Euclid -

Euclid was an American hard-rock/psych band from Maine that released the 1970 album Heavy Equipment on Flying Dutchman. Guitarist/singer Gary Leavitt and his drumming brother Jay cut two singles with Dyer Brook garage-rockers The Cobras during the mid-1960s. Guitarist Ralph Mazzota hailed from Mass. psych-rockers Lazy Smoke.

Members: Gary Leavitt (guitar, vocals), Maris Neibergers (bass, vocals), Ralph Mazzota (guitar, vocals), Jay Leavitt (drums, vocals)

Background

Euclid formed in the Haverhill, Massachusetts, area in 1969 when Ones drummer Jay Leavitt regrouped his brother, King Cobras guitarist/singer Gary Leavitt, an earlier bandmate in the Embers and the Cobras.

The brothers came from Dyer Brook, Maine, where Jay joined first played in the Embers, formed in 1961 by guitarist Eddie Moody and keyboardist Bobby Rutledge. In early 1964, Gary returned from an Army stint in Germany and joined the group on rhythm guitar. With the arrival of bassist John Gordon and replacement keyboardist Holly Leavitt, the group became The Cobras.

Through 1965, the Cobras gigged the northern New England and Canadian club circuits and made repeat appearances at the University of Maine and Dartmouth College. Upon Holly’s 1966 departure, Gary wrote “I Wanna Be Your Love” and “Instant Heartache,” recorded that autumn for a 1967 Cobras single on Big Beat. Amid Boston-era buzz, they relocated as the King Cobras and secured summer engagement at the 5 O’Clock Club in Salisbury Beach in upstate Massachusetts.

Post-Salisbury, Jay jumped ship to the Ones, a Connecticut garage band that cut the 1966 album Volume One for Ashwood House. The Ones persevered through late 1968, when Jay retained guitarist Harry Perino and bassist Maris Neiburgers for a new band with Gary. They added Lazy Smoke lead guitarist Ralph Mazzota, who originated in the Road Runners.

Euclid secured a recording contract with Flying Dutchman Productions late in 1969, then joined Bob Thiele’s pop-oriented Amsterdam roster. Bobby Herne returned to produce and arrange the recordings that became Heavy Equipment.

Discography:

Heavy Equipment (1970)

Sources

The Basement Walls — “The Cobras (Dyer Brook, ME).” This is the key source. The writer states that the history came from conversations and correspondence with Jay Leavitt, Holly Leavitt, and Scott Emack, supplemented by a 1999 article by Ruthann Van Tasel Leavitt. It supplies the Embers → Cobras → King Cobras → Ones → Euclid chain, the Ace Recording Studio session, Bobby Herne connection, Salisbury Beach engagement, Jay’s two years with the Ones, initial Euclid assembly, guitar-harmony rationale, and late-1969 Flying Dutchman contract. (The Basement Walls)
Record World, October 3, 1970 — “Euclid Comes In Loud & Clear.” Contemporary interview conducted soon after Heavy Equipment. It says Euclid had consolidated “just over a year” earlier, places the group in the Boston circuit, documents Ungano’s and the Anvil Inn, and identifies Gary Leavitt, Jay Leavitt, Ralph Mazzota, Harry Perino, and bassist Rick Asmega. This source is the main reason I reject the later equation of Harry Perino with the bassist “Maris.” (World Radio History)
Billboard, May 2, 1970. Contemporary Flying Dutchman report identifies Euclid among Bob Thiele’s signings to the pop-oriented Amsterdam label and calls Euclid and Dirty John’s Hot Dog Stand New England heavy-rock groups. (World Radio History)
The Ones, Volume One reissue data. Identifies the group as Connecticut-based, notes Boston activity in 1967, and lists Maris Neiburgers among the performers on the 1966 album. This independently anchors Maris in the Ones rather than relying solely on the later Euclid history. (Collectors’ Choice Music)
Lazy Smoke, Corridor of Faces Demos. The band page identifies the Road Runners as the pre-Lazy Smoke project, with two Road Runners acetate recordings from 1966 and twelve Lazy Smoke demos from 1967. Separate reissue data identifies Ralph Mazzotta in Lazy Smoke. (Lazy Smoke)
Ace Records, Heavy Equipment reissue. Places Euclid in Haverhill, Massachusetts, identifies Gary Leavitt as bandleader, and credits Bobby Herne with production and Les Paul Jr. with the mix. Its personnel narrative calls the bassist Harold Perino, which conflicts with both Jay Leavitt’s account and the 1970 Record World roster; I used the page for geography and production data, not to resolve that identity. (Ace Records)