Goldenrod -

Goldenrod was an American jam-rock/psych band from Los Angeles that released a 1969 self-titled album on Chartmaker Records.

Members: Ben Benay (guitar), Jerry Scheff (bass), Toxey French (drums)

Background

Goldenrod was a Los Angeles-based instrumental psych trio consisting of guitarist Ben Benay, bassist Jerry Scheff, and drummer Toxey French. The three musicians first crossed paths while performing as backing players for The 5th Dimension and earlier contributed to Ballroom, an early Curt Boettcher project that prefigured both The Millennium and Sagittarius.

By 1969, all three had become prolific L.A. session players. Scheff, a Navy veteran from Vallejo, California, already had studio credits with Holy Mackerel, The Monkees, and Nancy Sinatra. French worked with Rick Nelson and the Beach Boys and served as musical producer for the 1969 film Midnight Cowboy.

Goldenrod (the album)

Goldenrod’s lone, self-titled album appeared in February 1969 on the Chartmaker label.

Entirely instrumental and largely improvised, the album consists of four extended acid rock jam. Goldenrod group-wrote “Descent of the Cyclopeans.” Side B contains compositions by Benay (“The Gator Society”) and Scheff (“Standing Ovulation”). Boettcher submitted “Karmic Dream Sequence,” co-written with Millennium’s Lee Mallory.

Goldenrod combines fuzz-heavy guitar, deep bass figures, and spontaneous percussion into a style that straddles West Coast psychedelia, freeform jazz, and early hard rock, drawing comparisons to both Hendrix and the Grateful Dead.

A1. “Descent of the Cyclopeans” (6:00)
A2. “Karmic Dream Sequence” (12:29)

B1. “The Gator Society” (10:15)
B2. “Standing Ovulation” (7:36)

The album was arranged by Benay and produced by Butch Parker for Chartmaker Productions with engineering by F. Borkgren. Concurrently, the members of Goldenrod (along with Wrecking Crew guitarist Mike Deasy) backed singer Darius on his 1969 Chartmaker album.

Goldenrod has since developed a cult following among psych collectors for its deep jamming, metaphysical vibe, and rarity on original vinyl.

Later Activity

After Goldenrod, Scheff became the bassist for Elvis Presley’s TCB Band and played on L.A. Woman by The Doors. Benay continued his session career, and French remained active as a studio player and producer. Scheff’s son Jason would later become bassist and lead vocalist for Chicago (1985–2016).

Benay, a guitarist and harmonica player, was a longtime contributor to various projects including Delaney & Bonnie and later the blues-rock group Funzone.

Discography: