Seward's Ice Box

Youngstown, 1967-70

Seward's Ice Box were formed by five students at Liberty High School. The band included Chuck Chudakoff (lead vocals and guitar), Phil Kramer (guitar), Jimmy Waltman (drums), Joe Catania (keyboards), and Harry Blackstone (bass). The band took their name from a slang term for Alaska, a place that had captivated Jimmy Waltman. The band played covers of 'underground' songs of the day, including songs by Iron Butterfly....

In the summer of 1968 they recorded two songs at United Audio and had a few hundred copies pressed. The A-side was an original treament of the Ultimate Spinach song "Your Head is Reeling" utilizing the studio's primitive 'phasing' technique. The flip side was the Country Joe and the Fish 'song' "I-Feel-Like-I'm Fixing-To-Die" (without the Kid Ory accredation..).

After journeying to the west coast, Phil Kramer joined a 'reformed' Iron Butterfly on bass and recorded two LPs with them. In 1995 he was reported missing and his case taken up by the TV shows "Unsolved Mysteries" and "Oprah". His body was discovered in 1999, fueling speculation of conspiracy theories, for which the reader can browse the Internet and play armchair Columbo.