Delivery -

Delivery — alternately billed as Carol Grimes & Delivery — was an English jazz-rock/soul band that released the album Fools Meeting on B & C Records in 1970. The band served as an early vehicle for future members of Soft Machine, Hatfield & the North, and National Health.

Members: Phil Miller (guitar), Steve Miller (piano), Pip Pyle (drums), Jack Monk (bass), Lol Coxhill (saxophone), Roy Babbington (bass), Carol Grimes (vocals), Richard Sinclair (bass, vocals), Laurie Allan (drums, 1971)

Background

Delivery evolved from the Brunos Blues Band, formed in 1967 by brothers Steve Miller (keyboards: 1943–1998) and Phil Miller (guitar: 1949–2017). Drummer Pip Pyle (1950–2006) and jazz musicians Lol Coxhill (saxophone: 1932–2012) and Roy Babbington (bass: b. 1940) rounded the lineup that gigged the London area for two years.

In 1969, they were joined by soul-rock vocalist Carol Grimes (b. 1944), who’d just issued a single in the duo Babylon: “Into the Promised Land” (recorded by If in 1970 as “The Promised Land”) b/w “Nobody’s Fault But Mine.”

Fools Meeting

In 1970, Delivery released their singular album Fools Meeting on B&C (UK), Fontana (France), and Philips (Germany). Of the eight songs, seven are originals composed primarily by Phil Miller, including “The Wrong Time,” “Fighting It Out,” “Home Made Ruin,” and “Blind to Your Light.” The album also features a raunchy take on Keith Jarrett’s “Is It Really the Same.”

A non-album track, “Harry Lucky,” appeared concurrently as a 7″ a-side. Fools Meeting was produced by Tony Chapman, who oversaw contemporary recordings by Tear Gas and Northwind.

Musically, Fools Meeting evokes fellow UK jazz-rock/blues acts with soul-belter frontwomen (Catapilla, Dada, Goliath, Room).

Later Activity

Delivery splintered the following year as members moved to other projects, starting with Pyle’s deflection to Gong. In 1972, Phil Miller recorded back-to-back albums with Matching Mole and played on Caravan‘s concurrent Waterloo Lily. Grimes cut a 1972 album with blues-rockers Uncle Dog and then launched a solo career.

Steve Miller and Coxhill recorded for Virgin-subsidiary Caroline Records as a free jazz duo. Coxhill also became a prolific sessionist, recording with Kevin Ayers, Fred Frith, Phil Minton, Lindsay Cooper, and The Damned.

Babbington played on albums by Nucleus, Elton Dean, Keith Tippett, Harvey Andrews, Mike Gibbs, Barbara Thompson, and Solid Gold Cadillac. He also played double-bass on the 1971/72 Soft Machine albums Fourth and Fifth before joining officially for 1973’s Seventh and staying through the 1975/76 releases Bundles and Softs.

An abortive Delivery reboot circa 1973 brought Pyle, Phil Miller, and Caravan bassist Richard Sinclair under the same tent. The three soon teamed with ex-Egg keyboardist Dave Stewart in Hatfield and the North. After two albums, that band morphed into National Health for an additional three albums.

Fools Meeting was reissued with six bonus tracks by Cuneiform Records in 1999.

Discography: