The Charlatans (American Band) - Breakup and Reunions

Breakup and Reunions

Following the release of The Charlatans, drummer Terry Wilson was forced to leave the band in order to begin serving a prison sentence for marijuana possession. The original quintet of Hunter, Olsen, Wilhelm, Ferguson and Hicks reunited briefly during the summer of 1969 but by the end of the year, The Charlatans had broken up for good.

After the breakup, Mike Wilhelm went on to front the band Loose Gravel from 1969 until 1976, before becoming a member of The Flamin' Groovies during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Richard Olsen became a producer at Pacific High Studios and latterly formed the swing group Richard Olsen & His Big Band. George Hunter founded the Globe Propaganda design company and his artwork appeared on many LP covers including Happy Trails (Quicksilver Messenger Service), Hallelujah (Canned Heat), and It's a Beautiful Day (It's a Beautiful Day). Mike Ferguson joined Lynne Hughes, a barmaid from the Red Dog Saloon, in the band Tongue and Groove.

In 1996, a documentary was released entitled The Life and Times of the Red Dog Saloon (also known as Rockin' at the Red Dog: The Dawn of Psychedelic Rock), in which the surviving members of the Charlatans (Ferguson died in 1979 from complications from diabetes) were interviewed about their heady days at the Red Dog. The following year, the Charlatans rehearsed for a series of top secret gigs at the legendary Sweetwater club in Mill Valley, followed by a series of reunion performances at the Fillmore. The band, composed of Hunter, Hicks, Wilhelm, and Olsen, were not heard from again until 2005, when they performed at a memorial concert for Family Dog founder Chet Helms in Golden Gate Park. The foursome returned to Golden Gate Park on September 2, 2007 for what would be their final performance to date, at a free concert commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Summer of Love in San Francisco.

Despite their lackluster recording career, The Charlatans hold the distinction of being the first of the underground San Francisco bands of the 1960s and as such, their importance is felt by the dozens of successful Bay Area bands that emerged later in the decade, and by all the bands that those groups influenced.