Beckett

Beckett was an English rock band from Newcastle that released a self-titled album on Raft Records in 1974. Singer Terry Wilson-Slesser subsequently fronted Back Street Crawler, formed by ex-Free guitarist Paul Kossoff. After Kossoff’s death, that band morphed into Crawler. In 1983, he joined Charlie and sang on their transatlantic hit “It’s Inevitable.”

Members: Kenny Mountain (guitar), Rob Turner (vocals), Les Tones (guitar), Terry Slesser (vocals), Arthur Ramm (guitar), Keith Fisher (drums, 1973-74), Frankie Gibbon (bass, 1973-?), Robert Barton (guitar), Ian Murray (bass), Barry Black (drums), Jimmy Wiley (bass)

Background

Beckett emerged from the ashes of Yellow, a Newcastle soul-psych band that featured guitarist/keyboardist Kenny Mountain and drummer Keith Fisher. In 1970, Yellow issued one single on CBS: “Roll It Down The Hill,” a mid-tempo ballad with narrative verses and a string-swept chorus, written by the American duo Bobby Weinstein and Jon Stroll. The b-side, “Living a Lie,” veers from a flute-laced, minor key intro to a tensed-up, riff-laden set of passages. It was written by Mountain and guitarist/singer Vic Malcolm, who later surfaced in Geordie.

Discography:

• Beckett (1974)
  

Sources:

• Discogs: Beckett