Once the Jamestown Massacre had sufficiently honed their chops (and especially their gooey vocal harmonies), they started recording. The Massacre gigged at all the local teen clubs, youth centers, high schools, and colleges, sometimes with other bands who’d go on to release regional hits, such as the New Colony Six and the American Breed. They started off playing mostly covers, which was pretty typical at the time, but their repertoire was relatively diverse-they played tunes by the folky CSNY, the horn-heavy Ides of March, and the hard-rockin’ Led Zeppelin. At the beginning of 1969, Jeff Quinn (organ, trumpet, vocals) from nearby Glen Ellyn completed the Massacre’s seven-piece lineup. Comforte (lead vocals) and Dennis Carlson (lead guitar, vocals) joined the group in 1968, along with Naperville native Dave Bickler (lead vocals, flute, harmonica, trumpet). Glenn Messmer (drums), Mark Zapel (bass), and John Gilleran (guitar, vocals) agreed to play monthly shows at the Downers Grove Youth Center in exchange for a place to rehearse. The Jamestown Massacre, who share their name with a Native American attack on the English colony of Virginia in 1622, formed in 1967 in Windy City suburb Downers Grove. The band also contributed a key member to a much more widely known group, who also rocked a film soundtrack or three. The Jamestown Massacre had one such local hit-though the song also made surprising and apparently random splashes in other local markets around the country and even abroad.
But the days when local radio play would drive equally local sales of an actual physical single are long gone-and that kind of regional hit could easily be totally obscure outside the artist’s hometown.įor instance, I used to think that Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah’s “Lake Shore Drive” had been a global or at least national smash, and that everyone knew the words, But out-of-towners never recognized the tune or had any idea what I was talking about-until it appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. Since 2004 Plastic Crimewave (aka Steve Krakow) has used the Secret History of Chicago Music to shine a light on worthy artists with Chicago ties who’ve been forgotten, underrated, or never noticed in the first place.Ĭhicagoland band the Jamestown Massacre provide the Secret History of Chicago Music an opportunity to discuss the “regional hit.” This phenomenon has survived the rise of streaming, which makes it seem like anyone can (at least in theory) find an audience anywhere.