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Biography
Refimprove|date=December 2010Infobox musical artist|name = Brewer & Shipley|image = Brewer and Shipley 1971.jpg|image_size = 250|caption = Brewer & Shipley in concert, Cambridge, Massachusetts , 1971|landscape=yes|background = group_or_band|origin =|genre = Folk rock |years_active = 1967–1978 1995–present|label = Kama Sutra Records|Kama Sutra , Capitol Records|Capitol |associated_acts =|website = http://brewerandshipley.com/ BrewerandShipley.com|current_members = Mike Brewer (musician)|Mike Brewer Tom Shipley Brewer & Shipley were an United States|American folk rock music duo of the late 1960s through 1970s, consisting of singer-songwriter s Mike Brewer (musician)|Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley . They were known for their intricate guitar work, vocal harmony|harmonies and social consciousness|socially conscious lyrics. Their greatest success was the song " One Toke Over the Line " from their 1970 album Tarkio (album)|Tarkio . They also had two other single albums which scored the Billboard (magazine)|Billboard charts: "Tarkio Road" (1970) and "Shake Off The Demon" (1971). They continue to perform, both separately and together, usually in the Midwest (United States)|Midwest of the USA.
Early history
The two Midwestern natives met each other numerous times at various coffeehouse gigs before settling in Los Angeles to write music together in 1968, producing their first two albums, Down in L.A. and Weeds (Brewer & Shipley)|Weeds . Even though mutual friends in bands such as The Association and Buffalo Springfield lived in Los Angeles, they left California during 1969, returning to Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City , Missouri, where they made a meager living by playing in college towns. They derived the name of their next album, Tarkio , from a regular gig they played in Tarkio, Missouri . This album was their most successful commercially, featuring the song "One Toke Over the Line", which they wrote as a joke while preparing backstage for a performance.
"One Toke Over The Line" was performed for the The Lawrence Welk Show , a television program known for its conservative, family-oriented format, by a duo known as "Gail and Dale." At the conclusion of the performance of the song, Welk remarked, without any hint of humor, "There you've heard a modern spiritual (music)|spiritual by Gail and Dale."
This caused Michael Brewer to comment:
The Vice President of the United States, Spiro Agnew, named us personally as a subversive to American youth, but at exactly the same time Lawrence Welk performed the crazy thing and introduced it as a gospel song. That shows how absurd it really is. Of course, we got more publicity than we could have paid for.cite web|url= http://www.brewerandshipley.com/Misc/OneToke_Quotes.htm |title=Quotes - One Toke Over The Line |publisher=Brewerandshipley.com |date=2009-04-18 |accessdate=2009-10-23cite web|url= http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=QQrNWZ4Y5tU |title=One Toke Over the Line, Brewer & Shipley Live |publisher=YouTube |date=2007-04-11 |accessdate=2009-10-23
Brewer & Shipley have performed with many notable acts, including Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young)|Crosby, Stills & Nash , Bruce Springsteen , Black Sabbath , and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead , who played pedal steel guitar for "Oh, Mommy".
Regrouping, touring, and present-day status
During 1989 they performed a gig together, and a brief time later began composing together again, producing two albums, SHANGHAI (1993) and Heartland (1997). They have continued to tour together, part time, since the 1990s. At present, Michael Brewer lives outside of Branson, Missouri . Tom Shipley lives in Rolla, Missouri , where he is part of the staff of Missouri University of Science & Technology (formerly the University of Missouri - Rolla). He is manager of distance learning, video, audio, and other special video productions for the university.
Discography
Down in L.A. (1968) on A& M Records
Weeds (Brewer & Shipley)|Weeds (1969) on Kama Sutra Records
Tarkio (album)|Tarkio (1970) on Kama Sutra Records
Heartland (Brewer & Shipley)|Heartland (1997) on One Toke Productions
One Toke Over the Line: The Best of Brewer & Shipley (2001) on Buddah Records
U.S. singles chart positions
"One Toke Over the Line" scored 14 weeks on the charts, maximizing at #10 during April 1971 (#5 in Canada)
"Tarkio Road" scored 8 weeks on the charts, maximizing at #55 during June 1971 (#41 in Canada)
"Shake Off the Demon" scored 3 weeks on the charts, maximizing at #98 during February 1972
Cultural references
In the first chapter of Hunter S. Thompson 's novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (novel)|Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , Raoul Duke's attorney, Dr. Gonzo, sings the line " One toke over the line, sweet Jesus, one toke over the line " while the two of them drive from Barstow to Las Vegas.
One Toke Over the Line is an addiction status in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV .
See also
Nixon's Enemies List
References
Reflist
Further reading
cite book |title=It Shined: The Saga of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils |last=Granda |first=Michael Supe |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2008 |publisher=AuthorHouse |location= |isbn=1434391663 |page= |pages= |url= |accessdate=
http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Ye3ecDYxOkg YouTube posting of Lawrence Welk version, 1971
DEFAULTSORT:Brewer & Shipley Category:Musical groups from Missouri Category:American male singers Category:American folk rock groups Category:Musical duos
