell in Nudie’s tailors around Christmas 1969 and asked him to form a new group with a guitarist and drummer who had recently come off the road with the late pianist Billy Preston. It wasn’t the first time the two had met.

Born in Michigan and raised in the San Fernando Valley, Darnell first bumped into Martin during a session break for Buffalo Springfield Again in late 1967.

Popping out to buy some drum sticks from a local music store, Martin noticed Darnell playing Stephen Stills’s “Go and Say Goodbye” on a guitar and the pair immediately struck up a rapport.

Though Martin subsequently invited Darnell back to the studios to watch Buffalo Springfield record, the pair wouldn’t meet again for another year, when Darnell found his band opening for New Buffalo Springfield on a couple of southern Californian dates.

Darnell’s previous musical accomplishments were modest – besides working with a Hollywood band called The Orphans and playing a couple of local dates with Albert King, his other notable achievement was doing session work for Dave Allen & The Arrows.

Nevertheless, Darnell would ultimately become Medicine Ball’s longest serving member and would continue to work with Martin, on and off, over the next three decades.

Within days of Darnell’s arrival, Martin decided to dispense with the drummer and guitarist and began looking around for fresh blood.

To fill the bass slot, Martin hired Terry Gregg (b. 18 March 1945, Port Angeles, Washington), formerly a member of Merrilee Rush & The Turnabouts and also a recent try out for the Righteous Brothers’ support band.

Around the same time, Martin added singer/songwriter and guitarist Ray Chafin (b. 26 December 1940, Williamson, West Virginia), whose musical career had started in the early 1960s when he rubbed shoulders with the original Beatles while playing at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany.

From there he returned home and worked for Fraternity Records in Cincinnati before recording for the LHI and Tower labels and co-writing songs for singer Dobie Gray.

Chafin’s arrival coincided with the addition of singer/songwriter and keyboard player Peter Bradstreet (b. 12 April 1947, Oak Park, Illinois).

While Chafin’s involvement with Medicine Ball would prove to be brief, Bradstreet, like Darnell, became another Medicine Ball mainstay. He’d also later co-found the country-rock band Electric Range with Darnell in the early ’90s.

Raised in Chicago, Buffalo and Dayton, Bradstreet had previously recorded an unreleased album with folk artists John Alden, Sandy Roepken and Dave Garrison in New York for the Vanguard label before moving out to Los Angeles in late 1969.

“Ray Chafin introduced me to Dobie [Gray] and Terry Gregg, whom I joined for a Turnabouts session [and] also got us together with Dewey and Billy,” remembers Bradstreet.

With Darnell arranging material and former Rolling Stones engineer Dave Hassinger producing, Medicine Ball entered the studios in early 1970 to record Ray Chafin’s “The Devil & Me”.

“I remember Dewey loved the song, which initiated our meeting,” says Chafin. “It was that meeting which started my involvement with Medicine Ball [but] the whole experience was rocky from the beginning.”

While the strong material bode well for the group’s future, it soon became apparent that Medicine Ball was not going to be a democratic band; rather it was merely a vehicle for Dewey Martin’s solo career.

This realisation led Chafin to move on after the first session and the remaining members cut two more tracks – Dewey Martin’s “Indian Child” and Peter Bradstreet and John Alden’s “I Do Believe”.

With Bob Stamps added on guitar, the band played an unannounced set at a small local venue.

As Gregg fondly recalls: “The first and last live performance I did with Dewey was at a North Hollywood lounge, I can’t remember the name. Dewey knew the owner and set up a showcase appearance for the group to plug the album. Well, the band shows up and we’re ushered to a reserved table at the back of the club. They’ve got a cover band playing that was very good. Next, bottles of champagne show up at our table and we’re really lappin’ this stuff up!

“After the other band’s set, the owner gets up on stage and proceeds to tell the audience that he has a special treat for them that night and at the climax of his announcement says, ‘ladies and gentlemen, Dewey Martin and The Buffalo Springfield’.

“Dewey immediately gets up and heads for the stage and the rest of us sit and stare at each other. From there everything was a real struggle dealing with that announcement, plugging into amps we didn’t have time to really get to know or the time to adjust to us, and did three songs we had nailed pretty good in the studio, but they were studio arrangements not arranged for a live performance! Needless to say, we did the songs, the audience was pretty forgiving.”

Gregg says that soon after the gig, he got an invitation back in Seattle that he couldn’t refuse and left the band, followed by recent recruit Bob Stamps.

Dewey Martin live. Photo: Jim Britt Martin soldiered on recruiting former Sir Douglas Quintet bass player Harvey Kagan (b. 18 April 1946, Texas) and ex-Blue Mountain Eagle/New Buffalo Springfield member Randy Fuller (b. 29 January 1944, Hobbs, New Mexico) on rhythm guitar and vocals.

“I had been working with The Sir Douglas Quintet and we had a lull between performances, recordings, tours, etc. and somehow, through mutual friends, I got to meet Dewey and Bobby Fuller’s brother, Randy,” remembers Kagan.

“We did a couple of early sessions with Dewey singing (his voice reminded me somewhat of Joe Cocker) and used a well known studio drummer, Hal Blaine, who I was excited to meet.

“I did not know why Dewey even wanted to use any other drummer because he was a very good drummer in his own right. He did play drums on the Medicine Ball album and threw together a bunch of musicians from different venues to try to capture the sound he wanted. Randy and I were the two Texas boys. He was a very nice person and always treated me like one of his best friends.”

As the recordings progressed, Martin began to take over production duties from Hassinger and the new line-up proceeded to cut two more tracks – Pete Bradstreet’s “Race Me On Down” (which the keyboard player says was written in about 20 minutes as Dewey had decided that the album wasn’t quite long enough!) and a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Maybe Baby”.

“It was my idea to do ‘Maybe Baby’ on the album and I wanted to sing it but Dewey did it,” says Fuller, who soon lost faith in the Medicine Ball project.

Some rare photos of Medicine Ball was taken up in Decker Canyon before further personnel changes ensued. “[Randy and I] did do a few gigs together around the L.A. area with Dewey, including some college campuses, but I ended up going back with the Quintet and Dewey continued with other replacements,” remembers Kagan.

With Randy Fuller also gone, Martin brought in session steel guitar ace Buddy Emmons and former Danny Cox bass player Stephen Lefever and continued with the sessions.

Around the same time, Billy Darnell also left Medicine Ball (albeit temporarily) following a dispute over his guitar solo on “Maybe Baby” – and Martin invited his former Buffalo Springfield cohort Bruce Palmer to record one of his own compositions, the raga “Recital Palmer”.

Darnell agreed to return to Medicine Ball on a session basis a few weeks later and contributed to the final sessions, which culminated in the recording of five tracks.

Amid all this activity, Martin received some much-needed exposure in the national music press when a Billboard article entitled “Dewey Martin As Innovative Producer” appeared discussing the fruits of the sessions.

In the review, published in July 1970, Martin revealed that he had been “using pan techniques in recording drums, steel guitar and strings”. The supposed advantage of using such effects was that an instrument could “move from one channel to another”.

Billboard review, July 1970 However, despite the advances in the studio, the group was slowly imploding.

Following the final sessions, Peter Bradstreet dropped out (he subsequently reunited with Darnell in Doug Kershaw’s road band and the Atlantic Records’ band Starbuck) and a new short-lived line up featuring Martin and Darnell alongside bass player Tom Leavey (who Martin had first met at Peter Tork’s house) and singer/songwriter and pianist Charles Lamont, formerly a member of Alexander’s Timeless Bloozband came together.

The quartet were given a studio in Universal City to rehearse, but despite working on some interesting jazz-inspired material, the project quickly fell apart. It may well have been this line up that photographer Jim Britt captured while playing at a small club called Jason’s (see photographer’s details at the end).

While Martin struggled to keep Medicine Ball together, Uni released the group’s eponymous album, which attracted a positive write up in the August edition of Variety magazine. Other reviewers agreed.

Variety review, August 1970 Dick Hartsook, writing in the Texas newspaper, Abilene Reporter-News on 13 September noted that, “Dewey Martin & Medicine Ball should have a tremendous amount of excitement in the music world for a while. The group has one of those necessary winning combinations.”

The reviewer goes on to describe the record as good, heavy music with fresh lyrics.

“Dewey has one of the most dynamic voices I’ve heard in a while, and considering he’s the drummer for the group, that’s saying a lot,” beams Hartsook.

“Playing good drums takes a lot of concentration, and Dewey plays drums and sings at the same time, doing a lot with both.”

Dewey Martin with Elton John, September 1970 Indeed, although Dewey Martin & Medicine Ball has often been slighted, there is much to commend it.

With the exception of a few tracks, the album stands up surprisingly well and this is largely due to the group’s stellar performances and Martin’s careful choice of material.

As he had indicated in Billboard in July, Martin had selected all the songs for the album “looking first at the lyrics”, since the album was his first vehicle as a singer.

Among the highlights are covers of Jim Ford’s sprightly “Right Now Train” (aka “Love on the Brain”), two introspective Ron Davies songs – “Silent Song Thru’ The Land” and “Change”, and the excellent Bradstreet/Alden collaboration “I Do Believe”.

Incidentally, Bradstreet and Alden composed a number of songs during this period including, “Gone Under No Uncertain Terms”, apparently a reference to Darnell’s brief departure, which would be recorded some 25 years later with their group Electric Range.

Yet despite this positive review and the publicity surrounding the use of Martin’s composition “Indian Child” on the soundtrack to the film Angels Die Hard, Uni Records dropped the band shortly after the album’s release.

Sessions for an album with RCA culminated in five tracks, although only two emerged on a lone single – “Caress Me Pretty Music/There Must Be a Reason”, released in early 1971. While the single is credited to Dewey Martin & Medicine Ball, it features Martin backed by Elvis Presley’s band.

“After Medicine Ball, I went with RCA and got through five takes,” says Martin. “My producer got everyone of the people on the session from the Elvis big band and I sang it live.”

The single pretty much ended Martin’s recording career; after producing an album for Truk, entitled Truk Tracks, and appearing on a late ’70s Hoyt Axton record, he dropped out of music for the rest of the ’70s and became a car mechanic.

Martin did briefly reunite with Darnell and bass player Tom Leavey in the mid-’70s and worked with songwriter P F Sloan on a proposed album. The project however, failed to progress beyond the rehearsal stage.

During the mid-’80s, Martin did return to the drum stool reuniting with Bruce Palmer in the tribute group Buffalo Springfield Revisited in 1985. The band toured fairly extensively (an appearance at the Vietnam Veteran’s Benefit concert at the L.A. Forum in February 1986 being among the highlights) and recorded a version of Neil Young’s “Down To The Wire”, before Martin pulled out.

Reunited with Darnell, Martin worked with a short-lived band called Pink Slip. The group, which also included former Byrds bass player John York and ex-Crazy Horse guitarist Michael Curtis, gigged informally in the San Fernando area, but never recorded any material.

At the same time, Darnell, Martin and York made a demo with former Eagle Randy Meisner, which resulted in both Darnell and Martin being recruited in to Meisner’s band Open Secret. Led by ex-Firefall singer Rick Roberts, and also featuring Bray Ghiglia, Open Secret subsequently changed name to the Roberts-Meisner Band.

Darnell and Martin, however, soon lost interest and dropped out to form a new group with Michael Curtis and former Al Stewart bass player Robin Lamble, which went under the name Buffalo Springfield Again.

Not surprisingly, Martin’s latest project soon ran foul of the other original members, most notably Richie Furay, who took legal action to prevent him from using the name.

In 1993, Martin moved up to Canada and did several tours in Western Canada as Buffalo Springfield Revisited with Frank Wilks, his brother John on bass/vocals and Derek Atherton on lead guitar/vocals but retired from live work soon afterwards.

After that, he developed his own drum rim, a multi-level drum rim, which he planned to call the “Dewey Rim”. According to Martin, the noted drummer Jim Keltner tried out a proto-type and was going to give him an endorsement. Sadly it wasn’t to be. Dewey Martin died on 31 January 2009, aged 68.

Despite the quality of musicianship, Martin’s post-Buffalo Springfield work with The New Buffalo Springfield and Medicine Ball failed to capture the public’s imagination.

Nevertheless, The Medicine Ball album includes some first-rate material that, arguably, is comparable with the work produced by Martin’s erstwhile colleagues from The Buffalo Springfield. The album’s release on CD, including the non-album tracks, is long overdue.

Many thanks to the following for their generous help: Dewey Martin, Billy Darnell, Terry Gregg, Ray Chafin, Randy Fuller, Harvey Kagan, John Noreen, Peter Bradstreet, John Einarson, Carny Corbett, Trevor Brooke, Derek Atherton and David Peter Housden. The Electric Range website also proved invaluable.

Jim Britt has some excellent photos of Dewey Martin which readers can buy from this website. Some examples include:

I have tried to ensure that the article is as accurate as possible. However, I accept that there may be errors and omissions and would be interested to hear from anyone who can add material or correct any mistakes.

Copyright © Nick Warburton. All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any from or by any means, without prior permission from the author.

This article was originally posted on the Nick Warburton website on 6 June 2008.

4 THOUGHTS ON “DEWEY MARTIN & MEDICINE BALL” Nick Warburton OCTOBER 25, 2020 AT 8:45 AM Tom Leavey originally left this comment on 25 February 2009

I was a friend of Dewey’s for 35 years and have played with some of the best drummers on the planet. Dewey had a feel that was uncanny. He knew exactly when to add a fill and leave air in just the right place. We played many a bar gig together and I’ll always remember that right shoulder going up when he would add a delicate fill and feel that bass drum punch right on the one! I’ll miss him!

REPLY Nick Warburton OCTOBER 25, 2020 AT 8:47 AM Harvey Kagan originally left this message on 1 March 2009

I had the pleasure to hang out with Dewey in the late 60s in L.A. and work on the Medicine Ball Album with him and some other souls when I was on hiatus from working with Doug Sahm and the Quintet. He was a very likeable person; fun to be with and he really wanted to make his own way in the music business. I left L.A. in the early 70s and came back to Texas and I did not see him again until he came through San Antonio on a tour during Fiesta with the Eagle’s bass player, Timothy B. Schmidt. We got together the next day with our old friend, Augie Meyer, and had some good San Antonio Mexican food and some great conversation. He will be missed by all but I still have a copy of the Medicine Ball L.P. that holds a lot of memories for me! Thanks to Nick W. for keeping Dewey’s memory alive!! R.I.P. Brother.

REPLY Nick OCTOBER 25, 2020 AT 5:59 PM Looks like Harvey Kagan died July 2019

REPLY Nick OCTOBER 25, 2020 AT 6:02 PM Also Tom Leavey appears to have died February 2011

ISC NOTES: Dewey Martin was born in Canada and began playing drums at age 13. After forming a rock band in high school he went on to make a guest appearance singing "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" backed by Andy Wilson's group local club act, Larry Lee and the Leesures as part of a rock & roll package show in Ottawa in the early 1960s. A Nashville-based producer saw him and invited him there to record. Over the following couple years Martin played with stars including Carl Perkins, the Everly Brothers,Patsy Cline, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison and Faron Young. Young took him on the road out to Las Vegas and California where he met fellow drummer, Mel Taylor of Tacoma's hit-makers, the Ventures. Martin then connected with another Northwest group, Lucky Lee & The Blue Diamonds. In November 1964, he used local musicians to record his first single -- the standard "White Cliffs of Dover" backed by an original, "Somethin' or Other" -- for A&M Records, which was released under the guise of Sir Raleigh & The Cupons. During 1965 Sir Raleigh & The Cupons released two more singles on A&M – "While I Wait" / "Somethin' or Other" and "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day" / "Whitcomb Street," plus a single for Tower – "Tell Her Tonight" / "If You Need Me." Martin then returned to Los Angeles and picked up local group the Sons of Adam (which at one point included Walla Walla guitar ace, Craig Tarwater) to support him. Back in the Northwest they scored great gigs opening for the likes of the Beach Boys and Herman's Hermits. Martin then cut a final single for Tower – "I Don't Want to Cry" / "Always," which was released in February 1966. In 1980, the Picc-A-Dilly / First American label pulled together most of the Sir Raleigh & The Coupons material for the Dewey Martin album, One Buffalo Heard. Back in Los Angeles, Martin drummed at times with the Standells, the Modern Folk Quartet, and the Dillards. Then he made the connections with a newly forming group: Buffalo Springfield. Martin became the last member to join the legendary group at its founding. Along with Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, he was one of only three musicians to stay with the group from its inception in April 1966 to its disbandment on May 5, 1968. Martin went on to form and record with the band Medicine Ball which cut the tune "Indian Child" for the 1970 Angels Die Hard biker movie soundtrack, then formed another band that included Seattle guitarist Joey Newman (ex-Merrilee & the Turnabouts). That group soon recorded as Blue Mountain Eagle. Dewey passed at home in Van Nuys, California, during 2009.

SEE ALSO: 1.)MARTIN, DEWEY

TITLELABELSERIALDATE Dewey Martin And Medicine BallUNI [CA]#73088 MISC NOTES: Lyric sheet included with lp.

