Nick Gravenites

Nicholas George Gravenites ( ; October 2, 1938 – September 18, 2024) was an American blues, rock and folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his work with Electric Flag (as their lead singer), Janis Joplin, Mike Bloomfield, and several influential bands and individuals of the generation springing from the 1960s and 1970s. He sometimes performed under the stage names Nick "The Greek" Gravenites and Gravy.

Biography Gravenites was born in Chicago on October 2, 1938 to a Greek-speaking family; his parents were from Grevena, Grevena, in Greece. After his father died when he was 11, he worked in the family candy store before he was enrolled at St. John's Northwestern Military Academy; he was expelled for fighting shortly before he was due to graduate. He then attended the University of Chicago, met Paul Butterfield and Mike Bloomfield, became a fan of blues music, and learned guitar.

He regularly patronized clubs where Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Buddy Guy and other leading blues musicians played. Gravenites spent time both in Chicago and San Francisco in the early 1960s. He wrote the song "Born in Chicago", which became the opening track on the Paul Butterfield Blues Band debut album, and, with guitarist Bloomfield, co-wrote the title track of their second album, East-West; the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

Gravenites played in clubs with Mike Bloomfield, Charlie Musselwhite and others, and settled in San Francisco in the mid 1960s. In 1967 he formed the Electric Flag with Bloomfield. Gravenites wrote the score for the film The Trip and – together with Mike Bloomfield – wrote and performed most of the soundtrack for the 1973 film Steelyard Blues.

Gravenites was credited as a "musical handyman", helping such San Francisco bands as Quicksilver Messenger Service and Janis Joplin's first solo group, the Kozmic Blues Band. He released his last album Rogue Blues in 2024.

Gravenites, who had been suffering from diabetes and dementia, died in Santa Rosa, California on September 18, 2024, at the age of 85. He is survived by his wife Marcia and two sons, Tim and Steven. Albums 1968: A Long Time Comin', the Electric Flag 1968: Electric Flag, the Electric Flag 1969: My Labors 1970: Be a Brother, Big Brother and the Holding Company 1971: How Hard It Is, Big Brother and the Holding Company 1972: Joplin in Concert 1973: Steelyard Blues OST 1980: Blue Star (Line Records) 1980: Nick's Blues (self-released cassette − no label) 1981: The Usual Suspects 1982: Monkey Medicine, the Nick Gravenites–John Cipollina Band 1991: Live at the Rodon, Athens, Greece, Nick Gravenites and John Cipollina (Music Box) 1996: Don't Feed the Animals (issued on Waddling Dog, then reissued by TAXIM) 1999: Kill My Brain 2005: Buried Alive in the Blues (Chicago Blues Reunion − live) 2007: Local Blues (2007 live on It's About Music label) 2024: Rogue Blues (M.C. Records)