Mother/Bow to the King
Side A - Mother
1. Mother
2. Humble
3. Keep On
4. Idealist Realist
Side B - Bow to the King
5. No Sugar Tonight
6. Feel the Hurt
7. Tomorrow
8. Bow to the King
Death of a Country
1. Death of a Country
2. No Trespassing
3. My Window
4. Life on Ending
5. Certainly Meaningless
6. Future Song
Black Sabbath are surely the kings, the godfathers, the supreme rulers and creators of what is now known as heavy metal. Call it doom or metal, call it stoner, call it whatever, and I don’t think there’s any dispute of this fact, Sabbath has inspired many, many bands and will always be a driving force behind this particular brand of music.
Among the bands inspired by the masters of reality (not the band , who kickass!) was a trio of Americans who definitely were hell-bent on destroying the planet as we know it, and finishing it off with a Bang! Bang!, who tried to rule the earth in the early 70’s, and apparently had a minor hit that I hope doesn’t affect the obscurity of them, although they shoulda took the world by storm!
It’s a fu*ckin’ shame this band was largely ignored and/or forgotten as they rocked!!.. They were considered by some to be America’s answer to Sabb and there are some elements of them in their music however I would say it’s closer to Zepp or Budgie (one of the greatest bands ever!) The band released three albums and there’s a lot of info online and they even have their own site. Frank Ferrara- Bass, Vocals… Frank Gilcken- Guitar, vocs… Tony Diorio – Drums. Mother/Bow To The King and their self titled LP and to some extent Death Of A Country rock hard and Ferrara’s vocals make all three very listenable. So if you’re in need of some Bang! In your life check these forgotten, unheralded dudes out and get ready for some Future Shock!
Straight Out Of Spinal Tap, Or Cheech And Chong
From Bang's Facebook page
This is how the need for rolling papers launched our careers.
It was just about closing time, when we stopped for papers at a record store on the boardwalk in Daytona Beach. The manager had the key in the door, about to lock up, when we begged him to let us in. He did. Inside, we noticed a poster promoting a Battle of the Bands competition at Duck Soup (a popular bar and performance venue in Fort Lauderdale). We asked the guy if we could play. He told us it was an old poster, and the event had already taken place. Then mockingly he told us that "Rod Stewart, Faces, and Deep Purple were playing in Orlando the following evening, and “why don't you go there and maybe they’ll let you play!” “This guy was busting our chops,” We spent that night in the tent getting high and discussing what had happened earlier. At some point, a red-eyed, Tony announced ‘We’re going to Orlando and play with Rod Stewart!’”
The sun was just coming up as we pulled into the Orlando Sport Stadium. The gate was open so we drove right onto the floor . After sitting around in the arena for a while, it was time for us to meet opportunity , make our move and cross through. We started looking for somebody, anybody to plead our case. We eventually made our way back to the office's and banged on a door marked private. As soon as this tall thin guy opened it Tony announced , or more truthfully blurted, "We're BANG from Philly and we're as good as any band here tonight! . We have our equipment ready to set up and play. If you like us, let us open the show, if not we'll leave. You've got nothing to loose and you will see and hear something that will astound you"! The clanging of our balls in this guy's face actually pushed him backwards and impressed him enough, he agreed to hear us.
"I’ll let you open up the show tonight.”
This tall, thin guy was Rick Bowen, owner of East Coast Concerts. We can still see him standing in the middle of the empty arena watching us, arms folded, listening intently with his assistant Jimmy, as we played ‘Death of a Country’ and a few other songs. We were ready; all those months of practice, all those hours honing our craft, all the sacrificing each of us had done had prepared us for this moment in time. We passed the audition.” ON THE EVENING of July 21, 1971, as the crowd of 8,000 meandered into the auditorium in Orlando, Florida, BANG played songs from their unreleased Death of a Country album. The crowd was very encouraging. Matthews Southern Comfort followed, and then Deep Purple was next up, on their Fireball World Tour. Rod Stewart and Faces were the headliners. “Maggie May” had just entered the Billboard 100 at 91, on its way to #1. “After we performed our twenty-minute set, and while the excitement of the night was still all over us, we had to go back out on stage and haul off our equipment in front of the crowd,” recalled Tony. “We had no roadies. The shocked looks from the people down front watching me break down my drums and moving our stuff was something to see.”