Blakeley, John

Composer and guitarist who was a member of The Sandals, a surf-rock group who contributed several songs to Bruce Brown’s 1966 documentary, The Endless Summer.

After The Sandals broke up, he and Beau Brummels lead singer Sal Valentino were in a makeshift band for another documentary, We Have Come For Your Daughters (a.k.a. Medicine Ball Caravan). They went on to form Stoneground in 1971 and released three albums until hitting the local club circuit and simply billing themselves as Valentino. John eventually left to join Van Morrison’s band.

In the mid-‘70s, he was a member of the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils. Other groups with whom he performed included The Durocs and the Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra. The Sandals reunited in the 1990s and started up their own music label, Tri-Surf Records, on which they released Milagro and Silvertone.

In 1997, he received a heart transplant, leased the upstairs floor of his house/studio and lived downstairs on the first floor. After recovering, he got back to work. The Sandals performed at the Galaxy Theater in Santa Ana, California, in 2002. In 2006, he multi-tasked on Sal Valentino’s debut solo album, Dreamin’ Man.

Other recordings on which he appears include: All in the Family: Heyday Records’ Bay Area Sampler; The Best of the Bobs: 20 Songs from 20 Years; Cowabunga! The Surf Box (1960-1995); his own Daytrips; Electronic Convergence Navigations: World Winds by Gaston Georis; Family Album by Stoneground; Glaciers Comes, Glaciers Go by Ned Selfe; Inside World by J. Thompson; The Joy by Toni & Terry; Love on the Wing by Jesse Colin Young; Mystery Train by Tom Fogerty; Not Gonna Be Pretty by Amy Engelhardt; The Original Music from Bruce Brown’s The Endless Summer; Peace on Earth by Country Joe McDonald; Race Point by Peter Elman; Safe in Their Homes by the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils; and, Tan Manis with Ron Nagle.

In the new millennium, when not performing on a wide variety of instruments, including acoustic and electric guitar, dobro and mandolin, he has spent much of his time working as producer at Duncan Street Studios in San Francisco, California.

Glen Campbell recordings
Southern Nights (Allen Toussaint)
Capitol 4376 S93475A

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