He is best-known for discovering the seminal hard rock band Blue Cheer, and for producing their first two albums, Vincebus Eruptum and Outsideinside.
[3] Besides Blue Cheer, Kesh produced albums by Harvey Mandel, Graham Bond, Morning Glory, Linn County, The Savage Resurrection, Don Robertson,[4] and others.
In 1969, "John Lingel, rock promotion director at Chatton Distributors in Oakland, was going through some gospel product lying around when he stumbled onto the Hawkins LP [...].
He gave it to Abe 'Voco' Kesh at KSAN-FM, who, he says, 'immediately flipped,' and the rush of phone calls confirmed gospel-fan Lingel's hunch: 'Oh Happy Day' was hit material.
"[8] Based on the reaction to Kesh's airing, Buddah Records signed the Edwin Hawkins Singers, gave them a $50,000 advance, and the single "Oh Happy Day" became an international hit.