Blue Mountain Eagle -

Blue Mountain Eagle was an American psych-rock band from Los Angeles that released a 1970 self-titled album on Atco.

Members: Joey Newman (vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Bob “B.J.” Jones (lead guitar, vocals), David Price (guitar, vocals), Don Poncher (drums, vocals), Randy Fuller (bass, guitar, vocals, 1969-70), David L. Johnson (bass, 1970)

Background

The band coalesced in 1969 from the ashes of Dewey Martin’s post-Buffalo Springfield project, New Buffalo, whose final lineup included ex-Bobby Fuller Four bassist Randy Fuller, former Touch guitarist Joey Newman, and guitarist Bob “B.J.” Jones. They took their name from the Blue Mountain Eagle, a weekly newspaper (founded: 1898) in John Day, a small town in Grant County in Northeast Oregon.

When Martin abruptly exited, the remaining members—Newman, Jones, and fellow holdover David Price (a prior Monkees stand-in)—recruited Chicago-born drummer Don Poncher to complete the group. Fuller departed shortly after the album’s completion and was replaced by bassist David L. Johnson.

Blue Mountain Eagle

Blue Mountain Eagle released their self-titled album in March 1970 on Atco.

The album draws contrast between Joey Newman’s shape-shifting arrangements and Bob “B.J.” Jones’ compact, riff-driven material.

Newman handled lead guitar, keys, and vocals. Fuller, already known for his work in his late brother’s band, took one vocal lead and anchored the fuzz-laden arrangements with Poncher. Price shared writing and singing duties.

All five members take vocal turns across the ten-track set. The music crosses between acid rock, compressed country-pop, and distortion-forward hard psych.

A1. “Love Is Here” (4:25) – Newman opens the album with panned twin-guitar fuzz under layered harmonies and a relentless backbeat. Abruptly clipped ending enhances its charge.
A2. “Yellow’s Dream” (2:42) – Starts in sparse, lysergic mood before slipping into a mid-tempo, gospel-tinged sway led by Newman’s keyboards and acoustic filigree.
A3. “Feel Like a Bandit” (3:03) – Price leads this punchy rocker with a syncopated vocal line and fuzz guitar refrain just shy of plagiarism. Twin leads surge into a clipped finale.
A4. “Troubles” (3:07) – Jones’ plaintive vocal rides a laidback, country-inflected pace with harmonic turns reminiscent of post-Springfield crossover. Its intro prefigures a slowed “Sweet Home Alabama.”
A5. “Loveless Lives” (3:32) – Poncher takes lead on this stately rocker anchored in unison fuzz guitar and rich backing vocals. The chorus crests into saturated, slow-burn intensity.

B1. “No Regrets” (4:08) – Price and Poncher co-author a brisk country-rocker with clipped fills and flanged harmonies. Taut rhythm carries its ringing chords.
B2. “Winding Your String” (2:55) – Newman paces a staggered riff across sharply enunciated verses. Fuller’s bass anchors its broken gait.
B3. “Sweet Mama” (4:18) – Fuller’s lone vocal delivers a dense, hard-driving cut with percussive breaks and searing twin leads. Its coda slips briefly into funk cadences.
B4. “Promise of Love” (3:00) – A subdued ballad with stacked vocal harmonies and echo-washed strumming. Understated by comparison.
B5. “Trivial Sum” (3:08) – The lone non-original lurches with swampy syncopation. Newman and Jones exchange clipped fuzz solos over an insistent, modal base.

Sessions occurred in December 1969 at Wally Heider Recording Studio in Los Angeles. Halverson, noted for work with Cream and CSN, produced and engineered the sessions.

In Germany, Atlantic lifted “Sweet Mama” as a single (b/w “Loveless Lives”). “Yellow’s Dream” became the b-side of “Marianne,” a non-album Stephen Stills cover.