Stalk-Forrest Group

For a band that issued only one single, and that only pressed in a quantity of a few hundred, the Stalk-Forrest Group have a very confusing history, and are very well-known by collectors. Much of this notoriety stems from the fact that the group evolved into Blue Öyster Cult shortly after the one Stalk-Forrest Group 45 was issued by Elektra. The Stalk-Forrest Group did manage to record an entire unreleased album for Elektra in 1970, in a much lighter and more psychedelic style than that for which Blue Öyster Cult became known. In the late '60s, the nucleus of the Long Island band that would become Blue Öyster Cult was playing under the name of Soft White Underbelly. With Les Braunstein as lead singer, they were signed by Elektra; Buck Dharma has recalled that Elektra exec Jac Holzman may have been looking for an East Coast Doors. An album was attempted, but eventually abandoned, in early 1969, and Braunstein was replaced by the band's equipment manager and soundman, Eric Bloom. Soft White Underbelly had been signed in large part because of Braunstein, and it took them a while to convince Elektra that they would be viable with the higher-voiced Bloom as lead singer.

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