“Welcome to the Dance” - Sons of Champlin

Here’s another SF band from the 60’s, and these guys challenged the styles of the time. In the mid sixties, Bill Champlin was white hippie teenager at Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley. He was already an accomplished musician when one of his teachers encouraged him to drop out and form a band. He did, and gathered together musicians with jazz background to form the Sons.

They were regulars at the San Francisco venues the Avalon Ballroom and the Fillmore West, playing alongside the Dead, Airplane, QSM and The Youngbloods. Their blue-eyed soul was a departure from acid rock. From ‘67 through the early 70’s they broke up and reformed multiple times. I had their first album “Loosen UP Naturally” released in ‘69, but I never really got into it. Then in ‘73 “Welcome to the Dance” was released. Champlin brought more horns to the band and the Sons took on a sound not dissimilar to Tower of Power. This one I like a lot.

We bought subsequent Sons albums later in the ‘70s and while they’re all good, Welcome to the Dance still stands out for me. In 1981 Champlin joined Chicago, which I believe was huge for that band as he brought his leadership and songwriting to the group. Chicago may have been stalling out in the late ‘70s and Champlin brought new energy, adding his song writing talents and his incredible vocals. Ultimately Bill Champlin and the Sons left their mark on the SF music scene of ‘67-’75, adding to the eclectic collection of timeless bands and music. Check out the video here from a ‘73 Winterland show.