Eden’s Children

Eden’s Children were a Boston-based power trio that was active from 1966 to the end of 1968. During that time, they appeared at various colleges, a wide variety of local clubs both big and small and recorded two albums for ABC Records. As short-lived as they were, they were a significant presence on the scene and their superb instrumental skills were far beyond those of most of their contemporaries.

The group was the brainchild of Bill Glasser and Bill Robar, Boston University roommates with folk-rock leanings who played guitars and sang. The band started as a five piece unit but as the extent of the capabilities of the three core members – guitarist/vocalist Richard “Sham” Schamach, bassist Larry Kiely and drummer Jimmy Sturman – began to reveal themselves, the music began moving in another direction. To facilitate the creative shift, the band took a “less is more” approach and pared down to three, with Schamach writing the material.

SOUND/STYLE, NOTABLE APPEARANCES, OPENING SPOTS

At a time when Boston was flooded with new rock quartets and quintets, the trio format helped the group establish a unique identity, as did their penchant for extended improvisations to showcase their technical virtuosity. Schamach was one of the first truly “fast” rock guitarists on the Boston scene, Kiely was an adventurous bassist and Sturman was an indefatigable drummer. Their sound was primarily hard rock, but it included jazz elements and buckets of fuzztone guitar.

In the late ’60s there were numerous music venues flourishing on the Boston scene and many of them hosted national acts as well as local talent. Among the smaller venues were The Catacombs, The Unicorn Coffee House, The Rathskeller (The Rat) and the short-lived Crosstown Bus and among the larger ones were The Boston Tea Party, The Psychedelic Supermarket and the Hatch Memorial Shell. And Eden’s Children appeared at them all. Away from home, the Children played a six state area, which included bookings at Philadelphia’s Electric Factory and The Scene In New York City. Memorable live shows paired them with The Velvet Underground, Van Morrison, The J. Geils Band, Howling Wolf, The Yardbirds, The Rascals and others.

DEBUT ALBUM, SURE LOOKS REAL, DISBANDING

In 1967, the band signed with ABC Records, recording two albums of original material by Schamach that the label released in 1968, with Kiely contributing two songs on the second album. The first album, self-titled, was essentially a live-in-the-studio session with a heavier sound while the second, Sure Looks Real, had a more produced feel and a noticeably lighter sound, owing to the engineer running the guitars directly into the board. Several unauthorized CDs of this material have been circulated over the decades, which did not benefit the band financially but gave Eden’s Children fans something to add to their collections.

Towards the end of 1968, Kiely left the band to follow other ambitions as a guitarist, with Rusty Marcus replacing him on bass position for remaining dates. Drummer Sturman elected to resume his academic pursuits, Sham returned to Denver to get married and the band was no more. Out of the group, Schamach is the only one to have continued as an active musician, performing these days as Richard Lee, but Eden’s Children established a devoted fan base that remains to this day.