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Beverly (Bev) Bivens was lead singer with the American West Coast Folk-rock group We Five from 1965-7. WE FIVE Beverly Bivens was born in Astronauts . They recorded their first album, the highly eclectic ''You Were on My Mind'', for A&M records in 1965 after Herb Alpert , founder of A&M, heard them at the " Hungry I ", a folk/night club on Jackson Street in the North Beach area of San Francisco. , 1965]] ''You Were on My Mind'' A distinctive version of show and '' Shivaree ''. A further single in 1965, Chet Powers ' '' Let's Get Together '' was a more modest commercial success, reaching number 31 in the chart, although a reissued version by The Youngbloods was a top five hit in 1969 As ''Get Together'': see ''Rock File 4'' (ed Charlie Gillett & Simon Frith, 1976), by which time Powers had sold his rights to the song''Sounds of the 60s'', BBC Radio 2, 28 July 2007. INFLUENCE Bivens' voice was what gave We Five its distinctive and memorable sound. Almost operatic in quality, its range was described as low tenor to high soprano.Sleeve notes for ''You Were on My Mind'' (1965) Bivens' performances on ''You Were On My Mind'' and in concert largely foreshadowed a female vocal style that, by 1966-7, was associated with, among others, Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane , Grace Slick of the Great Society and Jefferson Airplane , and Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas And Papas . Bivens was said to have inspired Jefferson Airplane's original vocalist Signe Toly Anderson . It may be no coincidence either that Karen Carpenter who, like Bivens, had a fine vocal range, was signed by Alpert to A&M, with her brother Richard , in 1969. Bivens' influence was apparent too in recordings by some male bands: for example, the Turtles ' single '' Happy Together '' and the Cowsills ' ''The Rain, the Park and Other Things'' (both major hits in 1967). In 2002, the British newspaper '' The Independent '' described We Five as having "bridged the gap" between Peter, Paul And Mary and the Mamas and Papas Pierre Perrone, obituary of Michael Stewart, ''The Independent'', 27 November 2002; indeed, Bivens' voice and that of Mary Travers had a similar atmospheric quality, although Bivens' was the more commanding. IMAGES AND PERSONAL STYLE In 1965 Bivens' personal interests were said to be fashions, Chinese food and freedom.Sleeve notes for ''You Were on My Mind'' (1965) As regards fashion, photographs show her wearing dresses whose hemlines were well above the knee in 1965, at a time when the " Mod " style of dress, a contrast with the more Bohemian "look" associated with artists such as the Byrds and Sonny And Cher , who emerged at roughly the same time. The Beatles ' publicist Derek Taylor , who promoted the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, recalled that the Byrds' audience included "girls {Link without Title} wore long dresses from past generations" Tony Palmer (1976) ''All You Need is Love'' (rather anticipating the prevailing " Hippie " style of the late sixties). In October 1965 KYA , a leading San Francisco radio station, used a large photographic portrait of Bivens to draw attention to its inaugural International Pop Music Awards (maybe patronising her a little in the process with its caption, " Wee One of the We Five") ''KYA Beat'', 23 October 1965, vol 1, number 13. Other photographs of Bivens included those of We Five taken by Lisa Law , using a Leica given to her by the group's manager and producer Frank Werber (1929-2007), who also managed the Kingston Trio , of which Mike Stewart's brother John was a member. We Five sometimes used Werber's home at Mill Valley to rehearse; one photograph taken there shows Bivens barefoot in a Bikini top and Jeans , while the group used, among other things, a broom in place of a microphone Lisa Law (1987) ''Flashing on the Sixties''. SPLIT OF WE FIVE AND THE LEGACY (LP ''Make Someone Happy'', 1967)]] Although We Five had been in the vanguard of the came into vogue around the end of 1968 (''The NME Book of Rock'' (ed Nick Logan; updated Rob Finnis), 1975). whereas a year earlier We Five had been among a small cluster. In his notes for We Five's second album, ''Make Someone Happy'' (1967), released after they had split (an episode that give rise to unfounded rumours that Bivens had been killed in a road accident http://www.wefive.net/ ''Wefive.net'' ) George Yanok observed that "We 5 was the first “electric band” to come out of San Francisco. It predated the entire present “happening” in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco that became the centre of " Flower Power " with all its attendant trippery and hang-overs …".Sleeve notes for LP, ''Make Someone Happy'' (1967) Yanok asserted also that "there was nothing Psychedelic or arcane about We 5's music". However, although, in Friedman's words, "it was the Blues , amplified and transformed by the screaming colors and inward messages of acid, that shaped the San Francisco sound",Myra Friedman (1975) ''Buried Alive'', various elements of the music of the psychedelic era, notably Bivens' vocal delivery, which Yanok described as "a major reason for this Five's special something", were plainly discernible in We Five's output (for example, on ''Let's Get Together'' and such tracks as ''If I Were Alone'' ''You Were on My Mind'' LP (1965), ''Love Me Not Tomorrow''''You Were on My Mind'' LP (1965) and Bivens' blues solo ''High Flying Bird'' ''Make Someone Happy'' LP (1967)). After the split Jerry Burgan and Pete Fullerton reformed We Five. Burgan's wife, by Collectors' Choice Music in 1996.DPSM 5172 (distributed by PolyGram) Because of her short period of fame, Bivens has remained a rather elusive, almost semi-legendary,A term that was sometimes applied by the ''New Musical Express'' in such situations: see, for example, ''The NME Book of Rock'' (ed Nick Logan & updated Rob Finnis, 1975) figure but one whose voice has plainly been cherished by many of those who heard her in the mid sixties. In that respect, George Yanok's notes for ''Make Someone Happy'' were revealing in that they concentrated on Bivens' centrality to We Five virtually to the exclusion of the other members: according to Yanok, she was "totally honest, gifted and possessed". Yanok also observed that We Five's music was about "fun" and that it was "unfortunate that that 'fun', in this age 1967 , has become equated with frivolity and dismissed as trivia". Even so, although Bivens' documented recording career lasted less than two years and extended to a mere two dozen tracks, it seems probable that, had she remained in the industry (and there was no suggestion that she herself had become ''passée'' George Yanok wrote simply that Bivens (like Bob Jones who was also not part of the reformed We Five) was "making individual plans of [her] own": sleeve notes for ''Make Someone Happy'' (1967).), her soaring and beautiful voice would have made her a big star. Circumstances of the split The precise reasons for the break-up of the original group remain unclear, although there has been periodic speculation and comment over the years, not least following the re-release of We Five's two albums at a time when the " posted in 2002 contained the text of an E-mail purportedly from Bob Jones of the original We Five. Though dating the split of the group to 1969 (which must surely be a mistake), Jones noted, among other things, that "Bev went on to sing "free jazz" with her husband" and that Jerry Burgan obtained the rights to the name of We Five from Bivens, Stewart and himself. There was perhaps a hint of discord in Jones' recollection of the re-formed group that "except for an unfortunate gig we did together in the North Bay later, I was never involved in any of that" {Link without Title} . In some respects Bivens was an "outsider". For example, her education did not intersect that of the other members: Stewart, Fullerton and Burgan all attended Mt. San Antonio College ("Mt. SAC") in Walnut , Los Angeles, while Stewart, Jones and Burgan graduated at the University of San Francisco. The academic background of each was recorded prominently on the sleeve of ''You Were On My Mind'', together with the information that Bivens had attended junior college. There were other mild hints of condescension: the same sleeve notes recognised that Bivens' "usual brilliance and vocal range is the basis of our sound", but referred also to her "genuine involvement in singing and desire to learn", while, many years later, the We Five website referred curiously to Stewart and Burgan's have added "the sound of a female voice that was eventually to be made famous by Beverly Bivens" http://www.wefive.net/ ''Wefive.net'' . (This is perhaps consistent with another, though presumably ironic, sleeve reference to Bivens' instrument as her throat.) As for management, it is almost self-evident that the original We Five, and Bivens in particular, did not really fulfill their potential; in part this was because, as George Yanok implied, some of their material appeared rather dated by 1966-7, but there were other factors, including the success of Crispian St Peters ’ British cover version of Fricker’s ''You Were on My Mind'', which arguably stunted their international recognition ''The Independent'', 27 November 2002 at a time when the effects of the " British Invasion " set in train by the Beatles were still being felt See, for example, George Yanok, sleeve notes for ''Make Someone Happy'' (1967). We Five have sometimes been referred to as " One Hit Wonder s", although this description, while technically accurate in terms of the US "top 20", rather belies the group's credentials and influence By comparison, Jefferson Airplane had only two top 20 hits (the highest, '' Somebody To Love '' reached number five in 1967), while the Grateful Dead never had a top 20 hit. Jimi Hendrix had several hits in the UK, including a posthumous number one ('' Voodoo Chile ''), but his only top 20 entry in the USA was '' All Along The Watchtower '' (1968). By the mid 1960s albums were seen increasingly as more significant, especially artistically, than singles.. Jerry Burgan recalled, in 2007, that Frank Werber “had an ability to encourage creativity and the musical process without having to direct it. While encouraging us Five to write, to sing, and to play, he surrounded us with a team that shaped all of the other elements which led to our success". However, there may be a certain implication in Burgan’s further observation that "we were too young to see it at the time, but I later learned to appreciate the impact he had on my life" Jerry Burgan, reflecting on the death of Frank Werber: http://www.wefive.net/ ''Wefive.net'' . OTHER WORK AND FAMILY After leaving We Five, Bivens married jazz musician , was born in Berkeley, California in 1971, and they also had a daughter, Zoe Terry Marguerite. 1970s-80s During the 1970s Bivens appears to have done some session recording, as well as making occasional appearances on television and recording radio Jingles . When her son was emerging as a major jazz talent at at Berkeley High School in the 1980s, they were both involved in hosting sessions with leading musicians {Link without Title} ''Left Coast Horns''. However, Bivens' career after leaving We Five is not well documented publicly and information is derived mainly from various recollections posted on the Internet. 2000- After Fred Marshall died in Oakland in 2001, an obituary published in his home state of Arkansas referred to Bivens as his former wife and his having had another partner of long standing''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'', 22 November 2001. Intruigingly, a profile of Marshall in the same newspaper in 2000 had referred to Bivens as if she and Marshall were still together (''ibid'', 16 July 2000).. Bivens was said then to be living in Berkeley. EXTERNAL LINKS
''Note: The photograph on the home page of the above site is of a post-1990 incarnation of We Five. The woman in the picture is not Bev Bivens, but Debbie Burgan. There is no direct link to Bivens' biographical page, but this can be reached via internal hyperlinks.''
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