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Stanley Whitaker is the American progressive rock musician, vocalist and virtuoso guitarist best known for his work with the progressive rock band Happy The Man.

Childhood
Stanley Whitaker was born on June 27, 1954 in Monett, Missouri. He was the second child of Howard Kenneth and Josephine Merle Whitaker (nee Beckett). He has one older brother, Howard Kenneth II, who was born two years earlier, on July 13, 1952. Both of Stanley's parents came from farm families in Missouri. They got married in 1940 but didn't start a family until they were in their thirties. Stanley's father was a career military veteran who started as a private, went through officer's training, fought in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, received numerous awards (including two Purple Hearts) and eventually reached the rank of full colonel. Stanley's mother essentially raised them on her own, taking care of the kids when Stan's father was away on duty and keeping things together through the frequent moves that most every military family experiences.

His interest in music came to four-year-old Stanley via his grand-aunt Fanny Mae Henbest, who was the staff pianist for dinner parties at the White House (JFK was the last president she played for). Both she and her husband were well-known among Washington's elite. She gave frequent concerts around Virginia, and her husband, Lloyd George Henbest (grand uncle, brother of Stan's maternal grandmother), was a renowned geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and curator of the Smithsonian Museum during the 50's. Stanley's father was stationed in Virginia at the time, so Fanny Mae often played for her grand-nephews, and Lloyd would frequently take them on private tours of the Smithsonian museum.

In 1961 Stanley's family moved to Spain for two years. Even before the trip, seven-year-old Stan dreamed of becoming a puppeteer, pulling strings and making puppets dance. This passion for pulling strings was crucial for his musical development; one day his father brought home an old Stella acoustic guitar with the steel strings half an inch above the neck, and nine-year-old Stanley discovered that strings may be used not only for pulling puppets, but also for making sounds. He was totally captivated. Stan's mother recognized this passion in him and several months later, when they returned to the US, he started taking guitar lessons. In two years he went through all seven books of the Mel Bay Modern Guitar Method. About the same time, his father bought him an electric Goya Rangemaster guitar, and he started playing with his older brother Ken in their first band, the Imposters. Ken played bass, Stanley played electric guitar, and they won a local talent contest. The announcer almost choked with surprise when he told the crowd "the lead guitarist is 12 years old." Interestingly, Stanley still has his first electric guitar–he sold it once; the friend, who bought it, knowing that he had Stan's first electric guitar, returned it to him at one of his concerts.

Stanley had to quit the Imposters because his family moved again. At the same time, he heard the Beatles' Rubber Soul album, and it had a deep effect upon him; he considers that album as the starting point of progressive rock. He wanted to make music like that! He quit guitar lessons and started listening to rock music. In 1967, he heard the guitar of Jimi Hendrix[, and that inspired him to work hard on his own technique. He spent the next four years (until he was 16) practicing 4-6 hours a day—scales, regimented exercise, alternate picking and building up his skills.

Germany
In 1969 Stan's father was assigned to Post Commander at Camp King, an American military base in Oberursel, Germany (near Frankfurt). Within two days of arrival, fifteen-year-old Stanley entered hippie culture; he was walking past the army barracks, where he was promptly introduced to Led Zeppelin and hashish. Although this experience was on the extreme end of the spectrum, it is quite indicative of how different things were. Stan's high school years in Germany have done much to shape up his persona–both in music and in life. The school had many amazing teachers, some of them former college professors, who would rather teach high school in Europe than deal with the academic culture in American colleges, which was pretty stiff at the time. Stan was introduced to Plato, Kierkegaard, Camus, Sartre, Ken Kesey and much more. He was particularly affected by two professors, Mr. Minette and Mr. Brunner, who, in his words, would "shake people by their roots" and expanded their horizons greatly.

At that time, Germany had a thriving progressive rock culture, and Stanley embraced it both as a listener and as a musician. Throughout high school he played in different bands. His first band was Ulysses. They played covers of Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin, as well as some original music. His second band, Shady Grove, focused more on progressive rock; in addition to original material, they played Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant and other progressive rock staples. David Bach played keyboards (later he became the first keyboard player for Happy The Man, and he also worked with Stanley in the 80s). In May of 1972, when Stanley graduated, Shady Grove was signed for a three-month tour of 48 US army bases in Germany. The tour was sponsored by Davis Travel Agency, which did most of its business with army personnel. Stan's brother Ken joined the band for the tour; by that time his father was reassigned to the US, and his parents felt better with Ken keeping an eye on Stanley. Ken proved to be quite an addition to the band: not only did he sing, he also painted (usually water colors) while singing, with his easel standing right there on the stage, in front of the public!

This tour laid the ground for what would become Happy The Man. During one of the events (June 2nd, 1972), Stanley met Army MP Rick Kennell, future bassist for Happy The Man. As Rick told it, he just arrived to Germany from his Advanced Individual Training (AIT) and saw some "long-haired guys" unloading the truck. He approached them, struck up a conversation, and then he heard Stanley playing some "Yes" tune. They started talking (while Shady Grove was setting up) and discovered that they had the same music taste. Ken (Stan's brother) and Rick hit it off right away. Ken checked out Rick's record collection, came back and told everyone that "Rick is for real." Just at that time, Larry Strack, Shady Grove's bassist had wandered off to grab a bite to eat, and Stan suggested that Rick jam with the band for the sound check, playing Genesis' "Knife" After the show Stan and Rick talked again and agreed to reconnect in the US when Rick came home to the states (in a year and a half) and put together a band. It was understood that it would take a bit of a time to compose some material and set things up. Rick couldn't believe that it was for real until September, 1972, when he received the tape with some of the material and a nine-page letter from Stan telling him, among other things, "to start practicing his part."

Forming Happy The Man
At the end of the tour, Stanley returned to the US. He enrolled in James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia for a degree in music. He applied as a guitar major only to discover, when he arrived, that there was no guitar program at the university! He settled for violin, which he played dutifully for the next several months. During his sophomore year, he met future Happy The Man band mate Frank Wyatt in music theory class. Here is how Frank Wyatt recalls it :

"Dr. George West was the instructor, and it was the first day of class. I remember there were, perhaps, 60 students in this very large room, and Dr. West was trying to feel out the class by playing two notes on the piano and seeing who could name the interval. At one point in the exercise, a voice shouted out "Dominant seventh… Hendrix!", and it was Stan. I made sure I met the skinny guy with long hair, and we became close friends right away."

By that time David Bach, Stan's friend from Germany and his roommate at James Madison, quit college, so Frank and Stan became roommates.

While Stan and Frank were waiting for Rick to be discharged from the military (corresponding with him frequently), they were writing new music. Stan's brother Ken was also attending James Madison University, and he was the one who suggested the name Happy The Man. As Ken remembers it, he was heavily into religion at the time, and the name was influenced by the Bible ("Happy is the man…").

Frank recalls that, one evening at the student union, they saw a local band playing; the keyboardist was just amazing, doing Copland's "Hoedown" every bit as good as Keith Emerson. The stellar keyboardist was Kit Watkins.

Ken Whitaker knew Kit was in a class with that band's leader, and he eventually introduced Stan to Kit Watkins. Kit wasn't too happy with the band he was in and, after hearing Stan play, he immediately wanted to be the part of Stan's and Frank's band. Frank Wyatt says he and Stan took whatever furniture they could out of their dorm room so they could set up gear in there and practice.

Early in 1973 Rick came to the US on leave, connected with his friend Michael Beck from Fort Wayne, Indiana, drove from Fort Wayne to Harrisonburg and introduced him to Stan and Frank. In the spring of 1973, Frank drove to Fort Wayne and convinced Michael Beck and Cliff Fortney to move east to Harrisonburg to join the band, which they did at the end of summer, 1973. By then, Stan and Frank had stopped going to all classes except Jazz Ensemble (where Frank played saxophone), and instead, worked at various jobs in town and practicing as often as they could. This resulted in failing grades and late withdrawals from classes.

College helped to further shape Stan's taste in music–he was deeply affected by composers like Debussy and Stravinsky; he also acquired some formal music-theory training which, coupled with his guitar-playing skill, allowed him to compose and play the complex rhythmic and melodic patterns that became the signature Happy The Man sound.

Happy The Man– The Early Years
In December, 1973 Happy The Man played their first concert (without Rick Kennell) at James Madison University. Kit was doing the bass part on the keyboard. Someone pulled a prank and set off the fire alarm. To everyone's delight, the band just started jamming to the sound of the fire alarm! By January 1974 Rick Kennell moved to Harrisonburg to become the band's bass player and to complete the original line-up of musicians for Happy The Man.

Their time at James Madison University contributed to the band's sense of theatrics ; the theater department at Madison had recently acquired an instructor from New York University, Ed Kinestrick. He became involved with the band as a mentor, coaching them in speech, lyric composition, stage sets, and many other theatrical aspects that would make Happy The Man performances visually engaging productions rather than simply concerts. In the early days, Happy The Man did expansive productions, with dancers, light shows, interactive audience performers, parades, etc. For example, once the band had costumed actors rappel from a balcony into the audience, while a little-person friend of the band led a parade of candy-tossing circus players through the aisles. In the song Fangs of the Forest, dancers dressed as trees and emerged from within the crowd. Happy The Man rented the Rockingham County fairgrounds for a Halloween party one year...with the band dressed as clowns.

Happy The Man's shows were put together by a dedicated crew, usually about fifteen strong. The band would practice about forty hours a week, all living together in warehouses, band houses, farm houses -whatever they could manage to rent—the hippie life.

At that time, Happy The Man was playing mostly original material. In 1975 they moved closer to Washington, DC, where they got the attention of DJs at WGTB (Georgetown University radio), who helped break the band in DC. The station played their music, aired their interview, announced and sponsored their concerts and kept them in front of listeners. The band had a great relationship with the DJs and program managers of the station. Stanley and the band were introduced to Canterbury Prog Rock by another DJ named John Page. Stan said, "You could always count on John playing something you had never heard of!"

Originally, the vocalist of Happy The Man was Cliff Fortney. In 1975 he left to continue his flute study when he found a great flute teacher at James Madison University named Carol Kneibusch. At that time Happy The Man got a new vocalist (also from Fort Wayne) named Dan Owens. Stanley considers Dan to be his greatest influence in terms of vocals. Unfortunately, he also left shortly to work with Genesis. As a result, the group decided to go completely instrumental.

In 1975 Happy The Man performed in Annapolis, and that's where they met local guitar maker named Paul Reed Smith. Stan and Rick dropped by his one-room shop and got acquainted with Paul, starting their lifelong friendship. Stan ordered a double-neck guitar from Paul. Today, PRS guitars are revered among musicians as one of the best high-end brands; Stan was one of Paul Reed Smith's first customers.

Arista Years
Happy The Man often played at The Cellar Door, a legendary DC venue, and the band had a great relationship with its manager, Bobby Baker. The Cellar Door became their management company and helped them get through to the labels, culminating in a showcase in NY in front of iconic American record producer Clive Davis in the summer of 1976. After the presentation, Clive made the comment: "Wow. I don’t really understand this music. It’s way above my head, but my head of A&R, Rick Chertoff says you guys are incredible, and we should sign you, So welcome to Arista." At that time Happy The Man was actually negotiating with several labels, but this showcase brought the band to the brink of signing with Arista. However, it took an encounter with Peter Gabriel to seal the deal.

