Black Widow -

Black Widow was an English organ-psych band from Leicester that released three albums between 1970 and 1972 on CBS. In a prior incarnation as Pesky Gee, the band released the 1969 album Exclamation Mark on Pye.

Members: Clive Jones [aka Clive Beer-Jones] (saxophone, flute), Jess “Zoot” Taylor (organ, 1969-73), Jim Gannon (guitar, vocals, 1969-72), Bob Bond (bass, 1969-71), Clive Box (drums, piano, 1969-71), Kay Garrett (lead vocals, 1969), Kip Trevor (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, 1969-73), Geoff Griffith (bass, 1971-73), Romeo Challenger (drums, 1971-73), John Culley (guitar, vocals, 1972-73), Frank Karuba [aka Rick “E”, Ric Prince] (vocals, guitar, 1973)

Background

Black Widow formed in September 1969 in Leicester when the members of Pesky Gee! adopted a new name for an occult-themed song cycle. Kay Garrett and Kip Trevor shared lead vocals, with Trevor also on guitar and harmonica. Bob Bond played bass beside drummer Clive Box. Jim Gannon played guitar and vibraphone. Clive Jones covered saxophone and flute, while Jess “Zoot” Taylor played organ and piano.

The group traced back to Leicester soul band Inside Outfit, which became Pesky Gee! after an agent borrowed the title of a Broodly Hoo instrumental. Jones joined after the breakup of his first band, Frank Lee Union. He studied recorder and clarinet at school, then moved to piano. Jones later added alto and tenor saxophone before teaching himself flute after a bill with Jethro Tull. By 1967, Kip Trevor replaced original co-singer Basil Francis as Pesky Gee! moved from soul toward psychedelic rock. The band played Leicester club the Nite Owl and also performed at Leicester Prison.

Songwriter Malcolm Rabbitt heard Pesky Gee! at a Warrington engagement near the end of 1968 and offered the group “A Place of Heartbreak.” Rabbitt introduced the band to the Meehan management office, which secured a contract with Pye. Pye issued the Vanilla Fudge cover “Where Is My Mind” in March 1969 (b/w “A Place of Heartbreak”). Guitarist Chris Dredge and brass player Alan Hornsby left after the single. Gannon and Taylor then joined from Broodly Hoo. Pesky Gee! recorded an album in a four-hour overnight session at Pye Studios, and Pye released Exclamation Mark later in 1969.

After Pye dropped Pesky Gee!, Box proposed a black-magic concept for new original material. Pat Meehan Jr. selected Black Widow from the proposed replacement names, while Gannon developed the songs around the occult theme. Black Widow recorded the seven-song Sacrifice cycle at D.T. Studios in Kettering in November 1969 with Garrett still sharing lead vocals. Garrett left afterward to marry Leicester drummer Terry Abbs, which reduced the group to six members.

Black Widow then developed a theatrical production around the song cycle. Alex Sanders advised the musicians on ritual details. Members of Leicester’s Phoenix Theatre Company supplied choreography for the stage presentation. Black Widow signed with CBS at the start of 1970, then returned to the studio to remake Sacrifice with Trevor as sole lead singer.

Discography: