| Singer/Songwriter, Peter Sando emerged in the late 60's from the band Gandalf, formerly the Rahgoos prior to the LP release, appearing at various New York clubs such as "The Phone Booth", Scott Muni's "Rolling Stone", "The Electric Circus", Murray the K's "World", and the legendary "Night Owl Cafe" in Greenwich Village. It was there that he met songwriters Garry Bonner and Alan Gordon ("Happy Together", "She'd Rather Be With Me") who brought the band to the attention of record producers Koppelman & Rubin. K&R signed the band and immediately started work on the GANDALF album which was released on the Capitol label in 1969, with two songs penned by Peter. "Can You Travel in the Dark Alone" was a favorite of the late Allison Steele, "The Nightbird", on WNEW-FM New York, who would introduce it with a lengthy dose of her inimitable psychedelic poetry. Unfortunately, the band broke up in 1968 before the original LP was released. At that time Peter again teamed up with Bonner and Gordon to sing lead on two singles including their "Dance at St. Francis" as the Barracuda on RCA which charted briefly in 1968.
Four original songs were recorded at Brooks Arthur's The Gandalf LP, after having been bootlegged several times (including a picture disc and a blue vinyl version) was legitimately re-issued on CD by the UK based See For Miles label in 1991, and more recently, in the USA on the highly rated Sundazed. This definitive release includes an 8 page booklet with new photos and liner notes by Mike Stax. Three of Peter's songs, co-written with composer Joe Delia, appear in the 1999 Trimark film "Time Served" with Louise Fletcher and Katherine Oxenberg. "Creatures of Habit", the first solo CD by Peter Sando is now available on High Point Records. It features JOHN BROWN, ode to the militant abolitionist who sparked the Civil War, and DESERT FLOWER, which Peter describes as a "Native American lullaby." These and ten other original songs represent the best of Peter's work to date. A new CD, Gandalf 2, consisting of rare outtakes, unreleased demos including the "914 Tracks", and live recordings from Peter's personal archives circa 1967-1973 is now available on Sundazed. Also in the works is Peter's second solo release of all new original songs...working title "Afraid of the Dark." Stay tuned! |
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914 Studios in 1971, but lay unreleased until now. Several publishing deals in Nashville and New York would not yield another record, and his self-produced work, "Sandcastles" (1981), remains unheard. But Peter's passion for music and songwriting did not falter and he continued to write and perform his songs throughout the New York/New Jersey area folk circuit.
