John Hurd - The Brotherhood Interview

When and where were you born? Are you originally from Ohio? What was growing up like for you? When did you first begin playing music? Was this something that was relevant in your household growing up?

I was born 1953 Hamilton, Ohio. Growing up was a typical childhood for a Black American kid. My childhood was fun! I had plenty of friends, one who was not black. I was first interested in music at age 5. My family listened to many records from the 50's to the 70's and 1 Beatles album. My father was a jazz musician.

Who were some of your influences early on? Where would you go to see shows in your community and what groups/performances stood out to you the most during that time? What would you and your friends do for fun back in the day?

In the late 60's we listened to Hendrix, Sly and the Family Stone, Blood Sweat and Tears, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Jimmy Smith Organist and Neil Young. Little Stevie Wonder was my greatest influence as a kid. His hit record called "Fingertips" showed me everything I needed to work the Blues scale. Being close friends with Little Roger Troutman also showed me it was possible for a kid to learn hit music. I took piano lessons when I was 10 from a nun inside Notre Dame Convent in Hamilton. That was 1963. Music was a big part of the Hurd family daily home life. The record player was almost always playing in the background as we did our daily chores. For fun we'd play hide and seek or have contests to see who could run the fastest. Riding bikes and swimming were fun too!

Did you participate in any groups prior to The Brotherhood? How did you initially meet your bandmates and what were your first impressions of them? When and where did the group first rehearse? What was the chemistry between everyone like right off the bat?
I had many little bands that I was the band leader. J.Hurd and the Aces was my first fun one. As far as The Revised Brotherhood, the members I met randomly. Jimmy Green the sax player was a childhood friend before he took up the sax. We played in the John Hurd trio with the late Donny Hopskins on drums. I wanted a band with horns like Sly so we needed a bass, electric guitar, and trumpet. We found the late Eddie Knox for bass, Pat Kennedy on guitar and Tim Quincy/Carl Sandusky on trumpet. We played at local high schools from ‘69-‘71.

Now correct me if I’m wrong, but did you guys record a 45 under Revised Brotherhood on the Heard label before, or after the LP? Where does this fit in the group’s timeline?

We made the 45 on my Heard label. We recorded 3 blocks away in Taggart Brothers studio. We had 100 45's made. We had no manager, or agent. We just just sold them to friends and had elder beerman sell some too. The recording engineer was the late Mike Stone. He mixed for James Brown I believe. He made sure the mix was at the right loudnest to sound worthy on vinyl. That band was fun!! I was a star at my highschool. I graduated so the band had to stop because I had to go to college. During the recording of Tragedy the late Bill Fairbanks helped me arrange the backup vocals. We were classmates. He could play bass and sing. So we had a fun time in the recording studio, so we thought let's do an album next year together! He went to Ohio University and I was at U.C. Before we went we had time to find a young guitarist Jeff Hanson. We jammed and it was a great fit with Donny on drums. Bill and I had a few song ideas for the album.

When and where did the band make their live debut performance and what was the experience like for you? Tell me about writing as well as recording the songs that are featured on the band’s legendary - lone debut LP “Stavia”. When and where did recording begin in ‘72 and what was that process like creating those songs? I understand you guys released this on your very own label, corrected?

The Brotherhood only played one concert at Taft HS. I met Michael Coe at UC. The following summer we rehearsed until we were ready or not for the Rite records studio. In both bands the musicians equally contributed to the costs of the final product. Stavia got one bad review by the local newspaper, We weren't that surprised because our mixes weren't handled properly. We were disappointed in the raw sound of it in general. The constuctive criticism that Stavia got and seldom gets today was and is okay. We made this album with zero nightclub experience as a band. We were like freshmen trying to be welcomed by juniors and seniors in the industry. 70 days was how long we were together. Let that sink in. We were just a band made for one thing and one thing only. Stavia. It was bucket list thing. We did it… Sad it wasn't as good as it sounded at many rehearsals.

What eventually happened to the band after this? Did you continue to create music throughout the 70s? What have been up to in more recent years?
Fast forward to 2016. The late Ray Rissel got a strange email asking about me from some guy named Tobias Kirmayer. Ray called me to warn me about this guy asking if I was a organist and singer? I have a few youtube channels. I wasn't in Rays band when he got the message from Tobias. Tobias noticed that Ray and I played together in a local band in the 80's. Somehow he suspected I wrote Tragedy. So I looked the guy up on FB..Nada. Then I tried YT and there he was!!! He owned his own record label in Munich Germany. I wrote to him. He said he was looking all around for me because the Germans liked the revised brotherhood's sound. He offered to re release it with a record deal. I said thanks..but I would need to talk to a few of the members first. They all said go for it. That's how the first few deals happened. A few months later I received a email from Guessen records. The first thing Alex said is, “you know Stavia is bootlegged all over Europe?” Tim Quincy had told me this when I called him about Tramp Records deal. Same thing as Tramp records. They said they love our music and wanted to do a re release deal! Imagine that! 45 years later the band that never played a gig together got a deal for the same audio we recorded. Again I contacted all of the Brutherhood and we all agreed to do it and get back what we put out to do it.) As a band it feels great! Not many artists can be discovered without a manager, or agent. The music made it all possible.

Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?

I am still composing and playing and singing. I plan on releasing a CD early 2023. So much to write about. Love is the Light and the way. Thanks for wanting to share our story of how these recordings happened. We appreciate all you do for recording artists.

All the Best,

John Hurd