The rock trio Crowfoot was launched as a high school band by its members, Russell DaShiell (guitar and vocals), Doug Killmer (bass and vocals), and Rick Jaeger (drums), under the name the Beau Gentry in Florida in the mid-1960s. Originally, they played British Invasion songs, but turned more to original material as DaShiell began to write it. They were signed by manager Ken Adamany (who later handled Cheap Trick); he took them to the Midwest for a summer tour, and they continued to be based there for the next two years. In December 1968, they moved to Marin County, CA, in hopes of getting a record deal during the renaissance of San Francisco rock bands, but they eventually found success playing with others rather than in their own band. DaShiell and Jaeger played and recorded with former Canned Heat guitarist Harvey Mandel, and DaShiell and Killmer recorded with Norman Greenbaum, including the gold-selling hit Spirit in the Sky. In 1970, DaShiell secured a record contract with ABC-Paramount for Crowfoot, but by then it was essentially a solo act. Nevertheless, he recorded a self-titled Crowfoot album, with Jaeger playing drums, that was released in the fall of 1970. A year later came Find the Sun, which found DaShiell backed by Sam McCue (guitar and vocals), Bill Sutton (bass), and Don Francisco (drums and vocals). Neither album succeeded commercially, and DaShiell went on to other projects. In the early 1990s, he reunited with Killmer and Jaeger for an EP under the name Mesenger that he released on his own Aerial View label. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi