Beltane Fire -

Beltane Fire was an English rock band that released the 1985 album Different Breed on CBS. Their sound combined hard-rock, folk, neo-progressive, and ‘big music’ styles. The members recorded two earlier albums as the Blue Cats, a retro-rockabilly act.

Members: Clint Bradley (guitar, vocals), Mitchell D. Caws (bass, vocals), Carlo B. Edwards (guitar, vocals), Stef Edwards (drums, vocals), Nick Glennie-Smith (keyboards), Alan Shacklock (keyboards)

Background

Carlo Edwards entered the Surrey rock n roll circuit in 1977 when he joined The South Rebels on lead/rhythm guitar, with brother Stef Edwards on drums. The group also carried Norman Doig on electric bass, Ian on rhythm guitar, and a separate, older Ian as vocalist. Carlo left the Rebels during 1978 and moved to Shazam, then stepped away again by late 1978 as he began shaping a leaner, harder-driving unit with Stef.

Carlo and Stef built The Blue Cat Trio around vocalist and upright-bass player Dave Phillips, then drilled new material in a cramped garden-shed rehearsal space. The trio added “guest” sax player Clive Osborne and occasional rhythm guitarist Doug as gigs and rehearsals accumulated. On June 10, 1979, the expanded lineup booked time at Frog studio in Stanmore, Middlesex and cut four tracks.

Red Hot (EP)

The Blue Cat Trio released their debut EP in September 1979 on Red Hot Records.

The four tracks draw on mid-1950s rockabilly conventions, built around slap bass, a spare drum pattern, and electric guitar lines that stay close to the standard idiom. Dave Phillips handles bass and lead vocal throughout, with Carlo Edwards on guitar and Stef Edwards on drums.

A1. “Dancing Doll”
A2. “Well I Knocked”

B1. “Rock Therapy”
B2. “Goofin’ Around”

A second Frog date followed on January 13, 1980 as a trio session, with Dave and Stef positioned for live room spill; the day produced multiple takes of several titles, including performances that featured Carlo on newly acquired pedal steel guitar.

Red Hot’s owner, Tony Martin, linked up with the band through record-collector circles, then took on practical roles as the projects grew, from transport and booking to release coordination. During late 1979, Martin also connected with Clint Bradley, leader of Little Tony and The Tennessee Rebels, and booked them into Frog on January 13, 1980 for a fast, one-take-leaning run of rock n roll and rockabilly sides; later sessions in Southampton yielded tracks that appeared on another Red Hot! EP.

Saxophonist Clive Osborne joined for early rehearsals and the band’s first gig, in Holland in October 1980, before the sound shifted away from its initial direction and he departed.

The Blue Cats

The Blue Cats released their self-titled debut album in 1980 on Rockhouse Records.

The sixteen tracks maintain a brisk, compact approach to 1950s rockabilly and jump blues forms, most running under three minutes. Phillips carries the vocals and double bass across the album while Carlo Edwards plays guitar and Stef Edwards anchors the ensemble on drums. Osborne’s saxophone appears on select tracks, providing a rhythm-and-blues color to the ensemble’s harder rockabilly core. The material mixes original compositions by Phillips and Carlo Edwards with covers drawn from the mid-1950s repertoire.

A1. “Just Go Wild Over Rock ‘N’ Roll” (1:45) – Bullock
A2. “I’m Gonna Die” (2:50) – Carlo Edwards
A3. “Pretty Pretty Baby” (2:20) – Danny Wolfe
A4. “I Dreamed You Left Me” (1:45) – Dave Phillips
A5. “Southbound Blues” (2:25) – Carlo Edwards
A6. “Boogie Up Roar” (2:36) – C.G. Brown
A7. “Five Days Five Days” (2:25) – Willey/Franks/Rhodes
A8. “I’m Driving Home” (2:00) – Dave Phillips

B1. “Teenage Party” (2:10) – Tommy Steele
B2. “Sweet Love On My Mind” (2:10) – Walker
B3. “Caldonia” (2:25) – Fleecie Moore
B4. “I Sure Miss You” (3:05) – E. Bryan/T. Davis
B5. “Jumpin’ Little Mama” (1:58) – Dave Phillips
B6. “Juke Joint Jem” (1:52) – Dave Phillips
B7. “Sure-Fire Way” (2:08) – Steve Bloomfield
B8. “Goofin’ Around” (2:40) – F. Beecher

The Blue Cats recorded the album at Sea Side Studio, Haarlem, Holland, in August 1980 with producer Bert Rockhuizen, who also engineered alongside Jan-Pieter Exalto.

Fight Back

The Blue Cats released their second album, Fight Back, in 1982 on Rockhouse Records.

The sixteen tracks extend the debut’s rockabilly foundation while incorporating more original material from Bradley and Carlo Edwards alongside a selection of covers. Bradley takes lead vocal and acoustic guitar, with Carlo Edwards on electric guitar and backup vocals, Caws on upright bass, and Stef Edwards on drums. The band’s original compositions push the arrangements toward faster tempos and harder-edged guitar tones while the covers—drawn from Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Marvin Rainwater, and others—sit within the album’s overall rockabilly frame.

