The Bambo Syndicate was born in 1971, when bassist Harley Riggs was thrown out of one of the Tri City area's most popular acts, Blind Society. Hooking up with notorious drug dealer Jimbo "Blues Manchu" Elrod, they formed one of the most enduring and tenacious rock groups of all time.
Manchu (as he later became known as) initially joined the band in an effort to boost his flagging sales. "I thought there were a lot of drug addicts in the music business," he said. "Which turned out to be the case. The only problem was that all the musicians who hung around with us were broke. Always begging for a comp. I had to chase a few of them away. I never made any more money than I ever did before we formed the band, but it's no big deal. Once we got up and running I decided I enjoyed it."
"Jimbo was like a brother to me," Riggs told an interviewer from Playboy magazine in 1985. "Like an older brother who shared his dope with you. I'm not gonna lie. Many was the day we laid around the studio with needles in our arms but not a decent musical idea between the two of us. It's a wonder our first album ever saw the light of day."
This was no understatement, and the band almost went broke when the bill for studio time came due. "Yeah, it was one expensive crack house, that was for sure," commented Manchu. "But there was a huge shipment of blow that arrived at about the same time as we finished the record, so I was able to unload that for the price of the sessions."
The pair pitched the album to at least 15 different labels. "Dark Side of Andromeda's Seventh Moon" showed Riggs and Manchu to be exceptionally talented musicians and songwriters (at least when they were out of drugs). They played all of the instruments themselves. Many of the ambient "space-scapes" were also the creation of the two. "That was one of the fun things about the production of this album. A lot of those sounds are nothing more than farts run through a digital delay," explained Harley. "Some were unintentional, but we were inspired. We made it work."
Unfortunately, none of the record labels were even remotely interested in signing the Bambo Syndicate. One label rep from Geffen was heard to say "this piece of shit is the worst record I've ever heard!"
Unperturbed, they released it themselves on their own imprint, Galactic Pineapple Records and 8-Track Tapes. Through word-of-mouth and a mammoth campaign spearheaded by some of Manchu's better customers "DSOASM" slowly but surely began to sell. Within a year the album was considered a masterpiece by fans and critics alike, most of whom were taking payola from Manchu's ever expanding supply...you have to remember that such things were very common in those heady days of the early seventies. When faced with accusations of this practice, Manchu responded, "I don't give a damn HOW it happened. I only know one thing. I am a millionaire now. I consider it a small investment to have made for such a remarkable pay-off." Riggs seemed to agree. He bought a lear jet for his second cousin (who, by the way, was no pilot) and flight lessons for his mom. "Yeah, my advice to anyone who thinks the payola deal was unethical...all I can say is this...I bet your cousin doesn't have an airplane. I bet your mother doesn't know how to fly one. He continued, "This world would be a much better place if some people would just learn how to mind their own business."
Sales of "Dark Side of Andromeda's Seventh Moon" peaked in September of 1973. The record's success brought inspiration to it's creators and they went back into the studio in November. Harley recalls the experience: "We were on cloud nine. Manchu was well on his way to cloud ten so I figured it was time we recorded a new album before he lost control. We made a pact, when the first album began to sell, that the next time we would leave all the drugs at the house. Which we did. Instead, we had one of his cronies import it in to us. That way we didn't have to leave the studio at all. The only down side was that there are no bathing facilities in our studio. We spent 5 months recording 'Zero Gravity/Too Much Oxygen" and by the time it was all said and done we were two of the smelliest mother fuckers this side of Saudi Arabia."
That may well have been true, but the result was an album that was even more popular than their first, with an incredible cover by Salvador Dali. The story of the album's art work is legendary...as Blue Manchu explains: "Aww, man, it was SO trippy! I was hanging out at the public library and I found this book about modern art. I looked inside and it literally BLEW MY MIND!!! Some of that stuff I saw in there was just like visions and dreams I once had under the influence of some bad mushrooms! It tripped me out, and then I came to this one work...oh, my God! Flashback city! I checked the index and found that it was painted by this fella named Sal Dali. I ripped out the page and took it to Harley, sayin' 'Dude! We have GOT to use this for the new album!' My mind was set, there was no stopping me. Harl said, 'Don't you have to have some kind of consent form signed before you can use an artists work?' I told him I didn't know, but we could find out. We actually tracked down a phone number and an address. So, like, I call the guy, ya see? And he's got this funny French accent so I can barely understand a goddamn word he's saying. Riggsy later told me it was because he was actually speaking in French (sometimes I do feel like a dolt). I asked him what he thought of the idea. 'Mr. Dali,' I says...'I am extremely impressed with your painting entitled "Self Construction With Baked Beans - Premonition of Civil War". I've got a band, you may have heard of us...the Bambo Syndicate? Anyways, we've just finished our second album, "Zero Gravity/Too Much Oxygen" and...we were wondering...I mean, seriously, it's perfect, can we please use that mind-blower for the cover art?' All he said was, 'non'. Now I know enough French to understand what that means, so I turns to Harls and I says to him, 'Fuck that Guy! We're gonna use it anyway!' So we took the page I ripped from the library book to the printer and had 1000 copies made. Oh, it was beautiful. And I don't guess that Dali joker cared too much, cuz we never heard back from him."
The cover art was fabulous, but not nearly as incredible as the music inside. A side-long epic, "Wish You Were Gone", found them initiating a third member of the band, a relative newcomer to the Tri City music scene, named Tommy Henderson (or "Tom Dracula" as he preferred to be called). Dracula, like the others, was a multi-instrumentalist. He played many different parts on the record, but it was his zither work on the title track that ensured his place in the Bambo Syndicate. That, and his hopeless dependence on methamphetamine, which often found him on his knees begging for a fix from Manchu (a situation which the pusher man used to great advantage in the future).
As a trio the Bambo Syndicate embarked upon their first global tour. "I didn't know WHERE the hell I was going," said Riggs. "We only had two albums to promote, so we wound up doing extended covers of "Louie Louie" and "Wild Thing". It was a drag, but I'll never forget the night we wowed 'em with a 20 minute spaced-out version of "Free Bird" using our Micro-Moogs and ARPs instead of guitars for the solo at the end! Tasteeee!"
The highlight of the tour was a free concert given in Thailand. It was the first performance they had ever given which was made up of their two albums, in their entirety, and nothing else. When they were brought back for an encore they played "Dark Side of Andromeda's Seventh Moon" once again, making it the band's LONGEST concert as well. Press response was unanimous..."These guys are phenomenally popular in Thailand."
As if to cash in on the love they had received from the good people in Thailand, their next album was a double record set, "Two Stars In a Burning Colosseum (Live in Thailand)". It was received poorly by their fans, who already had both of their previous albums and felt ripped off. Indeed, the live versions did not meet the same standards as their studio counterparts. The BS were never a very good "live" act, even though they were respected in certain corners of Asia.
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