Back in 1994 Mike Knott decided to release a mainstream album. Around this time L.S.U.
recorded "Grace Shaker." Knott, Brian Doidge (long time friend/bandmate)and drummer Chuck Cummings went looking
for another guitarist (for the whole story check out the official Aunt Betty's website. They ended up with Andrew Carter
(this guy can PLAY). They chose the name Aunt Betty's Ford. Knott did a good job of builing a new fan base for the new band. Knott distributed Aunt Betty's Ford demos all over Orange County. The first demo was released around the time that Grace Shaker was. The second demo was a little more depressing. The third was really high-energy. The kids loved 'em. Hypno mag said that that Aunt Betty's was one of the best bands around. CCM mag gave Aunt Betty's Ford the "cool bandname of the week award." Ford didn't agree. They sent a letter to Elektra
That said "change your name or we'll sue." By this time they had too much of a following to just drop their name, so they just changed the band to Aunt Betty's and let the rumors fill in the blank. In fact, for a while Doidge wore Ford T-shirts to the promo concerts. Aunt Betty's had a self titled album on Elektra's EastWest label. It is a very good album. Knott's band has never been tighter. Catchy tunes, cool lyrics, even a couple
remakes of old songs like "Double","Kitty" and "Rocket and a Bomb." The "Rocket" remake
takes the chorus and builds a whole new song around it. "Double" is the same other than one word. "Kitty" is electic (it was acoustic originally).
Elektra did to Aunt Betty's what Alarma did to "Grace Shaker." No promotion killed it. Aunt Betty's was a cult hit. To make matters worse waring regional V.P.s dropped Aunt Betty's. That ment that they had to buy their way out of the 2 album contract. Betty's Broke up. They got together for 1 last show. Maranatha released "Ford Supersonic" which is an excellent collection of unrealeased demos. Notice on "widget man" you can hear the song begin to fade into "double" at the end. BUY IT NOW!!!!
bAck tO tHe OrchArd