The
EVEN DOZEN JUG BAND

"The Even Dozen Jug Band

During the recent [1977!] urban folk revival, the combined accomplishments of a group of artists have generally been more significant than the later individual efforts of those involved. One of the exceptions to this commonplace phenomenon is the Even Dozen Jug Band. Although many talented musicians were brought together by its formation,its members proved to be less productive as components of this group than might have been expected, and the talent of its members was not fully developed until after they had gone their separate ways.
    The Even Dozen Jug Band was formed by Stefan Grossman and the old-timey guitarist Peter Siegel. The group was organized for "fun", and it had a nucleus of about seven players and five to seven other friends who frequently joined in to make up a dozen or so participants. They recorded one LP for Elektra (which was released in January 1964); they made a couple of television appearances; and they performed several times in concert, twice at New York's Carnegie Hall.
    Some of the Even Dozen Jug Band's members included Dave Grisman, producer and mandolinist who plays with many artists today; Stefan Grossman, virtuoso solo country blues and ragtime guitarist; Steve Katz, later with Blood, Sweat and Tears and the Blues Projekt, Maria Muldaur, later with the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and now a well known solo artist; Josh Rifkin, arranger of Scott Joplin fame; John Sebastian, later with the Lovin' Spoonful and now a solo artist; and Peter Siegel; later an A&R head (artist and repertoire producer) for Elektra Records and Polydor Records and now [1977!] head of ATV Record offices in the United States.
    The group finally disbanded after disagreement over its status as primarily a professional or a "fun" band, which left its members divided down the middle over the issue."

Kristin Baggelaar & Donald Milton:
The Folk Music Encyclopedia.
London / New York / Sidney 1977

John Sebastian's comment on the above encyclopedia entry:

 

additional information
"Her [Maria Muldaur's] first break came during the summer of her twenty-first birthday when Victoria Spivey organized [did she?] the Even Dozen Jug Band with David Grisman, Stefan Grossman, Steve Katz, Maria Muldaur [then Maria D'Amato], Josh Rifkin, and John Sebastian, to record an album of jug band music for her own label, Spivey Records. When Vanguard signed the Kweskin Jug Band, Elektra Records made a bid for the Even Dozen Jug Band in anticipation of a jug band music fad, and they switched labels and cut an album in two days. Before the group disbanded, they had performed two concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall and a Hootenanny television show." Kristin Baggelaar & Donald Milton: The Folk Music Encyclopedia. London / New York / Sidney 1977
Even Dozen Jug Band	Elektra	EKS-7246	December '63 [?]
Brock Helander: The Rock Who's Who. New York / London 1982
"One of his [John Sebastian's] first formal associations in the early 1960s was with a group called Even Dozen Jug Band, which made one album - on which John performed - before breaking up." Irwin Stambler & Gerlun Landon: The Encyclopedia of Folk, Country & Western Music. New York 2nd ed. 1984
"The Even Dozen Jug Band, released in January 1964, was their sole recorded legacy, ..." "It should be noted, however, that not all of these artists appear on all of the songs." Colin Larkin (ed.): The Guinness Who's Who of Folk Music. Enfield 1993

19??
Legacy LEG 119
"Jug Band Songs Of The Southern Mountains"

Anthologies / Compilations / Samplers
containing songs performed by The Even Dozen Jug Band

#	year of release	title / songs performed by The Even Dozen Jug Band	label # / notes
1	1971 3 LP	V.A.: Garden Of Delights - Come On In Elektra S3 10 (stereo) = Elektra ESP 9001 (UK; DLP) more info
2	1984	V. A.: Bleecker & McDougal: The Folk Scene Of The 60s, [The Jac Holzman Years] - On The Road Again Elektra 60381-1-V
3	1992	Troubadours Of The Folk Era Volume Three: The Groups - Take Your Fingers Off It Rhino CD R2 70264
4	2001 3-CD box	Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Boom (1950-1970) - Take Your Fingers Off It Rhino R2 74264 more info