The Rockin' Blue Diamonds
The Rockin' Blue Diamonds was a short-lived jazz-rock group that performed in 1972.
Background
Originally Mayo Thompson and Frederick Barthelme with Rock Romano and Tucker Bradley.
Final line-up[1]:
- Mayo Thompson - writer, rhythm guitar
- Fred McLain - lead guitar
- Bob Henschen - piano
- Bernard Sampson - saxophones and flute
- Don Jones - bass
- Art Kidd - drums
- Rock Romano - vocals
- Tucker Bradley - vocals
Performances
See: Shows/1972
Demo
- "Thompson then turned to John Fahey, still at the helm of his Takoma label, who fronted $250 for a demo."
- "His wife didn't like it, and neither did he," remembered Mayo.[2]
Retrospectives
Playing well was what we [The Red Crayola] were against. It was what everybody else did. Much later, in the second (and little known) band that Mayo and I put together, the Rocking Blue Diamonds, playing well became an issue, so we solicited the talent—coerced it, is probably more accurate. But in the mid-’60s, with the Red Krayola, that wasn’t the deal. The deal was to participate in the party and do something surprising while you were at it.
Mayo Thompson, 2023[4]
[...] A later band—The Rocking Blue Diamonds—played The Old Quarter, and Rocky Hill’s Club.