BIOGARPHY

Charlie Beymouth moved to Coldwater Canyon in early 1972 shortly after losing his sister Samantha Beymouth to a drug overdose. The two had been touring the country as a sibling act cheekily named The Beaumont Sisters. In Coldwater Canyon, Charlie moved into a large shared house with other musicians, notably Benford O'Doole and Sharona Jane Kuertz. The trio quickly formed a band fronted by Charlie and named The Bismuths. The name came from a play on Charlie's last name and the chemical symbol for bismuth: Bi. Charlie, Benford, and Sharona all identified as bisexual.

They played a few shows as a folk trio: Charlie on guitar, Benford on piano and organ, and Sharona on upright bass. They perfected their three-part harmonies, with Charlie generally singing lead, but audiences did not seem impressed.

One canyon over, in Laurel Canyon, a new sound was being developed: folk-rock. The Bismuths were introduced to this sound because they lived next door to Stephen Stills' cousin, and they took to it immediately, inviting Daniella "Denny" Kilkane to join the band as their drummer. The fact she could sing and also identified as bisexual made her a natural fit. Daniella's boyfriend at the time was Graydon James, who, by fact of being at all the rehearsals, began playing some percussion and eventually became a full-fledged member of the band.

After several lacklustre gigs in the LA area they decided to record their first album. "Of Rock & Roll" (1973) was recorded at a small basement studio in San Luis Obispo called Shae's Lounge. The band was introduced to studio engineer Shae Brossard Sr. by Graydon, who had previously recorded there with another band he had been in called The Chester Keele Heptet.

The Bismuths' "Of Rock & Roll" was released by Deerjon Records (later Dirge Records) and sold an unimpressive 13 copies. Touring and small festival appearances did not do much to help sales; the band was described as "catastrophically bad" in live show reviews. A follow-up album, "Dirty Bismuths" was released in 1974 and sold a grand total of 23 copies. The band kept on, against all odds, and released a third album titled "Southern Comfort, Northern Chaos" in 1977. It sold 2 copies.

The band broke up, or went on "permanent hiatus", in 1978. Although it would be easy to believe it was due to lack of success the real reason the band dissolved was due to Charlie Beymouth's intense philandering: he had slept with every band member and all of their significant others at some point.

Charlie Beymouth released a solo record under the name The Bismuths in 1989 titled, simply, "Two". In 1990 Dirge Records released a compilation titled "Or Pleasure: The Best Of The Bismuths". It is not known if either of those albums sold any copies whatsoever.


DISCOGRAPHY

Of Rock & Roll (1973)
Dirty Bismuths (1974)
Southern Comfort, Northern Chaos (1977)
Two (1989)
Or Pleasure: The Best Of The Bismuths (1990)