Biography:
Black Merda were a funky rock combo with a significant debt to Jimi Hendrix, mixing fuzz-toned, psychedelic blues-rock with folky acoustic passages and contemporary late-`60s soul. Featuring guitarists Anthony and Charles Hawkins, bassist VC Veasey (aka Veesee L. Veasey), and drummer Tyrone Hite, the group got its start in the late `60s after Veasey, Hite, and Anthony Hawkins had spent time in a band called the Soul Agents, backing Edwin Starr and Gene Chandler. Inspired by Jimi Hendrix`s Are You Experienced?, they added Anthony`s younger brother Charles on second guitar and christened themselves Black Merda. Despite some interest around their Detroit base -- including Norman Whitfield and Eddie Kendricks -- Black Merda signed to Chess, thanks in part to the psychedelic soul eccentric Fugi (aka Ellington Jordan), who they also backed on his Mary, Don`t Take Me on No Bad Trip LP for Chess.
Black Merda`s self-titled album sounded revolutionary enough, although the bandmembers were disappointed that it didn`t reflect their heavy live shows. They then moved to the West Coast to continue playing with Fugi, but returned to Chicago to record a second album. Shortening their name to Mer-Da, the group returned in 1971 with Long Burn the Fire, a funkier outing that bore a likeness to early Funkadelic. The band quickly fizzled out, but over the next three decades, continued record-collector interest in the group eventually resulted in a reunion with Veasey, both Hawkins brothers, and Fugi, although Hite had died in 2004.
