Here’s one for you, a song you probably don’t remember from a band you most definitely don’t know. That song is “Two Worlds” and the band is called Sweetwater. It’s today’s classic song of the day.
Sweeetwater was a band out of Los Angeles that, to my ears, sounded a little like Jefferson Airplane. They performed a kind of proto-psychedelic rock, blended with just a tad bit of sunshine pop, Baroque pop, folk-rock, and even a little jazz. The band has an interesting history. They played Woodstock (they were originally intended to be the opening act but were delayed by traffic), performed on The Red Skelton Show and Playboy After Dark, and toured with the Doors and the Animals. The band was a unique conglomeration of people and instruments, including Nansi Nevins on lead vocals, R.G. Carlyle on guitar, Alex Del Zoppo on keyboards, Fred Herrera on bass, Albert Moore on flute, August Burns on cello, Elpidio Cobian on percussion, and Alan Malarowitz on drums. The keyboardist, Alex Del Zoppo, commented on the band’s makeup:
“We were unusual in every aspect. We had three Black guys in the band with a White girl, an Italian piano player, a Mexican bass player, a Cuban percussionist, a Jewish drummer. The percussionist was just about 30 already. Nancy and our drummer were 17. So there was a wide range of everybody in this band.”
The band formed in 1967, released three albums to little notice, and broke up in 1971. During that time frame they released a half-dozen singles, of which “Two Worlds” was the most notable, although none of the songs broke into the Billboard Hot 100.
“Two Worlds” was written by Nansi Nevins and released on the Reprise label. As noted, it failed to chart.
In case you’re wondering, music retailer Sweetwater Music did not take its name from Sweetwater, the band. The retailer’s founder, Chuck Surak, was inspired by the “sweet water” of a stream that ran through the property where he lived.
And here’s today’s daily bonus video of the day, Sweetwater’s appearance on the December 30, 1969, episode of The Red Skelton Hour, performing “Two Worlds.” Sadlly, three days after this episode aired, singer Nansi Nevins was severely injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. She suffered a brain injury that left her in a coma for ten days, and the emergency tracheotomy performed by the medical crew permanently damaged her vocal cords.
