BEK: Mistress in the 70's

*The 70's & MISTRESS*
	[ 70's Pix ]

(click to enlarge) BEK's first gig was in June 1966 at a Boy Scout Rally in Southern California! Brian moved to Northern California in the late '60's, where he performed with rockers Hohfeld from 1969 to 1972.

Brian joined Mistress in 1973. The band included Country Weather bandmates Greg Douglass (later of Steve Miller and Greg Kihn fame) on guitar, and Bill Baron on drums. The Band recorded an album at Wally Heider's in SF, played throughout California and the West until mid-'74, when Greg went on to play with Van Morrison and Hot Tuna, and ultimately with the Steve Miller Band. Brian switched from bass to guitar after Mistress, and formed Slim Chance & The Fabulous Questionnaires, who played throughout Northern California from 1980 until its breakup in 1997.

In 1973-4, Mistress recorded the album FREEFLYTE, released in Germany in 1995 under the Taxim label (Taxim Records, AM Dobben 3, 27330 Asendorf, Germany). According to Relix Magazine (Relix Magazine: Issue 24-02 -- March/April – 1997): “Free Flyte (Taxim) is a real archive treat by Greg Douglass & Mistress. Mistress was a trio fronted by guitar virtuoso Douglass and singer/songwriter/bassist Brian Kilcourse along with drummer Bill Baron. The sessions that comprise this ten-cut album are all previously unreleased and date back to San Francisco, 1973. It’s a shame they have been such a well-kept secret—Mistress had great potential, which is evidenced by the slightly Who-influenced cut "Paul," the more flowing, melodic 'Bullets' and the title cut. The opening "All Worth The Price You Pay" is tight and features an exquisite, long solo fade-out by Douglass."

Click the pic for a cool collage of MISTRESS

Rare live recordings and studio outtakes of MISTRESS! NEW GROUND was released in Switzerland on vinyl sometime in 2005.