Who Remembers The Minneapolis Bands “CROW” and “The Trashmen”? (videos)

When I was a young punk teenager, I used to go see a band from Minneapolis called South 40 at the Fargo Coliseum. I always looked forward to seeing these guys. They were a great band. This band formed in 1967 and played until 1972. the band was made up of singer David Wagner, guitarist Dick Wiegand, bassist Larry Wiegand and drummer Harry Nehls.

The venue, the Fargo Coliseum, was nothing more than an indoor hockey rink that was used for the occasional concert.  The acoustics must have been horrible but, for one reason or another, all I remember is a great band that eventually went on to record a nationally sold record.

 In 1969 they recorded a demo for Columbia Records and they passed. Denny Craswell replaced Nehls on drums (Pete Best Syndrome). They were signed to Amaret Records and the band went national, changing their name to Crow.

Their big hit was "Evil Woman (Don't Play Your Games with Me)".which was later covered by Black Sabbath. How cool is that?

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Three years ago, Crow was in the line up at Moondance and once again disappeared into obscurity.  There were several Minneapolis bands that I made a point to see when they played near my hometown.  Lamont Cranston Band was a must see whenever they came to town.

Another Minneapolis band that made it big was The Trashmen.  Their huge hit "Surfin' Bird" was on the top of the charts until being knocked off by some band from Liverpool, England called the Beatles.  Check out their video