Nymbus History

     The group formed circa 1967, when Joel Anderson (guitar), Mike Filloon (bass/vocals), Brian Miller (drums) were in their mid to late teens.  All played in various bands throughout high school; Filloon and Anderson were neighbors that played music together from age 13 onward.  Originally from Hayward, Nymbus lived and played throughout Bay Area.  The group used an empty farmhouse in Union City, “the Farm,” in 1968 as rehearsal/party venue.  Nymbus opened for Alice Cooper at Hayward, CA IDES Hall in 1968, taking the after party back to the Farm and celebrating all night.   Later, Nymbus lived above the Monkey Paw bar in Berkeley in 1969.  With the help of bunk beds, the three bandmates, their roadie, and their road manager all lived together in one room.  “Orgies, drugs, sex, and rock’n’roll was the lifestyle” – Joel Anderson

 

     Garnering a local fan base, Nymbus played venues all over the East Bay.  Their biggest show was the San Jose Aquarian Family Festival in 1969, a 3 day, free, outdoor music festival featuring local and national rock acts.  At the Festival, a stage hand plugged Nymbus’ amps into an outlet with incorrect voltage, and the equipment fried.  The band missed their original set time and had to borrow amps from the Johnny Mars Blues Band.  Nymbus finally took the stage at 3am, directly before Jefferson Airplane.  Nymbus also rented rehearsal space in Clyde’s Music in Oakland, a store on 13th street.  Clyde’s Music repaired all of Jefferson Airplane’s amps at the time.   Despite their local notoriety, Nymbus never recorded studio tracks, and to this day their only known recording is the “Live in Livermore” album, recorded March 14, 1970.  The band parted ways with Filloon in 1970 shortly after the “Live in Livermore” recording; Anderson and Miller joined with 2 other musicians for more of a folk rock sound, keeping same name but sounding nothing like the original Nymbus.

 

“Live in Livermore” History

     Nymbus was booked by Jim Sorenson for “Turn On Your Lovelight,” one of his “Outlaw Blues” dance concerts.  “Turn On Your Lovelight” was held at the Livermore, CA, Veterans Hall on March 14, 1970.  Johnny Mars Blues Band was the headlining act, and The Last Mile was also on the bill.  According to Sorenson, it was “the first liquid light show in the East Bay.”  Minimal communication between the band and show producer led to Sorenson believing that the band name was Nimbus.  Sorensen also was never introduced to drummer Miller.  Jim Sorenson left the East Bay sometime during the 1970s in favor of a more remote locale, playing the Nymbus set every decade or so privately.  In 2011, Sorenson played Nymbus’ set for friend “Shattered Bob” Pettersen of Shattered Music.  Pettersen insisted that the songs were brilliant and needed to be immediately re-mastered and released.

    

     As Sorenson’s notes on Nymbus were few and sometimes inaccurate, Shattered Music had no idea how to find the band after 41 years.  A full blown search for the members of Nymbus began at the same time as album production began (believing the band to be Nimbus).  After numerous dead ends across various media and technology, Pettersen walked the commercial areas of Livermore, Hayward, and other East Bay communities, poking his head in every store to ask if anyone remembered a group called Nymbus.  Pettersen lucked out at a Hayward bookstore, where an employee directed him to Bruce Tahsler’s book “The San Francisco East Bay Scene – Garage Bands From the 60s: Then and Now.”  While the entry for Nymbus contained a few errors, it provided much valuable information, including the correct spelling of the band name and the identities of Joel Anderson and Mike Filloon.  LP production of “Live in Livermore” was already underway with LP jackets printed Nimbus.

    

     Upon hearing the name Joel Anderson, Sorenson realized that he had the phone number for a man of that name associated with a different 1970s East Bay Band.  Upon calling the number, Sorenson learned that Joel Anderson was the same musician who played in Nymbus.  Joel provided some background of the band (including confirming the name as Nymbus) and provided contact info for Brian Miller (the drummer whom Sorensen was never introduced to in 1970, and not identified in Tahsler’s book).  Miller elaborated on Anderson’s recollection of the Nymbus days.  Both confirmed that Filloon had passed away years earlier.  After much ado and a few misadventures that are additional stories unto themselves, the “Live in Livermore” LP was released in February, 2012 and the CD in October, 2012. 

 

Bands Which Influenced Nymbus (in their own words)

     Quiksilver Messenger Service, Frumious Bandersnatch, The Kinks, The Who, The Yardbirds, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix.

 

“Live In Livermore” Reviews

- “Rock and roll’s newest Lazarus” B.P. Fallon, 11/2011

- “Savage and raw” – millennial generation customer, 12/2011

- “…the near 24 minute jam constituting “If I Had my Way” opens with one of the best bass introductions I’ve come across and there’s a genuine feeling of anticipation mixed with excitement as the guitar crackles and fizzes into life.” – Andy Barnes, Mudkiss Fanzine, 5/2012 

- “’Change and ‘If I had My Way’ hint of Christopher or Cream, only heavy on the Echopet, with some awesome machine gun-like double bass drumming.” – Louis Comfort-Wiggett, SHINDIG #27, July/August, 2012.

- “Instant transportation back to my teenage years.” – baby boomer generation customer, 6/2012

 

Key Points - LP

- Gate fold jacket

- Smoky gray vinyl

- 180g audiophile LP

-digital download card

- download card made of 100% recycled paper stock, printed with plant-based ink, and embedded with wildflower seeds.  After downloading tracks, instead of throwing card in the trash, put it in some dirt, water, and enjoy some colorful flora.

- Cover has misprint of band name as Nimbus (see album story above)

- Art inside gate fold includes enlarged image of original newspaper flyer for “Turn On Your Lovelight” and note for Nimbus [sic] to contact Shattered Music if they come across the record (this note was written/jackets printed before Nymbus members were located – see album story above)

 

Key Points - CD

- 6 panel digipak

- Nymbus’ full “Turn On Your Lovelight” set, 1 more track than on LP.

- Insert with brief Nymbus history

- Sorenson’s notes on producing the show

- Digipak art includes photos of Nymbus in concert

-Special black ink on mirrored surface disc art

- 100% recycled paper stock (mix of post-consumer/industrial scrap)

- Printed with vegetable-based inks

- No plastic disc tray

- Industry leading low V.O.C.s involved in manufacturing process

- Manufactured to FSC/SFI standards (but we couldn’t afford their licensing rates to use their logos on the digipak.)

 

Track Listing

Change – Track 1, about 10:45 in length                        

Get Up And Dance (Motherfucker) – Track 2 (CD only), about 5:45 in length

I’m Going Down In Style – Track 2 LP/Track 3 CD, about 11:30 in length

If I Had My Way – Track 3 LP/Track 4 CD, about 24 minutes in length