Side One 1. Indian Child (D. Martin) 2. Right Now Train (D. Ford) 3. Silent Song Thru The Land (R. Davies) 4. Maybe Baby (B. Holly) 5. Recital Palmer (B. Palmer)

Side Two 1. Yesterday (J. Lennon - P. McCartney) 2. The Devil And Me (R. Chafin) 3. I Do Believe (P. Bradstreet - J. Alden) 4. Race Me On Down (P. Bradstreet) 5. Change (R. Davies)

LOCATION: RECORDING PERSONNEL: Bill Darnell guitar - Pete Bradstreet piano, orgn, guitar, vocals - Buddy Emmons steel guitar - Randy Fuller rhythm guitar, vocals - Steven Lefevere bass - Harvey Kagen bass - Terry Gregg bass, vocals - Dewey Martin drums, vocals. Side l track 4 - "Musketa" Emmons pedal fuzz steel guitar. RECORDING STUDIO: RECORDING ENGINEER:

FORMAT: disc SIZE:12" SPEED: 33 1/3 rpm DISC NOTES:

A-SIDE MATRIX: A-SIDE STAMPER CODE: A-SIDE COMPOSER: A-SIDE PUBLISHER:

B-SIDE MATRIX: B-SIDE STAMPER CODE: B-SIDE COMPOSER: B-SIDE PUBLISHER:

"Indian Child"UNI [CA]#730911970 MISC NOTES:

Side l track 1 on movie soundtrack "Angels Die Hard"

LOCATION: RECORDING PERSONNEL: RECORDING STUDIO: RECORDING ENGINEER:

FORMAT: disc SIZE:12" SPEED:33 1/3 rpm DISC NOTES:

Lp also released on cassette and 8-track tape formats

A-SIDE MATRIX: A-SIDE STAMPER CODE: A-SIDE COMPOSER:D. Martin A-SIDE PUBLISHER:

"Indian Child" / "I Do Believe"UNI [CA]#552451970 MISC NOTES:

LOCATION: RECORDING PERSONNEL: RECORDING STUDIO: RECORDING ENGINEER:

FORMAT:disc SIZE:7" SPEED:45 rpm DISC NOTES:

Known Label Designs: 1.) A - promo label. Yellow background. Green, red and blue accents. Green UNI. All other numerals and lettering black including PROMOTIONAL COPY NOT FOR SALE. Two Black stars on "Indian Child

A-SIDE MATRIX: A-SIDE STAMPER CODE: A-SIDE COMPOSER:D. Martin A-SIDE PUBLISHER:

B-SIDE MATRIX: B-SIDE STAMPER CODE: B-SIDE COMPOSER:P. Bradstreet - J. Alden B-SIDE PUBLISHER:

"There Must Be A Reason" / "Caress Me Pretty Music"RCA [NY]#74-04891971

Like a lot of pop fans, I like to follow the post-break-up careers of the members of my favorite bands. Often, this is easy to do, as it was in the ’70s when the solo Beatles were regularly on Top 40 radio. I also remember tracking down Michael Nesmith’s LPs with the First and Second National Bands (and beyond) in the hopes of fanning the embers of Monkeemania. However, it is not at all unusual for some such post-break-up works to slip through the cracks or be downright obscure. Take the Buffalo Springfield, for example. Following Stephen Stills career after the Springfield? Easy. Neil Young’s? Ditto. Ritchie Furay’s? OK, now you have to pay attention, but not too much. Dewey Martin’s? Um, who? Indeed, it wasn’t until several years after its original release that I came across a copy of Dewey Martin and Medicine Ball, the only major release by the former Springfield drummer. (For the record, bassist Bruce Palmer also released an obscure post-Springfield LP, The Cycle is Complete).

Young Dewey

Dewey Martin was one of three Canadians in Buffalo Springfield (the others being Neil Young and Bruce Palmer) and the last member to join the band. After the band broke up in 1968, he quickly formed a new group to capitalize on the Springfield’s success. Unimaginatively named New Buffalo Springfield, the band was soon delivered with cease-and-desist orders and shortened their name to New Buffalo which was deemed acceptable by the lawyers involved. Still, the band folded less than a year after they formed, never releasing an album or single. In early 1970, Martin formed Medicine Ball, a band with a fairly loose roster, including-at various times-former Springfield bassist Bruce Palmer, Billy Darnell, Pete Bradstreet, Bob Stamps, Randy Fuller (Bobby’s brother), Terry Gregg, Harvey Kagan, Steve Lefever, and Buddy Emmons. As Martin was under contract with UNI Records since mid-1969, the Medicine Ball album was undertaken under the auspices of that contract and finally released in August of 1970.