By the summer of 1976, Peter Gabriel heard about Happy The Man  through some of bassist Rick Kennell's friends who were part of the road crew for Genesis. At the time, Peter was looking for a back-up band. He contacted Happy The Man's manager Bob Steinem and lined up an appointment for June 28th, 1976, the day after Stanley's birthday. Peter Gabriel held auditions for five bands he liked—two or three in the US and two or three in the UK. Happy The Man was the last band to audition. The band had heard horror stories — Peter came to the auditions and would leave in frustration after 10 or 15 minutes. Not so with Happy The Man; Peter spent several days hanging out with the band and a good 7 or 8 hours in the studio, and he really liked them. He wanted them to be his band, and, according to Michael Beck, he specifically wanted Stanley Whitaker. The band told Peter they loved him and would do anything to be his band, but, in the same breath, they told him that Arista was finally offering Happy The Man a record deal, and they were not ready to throw away the opportunity to sign with a major label, something they'd worked toward for several years. Still, they wanted to do Peter's project and give it priority. Peter Gabriel thought about it for a couple of weeks, and decided he wanted Happy The Man exclusively which would mean a move with him to England, so the deal didn't work out. The negotiations with Peter Gabriel helped seal the deal with Arista once they heard about HTM talking to Peter.

When the band discussed their decision with Arista, the label was willing to sign them, but only if someone in the band was willing to sing (even if it was only one or two songs!) If Arista had even a bit of hope that vocals would be included, they would sign the band. When no one volunteered to sing, Stanley stepped up and said, "I sang in high school choir! I'll sing!" If that's what it was going to take, he would sing.

Happy The Man requested Ken Scott as their producer ( Mahavishnu's Birds of Fire had just come out), and Arista obliged. Stanley considers Ken to be his mentor in many ways, learning much about all phases of the recording and production process from him. On the first album ( Happy The Man), Ken insisted on endless takes until they were perfect. Ken double-tracked many guitar parts to get the sound he wanted. On the guitar solo for "Knee-bitten Nymphs in Limbo", Stanley had to play the same part an octave lower, perfectly matching the first one! Happy The Man was recorded at the end of 1976 in A&M Studio in Los Angeles over the course of two months. In late 1977 they recorded their second album, Crafty Hands, also produced by Ken Scott. In between albums, they toured relentlessly, playing lots of colleges. Unfortunately, neither album gained traction with a broad audience and, in 1978, Arista dropped the band. Happy The Man continued touring and recorded one more album, 3rd – Better Late..., on their own in early 1979 (not released until 1983), with Kit Watkins handling most of the production duties. In May, 1979, Kit Watkins announced his departure to join the progressive rock band Camel. Because keyboards (particularly Moog) were such an intrinsic part of Happy The Man, the group decided to split.

Vision
Several months before the split, Stanley had met Rocky Ruckman, whose band Skywalker was opening for Happy The Man. He was impressed by Rocky's vocal talents and stage presence. As Happy The Man disbanded, Stan, Rick Kennell and Rocky formed a new band called Vision. The other members of the band were David Bach (Stan's old friend from Germany) on keyboards and HTM bassist Rick Kennell. Stanley hoped that, behind Rocky's vocal talents (he was also a great lyricist), this new band could be his golden chance to make a real artistic impact.

At the same time, Peter Gabriel found out about Happy The Man's split and invited Stan to be the guitarist for his third album ( Melt). The situation from 1976 repeated itself: Stan felt so strongly about Rocky and this project that he turned down Peter Gabriel's offer.

Vision moved to New York, wrote some original material and recorded a demo (8-10 songs) in one day with Eddie Kramer (Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix) in 1980 (about a year after they started playing). They met Eddie through Dee Anthony, whose management company was now working with Vision. Their efforts culminated when they had a showcase at NY's Ritz Hotel, with representatives from all the major labels present. Unfortunately, Rocky, who became nervous with all the attention, didn't consult with his band mates before going onstage and abandoning his usual "rough and tumble" image for a "sexier" image. It didn't go well and the group wasn't signed. Later they were doing a showcase at a club for actress Lindsay Wagner (they were pitched to do the music for the film "Nighthawks"), and after several songs, Rocky suddenly blew his voice. According to Rick, Rocky lost several half tones from the top. Rocky, frustrated by not getting the deal and the loss of his vocal range, left the band and went to Florida. He was replaced by another vocalist — Brad Busby. The loss of the vocalist changed the dynamics of the group. They started playing covers, which was not something Rick was willing to do, so by 1981 he left the band, replaced by Larry Strack (a former friend of Stan's from Shady Grove).