“Fight Back,””Who Stole My Blue Suede Shoes,””Live Fast Die Young,” and “Made for Rockin'” are original compositions by Bradley, the latter running to the album’s longest track. “Wild Night,” also by Bradley, had already appeared on a BBC Radio 1 session before the album recording. “Hot & Cold” is a Marvin Rainwater cover; “Tired & Sleepy” is credited to Eddie Cochran, Hank Cochran, and Jerry Capehart. “Up a Lazy River” takes the Hoagy Carmichael–Sidney Arodin standard at a driving tempo. “Birth of the Boogie” is a Bill Haley co-write.

A1. “Fight Back” (2:58) – Clint Bradley
A2. “Hot & Cold” (1:40) – M. Rainwater
A3. “Tired & Sleepy” (1:50) – E. Cochran/H. Cochran/J. Capehart
A4. “Love Me” (2:10) – M. Lott
A5. “Jump Cat Jump” (2:30) – Clint Bradley
A6. “Up a Lazy River” (2:44) – H. Carmichael/S. Arodin
A7. “Who Stole My Blue Suede Shoes” (2:24) – Clint Bradley
A8. “Who Slapped John” (1:46) – G. Vincent/S.T. Davis

B1. “Wild Night” (2:50) – Clint Bradley
B2. “Thunder & Lightning” (1:55) – Tooter Boatman
B3. “Live Fast Die Young” (2:30) – Clint Bradley
B4. “Made for Rockin'” (3:32) – Clint Bradley
B5. “Slippin’ In” (1:58) – C. Wright/R. Belyeu
B6. “Idle on Parade” (2:04) – Praverman
B7. “Birth of the Boogie” (2:35) – B. Haley/B. Williamson/J. Grande
B8. “Everybody’s Rockin'” (2:10) – Burgess

The Blue Cats recorded the main sessions at Seaside Studio, Haarlem, Holland, on July 7–8–9, 1981, with producer Bert Rockhuizen and engineer Jan-Pieter Exalto. “Jump Cat Jump” was recorded separately at Soundpush Studio, Blaricum, Holland, on February 11, 1981, with John Kriek engineering. “Wild Night” was recorded on March 1, 1981, at Fendal Sound Studio, Loenen a/d Vecht, Holland, with Jan Kraanendonk engineering.

A transitional EP billed as The G-Men appeared in early 1982 as the band worked on new material. By early 1983 they were performing under the name Beltane Fire, with new management from Tim and Phil Polecat and Tim’s father Barry. The Beltane Fire set drew entirely on original material and moved the sound away from rockabilly altogether. A bidding war among major labels developed by the summer of 1984, and the band signed to CBS–Sony, which funded the recording of Different Breed.

Different Breed

Beltane Fire released Different Breed in late 1985 on CBS Records.

The eight tracks move between hard-edged, mid-tempo rock arrangements and folk-inflected settings, with the ensemble’s multiple vocal contributors—Bradley, Caws, Carlo Edwards, and Stef Edwards—deployed across lead and harmony parts throughout.

Carlo Edwards’s lead guitar carries the melodic weight of the harder arrangements, while Shacklock and Glennie-Smith provide keyboard color that ranges from atmospheric pads to more prominent textural elements. Caws’s double bass provides the rhythmic anchor across the record, and Stef Edwards’s drumming moves between driving rock patterns and more spacious, accent-led approaches depending on the material. Robert Powell narrates the spoken sections of “Excalibur (I Believe),” the album’s most elaborately structured track. The lyrics draw heavily on Arthurian and English folk mythology, particularly across the album’s second side.

A1. “Captain Blood” (5:52) – C. Edwards/C. Bradley
A2. “Fortune Favours the Brave” (4:28) – C. Edwards/C. Bradley
A3. “Night Fishing” (4:39) – C. Edwards/C. Bradley
A4. “The Poacher” (4:34) – C. Edwards/C. Bradley

B1. “Excalibur (I Believe)” (6:04) – C. Edwards/C. Bradley
B2. “King Arthur’s Cave” (3:47) – C. Edwards/C. Bradley
B3. “Different Breed” (4:44) – C. Edwards/C. Bradley
B4. “Run (Light the Beltane Fire)” (5:27) – C. Edwards/C. Bradley

Beltane Fire recorded Different Breed with producer Alan Shacklock, who also mixed the album alongside Mark Wallis. Rafe McKenna and Will Gosling engineered.

CBS issued “Fortune Favours the Brave” as a 12” single in 1985, backed with “Far Cry” and “Cold Mind.” CBS issued “The Poacher” as a 12” single in 1985 on label TX 6507, backed with “The Old Ways” and “Uther’s Son.” CBS issued “Captain Blood” as a 12” single in 1985 on label TX 6780, backed with “Further Up Further In.” CBS issued “Excalibur” as a 12” single in 1986 in an extended Lake Mix, backed with “Uther (II).”

Postlude

After the album appeared in 1985, the band toured in support, including slots with Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Marillion, and Adam Ant. CBS released the band before they could build a sustained following, and Beltane Fire dissolved.

The four core members relocated to the United States in 1989 as a three-piece called Flame of the West, with Bradley switching to bass after Caws elected to remain in England. The American run ended when Carlo Edwards sustained a spinal injury in an accident. The Blue Cats name was revived in 1992 for a Nervous Records album, The Tunnel, recorded with new bassist Paul Diffin, before the members again separated.

Discography: