Shortly thereafter, new manager Howard Wolf set up the struggling band with a gig at California's Mammoth Ski Resort. Bob Hite, in a foul rage, went off on the crowd, to the disapproval of Vestine, James Shane and Ed Beyer, who quit the band as a result.
Taking the place of those who departed were pianist Gene Taylor and guitarist Chris Morgan, who both joined in late 1974. Taylor departed in 1976 in response to an argument during a tour of Germany, and after a brief fill-in by Stan Webb (of Chicken Shack), Mark Skyer came in as the new guitar player. In the meantime the band had worked out a deal with Takoma Records, and this "Human Condition/Takoma" lineup recorded the 1977 album Human Condition. Despite the appearance of the Chambers Brothers on the album, it was met with very little success, largely because of the growing popularity of disco music in the late 70s. Before long, more arguments ensued, and Mark Skyer, Chris Morgan and Richard Hite all quit the band in 1977. The Bear promptly hired a new bass player, Richard Exley, after befriending him on tour and watching his performance with the band Montana. Becoming fast friends with Hite, Exley toured the remainder of the year with the band and collaborated with Hite on many of the arrangements during their 1976 Texas Bicentennial Comeback Tour. Exley then quit the band after an argument over Hite's excessive drinking and drug use on stage. Frustrated and fed up, Exley joined the Texas Heartbreakers at the end of that year but returned periodically to fill in as a favor to Hite while the band struggled to find permanent members amidst heavy drinking and drug use. Exley remarked about his time with the band, "No one ever remembers the bass player ...". This effectively reduced the band's members to just Hite and de la Parra.
Burger Brothers revival and the death of Bob Hite
The popularity of the blues genre rose in the late 1970s and early 1980s with the release of the musical-comedy film The Blues Brothers (1980), starring Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi.
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