Effective period / Period of releases: 1968

Members: Eddie Mottau, N.D. Smart II, Jim Colegrove, Jeff Gutcheon, Joe Hutchinson (3), Ronnie Blake (2)

Boston-based folk and psychedelic rock band that released Before The War on Atco Records in 1968, a record produced by Felix Pappalardi.

Note: The Boston group is not to be confused with the 1990s San Francisco Bay Area ragtime trio of the same name. See Bo Grumpus for information on the San Francisco group.

According to music journalist Bruce Eder, the band name "Bo Grumpus" was the invention of Felix Pappalardi's wife Gail Collins, who was an artist and had a drawing that hung on the couple's living room wall that she called "Bo Grumpus". The drawing supposedly depicted a strange-looking creature with other equally strange-looking creatures crawling out of a hole in its stomach. Pappalardi was quoted as saying "it’s a good name that means nothing." In 1969, the band had to change its name to "Jolliver Arkansaw" after a dispute with the band's music publisher, The Richmond Organization, over ownership of the band name triggered by a move from Atco to Bell Records. As "Jolliver Arkansaw", the group released Jolliver Arkansaw - Home in 1969 before disbanding later that same year.