Mormos

Mormos is a French based progressive folk group of American musicians, including multi-instrumentalists James Cuomo, Elliott Delman, Ernest Mansfield, guitarist Dianne Tobia Taylor, cellist Sandy Spencer and bassist/vocalist Annie "The Hat" Williams. The initial line up consisted of just Cuomo, Spencer and Taylor who were part of the New York based LaMama Experimental Theatre. Mormos was formed (initially as Misty Mountain Mormos) after the theater troupe relocated to France in 1970. Needing to flesh out their sound, Cuomo recruited Williams, Delman, and Mansfield whom he collaborated with in the Champaign/Urbana based psychedelic band Spoils Of War (2) before recording their debut in late 1970. Much of Mormos' material, especially on their debut Great Wall of China (1971) were acoustic arrangements of tunes previously recorded by the Spoils of War in the late 1960's. Their second album, The Magic Spell of Mother's Wrath (1972) saw the departure of Taylor and Spencer was credited as a guest artist. The bulk of the writing on the second album was mostly handled by both Delman and Mansfield (where Cuomo wrote much of the first album) resulting in a more accessible sound, however Cuomo's "Rit Yellow of the Sun" (originally recorded by Spoils of War in 1968) serves as this album's centerpiece. Mormos disbanded in early 1973 with Delman, Mansfield and Williams joining the Chicago based Sky Farmer which remained active until 1975. Cuomo continued to record throughout the 1970's, occasionally with Sandy Spencer, Daniel Hanks, Clive Griffiths and various European session musicians. These recordings were released in the 1990's, retroactively crediting them to the Spoils of War. Cuomo later became involved in computer based music and still records and performs and currently resides in Australia. In recent years Mormos has been known to reform and perform one off concerts in the Chicago and Champaign/Urbana area with the core band of Mansfield, Delman, Cuomo and Williams.