Here are the legendary recordings of the Rising Sons. Recorded in 1964, this seminal band fused Blues, Rock, and Country influences into a joyous celebration of music and song. The Rising Sons mark the debut recordings for both Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder, along with Gary Marker, Jesse Lee Kincaid and Ed Cassidy on drums, while produced by Terry Melcher of Byrds fame.The group was signed to Columbia Records but their only album was not issued at the time. One single, “Candy Man”/”The Devil’s Got My Woman”, did surface, but the group disbanded shortly after.

They were early contemporaries of the famous LA band The Byrds and fans often wondered, before Mr. Tambourine Man hit, which band would be the biggest success. Their recorded material became widely bootlegged and nearly three decades later was eventually released in 1992 under the title Rising Sons Featuring Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder. This collection features imaginative rearrangements of standards like “Corrine, Corrina,” an obscure Dylan cover (“Walkin’ Down the Line”), rocking originals, a confident performance of Goffin/King’s “Take a Giant Step” (later Mahal’s signature tune), and nifty guitar interplay between Mahal and Cooder throughout.

Mahal went on to become a prominent solo blues/folk performer. Both Cooder and Marker spent time with Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band before Cooder made his name as a session musician, recording under his own name, and scoring several soundtracks. Cassidy founded the band Spirit and Kelley became a member of his cousin Chris Hillman’s band the Byrds in 1968, playing on their seminal Sweetheart of the Rodeo album.