Brewer & Shipley

Brewer & Shipley was a folk rock duo that officially formed in Los Angeles, California. Founded by folk singer / songwriters Michael Brewer and Tom Shipley, the duo’s paths had crossed many times since the beginning of the folk movement in the early and mid-1960s. However, they decided to make their musical collaboration official in 1967 and became involved in the burgeoning folk rock movement that had taken the L.A. club scene by storm. They signed to A&M Records and released their debut album, Down in L.A., in 1968. The album, which reportedly featured their demo recordings and was released without their consent, was not successful and the duo moved over to Kama Sutra Records. With more control over their music, the band released the album Weeds in 1969 and continued to tour across the US. Brewer & Shipley achieved career-altering success with their single “One Toke Over the Line,” which was taken from their 1970 album Tarkio. The song – which was initially thought of us a joke between the two musicians - became a hit in America and reached number 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart. The subject matter – smoking marijuana – brought the duo to the attention of the US government – Vice President Spiro T. Agnew proclaimed that they were subversive to American youth – while easy listening maestro Lawrence Welk misinterpreted it as a gospel song and had it performed on his TV show, which offered up light family entertainment on a weekly basis. The song has since become a part of pop culture and continues to reach many generations of music fans. After several more albums – Shake Off the Demon (1971), Rural Space (1972), ST11261 (1974), and Welcome to Riddle Bridge (1975), the group’s popularity began to fade, and they split in 1978. However, they continued to remain friends and briefly reunited in 1989. They once again came together in 1993 and continued to tour and recorded several more studio and live albums. Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, they stopped touring. Michael Brewer died on December 17, 2024, at the age of 80.