Mother Earth (American band)

For the British band, see Mother Earth (UK band).

Mother Earth was an eclectic American blues rock band formed in 1967 in California, fronted by Tracy Nelson.

Nelson, who hailed from Madison, Wisconsin, began her career as a solo artist, but formed the Mother Earth ensemble after moving to San Francisco. The group performed at the Fillmore West in the late 1960s alongside Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Burdon, and was included on the soundtrack to the 1968 film Revolution. The group signed to Mercury Records, recording four albums. Mike Bloomfield played guitar on their 1968 release Living with the Animals and Boz Scaggs was a member of the group on their 1969 release Make A Joyful Noise. In addition to blues, the early incarnation of the group displayed influences from gospel, r&b, jazz, country and even a touch of psychedelia. After the first album, Mother Earth moved their base of operations from the Bay Area to a farm outside Nashville. The nucleus of the band solidified around Nelson, keyboardist Andy McMahon and guitarist John Andrews. Their manager and producer was Travis Rivers. Nelson was an astute judge of up-and-coming songwriters and was an early supporter of then largely unknown names like John Hiatt, Steve Young and Eric Kaz. Mother Earth's version of Young's "Seven Bridges Road" predates the Eagles' cover by at least ten years. After two LPs with Reprise Records & one with Columbia Records the ensemble continued to tour as Nelson's backup band but did not record anymore. They finally called it quits in early 1977. Tracy Nelson meanwhile began recording as a solo artist in 1974, issuing LP's on Atlantic, MCA, Adelphi and Flying Fish.

Members

• Tracy Nelson
• Johnny Gimble (not actually a member but a frequent contributor on albums)
• John Andrews
• Bob Arthur
• Mark Naftalin
• George Rains
• Bob Cardwell
• Karl Himmel
• Andrew McMahon
• Boz Scaggs
• Powell St. John
• Ronald Stallings
• Wayne Talbert

James Clayton Day (Jimmy Day), Jack Lee, Steve Mendell, Beau Dollar, Tim Drummond, David Zettner, Clayborne Cotton, Lonnie Castille

Discography

• Living with the Animals (Mercury Records, 1968) U.S. #144
• Tracy Nelson Country (Mercury Records, 1969)
• Make A Joyful Noise (Mercury Records, 1969) U.S. #95
• Satisfied (Mercury Records, 1970)
• Bring Me Home (Reprise Records, 1971) U.S. #199
• Tracy Nelson/Mother Earth (Reprise Records, 1972) U.S. #205
• Poor Man's Paradise (Columbia Records, 1973) U.S. #210
• Tracy Nelson(Atlantic records sd 7310)