Damnation of Adam Blessing

If (when) you like the music, buy it at The Freak Emporium or Akarmarecords.



- DAMNATION OF ADAM BLESSING -

Damnation's focus was obviously on contemporary hard rock, but the arrangements were far more advanced. While most heavy rock acts featured screaming or shouting vocalists, Damnation tested the waters with low-range, gospel-like harmonies and Adam Blessing's grinding yet melodic leads. Songs would quickly shift from simple rock arrangements into idiosyncratic middle-eights - sometimes over a pounding rhythm by drummer Bill Schwark and bassist Ray Benich, sometimes enhancing a ballad.And when it came to hooks, Damnation could lure in the listener almost every time. And yet, outside of their four albums and a brief appearance in a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame exhibit on Cleveland bands, little evidence remains. As literally hundreds of inferior contemporaries have seen their albums reissued on CD, not a single note of Damnation music has entered the digital realm until now. (Excerpt written by Mr. Doug Sheppard courtesy of Ugly Things Magazine Issue 17) For the full 18-page history on the Damnation of Adam Blessing order you copy online at

Ugly-Things Magazine



The Band:

Adam Blessing - Lead Vocals

Ray Benich - Bass Guitar

Kenny Constable - Lead & Supporting Vocals

Jimmy Quinn - Rhythm Guitar - Supporting Vocals

Bobby Kalamasz - Lead Guitar - Supporting Vocals

Billy Schwark - Drums - Percussion



Damnation were the same Cleveland band previously known as the Damnation of Adam Blessing, who issued two albums on United Artists in 1969-70. Why the name was shortened remains a mystery, and has fouled up the consistency/accuracy of both Damnation and the Damnation of Adam Blessing discographies ever since. Basically, however, the group's third album (Which Is the Justice, Which Is the Thief?) was credited to Damnation, not the Damnation of Adam Blessing, though it makes sense to consider both the Damnation of Adam Blessing and Damnation the same act.To backtrack, then, the Damnation of Adam Blessing formed in Cleveland in the late 1960s, including veterans of the garage bands the Alarm Clocks (who did a single with future Damnation drummer Bill Schwark), and the Society (with future Damnation singer Adam Blessing, aka Billy Constable).By 1968 the Damnation of Adam Blessing were formed, taking the name from a list of books in the back of a Ray Bradbury novel; Billy Constable himself took the name of Adam Blessing. (Blessing actually didn't see the 1961 pulp novel The Damnation of Adam Blessing until a couple years later, when the author, Marijane Meaker, gave it to him personally backstage at a New York gig.)



Their 1969 United Artists self-titled LP, above-average, early hard rock mixed with some psychedelia, pop, and folk-rock, was very popular in Cleveland, and made Number 181 in the national charts.

On their second album, 1970's The Second Damnation, they went into a more determinedly hard rock direction, still featuring the powerful, husky vocals of Blessing, and deploying vocal harmonies with more taste and subtlety than many similar outfits did. For reasons that the band don't remember -- they believe it was the decision of the record label and/or management -- their name was changed from the Damnation of Adam Blessing to just Damnation for their third and last album, 1971's Which Is the Justice, Which Is the Thief?. (Shortly prior to this, Blessing's brother Ken Constable had joined as additional vocalist; he'd made contributions to the prior two albums under pseudonyms.) To their dismay, most of the tracks were overlaid with orchestration by members of the Cleveland Orchestra, the band having no say in the string and horn arrangements. Despite that, the album -- and even the orchestration -- isn't bad, though like all releases by the Damnation of Adam Blessing/Damnation, it's erratic. The blend of early-'70s hard rock and haunting orchestration makes it more interesting than many hard rock-based albums from the era. There's also room for some of the mild eclecticism that characterized all of their work, like the tense soul-blues of "Sometimes I Feel Like I Just Can't Go On" (with a superb vocal by Blessing), the quirky Eastern-psychedelic-influenced instrumental "Turned to Stone," and the lush folky balladry of "Sweet Dream Lady."The Damnation album didn't chart, and though the band did record another LP, they did it under the name of Glory (for 1973's Glory).

Glory broke up shortly afterward, all of the band remaining involved in music in some capacity, though never with the visibility (albeit limited, certainly on a national scale) they'd enjoyed with the Damnation of Adam Blessing/Damnation.

Sadly, bassist Ray Benick served nearly two decades in prison in the 1980s and 1990s, though he was released in late 1999, and the Damnation of Adam Blessing reunited for a few shows (including one in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

) in 2000.by Richie Unterberger

"Listen to The Damnation in an interview on this website: INTERVIEW



This site is approved by Jim Quinn / Guitarist / Damnation of Adam Blessing