Happy the Man

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Happy the Man
General information
origin United States
Genre (s) Progressive rock
founding 1973, 2000
resolution 1979
Website http://www.happytheman.com/
Founding members
Stanley Whitaker
Rick Kennell
Current occupation
guitar
Stanley Whitaker
bass
Rick Kennell
Frank Wyatt
Keyboard
David Rosenthal
Joe Bergamini
former members
Cliff Fortney
singing
Dan Owen
Drums
Mike Beck
Drums
Ron Riddle
Drums
Coco Roussel
Keyboard
Kit Watkins

Happy the Man is an American progressive rock band that formed in the early 1970s.

Band history

Stanley Whitaker and Rick Kennell met at a US Army base in Germany in 1972 and, on their return to the USA, formed a band with keyboardists Frank Wyatt and Kit Watkins as well as drummer Mike Beck and initially also singer Cliff Fortney. Kennell, Beck and Fortney had played together in a band before, and Whitaker knew Wyatt and Watkins from James Madison University . Happy the Man made their first appearances with cover versions of Genesis , King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator , and the first demo recordings of their own pieces were made in 1974. Then Fortney left the band and was replaced by Dan Owen, who also left the band a few months later. Without a singer, Happy the Man changed their musical direction to mainly instrumental pieces.

After another demo in 1975, some airplay on the radio at Georgetown University and rehearsals with Peter Gabriel , who was looking for a backing band, Happy the Man got a contract with Arista Records . At the end of 1976 they recorded their self-titled debut album with producer Ken Scott with complex and varied progressive rock. The band was sent on tour by their label with Renaissance , Foreigner , Hot Tuna and Stomu Yamashta in 1977, but could not achieve the expected financial success.

While Wyatt, Watkins and Whitaker were working on pieces for a second album, Beck left the band due to musical differences. He was replaced by Ron Riddle, a friend of Beck's, who left after the Crafty Hands recordings . Coco Roussel ( Heldon , Clearlight ) became the new drummer in June 1978. However, Arista soon canceled his contract with Happy the Man as the label was unhappy with the sales figures and the musical direction of Crafty Hands . The band initially continued to work and recorded a demo in 1979. Since there was no label for its release and Watkins Camel joined, Happy the Man broke up. Some of the members remained musically active.

Until the band was re-founded in 2000, live and archive material appeared several times on Cuneiform Records . Whitaker, Kennell, Wyatt and Riddle performed with keyboardist David Rosenthal at NEARfest 2000 in Pennsylvania ; Whitaker, Kennell, Wyatt and Rosenthal released a new studio album with drummer Joe Bergamini on InsideOut Music in 2004 .

Discography

  • 1977: Happy the Man
  • 1979: Crafty Hands
  • 1983: 3rd - Better Late ... (recordings from 1979)
  • 1989: Retrospective (compilation)
  • 1990: Beginnings (recordings from 1974 and 1975)
  • 1997: Live (recordings from 1978)
  • 1999: Death's Crown (recordings from 1974 and 1976)
  • 2004: The Muse Awakens

Web links