Enter Ron...

Then one day in 1971, Mitch's old grade school buddy, bassist Ron Kaplan, enrolled in Lake Forest College. Ron asks Mitch, "Hey man, do you want a bass player?

(Now, keep in mind, years earlier Ron helped Mitch get into his first band ever called, get this-- "The Goldfingers" (hey this was 1967 we we 16!). So Mitch talked to Neal and George and Triad became a quartet in need of a new name...

Ron was a very good bass player and really filled out the sound. Now their sound was complete.
Ron also became the band's booking agent (a talent that made him famous in later years). So Ron kept the band working including a famous (or infamous) 35 college tour through scenic Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota in the middle of the winter traveling in George's van.
In the meantime, Mitch, Neal and George were writing new songs all the time as the "core four" were defining their sound and building a loyal following (most of them 16 year old girls, but hey that's rock and roll)... more