Formed in Los Angeles in November 1992, Baby Lemonade takes its name from a track on Syd Barrett's second album. The core of the band is made up of Rusty Squeezebox* (born David Ramsey, vocals, guitar) and Mike Randle (guitar), old friends from the 80s with Bad Press. After several experiments with Treehouse, Voodoo Love and Untouchables, multi-instrumentalist Squeezebox reunited with Randle to form Baby Lemonade. Henry Liu (bass) and David " Daddy-O" Green (drums) join them. The former was replaced by Dave Chapple in 1995.
The band quickly established a solid reputation on stage, attracting the attention of Arthur Lee, Love's legendary frontman, who took them on as his live band in 1993. Baby Lemonade adapt easily to a repertoire they know inside out, becoming Love's reincarnation on their 2002 European tour.
This employment in no way prevented them from recording their own compositions for the independent label Sympathy For The Record Industry (White Stripes, Von Bondies), who released the six-title EP Wonderful (1994), a good example of their inspiration, which varies between peaceful ballads and gigantic compositions ("Wonderful"). Not to mention their noisy treatment of the Bee Gees' "How Deep is Your Love"!
Apart from a bossa reworking of "You Set the Scene" on their debut album 68% Pure Imagination (1996), Baby Lemonade created "Brooke and the Sandman", a long suite inspired by the Beach Boys' aborted album Smile, aided by two members of the Wondermints, Brian Wilson's live band. R. Squeezebox in turn produced the album by ex-Wondermints Brian Kassan(Chewy Marble, 1997).
Their next album, Exploring Music (1998), went far beyond a simple restoration exercise, offering a skilful blend of their tendencies for luminous power pop ("Stay Awhile") and energetic rock ("Better Things").
The two solo albums recorded by Squeezebox and Randle at the end of 1999 show the extent of their tastes. The former's experimental Isotopes, and the latter's easier-listening My Music Loves You (Even If I Don't).
In 2000, Baby Lemonade reunited to record their High Life Suite summit, a cycle of remarkable pop songs strung together like pastiches of The Beatles and The Beach Boys. The untitled, twenty-four-minute masterpiece alone is a tribute to Abbey Road and a tour de force that only Squeezebox and Randle could afford. As one of America's most promising bands, it remains to be seen whether they'll repeat the feat in the future.
(*) The origin of the artist's name Rusty Squeezebox comes from a dialogue in Milos Forman's film Amadeus (1991).
