NICK GRAVENITES - MY LABORS (USA BLUES ROCK '69)

 

Nicholas George Gravenites (/ɡrævɨˈnaɪtɨs/; born October 2, 1938, Chicago, Illinois), with stage names like Nick "The Greek" Gravenites and Gravy, is a blues, rock and folk singer–songwriter, and is best known for his work with Janis Joplin, Mike Bloomfield and several influential bands and names of the generation springing from the 1960s and '70s.^[1] He currently resides in Occidental, California.

Career[edit]

According to author and pop music critic Joel Selvin, Gravenites is "the original San Francisco connection for the Chicago crowd." Gravenites is credited as a "musical handyman" helping such San Francisco bands as Quicksilver Messenger Service and Janis Joplin's first solo group, the Kosmic Blues Band. Nick wrote various songs for Joplin, including her Woodstock hit "Work Me, Lord" and the unfinished instrumental track "Buried Alive In The Blues". Gravenites also worked extensively with John Cipollina after producing the first Quicksilver Messenger Service album. He and Cipollina formed the Nick Gravenites–John Cipollina Band which toured a lot in Europe.
When the band Big Brother and the Holding Company reformed from 1969 to 1972 (without Janis Joplin), Nick was the lead singer.
Gravenites was also a songwriter for the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which consisted of Elvin Bishop, Paul Butterfield, Sam Lay and Michael Bloomfield. In 1967 he formed The Electric Flag with Bloomfield. Gravenites is also responsible for writing the score for The Trip, produced the music for the movie Steelyard Blues. He produced the pop hit "One Toke Over the Line" for Brewer & Shipley and the album Right Place, Wrong Time for Otis Rush, for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award. Together with John Kahn, Gravenites produced the album 'Not mellowed with Age' by Southern Comfort (CBS S 64125 - 1970). Over the years, Gravenites would often use pianist Pete Sears in his band "Animal Mind", including on his 1980 Blue Star album on which Sears played keyboards and bass.