BEDEMON

…or, at least, it’s undead. Is that the same as alive? It’s tough keeping track of that whole ‘zombie/re-animation/resurrection’ thing…

So, here’s the deal: work has continued to progress on the 2002 sessions, despite the inexcusable lack of News updates here in about a year-and-a-half (although if you check in to the Forum, you’ll find your specific questions usually commented on fairly quickly which should let you know we’re still stirring up the cauldron o’ doom). We are also going to post a detailed account of what transpired during 2007 and the first half of 2008. There is a LOT of news; getting it organized and coherent is the task at claw.

So thanks for checking back. Trust us, we’re undying for you to finally hear the material. The few lucky people given a sneak peek-before being dragged from the room, beaten sensibly and then very slowly dismembered a limb at a time-said they absolutely loved the new stuff. Later, these same people said, “Argggggh! No! No! Please…don’t…why?!! Oh god, please, not my arms…,” and then the rest is unintelligible due to the combined volume of the buzz-saw and random shrieking and screams.

So, stay de-tuned (although, ironically, BEDEMON recorded in proper tuning)…

Geof, Mike, Craig and the ever-present spirit of Randy

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Legendary Pentagram Guitarist Dead at Age 51

RIP Vincent McAllister (1955 - 2006)

It is with great sadness that we have to report the passing of Vincent McAllister, original PENTAGRAM member and guitarist with the classic 70s line-up. While not a member of BEDEMON, the lines between the two bands are forever intertwined and with the unfortunate demise of the ramshead.org PENTAGRAM site, this seems the best location to post this publicly where fans will see it. A simple forum posting on Hellride or Stonerrock seemed inappropriate and inadequate.

Vincent was diagnosed with cancer in his neck in the summer of 2004. He underwent chemotherapy and lost his trademark blond locks, but it seemed to clear it up and he embarked on a road trip taking him through Colorado-where he played a number of local solo gigs-and eventually wound up in Canada, where
he’d planned to reside. Passionately political, he’d gotten fed up with the political climate in the United States. Unfortunately, shortly after arriving, the cancer came back and so he returned to the bay area to resume treatment.

Vince in early Pentagram

During this time, Vincent worked on material on his home studio equipment, composing both instrumental fusion-styled tracks and vocal songs. It had also been decided that at the end of June when the lease was up at the place he was staying, he would move down here with me for the time being and we would work on new music together, with the eventual plan to have PENTAGRAM bassist Greg Mayne fly out for a week to record with us. Sadly, this will never happen.

As the months passed, the chemo was having less and less effect, and eventually cancer cells had shown up in his head as well. Fiercely private and not wanting to burden his friends with pessimistic news, it is difficult to know what the doctors may honestly have told him in regards to his outlook. Apparently the cells spread to his brain and he’d started brain radiation treatment in spring 2006, which, like the chemo, left him both nauseous and and so weak he couldn’t play guitar at times. Still, in a now-treasured last phone conversation I had with him around May 11th-a mere two weeks before his passing-he said he was feeling stronger and getting his appetite back, and that he was, “really looking forward to working on music,” when he got here, even stating he’d help clear out the garage so we could turn it into a studio. He sounded alert, energetic and upbeat, and I had every reason to believe things were looking up.
On Friday, May 26th, one of his roommates returned home and found him dead.

Three-fifths of an early PENTAGRAM reunion: John Jennings, Geof O'Keefe and Vincent backstage at a Mary Chapin Carpenter concert, June 21, 2004.

Vincent was one of the original members of PENTAGRAM, playing bass alongside vocalist Bobby Liebling, drummer Steve Martin and myself on guitar. We subsequently added guitarist John Jennings to beef up the sound, but Martin’s jazz-influenced drumming style wasn’t right for heavy rock and so I returned to the drums. After one single practice with this Mk. III version of the band which was amazing (and sadly unrecorded), Jennings decided he didn’t want to play heavy rock and quit, leaving us with an empty guitar slot. After a few weeks with Bobby playing guitar so we could get through the songs, Vincent suggested he try playing guitar. Bobby and I sort of chuckled to ourselves but figured we had nothing to lose.

That moment changed all of our lives forever. He blew our fucking socks off.

Vince sans locks in 2005

It was as though Blue Cheer’s Leigh Stephens had strolled into practice. We could not believe what we were hearing. How had this lanky, soft-spoken, pretty-boy bassist been this guitar-monster-in-hiding?!!

Vincent was a phenomenal guitarist, and it is sadly and truly astonishing that his incredible talent wasn’t recognized by more in the music industry. Some of his projects over the past few decades weren’t-in my opinion-necessarily the best showcases for his abilities, going off into various musical styles but never in the PENTAGRAM hard-rock vein that would have best-suited him to get the attention he so deserved and where the ‘guitar-hero’ fans would have been blown away. I had hoped to steer him back in that direction with the material we would have been working on this summer. Fans can at least enjoy his playing on the First Daze Here and First Daze Here Too PENTAGRAM releases, compiling studio and rehearsal material from the 70s.

Happier times: PENTAGRAM at the warehouse, early 70s

No, Vincent wasn’t a member of BEDEMON but BEDEMON-founder Randy Palmer played with him in PENTAGRAM for a time, and Randy idolized Vincent as he did Tony Iommi, Lou Dambra and Leigh Stephens. And now, within four years, they’re both gone, Randy at 49 and Vincent at 51. Randy wouldn’t mind the BEDEMON site being used to honor Vincent as it honored Randy after his passing. But…words can never describe the sadness, the anger and frustration of this site turning into a memorial for fallen friends and former musical partners, gone way before their time and with so much potential not yet realized.

Vincent McAllister had just turned 51 on May 8th. He was unmarried and had no children or siblings.

Geof O’Keefe 5/30/2006.

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After a considerable amount of looking at the factors, twisted mishapen hand-wringing, and general verbal intercourse, we have decided we will not be carrying the BEDEMON CD and regular black vinyl LP for sale. There are a number of factors, among them the difficulty of the financial and logistical aspects (buying and selling) when you have three individuals involved located in different locations and who contributed in varying degrees-or not at all-to the album. It also is rather silly to set up PayPal to sell a few items. The final reason was that quite a few dealers are already carrying it (and their links have been posted in the forum), priced cheaper than we were going to sell it at, and they take PayPal or credit cards. They have complete catalogs of hundreds of items and are already set up to do mail-order.

For those of you who may have been holding out to buy directly from us, thank-you. Seriously. Believe us when we say with no exaggeration that we have gone back-and-forth about this over the past few weeks, but when we looked at the pros and cons, it is much simpler-and more convenient for you, given the payment options-to support the band by purchasing the CD and/or LP from one of the fine dealers.

Here are some links to U.S.-based websites who are carrying the CD (and in some cases the black vinyl LP as well). We will not recommend one over the other and having not ordered from them, can’t vouch for their reliability or speed in processing orders, but all listed have been around awhile serving the heavy metal/doom community. The prices on the CD and LP vary from dealer to dealer, as do the shipping costs, shipping methods and types of payment accepted, and you may have to register to place an order. All of them carry other titles by other artists and you may see something else you want as well.

(note: As of this writing, some of the dealers appear to be sold out-which is really unbelievable!-but should hopefully be re-stocked soon…)

BRAINTICKET: http://www.brainticket.com

STONERROCK.COM: http://www.stonerrock.com

HELLRIDE: http://www.hellridemusic.com

ROCKADROME: http://www.rockadromestore.com

EVILLEGEND: http://www.evillegendrecords.com

RELAPSE: http://shop.relapse.com

Relapse is also currently taking pre-orders on the upcoming PENTAGRAM First Daze Here Too release due out 3/7/06. The 2-CD, twenty-two track collection features studio demos and rehearsal recordings from the legendary warehouse practice location, and of note to BEDEMON fans is the inclusion of three studio tracks with Randy Palmer (“Wheel of Fortune,” “When the Screams Come” and “Under My Thumb”).

We are still planning to carry t-shirts since we will be the only authorized place to get legit merchandise from, and we will be offering a special item in a few days.

Beyond that, Geof and Craig have been getting together on a regular basis to work on the upcoming recording of the vocals for the 2002 reunion sessions which should be taking place within the next few months.

Thanks to all who have posted comments on the various forums. It’s taken a while-a LONG while-but everything is finally on track. Randy would be blown away.

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Despite our very best efforts to proof and monitor the production of the BEDEMON Child of Darkness: From the Original Master Tapes release, it was the bloodshot-but-sharp eyes of Mike who noted that some of the lyrics were out of order. Geof moseyed slovenly into action, and a team of forensic scientists, armed with laser pointers and inexplicably, a weed whacker, carefully reviewed the booklet. The results were conclusive: the booklet was assembled incorrectly.

Wiping away tears, Geof explains: “It’s tragic. We tried so hard to make this release perfect for Randy, and yet…and yet…I’m sorry. Give me a minute, will you?”

After ordering a pizza and watching some porn, he regained his composure and continued: “The good news is that it’s not a printing error; it’s a problem that occurred in the assembling of the booklet at the factory in Italy. And the better news is, it’s really easily fixable. The center-spread page of the booklet, where the staples are located, was simply put in backwards. If you just bend up the four staple points, lift off the center page and replace it the other way around and bend the staples back into place, it’s fixed. When corrected, the center two pages will have the lyrics for “Into the Grave” on the top left side, and the page on the right will have Mike’s photo. We don’t know how it happened; Black Widow sent me a complete layout which was in the correct order, but somehow at the printer’s that one sheet got reversed.”

Geof stood up and walked slowly towards the window and peered out at the grey, overcast sky.

“It’s frustrating…you just don’t know…”, his voice cracking. “It’s this damn curse…”.

And as if on cue, as he spoke the words and looked out over the moors, a flash of lighting illuminated his ashen, tear-streaked face and the howl of a wolf was heard in the distance.

“It’s the curse of BEDEMON…”

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