Snakegrinder -

Snakegrinder was an American jam-rock/boogie band from Newark, Delaware, that issued the private-press album …And the Shredded Fieldmice on Alligator Shoes in spring 1977 as a 500-copy local pressing.

Members: Larry Adams (lead guitar, vocals), Dave Bennett (keyboards), Tommy Eppes (rhythm guitar, pedal steel, percussion), Steve Roberts (bass, acoustic guitar, vocals), John DiGiovanni (drums, percussion), George Wolkind (vocals)

Background

Guitarist Larry Adams assembled a Newark group in 1970 with bassist Steve Roberts, drummer John DiGiovanni, keyboardist Dave Bennett, and George Christie. Adams and Roberts came from George’s Lunch, where Christie and DiGiovanni also played. Bennett entered after Pump Productions dissolved.

Billed as the Larry Adams Band, the quintet played a first public set on August 15, 1970, at the Rockford Park music festival. Christie left after thieves took his equipment from a car at the event. Primeval Slime singer Eddie Day and guitarist–pedal steel player Tommy Eppes joined amid the early lineup changes.

After Day died in a train accident, Bennett and Roberts recruited longtime follower George Wolkind as lead singer. The stable six-member lineup formed in 1973 after Eppes and Wolkind joined the four remaining founders. Soundman Jon McDowell managed live audio, while Nick Norris served as business agent.

In spring 1975, the group pooled several hundred dollars and recorded three originals at Quaudio Studio in Wilmington, Delaware. Adams left in August 1975, and Snakegrinder ceased regular activity. The December reunion drew requests for a record, so Roberts and another member financed a second session before the following holiday concert.

…And the Shredded Fieldmice

Snakegrinder released their singular album, …And the Shredded Fieldmice, in spring 1977 on Alligator Shoes.

The album combines six studio originals with “Dogland,” a brief live location recording by soundman Jon McDowell.

“Nothing’s Very Easy When Your Baby’s in the Lake” sprawls through a patient jam; sustained guitar leads trace angular turns across long, rehearsed improvisations. “Dogland” lurches through a brief live freak-out. “Moon Over the Delaware” dissolves into a compact hallucination.

A1. “Love Junkie” (6:44) – Bennett
A2. “Freedonian Hat Dance (Jesus Was a Plumber)” (7:18) – Adams, Snakegrinder
A3. “On the Road (And Off Again)” (5:15) – Adams, Roberts, Bennett

B1. “Dogland” (1:07) – Fido Dustyaoffsky
B2. “Better Late Than Frozen” (4:36) – Roberts
B3. “Nothing’s Very Easy When Your Baby’s in the Lake” (13:59) – Adams, Snakegrinder
B4. “Moon Over the Delaware” (1:41) – Gregor Alligator, Snakegrinder

Sessions began in spring 1975 at Dana Smith’s Quaudio Studio in Wilmington, Delaware, where Snakegrinder completed the first three studio titles. Recording resumed before the December 1976 reunion at Quaudio and produced three more selections. McDowell contributed the live source for “Dogland.” Bassist Steve Roberts helped finance and produce the record. Longtime supporter Gregor Alligator handled media production and later documented the group’s history for the authorized reissue.

Alligator Shoes pressed 500 copies under catalog number 40004. The shipment arrived after the planned 1976 Christmas launch, and early sales recovered the second-session and manufacturing costs before remaining copies went to fans and family members.

Radioactive issued a seven-track UK CD in 2006 as part of the label’s reissue series. Lion Productions and Obscure Oxide released a licensed 2013 vinyl edition (LIONLP-133) from the master tapes, packaged in a tip-on gatefold with photographs and concert posters. The inserts reproduced lyrics and notes by Alligator. Roughly 30 minutes of archival concert material supplemented the original program.

Discography: