The Stillroven Bio
1965: The Syndicate gets together, consisting of a group of guys from Robbinsdale High
School: Phil Berdahl on drums; his cousin Rock Peterson on bass guitar; John Howarth
on guitar and Mark Moorhead on guitar. The last member to join was Dave Dean, on
keyboards.
1966: Mark Moorhead leaves The Syndicate and is replaced by Dan Kane on guitar. The
band changes names to The Stillroven, with the original line up as: Phil Berdahl, drums
and vocals; Rock Peterson, bass guitar, John Howarth, guitar and vocals; Dave Dean,
keyboards and vocals and Danny Kane, guitar and vocals. The band auditions for
Stagefinders and meet Peter Huntington May who books and manages the band and also
produces their records. Peter May is also a DJ on KDWB. The band is heavily
influenced by the British Invasion bands.
November, 1966: The band records their first 45, She’s My Woman (written by John and
Dave, with Dave on lead vocals), backed with a cover of the Monkee’s (I’m Not Your)
Stepping Stone (with Dave on lead vocals), in a recording studio located in the basement
of George Garrett’s Nic’O’Lake Records. The song is released on May’s record label,
Falcon.
Spring, 1967: The band records their second 45, a cover version of Hey Joe (The
Leaves/Love) with Dan on lead vocals and Sunny Day (written by John and Dave, with
Dave and Phil on vocals) at Dove Recording Studio in Bloomington, also released on
Falcon. Hey Joe gets airplay on both KDWB and WDGY and also in Duluth, Minnesota;
Fargo, North Dakota; Lacrosse, Wisconsin; Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Lincoln,
Nebraska. Peter May gets the song released on a national label, Roulette Records. The
record gets airplay outside of the Midwest, including Tucson, Arizona and Pensacola,
Florida.
1967: With the success of Hey Joe, the band plays throughout Minnesota and the upper
Midwest.
Summer, 1967: The band, along with The Del-Counts, opens up a show for Sonny and
Cher (minus Cher due to health issues) at the Minneapolis Auditorium. The band plays
with The Castaways and The Litter at the Rochester Mayo Auditorium.
Fall, 1967: Dan Kane leaves the band and is replaced by Jim Larkin. Rock Peterson
leaves the band and is replaced by Dave Berget. Back at Dove Studios, the band records
their third 45, Little Picture Playhouse backed with Cast Thy Burden Upon the Stone on
the August label, also a Peter May record label. Jim Larkin sings the lead vocals on
Little Picture Playhouse, an obscure song from a relatively unknown British band, Simon
Dupree and the Big Sound. The B-Side is a psychedelic song written by Dave. The
record gets local and regional airplay. The Stillroven play a concert with the CA Quintet
in Lincoln, Nebraska for 5,000 fans.
Spring, 1968: Mike O’Gara replaces Jim Larkin on vocals and also plays guitar and Mike
Flaherty replaces Dave Berget on bass guitar and vocals.
The band records their fourth 45, also at Dove, also released on August, a cover version
of Come in the Morning (Moby Grape) backed with Necessary Person, written by Mike
O’Gara, who sings lead vocals on both songs. After the record is released, Peter May
replaces the A side with a cover version of Have You Ever Seen Me (The Small Faces)
with Dave Berget on lead vocals.
The band travels to Tucson, Arizona for recording sessions.
The band plays a concert at Hy-Corbett Field (a minor league baseball field). The band
lineup is: The Stillroven; Brenton Wood; The Sunshine Company and The Buffalo
Springfield.
July, 1968: Mike Flaherty leaves the band and Dave Berget rejoins. John Howarth leaves
the band and is replaced by Dave Rivkin. The band is now booked by James Reardon and
Associates and plays mainly outside of Minnesota. The band returns to Tucson for more
recording and this leads to an audition with A & M Records. The band travels to Los
Angeles, where they audition for A & M Records and are signed to record an album. The
album is recorded at A & M, but is never released.
November, 1968: The band is based out of Denver and plays throughout the west and
southwest.
April, 1969: The band travels to Norman Petty Recording Studios in Clovis, New Mexico
to record a number of songs, including a cover version of Get Ready (The Temptations).
No recordings from this studio are released. The studio is famous for recording sessions
with Buddy Holly, Buddy Knox, Roy Orbison, The Fireballs and many others.
May, 1969: The band travels to New York, where they land a job at a club and also
audition for record producer Phil Ramone.
July, 1969: The band returns to Minnesota from New York. The band plays their last job
at The Prison in Burnsville and then break up. The final lineup is: Phil Berdahl; Dave
Dean; Dave Berget; Mike O’Gara and Dave Rivkin. Phil and Dave are the only two
original band members in the group.
Update:
In the 1980’s, Phil Berdahl reports the band recorded a song at Dove, written by Pete
Steinberg, called The Jet Set (or In The Jet Set) that was never released. No tape of the
song is known to exist.
In 1996, all of the group’s records along with unreleased material are released on an
album called Cast They Burden Upon The Stillroven.
In 2005, the album recorded at A & M Records in 1969 is released for the first time, on a
CD called Too Many Spaces.
In 2010, a brief video (with no audio) surfaces of the band playing live at the Mayo Civic
Auditorium in Rochester in 1968. Phil Berdahl reports The Castaways and The Litter
also performed at this event.