Music Style Blues, Rock, Pop

Artist History Rock and roll manager Herbie Herbert's metamorphosis into blues singer Sy Klopps began in 1986 as a running gag between two friends. Pat Morrow (Nocturne Productions) and Herbie often rode into work together and riffed on fictional Jewish music business characters: "Sy" and "Sol." As the routine developed the friends joked about making a record by an imaginary band called "The Sy Klopps Jewish Blues Band." They had many amusing album titles including: "All Those In Favor Say Eye," "I Only Have Eye For You," and "Get Back Cataract." Other people picked up on the joke and a mythology was created involving some soldout shows by an unheard-of blues legend named Sy Klopps. A story was leaked to promoters, agents and press. The legend grew, widely reported in various trade magazines. Articles with titles like "Mystique" and "Very Hush Hush" and "The Mystery of Sy Klopps" appeared, adding fuel to the fire. The music industry began to beleive that Sy Klopps really existed. Industry trade magazines Pollstar and Billboard reported sold out shows that never happened. Aggressive promoters around the country began to display frustration, asking how it was that something potentially lucrative had slipped under their radar. To dodge the ire of the industry Herbie and his cohorts had the character of Sy become a recluse. Nobody was talking about who he really was. Nobody knew who he was. Nobody knew where he was. Herbie and his crew had Sy Klopps tour jackets made and wore them in public. They sent postcards from around the country to various promoters, infuriating them with tantalizing comments like: "Hi from Sy. I'm bad, I'm nationwide. See you soon." The scam snowballed. Promoters finally caught him out one day in 1987 during a conference call and demanded Herbie take the rap for "jerking off the music industry." David Denny (Frumious Bandersnatch, The Steve Miller Band) happened to be in the office on a social call and suggested Herbie actually make a recording to back up his prank. Denny offered to assemble the musicians and produce. With musical heavyweights Gregg Rolie, Neal Schon, Prairie Prince, Ross Valory, Norton Buffalo, Chip Znuff, Donnie Vie and others a tape was made with Herbie singing and playing guitar as "Sy Klopps." The demo was passed around to industry insiders. No record deal ensued but finally, in 1993, John Stix, then editor of Guitar For The Practicing Musician, offered to complete the Sy Klopps demo and release it as a full-length album. The first Sy Klopps Blues Band CD "Walter Ego" (a reference to Herbie's given name) was released in December of 1993 to glowing reviews. Very loose and off the cuff, it was punchy and honest with a totally green but passionate Herbie Herbert playing guitar and singing classic and obscure blues and R&B tunes as Sy Klopps, the plain-voiced blues shouter. Herbie was a natural. Reviews of the record called it "worldly", "slammin'", "fiery" and "thrilling." The New York Post gave it four stars. The band's success inspired Herbie to retire from the business side of music. The band played one of its first live shows in 1994, at the legendary Fillmore, scene of Herbie's beginnings. Why is Sy Klopps separate and distinct from Herbie Herbert? Herbie never wanted to become a performer, he never thought he had any talent. He never thought of himself as an artist, let alone a frustrated one. But lo and behold: Herbie was having fun, more fun than he'd ever had in his entire professional career. At the tender age of 45, Herbie decided to become Sy. He did it methodically and with complete commitment. Performing was infinitely more satisfying than working behind the scenes. Herbie's love of the music translated itself into his performances and audiences got the message. Over the next six years Sy Klopps has released two more albums: "Old Blue Eye Is Back" and "Berkeley Soul." They've played hundreds of shows, performing with a stellar array of Herbie's (and Sy's) musical heroes including: James Brown, B.B. King, Etta James, Greg Allman, The Doobie Brothers, Tower Of Power, Joe Louis Walker and Coco Taylor. Two Fillmore live performance videos attest to the power of the band onstage. Recently the band has jumped into cyberspace with the creation of a live Internet webcast. Throughout it all both personas, Herbie Herbert and Sy Klopps, look upon a fantastical career with detached, but grateful, bemusement. "If I had to end it now," he says of his life, "I'd be satisfied." But for a man with this much happiness it might only be the beginning. The Sy Klopps Blues Band is the real thing. They're here to stay.

Group Members Sy Klopps- Vocals, Herman Eberitzsch- Keyboards, Michael Peloquin- Sax, Harmonica, Tom Poole- Trumpet, Ralph Woodson- Guitar, Bobby Cochran- Drums, Danny Armstrong-Trombone, Ira Walker- Bass.

Albums Walter Ego, Ole Blue Eye Is Back, High Five, Berkeley Soul

Location San Francisco, Ca - USA

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