The Oxford Circle

The Oxford Circle was a North Californian band, based in the university city of Davis near the state capital Sacramento, who gained a reputation for their live performances around San Francisco in the mid '60s, but released just one single during their lifetime 1964-67 on a short-lived independent label. Drummer Paul Whaley subsequently went on to form Blue Cheer in 1967, while guitarist and vocalist Gary Yoder and guitarist Dehner Patten formed Kak the same year. After KAK called it a day after the release of their only album in early 1969, Gary Lee Yoder also joined Blue Cheer for two years in 1969, replacing a clean Leigh Stephens who was sacked for critisizing his bandmates' outrageous drug use and abuse. When Yoder joined the band, they'd already changed from their original, classic acid rock trio style to a more commercial hard rock/prog rock quartet, similar to the more prolific Grand Funk Railroad who shortened their name to Grand Funk already on their 3rd, 1970 album Closer to Home. Yoder left Blue Cheer in 1971, and also left public life. He died in 2021, whereas Dehner Patten still plays in local blues/rock band One-Sheet in and around his Beaverton, Oregon hometown. Paul Whaley died in Germany in 2019.