The Music Machine rode the songwriting genius of Sean Bonniwell, who was ahead of his time in protest songs like Eagle Never Hunts The Fly and Mother Nature, Father Earth.
They also had the technical genius of bassist Keith Olsen, who invented the Fuzzbox which created a trippy guitar sound that revolutionised the garage rock genre.
Although the Music Machine had a druggy, psychedelic sound, the group was radical in other ways. In order to stand out from the garage rock pack, the band dressed all in black complete with dyed black hair and black guitars, amps and drums.
They each even wore a black leather glove on one hand – long before Michael Jackson‘s single-glove look.
The band broke up in 1969, but Olsen later became a prominent producer whose chief credit was Fleetwood Mac‘s mega-platinum Rumours album.
Bonniwell, unfortunately, was not as lucky and ended up living in a garage on an Arabian horse ranch in the small California town of Porterville while fighting legal battles to recoup his songwriting royalties from the Music Machine’s record label, Original Sound.
Sean Bonniwell
Vocals, guitar Mark Landon
Guitar Keith Olsen
Bass Doug Rhodes
Organ Ron Edgar
Drums
Video
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