Chet Powers


Chester William Powers, Jr. was an American singer-songwriter, and under the stage names Dino Valenti or Dino Valente, one of the lead singers of the rock group Quicksilver Messenger Service. As a songwriter, he was known as Jesse Oris Farrow. He is best known for writing the quintessential 1960s love-and-peace anthem "Get Together", and for writing and singing on Quicksilver Messenger Service's two best-known songs, "Fresh Air" and "What About Me?"

History

Before serving in the United States Air Force and playing in the coffeehouses of Boston and Provincetown, Massachusetts, Powers had already performed as "Dino Valenti" with small rock bands in New England lounges.
In the early 1960s, he performed in Greenwich Village and North Beach coffeehouses such as the Cock 'n' Bull and the Cafe Wha? at the height of the American folk-music revival, often with fellow singer-songwriter Fred Neil, and occasionally with Karen Dalton, Bob Dylan, Lou Gossett, Josh White, Len Chandler, Paul Stookey, David Crosby and others. He influenced other performers, most notably Richie Havens, who continued to perform some of Powers' early "train songs". Powers was prevented from acquiring a cabaret license due to an earlier arrest, a requirement that was beginning to be imposed on Village entertainers at the time.
By 1963, Valenti/Powers moved to Los Angeles, where many luminaries in the imminent folk rock movement had already begun to coalesce. During this period, he wrote and popularized "Let's Get Together." Frequently covered as "Get Together," the song was performed by a diverse array of groups throughout the decade, including The Kingston Trio, We Five, The Dave Clark Five, H. P. Lovecraft, Jefferson Airplane and in particular The Youngbloods, whose 1967 rendition peaked at No. 5 and attained a RIAA gold certification in the United States upon its 1969 re-release. He also popularized and controversially claimed the copyright of Billy Roberts's "Hey Joe."
Valenti/Powers then returned to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he recorded for Autumn Records, though no album was ever issued. He had been friendly with Roger McGuinn in Los Angeles and it is said that drummer Michael Clarke played in a band with Valenti/Powers in Big Sur before joining McGuinn in The Byrds. He is said to have played in an early line-up of the San Francisco psychedelic rock group Quicksilver Messenger Service when John Cipollina, David Freiberg, and Jim Murray all joined his backing group in 1964.
Powers' career was blighted by several drug busts. After an arrest for possession of marijuana, he was searched again by police while awaiting trial. He received a one-to-ten-year sentence served in part at Folsom State Prison. To raise money for his defense, he sold the publishing rights for "Get Together" to Frank Werber, the manager of The Kingston Trio.
After completing his sentence, Valenti/Powers signed as a solo artist with CBS's Epic Records, releasing an eponymous album under a variation of his pseudonym in 1968. Shortly thereafter, he served as the opening act for Jimi Hendrix at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom from October 10–12, 1968, which exposed his solo work to a broader audience.
He traveled with Quicksilver's Gary Duncan to New York in January 1969 to form a new band shortly before Quicksilver's noted album Happy Trails appeared in March. While Valenti/Powers and Duncan were in New York, British keyboardist Nicky Hopkins joined Quicksilver for their third album, Shady Grove.
As 1969 progressed, The Outlaws came to naught, eventually leading to Duncan's reinstatement and Valenti/Powers formally joining Quicksilver at the band's New Year's Eve concert. Eight of the nine songs on the group's next album, Just for Love were written by Valenti/Powers, six of them under the pseudonym of "Jesse Oris Farrow," including the single "Fresh Air," a moderate American hit that peaked at No. 49 in November 1970. He remained the primary songwriter on their next album, What About Me?. The Valenti/Powers-penned title track scraped the Billboard 100 in March 1971, peaking at No. 100. While not big as singles, both of these songs became hits on progressive rock and album-oriented rock radio formats, and would later be heard in the classic rock format.
Following the departure of Cippolina and Freiberg, the band subsequently released Quicksilver and Comin' Thru as various Valenti/Powers-fronted lineups continued to tour irregularly through 1974. The 1969–1971 lineup briefly reunited in 1975 for Solid Silver and a promotional tour; however, the much-anticipated album only reached No. 89 in the United States. Although Freiberg and Cippolina soon departed, an iteration of the band including Valenti/Powers, Duncan and Elmore once again continued to tour through 1979.
Powers underwent surgery for a cerebral arteriovenous malformation in the late 1980s. In spite of suffering from short-term memory loss and the effects of anti-convulsive medications, he continued to write songs and play with fellow Marin County musicians.
His last major performance was a benefit at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. He died suddenly at his home in Santa Rosa, California on November 16, 1994, leaving behind a younger sister, Katherine, and three sons, Paul, Joli and Sterling.

Pseudonyms

Solo