Hydra - Land Of Money (Reissue) (1975/1999)

Hydra is an American Southern rock band formed in the late 1960s by Spencer Kirkpatrick (guitar), Wayne Bruce (vocals / guitar) and Steve Pace (drums). Steve Pace and Spencer Kirkpatrick played together in the band Strange Brew in 1968. Wayne Bruce played in the band Nickelodean and first formed the group Noah Mayflower with Pace and Kirkpatrick; afterwards they were part of the group Osmosis, after which the band was given the name Hydra. After frequent changes of the bass player, Orville Davis joins the band on bass guitar. In the first few years they performed mainly in the Atlanta region in the state of Georgia, later more and more in support programs for larger and international concerts, but never outside the United States.

The band signed a contract with Capricorn Records in 1973 and released their first LP Hydra in 1974. Land of Money followed in 1975. They use a horn section and are backed by musicians such as Chuck Leavell (keyboards) and Randall Bramblett, who later founded his own Randall Bramblett Band.

Despite the good musical quality of their 'heavy' Southern Rock, commercial success is not forthcoming and Davis leaves the group and builds his own country career, ending with his own debut CD ("Howl At The Moon" in 1996) and then "Barnburner" in 2005. He is replaced on bass by Wayne Bruce and the band switches to Polydor.

In 1977 Rock The World is released, variously rated as the least good and their best record. The band split up in late 1977 and rarely performs together, except in a series of shows in 1997 with first Jimmy Cobb and later Tommy Vickery on bass guitar, replacing Davis, who was falsely reported to have passed away. Spencer Kirkpatrick later performs on albums by blues guitarist Wayne "Bear" Sauls, as well as Eddie Stone, Donnie McCormick and later on "Georgia Jam" by Stevie Hawkins.

All their earlier LPs have now been released on CD.

In April 2005 the band (in its 1997 line-up) reunites for several concerts, of which the live CD Live - After All These Years will be released with songs from their earlier albums. The band is said to have made plans to release an album with new material.