There were a couple of tragedies that hit the band later. Brad Busby succumbed to brain cancer. Larry Strack left the band and later committed suicide. The band continued as Vision with a Baltimore vocalist named John West. They had some regional success and, when John left, Stan shared vocal duties with Vinnie Santoro (drummer) and John Micelli (bass). They played consistently and even played in Bermuda numerous times. The band eventually broke up, so Stan and David Bach formed an all-original-music band called One by One. They performed in the Baltimore area.

Baltimore in the 80s and 90s
In 1987 Paul Reed Smith invited Stanley to take his place in his Band of a 1000 Names (according to Paul the band actually replaced him with Stan ). By then, the PRS line of high-end electric guitars had taken off, and Paul no longer could devote his time to the band. Stan played in that band for 3-4 years, according to him "a very fun band—mostly courtesy of bass player Carey Ziegler and guitarist Russell Stone!"

The Band of 1000 Names played straight rock, and Stanley missed playing progressive rock music. To play the music he liked, Stanley formed Avalon in 1990. Happy The Man's former sound man Bill Plummer played keyboards; Bill had taken lessons from Kit Watkins and had become a remarkable player in his own right. The band played progressive rock covers, from Jeff Beck and King Crimson to Peter Gabriel and Pink Floyd, and gained prominence in and around Baltimore.

Moving to L.A.
Throughout the early 90's, Stanley wondered if he would have better luck in Los Angeles, so he took off for L.A. in the summer of 1994. He moved himself, driving a truck with all his possessions and his yellow-headed Amazon parrot named Merlin for company. He first stayed with Fred Brown, his high school friend from Germany (his older brother Anthony played with Stan in Ulysses), who was now working as a lawyer for Warner Brothers.

While in L.A., Stan often worked solo, playing restaurants like Genghis Cohen; he also had to take all kinds of jobs to support himself, finally becoming a filing clerk for the Entertainment Coalition, an insurance bonding company for the film industry. He had a small apartment not far from his job and rode his bike two miles to and from work. He developed his vocal skills, and wrote lots of songs which were later recorded with the second incarnation of Happy The Man and Oblivion Sun.

In 1997 he saw an ad in local magazine — a band named Ten Jinn was looking for a guitarist. John Strauss, the leader of the band, hadn't heard of Happy The Man, but some members of the band had. Stan joined the band and helped them record their first album As On a Darkling Plain. In 1998 Ten Jinn was the "entertainment for the entertainers and promoters" at the opening party of the Baja Prog Festival in Mexicali, Mexico, when something remarkable happened. When it was announced that Stanley Whitaker of Happy The Man was playing with the band, the audience (all of them progressive rock musicians!) exploded in applause and adoration. Even today, Stanley cannot hold back tears when talking about this moment, calling it "the most humbling experience of my life." Stan believed Happy The Man had been forgotten! As the result of this performance, Ten Jinn was invited to play at the main festival event in May, 1999.

Resurrection of Happy The Man
While playing with Ten Jinn at the Baja Festival in May, 1999, Stanley was contacted by the promoters of NEARfest (Chad Hutchinson and Rob LaDuca), suggesting Happy The Man reunite to headline the festival in 2000. Stanley got in touch with Frank Wyatt, Rick Kennell and Ron Riddle and moved back to the east coast in September, 1999. Because Kit Watkins was no longer interested in playing live, David Rosenthal (Billy Joel, Rainbow, Steve Vai) took his place. The new drummer was Joe Bergamini.

