Formed in Dallas, Texas, USA, in 1968, the American Blues evolved out of local club attraction the Warlocks when Rocky Hill (guitar), Dusty Hill (b. Joe Hill, 19 May 1949, Dallas, Texas, USA; bass), Doug Davis (organ) and Frank Beard (b. 11 June 1949, Frankston, Texas, USA; drums) took their new name upon adopting a more ‘progressive’ sound. The American Blues Is Here, released on the local Karma Records label, featured their reworking of Tim Hardin’s ‘If I Were A Carpenter’ and generated sufficient interest to secure a major contract with Uni Records. The American Blues Do Their Thing offered a form of hard rock psychedelia, as evinced by such titles as ‘Chocolate Ego’ and ‘Nightmare Of A Wise Man’, but the album failed to spark national interest. The group disintegrated soon afterwards, with first Beard, then Dusty Hill, joining ZZ Top.