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Dan Hicks

Dan Hicks was born December 9, 1941 in Little Rock, Arkansas, the son of a career military man. The family moved to California when Dan was about five, eventually settling in what was then the small city of Santa Rosa, some 50 miles north of San Francisco.

Musically, Dan started out as a drummer, beginning while still in grade school. He played the snare drum in his school marching band, and by the age of 14 was playing gigs with area dance bands.

In High School, Dan developed an interest in broadcasting, and had a rotating spot on a daily 15-minute local radio program called "Time Out for Teens". He entered San Francisco State College in 1959, eventually earning a degree in Broadcasting. He took up the guitar around '59, and became part of the San Francisco folk music scene, playing and singing in local coffeehouses.

In the spring of 1965, Dan became the drummer for a nascent San Francisco folk-rock group called The Charlatans, who at that time were more of a concept than an actual working band. They did, however, find employment that summer as the house band at the newly-opened Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada. The popular hallucinogen-fueled dances held at the Red Dog were the direct inspiration for the legendary psychedelic San Francisco dancehall scene that blossomed shortly thereafter.

In addition to drumming, Dan also played guitar and sang with The Charlatans, performing some of his original songs. The Charlatans played for several years at all the noted San Francisco halls, but never achieved the commercial success enjoyed by other groups that came on the scene after them, such as Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service. As Dan explains it, "The Charlatans were kind of dysfunctional anyway. There was no real management, and it was just kind of some loose guys".

Dan had other ideas about the kind of music he wanted to make, and began putting together an acoustic combo which included two female backup singers, who were dubbed "Lickettes". Billed as Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks, the group began as an opening act for The Charlatans. However, Dan soon left the Charlatans and focused his energy on the Hot Licks.

Their efforts resulted in a recording contract with Epic Records. "Original Recordings" was released in 1969, but Epic's promotion of the album and the group was lackluster, and it was not a commercial success.

After some personnel changes, and a deal with Blue Thumb Records, what had then become the "classic" Hot Licks ensemble went on to produce the critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums "Where's The Money?", "Striking It Rich" and "Last Train To Hicksville". But, owing to pressures both internal and external, Dan broke up the Hot Licks in 1973, at the height of the band's popularity.

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Book Review

I Scare Myself by Dan Hicks

Read "I Scare Myself by Dan Hicks" reviewed by Chris Mosey


I Scare Myself Dan Hicks 237 Pages ISBN: 978-1-911036-23-4 Jawbone Books 2017 The late Dan Hicks is described by Kristine McKenna, editor of this rambling but curiously engaging autobiography, as “a musical genius." He wasn't, although he did write some amusing songs and played competent guitar. This and a laconic sense of humour made him an influential figure on the burgeoning jny: San Francisco hippie rock music scene in the 1960s and 70s, ...

3
Album Review

Dan Hicks And The Hot Licks: Greatest Licks - I Feel Like Singin'

Read "Greatest Licks - I Feel Like Singin'" reviewed by Chris Mosey


You never knew quite where you were with Dan Hicks And The Hot Licks--that was the great thing about them. Sometimes Hicks would come on stage looking like Cab Calloway in a red jacket, rainbow tie and black hat. Next night he'd be in his psychedelic cowboy outfit. And he nearly always wore a sardonic look that said, “Don't take this serious, folks." He kick-started the Haight-Ashbury scene in San Francisco in the 1960s, writing and singing ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Dan Hicks, John Clayton and Gerald Clayton, Lotte Anker Trio, Danny Fox, and More

Jazz This Week: Dan Hicks, John Clayton and Gerald Clayton, Lotte Anker Trio, Danny Fox, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

With a bit of spring in the air this week in St. Louis, there's also plenty of live jazz and creative music happening around town to get out and enjoy over the next few days. Let's go to the highlights... Tonight, singer-guitarist Dan Hicks returns to the St. Louis area for a performance at the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville.  Hicks' mix of Gyspy jazz, swing, country, blues and folk has been entertaining audiences for nearly fifty years now, and continue ...

Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The Hot Licks of Dan Hicks

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The Hot Licks of Dan Hicks

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week, let's check out some video clips of singer-guitarist Dan Hicks, who will be in Edwardsville this coming Wednesday, March 13 to perform at the Wildey Theatre. Hicks' quirky blend of Gypsy jazz, swing, folk, country, and blues has been entertaining and amusing audiences for more than 40 years, ever since he emerged as part of the San Francisco rock scene of the 1960s. The Arkansas native first gained a measure of fame in the mid-60s as a drummer ...

Performance / Tour

Dan Hicks to Perform Wednesday, March 13 at the Wildey Theatre

Dan Hicks to Perform Wednesday, March 13 at the Wildey Theatre

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman


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Performance / Tour

Victor Wooten, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks Coming in July to Old Rock House

Victor Wooten, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks Coming in July to Old Rock House

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

The Old Rock House on Friday announced two shows scheduled for July that may be of potential interest to local jazz listeners: Bassist Victor Wooten, who was just here last month to play the Sheldon with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, will perform at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, July 5 at ORH. Wooten's most recent CD as a leader, Palmystery, came out back in 2008. He last played St. Louis with his own group in 2009 at The Pageant. The following ...

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Recording

Dan Hicks New Album/Tour

Dan Hicks New Album/Tour

Source: JamBase

DAN HICKS AND THE HOT LICKS ANNOUNCE FIRST LEG OF U.S ALBUM RELEASE TOUR NEW ALBUM, TANGLED TALES, DUE MARCH 24

Dan Hicks Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks announce the first leg of his U.S. tour to support his new studio album. Dan's latest CD, Tangled Tales (March 24, 2009 / Surfdog Records), is a brand-new collection of compelling and witty tunes that show why Tom Waits called him “fly, sly, wily, and dry!"

In vintage Dan ...

110

Recording

New Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks

New Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks

Source: JamBase

TANGLED TALES ARRIVES IN MARCH

Dan Hicks Dan Hicks, the man that introduced ragtime and tin pan alley to long hairs in the early '70s, returns with his Hot Licks on a brand-new collection, Tangled Tales, arriving March 24, 2009 on Surfdog Records. Featuring the same swinging music and insightful charm that has endeared him to audiences and fellow artists alike, Tangled Tales features a world-class collection of musical talent, including instrumental virtuosos David Grisman, Charlie Musselwhite and slide-guitarist Roy ...

"There's no one else who sounds like Dan Hicks, who writes like him, who has that dry sense of humor, or has that manner on stage. He's really one of a kind." -- San Francisco Weekly

"So few truly original figures exist in pop music that Dan Hicks should be a national treasure." -- San Francisco Chronicle

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Greatest Licks - I...

Surfdog Records
2017

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Tangled Tales

Surfdog Records
2009

buy

Videos

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