Crow
Inducted 2024
Crow was Minnesota’s first hard rock band to achieve national success. The band was formed in 1967 by singer David Wagner, guitarist Dick Wiegand, bassist Larry Wiegand, keyboardist Kink Middlemist, and drummer Harry Nehls- originally going by the name South 40. Nehls was soon replaced by Denny Craswell, and the band changed their name to Crow. Columbia Records brought them into the studio to record a demo in 1969- they passed- and Crow was signed to Amaret Records, whose releases were financed and distributed by major-label Mercury Records, based in Chicago. In 1969, Crow’s debut album Crow Music was recorded, and the single “Evil Woman (Don’t Play Your Games With Me)” made the Billboard Top 40 that Fall, peaking at #19 the following January. Albums Crow by Crow and Mosaic were follow-up releases in 1970 and 1971, respectively. Several singles such as “Cottage Cheese” and “King of Rock & Roll” managed to chart, although none reached the chart heights of “Evil Woman”. Wagner left the group in 1971 and released a solo album with Amaret Records entitled d/b/a Crow. Although there was new-found interest in Crow from Elektra Records, the band disbanded in 1972.
Reformed in 1980, the new version of Crow included original lead vocalist David Wagner, John Richardson on lead guitar, Jeff Christensen on lead guitar & vocals, Denny Johnson on bass, and Robby Belleville on drums. From September 1980 to July 1981, they recorded a new studio album titled Crow on the Run. This second version of Crow disbanded in early 1982. In 1988, Crow flew again for a third time, performing concerts all over The United States. Crow still perform occasionally in the Midwest with Dave Wagner on vocals.
Crow’s original and current leader, bassist, and vocalist Larry Wiegand is from Minneapolis and started playing professionally in 1962. He performed in Richfield, Minnesota’s garage band The Rave-Ons early in his career. Larry has toured all over North America and Canada with Crow, Corey Stevens, Bobby Vee, The Fabulous Flippers, and Pacific Gas & Electric. He was Staff Bassist at RCA Records in Los Angeles from 1974 to 1977. Both British superstar heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath and legendary soul diva Tina Turner have recorded a song written by Larry.
Original and occasionally current lead singer Dave Wagner grew up in Minneapolis, and currently resides in Apache Junction, Arizona. He started performing professionally at 15. David Waggoner (real name) is related to Minnesota 1950s rockabilly Mike Waggoner, who was leader of early rock and roll legends Mike Waggoner and The Bops. Besides Crow, Dave sang lead vocals for The Aardvarks, Jokers Wild, South 40, Whiskey River, and The Jack Daniels Band. Wagner has received two Best Male Lead Vocalist Awards.
Original and current member of Crow Dave (Kink) Middlemist was born in Minneapolis. He joined Jokers Wild in 1966, replacing Dave Wagner on keyboards, allowing Dave to focus on vocals. In the early 1990’s he also performed with the 10-piece horn band Under Suspicion in Minneapolis.
Drummer Dennis Craswell is a rare musician who can claim to have performed in two different Minnesota bands who hit the American Top 40. Denny co-wrote and played drums on The Castaways’ smash hit “Liar, Liar”, and joined Crow during the band’s nascent stage. Appearing on all three of Crow’s original albums, Denny went on to futuristic performances using percussion and electronics. The always affable and humble Craswell currently leads a version of The Castaways in South Texas (Winter) and in lakes and resort country of Northern Minnesota (Summer).
In his early days as a musician, original Crow guitarist Dick Wiegand performed most of the time with his brother Larry in Richfield’s garage rock pioneers The Rave-Ons, moved onto South 40, and played incredibly inventive six-string magic on all of Crow’s first three albums. Dick’s guitar sound had a big influence on Tony Iommi, who covered a Crow song on his British band Black Sabbath’s very first record in 1970. Dick currently lives in the Twin Cities area.
Lisa Wenger was born and raised in Bismarck, North Dakota, and has performed in the Minneapolis/St. Paul music scene for many years. Her appeal is broad enough to entertain a variety of crowds, and she wins them all over- be it at The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota, The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, The Bitter End in New York City, The Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada, or at B.B. Kings in Orlando, Florida. Lisa started singing with Crow in 2016.
Jeff Christensen is from Red Wing, Minnesota, and started playing professionally in 1966. Jeff was Staff Guitarist at Pilhofer Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1993 to 1996. He has had considerable success in the smooth jazz market with the release of four albums on CD under the name Boday, from 1997 to 2007. Christiansen also performs with Twin Cities’ group The Lisa Wenger Band.
Drummer Norm Steffen was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and started playing professionally in 1970. Norm toured throughout The United States and Canada from 1979-1984 with country-rock band Whiskey River, where he met Dave Wagner. Steffen and Wagner together have performed in Crow ever since.
Mark “Chico” Perez was born in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, playing drums in his early days. One of his early bands opened for South 40, and in 1969 he became Road Manager for Crow. Chico played percussion with Crow, Gypsy, The New Primitives, The Del Counts, The Lisa Wenger Band, Kevin Odegard, Sterling, and Tommy Wiggins.
Vocalist Mel Gilbert was born in California and raised in Princeton, Minnesota. Her first band was Back Pages, then joined The Billy Road Band. Since 1991 she has worked with Crow, The Bird Dogs, and her own band Luna Sea.
Other members of Crow that received a 2024 award from The Minnesota Music Hall of Hame are Brenda Lee King, Deb Odenwald, Mike Mlazgar, and Mickey Stanhope.
Crow and individual members have all won Minnesota Music Awards, were inducted into The Minnesota Rock/Country Hall of Fame, The Iowa Rock & Roll Music Hall of Fame, and The South Dakota Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Crow’s hit single “Cottage Cheese” reached #56 on The Billboard charts in 1970.
