Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks - Biography
By Nick Castro
Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks were one of the seminal San Francisco folk rock scene. This group is the brainchild of Dan Hicks, one of the most far reaching musicians to emerge from the 1960's. Hicks was born in 1941 in Little Rock, Arkansas, to a military family, and moved, while still young, to Santa Rosa, California. Originally, Hicks' main instruments were the drums, even playing in his High School marching band, but later he would switch to guitar. Early on, Hicks had an interest in radio and he even hosted a local radio spot, playing music for a show aimed at teens. He studied at San Francisco State College and earned his degree in broadcasting. He also began to establish himself among the burgeoning folk scene of the city.
It was in 1965 though, that Hicks would switch back to his original drums and join the group The Charlatans, who would be one of the most influential and early psychedelic groups from the bay area. Hicks replaced their first drummer, Sam Linde. Together, with this group, they did an extended engagement at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada, just across the border of northern California, and arguably the band created the nucleus of what would be the San Francisco rock scene. The group were very interested in western fashion, and Hicks in victorian, so the band quickly garnered a reputation for their ostentatious dress. The Red Dog Saloon was also a haunt for artists and writers like Ken Kesey. This group also provided Hicks with his first recording opportunity. Many of these recordings can be heard on the CD The Amazing Charlatans (1996 - Big Beat), which is a collection of the band's finest material, including the songs We're Not on the Same Trip", written by Hicks, and "Codeine Blues", the song that would give them trouble with their record label, who refused to release it as their first single, against the band's request. The band was also famous for producing, what was probably, the first psychedelic rock poster, and thus sparking the trend in San Francisco for others to do the same. Legend has it that the band dropped LSD before their first gig at the Red Dog Saloon because, through confusion, they did not know they were to perform that evening.
Soon Hicks switched to guitar in The Charlatans, when the band fired Mike Ferguson, and this collaboration helped Hicks to establish him in the psychedelic scene. Soon the Charlatans were driven out of Virginia City, along with others form the Red Dog Saloon, and they would soon begin playing concerts in the San Francisco area and becoming associated with groups like The Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead. Though The Charlatans were so hugely influential in the early days of the San Francisco music movement, they would never achieve commercial status, as many preferred straight rock or pop to the old time sounds The Charlatans were creating.
Hicks left The Charlatans in 1968 to form his own group, The Hot Licks, the David LaFlamme, violinist and singer who would later form the group It's a Beautiful Day. LaFlamme quickly left to fulfill his duties with his own band, and he was replaced by Sid Page, who was a skilled jazz violinist. Together with members Christine Gancher as Sherri Snow singing, Jaime Leopold on bass and John Weber on guitar, the group began to build a loyal following in the bay area. Soon they got a deal with Epic Records and released the album Original Recordings (1969 - Epic), which is often considered a masterpiece of the era. The band mixes blues, folk, and early jazz to a unique end. The album also produced many classic Hicks songs like "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away" and "It's Bad Grammar, Baby". Their use of humor and irony also struck a chord with the growing hippie university scene, who appreciated Hicks' sense of elevated observations. There is also an album, of early Hicks material, that was released in the 90's, called Early Muses (1998 - Ace/Big Beat), which consisted of demo recordings from the '67 and '68 period.The sound quality is not altogether bad and it offers a view of many tunes that would later take shape on Hit Licks albums.
The group had some success for a few years, but the original lineup dissolved by 1971, but not before two more albums worth of material, Where's the Money (1971 - Blue Thumb) and Striking it Rich (1971 - Blue Thumb), which produced one of Hicks' more famous tunes, "Moody Richard (The Innocent Bystander)". The group seemed to be no more but Hicks soon revived the troupe with the aid of John Girton on guitar and Naomi Ruth Eisenberg and Maryann Price singing to replace Snow and Gancher.
The first album by the new Hot Licks lineup was Last Train to Hicksville (1973 - Blue Thumb). This album marked a split for many Hot Licks fans. Some of them preferred the older material, which harkened back to the early days of swing and jazz in a loose way, and some of his fans preferred his newer, more professional, sound. Eisenberg and Price were fine singers, who could achieve flawless backing harmonies. This period did bring media attention to the band though, and even Rolling Stone magazine featured Hicks on their cover.
It came as a shock to many in the music scene but Hicks broke the band up the next year, citing his displeasure with being a bandleader as the cause. Hicks began to perform solo acoustic shows again, preferring the isolation this allowed him. He also began to work as a music writer for television and movies, including doing the soundtrack for a Ralph Bakshi, who was famous for Fritz the Cat, animated movie called, It Happened One Bite (1978 - Warner Bros). This soundtrack contained new members and did not use the Hot Licks name, but the general sound was the same. The album as considerably difficult to locate, due to the movie being shelved, but in 2001 Rhino handmade issued a limited edition on CD. On this disc they perform many classic songs like "It's On a Paper Moon" and "Honeysuckle Rose". Price appears on the record as well, both singing and playing percussion." Other than this though, Hicks would fall into relative obscurity, only making rare appearances until his live album Shootin' Straight (1994 - On The Spot), which was recorded at the famous folk club, Mccabe's, in Santa Monica, California. On thsi album Hick does not do any of his older material, instead focusing on his newer compositions. It is not surprising, when aware of the comedy involved with his songs, that Hicks is rather funny on stage. This can be heard on this live album.
Hicks would reappear for the taping of a 1991 concert, on the Austin City Limits show, featuring his golden era lineup. The next year he would appear with his new band, The Acoutic Warriors, to do a series on concerts for the next year or so. Demand for Hicks' music continued by his loyal cult following and they finally drew him back into the recording studio to record the album Beatin' The Heat (2000 - Surfdog). This album features many guest appearances, including Tom Waits, Bette Midler, Elvis Costello, Brian Setzer and Rickie Lee Jones. This assemblage of player was a testament to the force of Hicks' influence on wide varying genres of music. Although many years past his golden era, many of his fans agreed that this album still contained the genius of Hicks' earlier works. he even covered one of Waits' songs, "The Piano has Been Drinking". He followed this album shortly after with the release of the christmas single "My Main Man Santa". Hick reformed a band and released the album Alive & Lickin' (2001 - Surfdog), which is a collection of live recordings, made while on tour supporting their Beatin' The Heat album.
It was also in 2001 that Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks released a DVD called Featuring an All-Star Cast of Friends. On the movie are the surviving member of The charlatans as well as Costello, Jones, producer Tommy LiPuma, who had previously worked with Hicks, as well as former Hot Licks members from their classic era.
Hicks has maintained a sparse, but consistent, live schedule since these album and released the album Selected Shorts (2004 - Surfdog) to mixed reviews. Many felt that his comeback was to be short lived and that his material was finally waning in quality. This album did feature more of Hicks' friends like Van Dyke Parks, Jimmy Buffet, Jim Keltner, Gibby Haynes and Willie Nelson. Hicks can often be seen playing festivals and jazz clubs around the country. Still though he has remained only a cult hero and a musician's musician.
In the film, Class Action, featuring Gene Hackman from 1991, Hicks and his band can be seen playing at Rosatti's in San Francisco. He is also in two documentaries about the San Francisco scene, Revolution and Rockin' at the Red Dog. Dan Hicks died February 6, 2016 of throat and liver cancer. He was 74.
