Biography

After the release and subsequent disappearance of Daniel Amos' critically acclaimed Darn Floor Big Bite, Terry Taylor began to embark on a solo project, utilizing many of his fellow and former DA cohorts and drummer David Raven. As the songs began to come together, the project began to look more and more like a band project. And thus were the Swirling Eddies born, all members taking on phony names. Terry Scott Taylor was known as Camarillo Eddy. Guitarist Greg Flesch became Gene Pool. Bassist Tim Chandler was known as Berger Roy Al. Keyboards were played by Rob Watson under the name Arthur Fhardi. Former DA guitarist Jerry Chamberlain returned to work with the band under the name Spot. And David Raven took on the name Hort Elvison. Turning to a more acoustic-based sound than the experimental leanings of Darn Floor, the band burst upon the Christian music scene with all the suspense of a British spy movie with the release of their first album, Let's Spin, in 1988 and an infamous "Guess the Eddies" contest. The album sold moderately well and garnished a fair amount of critical acclaim. Songs like "Ed Takes a Vacation" and "The Unsuccessful Dutch Missionary" gave the band the reputation of a novelty act. and serious but cryptic songs like "Catch That Angel" and "The Big Guns" that dodged interpretation reinforced this. The following year saw the release of the Swirling Eddies' follow-up release, Outdoor Elvis, featuring a whopping 21 songs and new member Gene Eugene (under the name Prickly Disco). Instrumentation on this second release was more raw and novelty songs more silly. When Daniel Amos returned in 1990 with Kalhoun!, most people thought that the Eddies experiment was over. But when 1994 saw the release of both DA's Bibleland and the Swirling Eddies' Zoom Daddy, listeners were confused. Zoom Daddy seemed to be the more serious record of the two. Every track had considerable depth with superb construction and instrumentation. The phony names had gone too, as well as the 30-second novelty tracks. True artistry. A final album was released in 1996 entitled Sacred Cows featuring the Eddies doing rough covers of less-than-intelligent contemporary Christian songs. ~ Mark W. B. Allender, Rovi