Dewey Martin Inside Cover

The most surprising thing about Dewey Martin and Medicine Ball is that Martin is just a terrific singer, sounding quite a bit like Joe Cocker on the latter’s seminal first two albums. The arrangements, too, share a lot in common with those Cocker albums: bluesy rock with an eye to dramatic melodies and pretty chord changes. The big difference is Medicine Ball’s prevalent use of pedal steel, which, on the whole, works well. Now all that said, on “Indian Child,” the opening track, Martin sounds a little closer to David Clayton Thomas than Cocker, but, hey, that’s in the same ballpark at least. For me, the highlights on the album are the ballads “Silent Song Thru the Land” and “I Do Believe” and the country-rock “The Devil and Me.” A mere curiosity is “Recital Palmer,” a meandering free-form instrumental written (though that may be an overstatement) by Bruce Palmer. The album also features a slowed-down and countrified cover of Buddy Holly’s “Maybe Baby” and a very Cocker-esque reading of “Yesterday.”

No singles were pulled from Medicine Ball. Shortly after the release of the LP, however, RCA did put out a single credited to the band (“There Must Be a Reason” written by Joe Cocker and Chris Stainton b/w “Caress Me Pretty Music” written by Alan O’Day -that’s right, of “Undercover Angel” fame), though the recordings actually feature Martin backed by Elvis’ TCB Band. The single, like the LP, failed to make any impression on the charts.

Dewey Martin single

Martin left the music business in 1971, working for a period as a mechanic, but in the ’80s, he returned to play with various bands, including Buffalo Springfield Revisited, a band put together by Bruce Palmer but, of course, featuring none of the three main singers or songwriter. Martin passed away in 2009.

Dewey Martin and Medicine Ball has never been reissued on CD or in the digital domain. Used copies are readily available on the resale market and the album is frequently posted on various blogs and file-sharing sites. Fans of the Springfield and Joe Cocker will definitely want to seek this one out!

As the drummer with Buffalo Springfield, Dewey Martin provided the backbeat to some of the most enduring and influential American rock music of the 1960s. Often referred to as "America's answer to the Beatles", the Springfield were a showcase for the early songwriting talents of Neil Young and Stephen Stills, with additional support from Richie Furay. But with bass player Bruce Palmer, Martin formed a rhythm section that perfectly suited the group's pioneering style of West Coast folk-rock.

After little more than two years and three albums, the group split up in 1968. Martin's career stalled and he was reduced to playing in what were, in effect, Buffalo Springfield tribute bands. But by providing the beat to such seminal tracks as For What It's Worth, Mr. Soul and Rock 'N' Roll Woman, he had already secured his place in rock history.

Born Walter Milton Dwayne Midkiff on September 30, 1940 in Chesterville, Ontario in Canada, he was known as 'Dewey' from a young age due to his inability to say 'Dwayne'. His first instrument at school was the saxophone but he took up drums at the age of 13 and learnt to play along to Everly Brothers songs on a rented drum kit ,set up in his parents' kitchen.

His first high school band was called the Jive Rockets and he made a name himself on the local dance band scene before moving to the US, where he joined the army. After his discharge he moved to Nashville and backed various country singers on an ad hoc basis, before getting a gig in 1963 in Faron Young's touring band. When the tour reached Los Angeles, he decided to stay.

He recorded his first single in 1964, taking the lead vocal on a rocked up version of The White Cliffs Of Dover, released under the name Sir Raleigh and the Coupons and intended to cash in on the hysteria for all things British in the wake of the Beatles' invasion of the American charts.

Two further singles followed under the same name in 1965, during which time he also played in a number of other bands, including The Sons of Adam, the Modern Folk Quartet, the Standells and country act the Dillards.

When in 1966 the Dillards decided that their acoustic bluegrass music did not really require a drummer, the band's manager gave him the telephone number of a new group that was looking for a drummer. The phone number turned out to belong to Stephen Stills, who invited him to audition. With Martin completing the quintet, the group adopted the name Buffalo Springfield, after they had seen the name on the back of a steamroller.

Martin had enjoyed singing lead with Sir Raleigh and the Coupons and insisted the band find him a vocal showcase, so Wilson Pickett's In The Midnight Hour was added to their live set, the only cover the group ever played.

