The Godz

Godz (originally the Godz) were an American folk and rock band formed in New York City in 1966 by guitarist Jim McCarthy, bassist Larry Kessler, autoharpist Jay Dillon, and drummer Paul Thornton. The band began with no musical training or knowledge of how to play their instruments. In late 1966, they auditioned for Bernard Stollman of the avant-garde independent record label ESP-Disk', who signed the band, resulting in them becoming labelmates to the Fugs. Godz released the albums Contact High with the Godz (1966), Godz 2 (1967) and The Third Testament (1968) on ESP, with the latter album employing an improvisational musical collective known as "The Multitude". American music critic Lester Bangs would cite the Godz as favorites and publish the article "Do the Godz Speak Esperanto?" in Creem magazine in December 1971. In 1973, the Godz recorded a commercial rock album entitled Godzundheit, it would be their final album before disbanding. The Godz would reunite in 2007, although without Jay Dillon who had died in 2002, the band performed shows until 2018. In April 2019, Paul Thornton died. On March 24, 2022, Larry Kessler was killed when hit by an alleged drunk driver in Baltimore.

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