Pure Jam

12 hours ago4 min read

Most Columbus artists grow up in the city and either decide to stay or move away to pursue a music career. Occasionally, groups from smaller Ohio towns will migrate to Columbus for its opportunities. But Pure Jam stands out as the first band I've encountered that grew up out of state and deliberately chose Columbus as their home base for a music career.

Pure Jam

Blue Ash Records – BAR 117

1976

Bentley Austin, along with his brother Craig and guitarist Glenn Dalton, formed Pure Jam in their hometown of Plattsburgh, New York in 1969 after Bentley played in a high school band called the Stowaways. Another Austin brother, Eric (Rick), joined the band about a month later. When Rick left to attend Indiana University in Bloomington, the band decided to follow him. Within a year, they met singer Joe Mellencamp, and the classic Pure Jam lineup was complete.

“We were on the road and the Sarene was one of the clubs that we got booked into, and I think they may have asked us back,” Bentley Austin told Local Lix in a 2016 interview. “And all of a sudden they asked us to be the house band. And we were wanting to settle, and record, and write songs, and so it was kind of a perfect situation.”

Pure Jam: L-R Bentley Austin, Rick Austin, Craig Austin, Glenn Dalton and Joe Mellencamp

Settling into a shared house on 11th Avenue, not far from the Sugar Shack, Pure Jam became a staple of the local music scene, eventually serving as the house band for both the Sarene Lounge and the Sugar Shack. Around the same time, Don Spangler and his son Mark opened Kingsmill Recording Studio in the Busch Corporate Center. Kingsmill, boasting a $31,000 mixing board, an MCI 16-track tape machine, and two 2-track Scully mixdown decks, quickly became a top-tier studio in the area. The Spanglers also launched their label, Blue Ash Records.

June 11, 1969 Press-Republican article about Pure Jam playing the Plattsburgh YMCA dance — June 11, 1969 Press-Republican

One of the challenges in documenting Columbus's music history is that many of the city's best and longest-lived bands are/were primarily live acts that never recorded. Pure Jam, although predominantly a live act, fortunately did some recording. They laid down early tracks at Pampa Lanes in Warren, Michigan for a single, but it was at Kingsmill where they crafted their first full-length album. Engineered by Mark Spangler and co-produced with the band, the self-titled record captures Pure Jam’s eclectic sound.

The lead single, “Between The Lies,” penned by Glenn Dalton, is a jangly, harmony-rich rocker that layers subtle production flourishes like percolating organ and even what sounds like an anvil. The B-side, “Seeing You Around,” written by Rick Austin and sung by Joe Mellencamp, shifts toward a sun-drenched, Beach Boys-esque pop sound with progressive rock touches that defined Pure Jam’s musical character.

Side one label of Pure Jam's "Taxi Dancer" single

Released in 1976, the album’s striking Richard Cantrell-designed logo immediately grabs attention. The record itself demonstrates the band’s diverse influences. Side one opener “Easy Salvation” features Glenn Dalton’s psychedelic guitar and a Moog solo, while “Taxi Dancer,” the album’s second single, snakes through jazzy chord changes, a sizzling guitar solo, and unpredictable flourishes.

To my ears, the standout track is side two’s “Juanbango,” a Bentley Austin composition that dives headlong into progressive rock territory with wordless vocalizations and frenetic instrumentation complete with a bass solo.

Pure Jam on the set of "Falling From Grace," 1992. L-R: Craig Austin, Glenn Dalton, Eric Austin, Claude Akins, Bentley Austin, Joe Mellencamp

In 1992, Pure Jam enjoyed a brush with mainstream exposure when they appeared in Falling From Grace, a film directed by and starring John Mellencamp. Written by Larry McMurtry, the film tells a heartfelt, relatable “you can’t go home again” story and features John Prine and Mariel Hemingway. Pure Jam appears in the movie as a country club band and even lands a song on the soundtrack — a gracious nod from John to his older brother’s longtime band.

October 27, 1971 Free Press listing for Pure Jam at the Agora. — October 27, 1971 Free Press

Pure Jam continued performing into the mid-90s, even owning a nightclub in Gahanna for a stretch. Today, Rick Austin runs a fly fishing YouTube channel, while Joe Mellencamp serves as the president of an electrical contracting firm in Cincinnati. Kingsmill Studio and Blue Ash Records are long gone, but the legacy of Pure Jam remains intact, preserved through their self-titled album and fond memories of their vibrant Columbus years.