About

The Freewheelers were a little known, yet critically-acclaimed rock and roll band from Los Angeles, CA from 1989-1996. The band consisted of Luther Russell on lead vocals/guitar, Jason Hiller on bass, Dave “Cornelius” Sobel on Hammond organ, Chris Joyner on piano and John Hofer on drums. Let’s just say they broke down in almost every state pulling that kind of freight. They released two major label records in the 1990’s: “The Freewheelers” (1991, DGC) and “Waitin’ for George” (1996, American) and a promotional vinyl-only LP called “Play Bob Russell” (1993, Bluebird). They also cut a live album for American in 1994 which is unreleased to this day. Their sound was somewhere in between The Band and Joe Cocker, with a punk-rock attitude on stage. They shared bills with such diverse artists as Etta James, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, Paul Westerberg, Joan Jett, Arthur Lee, The Jayhawks, Joe Cocker and Johnny Cash. Since the Freewheelers as a band have not been active for almost fifteen years, this is a tribute page. Please chime in with any fond (or not so fond) memories under ‘comments’. Most recollections of the ‘Wheelers will inevitably involve some sort of nudity on Dave’s part, and that’s okay. Much more to come…cheers.