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From Houston, Josefus formed in September 1969, by Doug Tull after he'd been fired from United Gas (see Christopher entry). A couple of months later they attracted the attention of record producer Jim Musil, who invited them to Phoenix in Arizona to record under the name Come. However, the deal he was negotiating with Straight Records did not materialise and the sessions remained unreleased until the Get Off My Case retrospective.
The band reverted back to the name Josefus and returned to Houston. They went back to Phoenix, however, to record their 'first' album, Dead Man, which was recorded in just eight hours and mixed the next day. Comprised largely of originals it was probably their best work. It sold well in Texas and the highlight was the 17'5" minute title track. Two tracks from the album Crazy Man/Country Boy were also issued as a single.
Indeed the Dead Man release attracted the attention of Mainstream who signed them on a one album contract. The result was recorded at the Criteria Studios in Miami and produced by Bob Shad. This was in the same hard rock vein as their first effort but less imaginative and when neither the album or the 45 taken from it made any impression they split in December 1970.
Pete Bailey and Ray Turner went on to play in a 1971 combo Stone Axe, together with guitarist Mike 'Wolf' Long and drummer Jerry Ontiverez. They had one 45, Snakebite on Rampart in the same year. Doug Tull later played for an outfit called Christopher and may also have backed power popper Tommy Keene in the mid to late eighties. Pete and Dave Mitchell were involved in an EP by Guitar Orchestra issued on Home Cooking Records in 1976.
In July 1978 Pete Bailey and Dave Mitchell reformed the band with a new line-up. This was short-lived but they did make the two 1979 45s listed.
In the nineties Get Off My Case appeared, which contains their first efforts recorded in December 1969 prior to Dead Man. It's largely made up of different versions of songs that appeared on their first official album, including a lengthier version of Dead Man, Crazy Man and Situation. The release was accompanied by a booklet of the band's story.
Josefus's second album was actually an improvement over the band's first (Dead Man), by virtue of its more versatile songwriting, slightly better riffs, and occasional drifts beyond sub-Led Zeppelin-style early metal. All that considered, it's still a pedestrian Led Zeppelin-like Texas take on early hard rock-metal, though Pete Bailey's vocals are a little less obviously in the Robert Plant mold this time around. Less blues-based than Dead Man as well, it contains some of their better songs in "America," which shows the influence of lighter California-styled psychedelia, the odd "Jimmy, Jimmy," apparently about a friend unfairly institutionalized for freaking out (inspired by fellow Texan Roky Erickson by any chance?), and, most surprisingly, the gentle country-rock of "Such Is Life."