Bermuda Triangle Band
Psychedelic rock duo known for pioneering the electric autoharp.
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The Bermuda Triangle is a psychedelic rock duo that emerged from the late 1960s folk rock scene. Its music features the autoharp, an instrument previously unknown in psychedelic rock, and grew out of the early work of its founding members, who began as actors in the Boston Theater Company. The duo, originally called Roger and Wendy, formed in the late 1960s in Greenwich Village and developed an energized psychedelic folk style with an electrified autoharp and fast-pulse bass guitar. Since the duo's formation in 1967, its only constant members have been its founders.
Background
The duo started as actors in the Boston Theater Company, taking the stage names Roger Becket and Wendy Becket. They performed in pass-the-basket-for-tips coffeehouses and folk clubs such as Gerde's Folk City. Performing at first without microphones due to cabaret license restrictions, they developed an energized psychedelic folk style with an electrified autoharp and fast-pulse bass guitar. Their music evolved from traditional ballads to folk rock, including psychedelic folk, acid freak folk, and rock.
In 1969, the duo fronted a band called Euphoria with Tom Pacheco and Sharon Alexander, releasing an album and a single before disbanding. Using Woodstock, New York, as a temporary songwriting base in 1972, the duo generated the folk album Roger and Wendy. A female drummer/fiddler known only as Sam joined the group. In 1975 the duo changed its name to Bermuda Triangle and released its psychedelic folk album Bermuda Triangle in 1977. The duo continued heavy touring until 1993, with later releases including Bermuda's II in 1984 and several reissues and new albums in the 2000s.
The duo's founder, the originator of rock autoharp, used contact mics and magnetic pickups to create a true electric autoharp, and developed a method of triggering live percussion simultaneously with the autoharp. He was also instrumental in the design and development of the first electromechanical harpsichord, later known as the Baldwin Combo Harpsichord.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Bermuda Triangle Band (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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