Buffalo Springfield's rise was rapid. Within weeks they were supporting the Rolling Stones at the Hollywood Bowl and had signed to the Atco label.

Martin's uncluttered drumming style contributed memorably to the band's self-titled 1966 debut album, particularly Stills' classic For What it's Worth, on which his atmospheric bass drum introduction set the mood for the entire song.

An immensely versatile drummer, he adopted a more frenetic, soul-influenced style on Young's Mr Soul on the follow-up, 1967's Buffalo Springfield Again. He was also heard singing the refrain of Mr Soul incorporated into another Young composition on the album, Broken Arrow.

That same year the band played the Monterey Pop Festival but cracks were beginning to appear in the group. Palmer was arrested for possession of marijuana and deported back to Canada. Young and Stills were at loggerheads over the leadership of the group and at one point there was a failed coup to replace Martin - who was noted for his somewhat abrasive personality - with Skip Spence of Moby Grape.

By May 1968, the group had fallen apart and by the time of the release off the third and final album, Last Time Around, Buffalo Springfield no longer existed.

Stills and Young subsequently teamed up again in Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and Riche Foray formed Poco. Martin, sadly, sunk into obscurity. For a while he ran a band he called New Buffalo Springfield, until Stills and Young took legal action to prevent him using the name.

He then recorded the 1970 album Dewey Martin's Medicine Ball, which featured former Buffalo Springfield bass player Bruce Palmer and recorded a number of tracks with Elvis Presley's backing band. But due to some dubious dealings by the band's management, he had made little money from Buffalo Springfield and by 1972 he had retired from the professional music industry in disillusionment and was working as a car mechanic.

He re-emerged in the 1980s to play with the Meisner-Roberts Band and to form Buffalo Springfield Revisited with Palmer. But a planned reunion of the full original line-up collapsed in 1988 when Young "forgot" to show-up for the scheduled rehearsal.

When Martin and other members of the original Buffalo Springfield were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, Young again failed to show. Three years later, however, he appeared to suggest a reunion was on the cards when he recorded a song called Buffalo Springfield Again on which he sang that he would like to "see those guys again and give it a shot" . The reunion had still not happened when Palmer's death in 2004 put an end to the possibility.

Dewey Martin, drummer, was born on September 30, 1940. He died on January 31, 2009, aged 68

From Times Online, February 6, 2009

February 6, 2009 - Buffalo Springfield drummer Dewey Martin dies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dewey Martin, the muscular, gregarious drummer and singer who helped found the pioneering country rock band Buffalo Springfield with Neil Young and Stephen Stills, has died. He was 68.

Martin was found dead Sunday by a roommate in his Van Nuys apartment, longtime friend Lisa Lenes said. She said Martin had health problems in recent years and she believed he died of natural causes.

Martin, along with Young, Stills, singer-songwriter-guitarist Richie Furay and bassist Bruce Palmer, formed Buffalo Springfield in Los Angeles in 1966 and quickly became one of the hottest live acts on the West Coast, helped in part by the grinning, blond Martin.

Their self-titled debut album included the hit "For What It's Worth," a solemn observation of 1960s turmoil. They would later produce such classics as "Bluebird" and "Rock & Roll Woman" and Martin's husky vocals were featured at the start of another Springfield favorite, Young's "Broken Arrow."

The band broke up in 1968 amid tension between Young and Stills, but several members went on to even greater success and Buffalo Springfield's stature grew over the years, with Young often expressing regret they didn't stay together longer.

Young has had a highly successful solo career and also joined with Stills in Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Furay formed Poco, another early country rock band. Jim Messina, who replaced Palmer on bass, teamed with Kenny Loggins and had several hits as Loggins and Messina.

Martin continued performing under various incarnations of the band. He and Palmer toured as Buffalo Springfield Revisited in the mid-1980s, and for a time in the 1990s he played shows as Buffalo Springfield Again. (Palmer died in 2004.)

Martin also formed other groups, including Medicine Ball, which released one album.

Born Walter Milton Dwayne Midkiff in Chesterfield, Canada, he began playing drums as a teenager and settled in Nashville in his early 20s, playing for Patsy Cline, Charlie Rich and other country artists. He then moved West and joined the influential bluegrass band, the Dillards, before Young helped bring him into Buffalo Springfield.

Lenes said Martin will be buried in his native country.