Grinderswitch -

Grinderswitch was an American blues-rock/boogie band from Warner Robins, Ga., that released three albums on Capricorn between 1974 and 1976, followed by an album apiece on Atco, Auric, and Robox during the subsequent four-year period.

Members: Dru Lombar (lead vocals, guitar), Larry Howard (guitar, 1972-80), Joe Dan Petty (bass, 1972-82), Rick Burnett (drums, 1972-82), Paul Hornsby (keyboards, organ, clavinet, 1972-77), Steve Miller (bass, vocals, 1975-82), Chris Anderson (guitar, vocals, 1980), Austin Pettit (guitar, vocals, 1981)

Background

Grinderswitch formed in 1973 near Warner Robins when bassist Joe Dan Petty assembled guitarist Larry Howard and drummer Rick Burnett. Howard and Burnett first played together in the mid-1960s, then worked with Les Dudek in Blue Truth. Petty knew Dudek through road work with The Allman Brothers Band and approached the pair amid a break in the Allman touring schedule. Singer–guitarist Dru Lombar completed the quartet after meeting the musicians in Macon.

The members moved into a rural house outside Warner Robins and prepared demos through sustained rehearsals. Producer and keyboardist Paul Hornsby heard the group at the house. He joined selected performances and presented the tapes to Capricorn executives Phil Walden and Frank Fenter. Capricorn signed Grinderswitch and booked the quartet into Capricorn Sound Studios in Macon.

Honest to Goodness

Grinderswitch released their debut album, Honest to Goodness, in June 1974 on Capricorn.

Lombar supplied four songs, while Howard wrote two. Petty contributed “Eighty Miles to Memphis,” and the quartet shared “Can’t Keep a Good Man Down.” Hornsby added piano and organ. The Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts played on “Kiss the Blues Goodbye,” while drummer Jaimoe added congas to two selections.

“Kiss the Blues Goodbye” romps through tight opening bars as Dickey Betts and Dru Lombar trade solos. “Can’t Keep a Good Man Down” rolls on piano-driven boogie. “Homebound” gathers around Lombar’s soulful singing before twin-guitar lines and organ swell across later bars.

A1. “Kiss the Blues Goodbye” (4:55) – Lombar
A2. “Can’t Keep a Good Man Down” (3:54) – Lombar, Petty, Howard, Burnett
A3. “How the West Was Won” (5:22) – Howard
A4. “Eighty Miles to Memphis” (3:00) – Petty

B1. “Catch a Train” (4:44) – Lombar
B2. “Roll On Gambler” (5:15) – Howard
B3. “Homebound” (6:45) – Lombar
B4. “Peach County Jamboree” (3:48) – Lombar

Early-1974 sessions took place at Capricorn Sound Studios in Macon with producer Paul Hornsby and engineer O.V. Sparks. Hornsby paired the assignment with production work on the 1974 Marshall Tucker Band albums A New Life and Where We All Belong for Capricorn.

Honest to Goodness appeared in a sleeve designed and art-directed by Richard Mantel with photography by Al Clayton. The cover places Grinderswitch on railroad tracks beside a weathered industrial structure beneath the large nameplate. Mantel and Clayton also paired on contemporary sleeves for Wet Willie (Keep on Smilin’) and Cowboy (Boyer & Talton). Mantel extended his 1974/75 design work to Gregg Allman (The Gregg Allman Tour) and Gabor Szabo (Macho), while Clayton supplied the original photograph for Bob Dylan (Dylan).

Capricorn promoted “Catch a Train” with a mono–stereo single for radio. One Way Records added a live “You’re So Fine” to a 1994 compact-disc edition.

Macon Tracks

Grinderswitch released their second album, Macon Tracks, in March 1975 on Capricorn.

The founding quartet credited eight originals to the full group. Lloyd Copas supplied the closing cover, “Pickin’ the Blues.” Hornsby returned on piano, organ, and clavinet; Charlie Daniels supplied fiddle and banjo.

“Mail Train Blues” runs wiry licks into a fast/slow sequence with saloon piano and locomotive rev-ups. “Put It All in Today” eases around discreet banjo accents. “Let the South Wind Blow” glides with picked leads to buoyant verses, then turns toward a jazz-tinged close. “Pickin’ the Blues” stomps through slide-guitar figures and piano lines.

A1. “Mail Train Blues” (4:00)
A2. “Put It All in Today” (4:10)
A3. “Now I’m Lovin’ You” (4:06)
A4. “Happy Like Me” (3:23)
A5. “The Best I Can” (2:55)

B1. “Let the South Wind Blow” (4:10)
B2. “Drifter” (4:13)
B3. “Get It While It’s Hot” (3:32)
B4. “Pickin’ the Blues” (5:01) – Copas

Sessions took place at Capricorn Sound Studios in Macon with Hornsby as producer. His concurrent work included Searchin’ for a Rainbow, the fourth studio album by the Marshall Tucker Band.

Marshall Anderson painted the Macon Tracks cover as a Macon, Georgia, scene circa 1895. The image puts the members in period dress beside a railroad depot within a nineteenth-century Americana setting.

Capricorn issued “Mail Train Blues” in 1975 (b/w “Pickin’ the Blues”). Crossroad Productions returned the album to the US market with a 2009 compact-disc edition.

Lineup Expansion

Keyboardist Stephen Miller joined Grinderswitch after Macon Tracks. Miller previously played with Linn County and Elvin Bishop. Further work included John Lee Hooker and Tom Fogerty before Petty invited him to Georgia. His arrival gave Grinderswitch a permanent keyboardist after Hornsby served as a recurring studio player.

Pullin’ Together

Grinderswitch released their third album, Pullin’ Together, in September 1976 on Capricorn.

Miller joined the founding quartet as a songwriter and performer. The full lineup shared seven compositions. Miller wrote “Fact of Life,” and the group covered the Willie Schofield song “You’re So Fine.” Wet Willie singer Jimmy Hall guests on harmonica.

A1. “Higher Ground” (3:44)
A2. “I’m Satisfied” (3:24)
A3. “That Kind of a Woman” (4:13)
A4. “Kill the Pain” (5:39)

B1. “You’re So Fine” (3:32) – Schofield
B2. “Open Road” (4:12)
B3. “Fact of Life” (2:25) – Miller
B4. “Nobody Can” (3:02)
B5. “As Sure as Tomorrow” (3:33)

Hornsby produced the sessions at Capricorn Sound Studios in Macon, with Jerome Joseph conducting the arranged ensemble passages. His current production sequence also included the Marshall Tucker Band album Long Hard Ride.

Capricorn art director Keith Crossley directed the Pullin’ Together package around a Marshall Anderson cover painting and graphics, with photography by Capricorn staff photographer Herb Kossover. The front sets a band vignette inside an oval horse-tack frame against weathered boards, rope, and bridles beneath the Grinderswitch nameplate. Crossley also directed contemporary Capricorn sleeves for the Allman Brothers Band (Win, Lose or Draw), Wet Willie (The Wetter the Better), and Cowboy (Cowboy). Kossover carried sleeve credits on Wet Willie (Drippin’ Wet Live) and The Winters Brothers Band (The Winters Brothers Band).

Capricorn lifted “You’re So Fine” as a September 1976 single (b/w “Nobody Can”) and circulated a mono–stereo edit for radio. IAM returned the album to compact disc with a 2001 edition.

Redwing

Grinderswitch released their fourth album, Redwing, in November 1977 on Atco.

The five-man lineup credited eight songs to the full group, while Harlan Howard supplied “Watermelon Time in Georgia.” Hornsby remained as producer after the band left Capricorn.

“Redwing” sweeps through interlocked twin leads. “Taste of Love” swings on persistent percussion. “This Road” rises through paired harmonies into a prominent guitar solo. “Faster and Faster” rolls through country-twang phrasing.

A1. “Redwing” (4:28)
A2. “You and Me” (2:51)
A3. “That Special Woman” (2:29)
A4. “Taste of Love” (7:14)

B1. “This Road” (4:06)
B2. “Wings of an Angel” (3:33)
B3. “Watermelon Time in Georgia” (2:18) – Howard
B4. “I Bought All the Lies” (2:57)
B5. “Faster and Faster” (3:05)

Sessions occurred with producer Paul Hornsby with engineer Sam Whiteside. Hornsby also produced the Marshall Tucker Band album Carolina Dreams, while Whiteside engineered the self-titled debut by Sea Level.

Redwing appeared on Rabbit/Atco in a flat yellow sleeve built around a black bird with spread wings and red shoulder markings. Blue script carries the Grinder Switch name into the upper-left corner, with widely spaced red title capitals across the lower field. The backsleeve shifts to a pale typographic layout around a monochrome group photograph.

Atco issued “Redwing” in November 1977 (b/w “Watermelon Time in Georgia”), followed by a mono–stereo “You and Me” promotional single. The album reached No. 144 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. Wounded Bird returned Redwing to the US market with a January 2010 compact-disc edition.

Unreleased Atco Sessions and Lineup Change

In 1977, Grinderswitch recorded a further Hornsby-produced set for Atco with engineer Sam Whiteside. Bonnie Bramlett and the Muscle Shoals Horns joined the sessions, but the label withheld the album. New South Records later issued the material as Unfinished Business.

Howard left before the next studio record. Guitarist Chris Anderson joined Lombar, Miller, Petty, and Burnett for the Auric sessions.

Right on Time

Grinderswitch released their fifth album, Right on Time, in 1980 on Auric.

The Anderson lineup recorded four new selections and revisited material from earlier phases. “Eighty Miles to Memphis” first appeared on the debut, while “Movin’ On Back to You,” “Lady Luck,” and “How Come It Is” came from the shelved Atco set.

A1. “Movin’ On Back to You” (3:42) – Lombar, Miller, Petty, Burnett
A2. “Lady Luck” (4:56) – Lombar
A3. “Confusion” (6:57) – Lombar
A4. “Eighty Miles to Memphis” (3:08) – Petty

B1. “Slow Movin’ Dancer” (4:17) – Petty, Howard
B2. “Brand New Feeling” (3:56) – Lombar
B3. “When the Rain Comes Down” (6:38) – Lombar, Anderson
B4. “How Come It Is” (3:41) – Miller

Right on Time uses a pocket-watch motif on the 1980 Auric sleeve. A locomotive crosses the gold watch face, with the Grinder Switch name and album title following the dark outer ring in curved capitals. An Auric advance promo circulated separately in a plain white jacket with a glossy publicity photograph and biography.

Crossroad Productions returned the album to the US market with a 2009 compact-disc edition.

Have Band, Will Travel

Grinderswitch released their sixth album, Have Band, Will Travel, in August 1981 on Robox.

Austin Pettit replaced Anderson on guitar. Bonnie Bramlett supplied backing vocals, while Brent Rowan played acoustic guitar. The Muscle Shoals Horns added brass. Six new songs join fresh versions of “Lady Luck” and “Open Road.”

“One Hour Into Sunday” drives with a party-ready roll. “Real Good Sign” leans into blues phrasing.

A1. “One Hour Into Sunday” (3:10) – June Black
A2. “Real Good Sign” (3:11) – Lombar
A3. “The Warm Kind” (3:46) – Miller
A4. “Ashes and Stone” (4:42) – David Anderson, Owen Davis
A5. “Golden Minutes” (3:49) – Miller

B1. “Lady Luck” (3:25) – Lombar
B2. “Open Road” (3:12) – Lombar, Petty, Howard, Burnett, Miller
B3. “The Fever” (4:08) – Lombar
B4. “Bound and Determined” (3:17) – Lombar, Miller

Lombar and Miller co-produced the sessions with Bud Reneau. Willie Pevear and James Stroud engineered the recordings. Reneau co-owned Quadrafonic Studios and supervised Robox production. Stroud also played drums on 1981 albums by Millie Jackson and Irma Thomas.

Have Band, Will Travel appeared on Robox in a dark graphic sleeve centered on a silver chess knight against a gold circular monogram. A striped header carries the block-cap Grinder Switch nameplate above a smaller album-title line.

Robox lifted the Miller composition “The Warm Kind” as an October 1981 single. The album reached No. 179 on the Cash Box Pop Albums chart.

Later Activity

Grinderswitch disbanded after the Robox period. Petty played with the Lifters, then returned to the Allman Brothers road organization near the end of the decade. In 1987, Howard launched a solo gospel-blues catalog. Lombar formed another Jacksonville group one year earlier and issued six albums over the next fifteen years.

In 2004, Lombar reactivated Grinderswitch with guitarist Jack Corcaran and bassist Steve Miller. Keyboardist Eddie Stone and drummer Wally Condon completed the lineup. New South Records issued the reunion album Ghost Train from Georgia in January 2005 with eleven Lombar compositions. Lombar died that September, ending the reactivation.

Archival releases include Live at My Father’s Place and Unfinished Business, which restored the shelved Atco recordings.

Discography: