The institution
The Institution | |
|---|---|
| File:Institution1970CoopDuffLesterLamond.jpg The Institution performing in 1970 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Union, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1965–1970 |
| Associated acts |
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| Past members |
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The Institution[1] was a New Jersey garage rock band formed in the summer of 1965. The founding members were Philip Rubin, Marvin Coopersmith, J. Howard Duff,[2] and Richard Lester. They met at, and graduated from, Union High School in Union, New Jersey and, in their early days, played mostly in Newark, Union, New York City, and other places in New Jersey, including Asbury Park.
The Institution had many members over the years, but the core group from late 1965 through 1970 were Rich Lester, lead vocals; J. Howard Duff, guitar and vocals; Marv Coopersmith, guitar; Philip Rubin, guitar (until 1969), Pat Moast, bass guitar; Jean-Paul LaMond, drums; and Russ Frame, keyboards (succeeded by Janette Greene in 1968). Other early members included Steve Wryzinski (bass), Glenn Horowitz (drums), and Jack Whelan (drums). Other well-known members included Joey Kramer (drums) who went on to Aerosmith and Eric "Ricky" Rackin (bass; died in 2007) who moved on to Richard and the Young Lions and Arthur Lee's Love.
Early influences were Wilson Pickett, The Rolling Stones, The Animals, Mitch Ryder, and a variety of blues musicians ranging from Mississippi John Hurt, Howlin' Wolf, and Elizabeth Cotten to the Blues Project, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, and Cream. In later years, they played everything from straight blues to garage rock to ballads.
The Institution started mainly as a cover band and were originally best known as an opening act for groups like The Lovin' Spoonful, Mountain, and Canned Heat, playing a lot in Greenwich Village in New York City at places like the Night Owl Cafe[3] and Cafe Wha?. They also appeared on television shows like Clay Cole's Diskotek and Zacherly's Disk-O-Teen. One highlight was on Thanksgiving, Nov. 25, 1970, at Newark State College (now Kean University), when the band that opened for them was Steel Mill, an early Bruce Springsteen band[4] .
The Institution wrote and recorded a lot of original songs from 1965 through 1970. The primary songwriter was Rich Lester. Both live and studio recordings can be heard on a tribute site for the group, called TheInstitution.rocks[5] or on the personal website of J. Howard Duff [2].
The Institution, as it was in the 1960s, broke up in 1970. However, through the 1970s and 1980s, various musical aggregations of the core team of Lester, Duff, Coopersmith and LaMond were successfully formed, gigged, toured, and recorded. For example, after lead singer Rich Lester left to start another band (Blood Wedding) in 1969, Coopersmith, LaMond, Moast, and Duff carried on as Institution II with Duff taking on lead vocals. The group then renamed itself Praisegod Barebones, with band members including a reconciled Rich Lester, Coopersmith (guitar), David Massler (drums), George Juchnevicius (bass), and Duff (guitar and vocals).
Band Members
Founders:
- Philip Rubin, special effects guitar, 1965-1969
- Marvin Coopersmith, lead guitar, 1965 on
- J. Howard Duff, guitar, and vocals, 1965 on
- Richard Lester, lead singer 1965-1970 (d. 1996)
Other Members:
- Jan Criss, bass guitar (deceased)
- Russ Frame, keyboards
- Janette Greene, keyboards
- Glenn Horowitz, drums
- Jeffrey Knapp, poetry (d. 2010)
- Joey Kramer, drums
- Jean-Paul LaMond, drums
- Pat Moast, bass guitar
- Alan Eric "Ricky" Rackin, bass guitar (of Richard & the Young Lions fame; d. 2007)
- Jack Whelan, drums
- Benjie Williams, keyboards
- Steve Wryzinski, bass guitar
Philip Rubin left the band in 1969 and began playing with groups in the Boston area. He went on to a career in science,[6] eventually becoming CEO of Haskins Laboratories and Professor Adjunct Dept. of Surgery, Yale School of Medicine, then leading the White House neuroscience initiative[7] and the Office of Science and Technology Policy science division in the Obama administration, and currently serves as President of the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
Rich Lester died of cancer in 1995 at the age of 47. A tribute CD, From The Bottom of My Heart (Vol. 1), features rare performances by Lester accompanied by various New Jersey musicians, starting with The Institution in 1965, through some of his final solo sessions.[8]
J. Howard Duff[2] is a blues, rock, and gospel vocalist and guitarist who records for Nice Jacket Records. He remains active and has played with or opened shows for the likes of Twisted Sister, Blackfoot, Chuck Berry, J. Geils Band, Black Flag, Bruce Springsteen, Rick Derringer, Roy Buchanan, and many more [9]. In the mid 80s, his band Partners in Crime[10] scored a top 10 punk rock EP with their release “No Big Deal”. He moved back into his blues & gospel roots when he and Dawn, his artist/vocalist wife, relocated to South Carolina in the late 1990s. Since then he has released several projects on the Nice Jacket label, his latest being “The Blues & Back” and "Thunder and Lightning". His current band is Red, White & Blues[11], formed by Fred Warren and Duff in 2016 to play blues and swing. Members are Duff (lead guitar, vocals), Warren, (guitar), Allyn Perdue (bass), and Ed Switela (drums).
References
- ↑ "The Institution - a tribute site". theinstitution.rocks. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "J. Howard Duff". www.jhowardduff.com. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
- ↑ "Night Owl Cafe Tribute Page". facebook.com. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
- ↑ "The Institution: Flyers and Posters". theinstitution.rocks. 1970-11-25. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
- ↑ "The Institution - a tribute site". theinstitution.rocks. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
- ↑ "Philip Rubin personal website". Philip Rubin. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
- ↑ "White House Neuroscience Initiative" (PDF). WhiteHouse.gov. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
- ↑ "Rich Lester - From The Bottom of My Heart". jhowardduff.com. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
- ↑ "J. Howard Duff with Red White & Blues: The Blues & Soul Review". roastingroom.live. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
- ↑ "Partners in Crime". concertarchives.org. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
- ↑ "Red White & Blues". jhowardduff.com. Retrieved 2022-07-26.
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