The Sons of Champlin

The Sons of Champlin was a popular Bay Area band of the 1960s that is not well known nationally. The group formed around Bill Champlin in the mid 1960s, and by 1967, the Sons recorded their first album for Trident Records, which was owned by Kingston Trio manager Frank Werber. Later in the year, the Sons were slated to release a single from that album called Shades of Grey but unfortunately, The Monkees beat them to it and the release was postponed. During the late 1960s the Sons performed extensively in the Bay Area, regularly playing such venues as The Fillmore and The Avalon Ballroom. They routinely shared billing with bands such as The Grateful Dead, Country Joe & The Fish, Jefferson Airplane, and many others. The Sons of Champlin performed and recorded constantly until they broke up in 1977, although they had a one-show reunion in 1985. After 1977, Bill Champlin had a short solo career before joining Chicago in 1981. The Sons of Champlin got together in 1997 and played a series of reunion gigs and began to release albums again.