The band members decided they would continue playing as Happy The Man until it was "no longer fun." In late 2004, the second incarnation of Happy The Man released an album entitled The Muse Awakens. By autumn of 2005, playing together was no longer fun due to the logistics and commercial constraints. The band split up for good. Throughout its second incarnation, Happy The Man didn't play a full schedule, and Stanley did multiple performances by himself, also participating as the guest musician on various albums (e.g. Hyper Statue by Carl Hupp Project, Window on the West by David Bach)

Oblivion Sun
In 2005 Stanley and Frank Wyatt decided to include some material that didn't make it into The Muse Awakens in a separate album. Frank was at the recording controls of the album, Bill Plummer did the mixing, and the album (Pedal Giant Animals) was released in 2006.

In order to play live, Frank and Stan formed a new group called Oblivion Sun. They were joined by bassist Angelo Cammarata, who was later replaced by Dave DeMarco, drummer Chris Mack and Bill Plummer on keyboards. The group played at progressive rock festivals and occasional shows, and they recorded a self-titled album in 2007 on Prophase Records (released September 9th, 2007).

Stanley was on hiatus from Oblivion Sun throughout in 2008-2010 to treat his cancer — Adenoid cystic carcinoma — which is now in remission.

Six Elements
In November 2010, former Oblivion Sun bassist Dave DeMarco told Stanley that he was doing session work for an Atlanta band named Six Elements which was looking for a vocalist. After talking to the Six Elements' founder and producer Michael (Misha) Shengaout, Stanley agreed to join the band. He finished recording vocals for the album by April, 2011. Six Elements' album Primary Elements was released on March 5th, 2012 through the Tower of Harmony label.

Personal Life
In September 17, 2005, Stan married LeeAnne Whitaker (nee Sacco). They first met in 2001 when Stanley was invited to help out a local band. LeeAnne was the band's female vocalist. They began working together as a duo. In 2008 they recorded a live CD during one of their duo performances, with sound engineering by Bill Plummer.

In summer 2008, Stanley spoke to his friend Fred Brown from LA, who told him that he had esophageal cancer. LeeAnne had wanted Stan to visit a doctor for at least two years to have a lump in his throat checked. Stanley had shrugged it off as a swollen tonsil from simply singing 4-5 nights a week, but Fred's call motivated Stanley to see a doctor. The biopsy identified it as Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (AdCC), a rare, malignant cancer of the salivary glands (head/neck). He had several surgeries and began a course of 36 radiation treatments ending on November 4th 2008. LeeAnne and friends of Stanley organized a charitable concert which took place November 9th, 2008. Paul Reed Smith donated one of his guitars for the auction, and various musicians and groups played, including Crack The Sky, the Ravens, Hectic Red, Baltimore School of Rock (who surprised him by playing Stumpy from the first HTM album!), Stan and LeeAnne played a few songs, and then he played a short set with Oblivion Sun.

In addition to his musical projects, Stanley is also pursuing his childhood dream of being a puppeteer. He and LeeAnne formed Mother Nurture Fairy Tales two years ago and are working on making 3-5 minute fairy tales with puppets (they currently have 75 hand puppets). Stanley is composing the music for the project. This will be an ongoing project with episodes featured online.

With Happy the Man

 * 1977 Happy The Man
 * 1978 Crafty Hands
 * 1983 3rd–Better Late (recorded in 1979)
 * 1989 Retrospective (compilation spanning 1977 to 1979, released in 1989)
 * 1990 Beginnings (unreleased material from before 1977)
 * 1999 Death's Crown (unreleased material from 1974 and 1976)
 * 2004 The Muse Awakens

With Ten Jinn

 * 1999 As On a Darkling Plain

With Frank Wyatt

 * 2007 Pedal Giant Animals

=== With Oblivion Sun
 * 2007 Oblivion Sun

With Six Elements

 * 2012 Primary Elements