The Final Solution | Just Like Gold: Live At The Matrix 1966

The Solution was formed in 1965 by bassist Bob Knickerbocker and guitarist Ernie Fosselius, friends at San Francisco State, then a melting pot of personalities which would fuel San Francisco’s young-adult bohemian scene. Rounding out the band were John Chance on drums and John Yager on guitar and vocals. The group began by playing Haight-Ashbury dives like Haight Levels, but their constant rehearsals and growing notoriety bagged the Solution a month-long residency at the famed Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada in August 1966.

After Chance left the group in the fall of 1966 to return to his studies, he was replaced by the Great! Society’s Jerry Slick on drums, and the band moved into a more musically experimental phase. But when a hopeful recording contract remained unconsummated, the band’s members began to lose interest and eventually drifted apart. While they rose high enough to share a bill with Quicksilver Messenger Service at the Fillmore Auditorium, the Final Solution was over before the Summer of Love had even begun.

In July of 1966, the Solution had stepped in to perform when the Great! Society had to cancel a gig at San Francisco’s Matrix club. Peter Abram was running his tape deck that night and captured an dynamic set that clearly shows the band’s diversity and musical chops. From the opening raga “Tell Me Again” to the propulsive folk-rock of “Time Is Here And Now” and the Dylan-esque “Bleeding Roses”, the Solution’s original songs leave unequivocal proof of their untapped potential.