Dan Hicks, (born December 9, 1941, in Little Rock, Arkansas), was the son of a career military man. At age five, Hicks moved with his family to California, eventually settling north of San Francisco in Santa Rosa, where he was a drummer in grade school and played the snare drum in his school marching band.

At 14, he was performing with area dance bands. While in high school, he had a rotating spot on Time Out for Teens, a daily 15-minute local radio program, and he went on to study broadcasting at San Francisco State College during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Taking up the guitar in 1959, he became part of the San Francisco folk music scene, performing at local coffeehouses. Hicks’ style blends elements of folk, jazz, country and other genres. His songs are infused with a good dose of humior, as evidenced by the title of his tune, “How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away?”

Hicks joined the San Francisco band The Charlatans in 1965 and left in 1968, when he formed Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks with violinist David LaFlamme. LaFlamme was quickly replaced by jazz violinist “Symphony” Sid Page, and the rest of the band consisted of vocalists Sherri Snow and Christine Gancher, guitarist John Weber and bassist Jaime Leopold. There was no drummer. This line-up was signed to Epic and in 1969 issued the album Original Recordings, produced by Bob Johnson. The first Hot Licks line-up lasted until 1971 and then disintegrated.

When Hicks reformed the band, Page and Leopold remained, and vocalists Naomi Ruth Eisenberg and Maryann Price joined, followed later by guitarist John Girton. This group recorded three albums, culminating in 1973′s Last Train to Hicksville (on which the group at last added a drummer). After existing as a critical success only, this last album was finally gaining the group wider acclaim, as evidenced by Hicks’ appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone. Thus, it was a great surprise to many when he chose that moment to disband the Hot Licks. Asked why in 1974, he said:

I didn’t want to be a bandleader anymore. It was a load and a load I didn’t want. I’m basically a loner… I like singing and stuff, but I didn’t necessarily want to be a bandleader. The thing had turned into a collective sort of thing — democracy, vote on this, do that. I conceived the thing. They wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for me. My role as leader started diminishing, but it was my fault because I let it happen; I cared less as the thing went on.

As time passed, this particular Hot Licks band have become the “classic” band, in part due to Page’s passionate fiddling, combining swing and his obvious classical training, as well as Price’s sultry jazz vocals in the style of Anita O’Day reflecting her pre-Hicks performing experience.This particular group reunited for a 1991 taping of an hour-long Austin City Limits television broadcast in the 1992 season.

The 1992 reunion program also featured Dan Hicks’ new group,The Acoustic Warriors, a combination of folk, swing, jazz and country styles. The Acoustic Warriors band consisted of Dan Hicks, Brian Godchaux on violin and mandolin, Paul Mehling on guitar and Richard Saunders on bass.

I Scare Myself – Dan Hicks and his Hot Licks

Hicks recorded one CD with the Acoustic Warriors. “Shootin’ Straight” was released by Private Music in 1996. Recorded live at McCabe’s in Santa Monica, it featured Jim Boggio on accordion/piano, Stevie Blacke on mandolin/violin, Paul Robinson on guitar, Alex Baum on bass and Bob Scott on drums.

deletereply instrumentalpavilion wrote on May 9, ’08 Nice….and Sanborn had one of the best shows ever. What happened to sophistication on late night TV?

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on May 9, ’08 Yeah, I agree. I actually discovered this band for myself. They’ve been around a while. David LaFlamme was actually in a band who I loved called, “It’s a Beautiful Day.” Are you familiar with them?

deletereply starfishred wrote on May 10, ’08 nice and I remember him from somewhere but can’t put my finger on it

deletereply welshdoug wrote on May 10, ’08 Never heard of this band – interesting stuff….

deletereply welshdoug wrote on May 10, ’08 reminds me a bit of some of the songs on David Byrne’s “Grown Backwards” album

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on May 10, ’08 I discovered this band when I was in my mid twenties. I guy I was seeing played it for me. I think they were one of those underground bands at the time. Very low key profile.

deletereply nemo4sun wrote on May 10, ’08 i never heard him before i like it did you say that is david laflamme on the violin? wow! i haven’t seen him in years

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on May 10, ’08 David LaFlamme played with this band briefly. I don’t actually know if he’s on the video.

deletereply seth360 wrote on May 10, ’08 Lauri, to answer your question…I do like this.. I remember Dan Hicks from the 60′s, well at least i remember the name appearing at the many 60′s music festivals, I dont remember which ones…. This song is nothing like his music of that era I believe Thanks again for the post…I think I’m going to download some of his stuff

deletereply nemo4sun wrote on May 10, ’08 cool i have and old album of his i didn’t know he was with anybody else after doing some checking that’s not him in the video i’ll have to check into this some more

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on May 10, ’08 seth, what are some of the other songs he does that are good ?

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on May 10, ’08 nemo, if you want, I could post the song from “It’s a Beautiful Day”. I’m sure he’s on that one.

deletereply seth360 wrote on May 10, ’08 Lauri, to be honest I don’t know… i wish i did I only remember the name and for some reason I remember them as having a folk rock sound… I could be very wrong though… When i see the name i have always thought of them in in the same vein as Country Joe & the Fish back in the Woodstock days… I do like this song and I’m curious to hear other songs from the same time frame

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on May 10, ’08 I’ll go over to You Tube when I get a chance and see what I can come up with…

deletereply terryridgway wrote on May 12, ’08 mmm…Interesting,can`t recall the band, but they remind me slightly of Johnathon Richmond, or even Little Feat..(and as Doug said, David Byrne)

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on May 12, ’08 They don’t really remind me of David Byrne that much. They seem to have a style all their own. Like I said, I thiink they were one of those Underground groups that keep a low profile and just play in clubs mostly.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Aug 13, ’08 This band is so cool, but I don’t know if they’ve done anything new lately. Does anyone know ?

deletereply parsonsblvd wrote on Jun 21, ’10 Cool! Thanks! : )