Martha’s Laundry was one of countless San Francisco bands that were successful enough to play venues such as The Family Dog but yet not record. Bassist Michael Husser recalls that the working musician community knew the group, and they performed all around the Bay area. While the band never achieved mainstream fame, several members later achieved success in other areas of the music business.
Husser has recently created a Web site (and a partner cable TV show) that promotes musicians over the age of 50 in the San Francisco area. You can can read more about these endeavors here.
An Interview With Michael Husser
60sgaragebands.com (60s): How did you first get interested in music?
Michael Husser (MH): I sang in choirs and other vocal groups from age five. After graduation from high school at 18, I wanted to continue singing folk music and decided to learn guitar. The little finger of my left hand had been injured when I was in the eighth grade and was unable to be used to make guitar chords. My guitar teacher (who had been paid in advance for the lessons) advised me to play electric bass instead. He was a bass player in a popular local Richmond, California band called The Untouchables. I took two lessons from him and have since taught myself. I have been playing fender bass since 1964.
60s: Was Martha's Laundry your first band?
MH: The first band I was in was called The Enchanters. I had owned my bass for three weeks when I received a call at the shoe store I was working asking me if I could play that night with the band. I replied that I was barely able to tune the bass but was reassured that “they would teach me what I needed to know” and that “we don’t get paid unless there are four guys on stage.” Since the gig paid $22.50 and my payments to the music store were $18.50 per month, I figured I was now in show business. The first song I played in public was ‘Louie Louie.’ The show was at the American Indian Center in San Francisco. The band was called The Enchanters because the leader of the band was from Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico.
60s: Where and when was Martha's Laundry formed?
MH: Randall Smith and Jim Lehman formed Martha’s Laundry I believe in 1966. I played bass, Jim Lehman played guitar, Randy Smith played drums, and David Kessner played keyboards. Our rhythm guitarist was Tom Peterain. I had replaced Richard Wilkins.
60s: Who came up with the band name?
MH: Randy and Jim were driving around San Francisco and saw a sign for a laundry and cleaners called Martha’s Laundry. They named the band after the business. As far as I know, they never met or did any business with the owners. They thought the name was as good as other bands of the era like The Grateful Dead or Moby Grape.
60s: Where did the band typically play?
MH: We played diverse locations such as Pauly Ballroom at U.C. Berkeley, The Straight Theatre on Height Street in San Francisco, The Family Dog at The Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco, and private parties. We even played for the ordination of an Episcopal Minister in Berkeley and were mentioned in and article in Time Magazine relating to the event (the issue dates from March 22, 1968 and the article was entitled, “Hippie Ordination”). I don’t remember playing teen clubs and we didn’t play and band battles; we only played places that guaranteed our fee. We did play some festivals with Creedence Clearwater Revival as the headliner.
60s: How would you describe the band's sound? What bands influenced you?
MH: We played blues and worked on jazz arrangements to blues tunes. Our influences were Gary Burton’s album called Lofty Fake Anagram and the first Moby Grape album.
60s: Did Martha's Laundry have a manager?
MH: We tried mangers but usually booked the shows ourselves.
60s: How popular locally did Martha's Laundry become?
MH: We played second or third billing at places like the Family Dog and were known to the working musician community.
60s: How far was the band's "touring" territory?
MH: We played mostly in the San Francisco Bay area. The farthest we played from the Bay area was north around the Muir Beach and Stinson Beach areas.
60s: Why didn't Martha's Laundry record?
MH: We didn’t play original material and didn’t think people would buy arrangements of known songs. We played primarily covers of somewhat obscure blues songs.
60s: What year and why did the band break up?
MH: I left the band around 1968 because we were not playing enough to justify a full time commitment on my part. Randy, Jim and Dave started a music store in Berkeley called Prune Music. Jim left to move to Texas and start his own music store. Randy and Dave moved Prune Music to Mill Valley, California. Randy started working on guitar amplifiers and formed a company called Mesa Engineering. The amps he produced were unique in that they could create the sound of a full Marshall stack at low volume. The amps became very popular and a musician fiend named Carlos Santana said, “That thing really boogies!” Randy then named his amps Mesa Boogie in honor of Carlos. Mesa Boogie amps are considered to be some of the finest in the world. Randy and I have kept in touch and I play through a Mesa Boogie bass amp. Jim’s music store in Austin, Texas is called Guitar Rez. It is one of the best-known guitar stores in the country. Jim is an acknowledged authority on old and classic electric guitars. Dave Kessner had played with many bands including Cold Blood. He is also a real estate broker in Marin County.
I later played with Little Richard, Elvin Bishop, Harvey Mandel and other artists in the Bay area and then started a band called Moon Rose Forest. We recorded a live album with Buffy Sainte-Marie in December of 1968 at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. In '69 I returned to the Bay area and then moved to New Mexico where I lived on the Acoma Pueblo Reservation and recorded an album of music with tribal members. I then moved to Albuquerque and began a career in broadcast television as an audio and video engineer. The career lasted 21 years, the last 15 years at NBC in Burbank. I was one of the editors for The Midnight Special, The Tonight Show and other productions. After I retired from NBC in '92, I went back to college and graduated from UC Berkeley. I then became a high school psychology teacher. I retired from teaching last year. My wife and I own a video production company that creates programs for schools. I still play in various groups with my original '64 Fender Jazz Bass that I played with Martha's Laundry and the other artists I mentioned.
60s: How do you best summarize your experiences with Martha's Laundry?
MH: I am very proud to have worked with these fine musicians. I learned to approach music on a professional level and acquired skills that have served me well in my own musical journey. We have all stayed in the music business. I’m grateful for the opportunity to play with them and keep in touch whenever possible.
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