Ian Gillan Band -

The Ian Gillan Band was an English hard-rock/funk group that released the album Child in Time on Polydor in 1976, followed by the 1977 Island releases Clear Air Turbulence and Scarabus. Their namesake frontman, once-and-future Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan, retained the services of keyboardist/co-writer Colin Towns in the followup act Gillan.

Members: Ian Gillan (vocals), Ray Fenwick (guitar), John Gustafson (bass), Mark Nauseef (drums), Mike Moran (keyboards, 1975-76), Colin Towns (keyboards, 1976-78)

Background

Ian Gillan (b. Aug. 19, 1945) shot to fame as the frontman of Deep Purple, where he replaced original vocalist Rod Evans (later of Captain Beyond) in 1969. Between 1970 and 1973, he released four studio albums and a live double with Purple. His masculine tone and resonance on numbers like “Child In Time,” “Highway Star,” “Smoke On the Water,” and “Space Truckin'” helped raise the bar for a new generation of male rock vocalists.

After his June 1973 exit from Purple, Gillan delved into non-music business ventures, including his purchase of Kingsway Recorders in London. He took a second shot at music after his well-received performance at the Royal Albert Hall in October 1975 as part of Roger Glover‘s Butterfly Ball. Gillan deputized the studio role of Ronnie James Dio, whose membership in Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow forbade him from the live event.

For his new band, Gillan recruited guitarist Ray Fenwick, bassist John Gustafson, and keyboardist Mike Moran, all participants in the Butterfly Ball, plus drummer Mark Nauseef (b. 1953), Dio’s ex-bandmate in hard-rockers Elf.

Fenwick (b. 1946) had done stints in The Syndicates (between future Yes guitarists Steve Howe and Peter Banks), the Spencer Davis Group, and Dutch pop-psychsters After Tea. More recently, he played on albums by Ann Odell (A Little Taste), Jon Lord (Windows), and Fancy.

Gustafson (1942–2014) was one-third of Quatermass, an organ power-trio with journeyman keyboardist Peter Robinson (later Brand X) and drummer Mick Underwood, Gillan’s one-time bandmate in the pre-Purple harmony-pop outfit Episode Six. After the 1970 release Quatermass, Gustafson joined Hard Stuff and played on albums by Shawn Phillips, Lynsey De Paul, and Swedish jazz-rockers Ablution. Between 1973 and 1975, he served the longest tenure of any bassist in Roxy Music, playing on their albums Stranded, Country Life, and Siren.

Moran (b. 1948) was a veteran sessionist with credits on albums by Accolade, John Kongos, Guy Skornik, Dana Gillespie, Rick Springfield, and the pre-Strange Days combo Travis.

Child in Time

The Ian Gillan Band released their debut album, Child in Time, in July 1976 on Polydor and Oyster.

The album marked Ian Gillan’s return to recording after a three-year absence following his departure from Deep Purple. The music blends polished hard rock, rhythm and blues, and early jazz-fusion elements, signaling Gillan’s move away from his former band’s heavy sound toward a more fluid, rhythmic style.

Gillan fronted a seasoned lineup of players: guitarist Ray Fenwick, bassist John Gustafson, keyboardist Mike Moran (Fender Rhodes, Hohner Clavinet, Hammond organ, ARP 2600, piano, ARP String Ensemble), and drummer–percussionist Mark Nauseef (marimba, tubular bells, steel drums, congas, temple blocks, roto toms). Producer Roger Glover—Gillan’s former Deep Purple bandmate—added ARP synthesizer, kalimba, and backing vocals.

Gillan wrote most of the material in collaboration with his band. Ex-Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover co-wrote two tracks (“My Baby Loves Me,” “Down the Road”). The album also includes a reinterpreted version of the Deep Purple classic “Child in Time” (by Ritchie Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Jon Lord, Ian Paice).

Side one moves through compact funk-rock and soul-inflected numbers. “Lay Me Down” opens with a brisk, guitar-driven attack underpinned by organ surges reminiscent of Jon Lord. “You Make Me Feel So Good” departs sharply from Gillan’s past with an overtly soulful rhythm and layered female-style chorus. “Shame” introduces syncopated R&B phrasing over clipped guitar chords, while “My Baby Loves Me” and “Down the Road” steer into blues and gospel territory—the latter a slow ballad with reflective, unadorned lyrics about impermanence and acceptance.

The second side offers two extended works. The new take on “Child in Time” transforms the original’s proto-metal drama into a slow, atmospheric piece with layered keyboards and percussive color. The eleven-minute closer, “Let It Slide,” stretches across dynamic, improvisatory sections driven by Moran’s Rhodes and Fenwick’s fluid slide guitar, building gradually through rhythmic shifts and tonal layering.

A1. “Lay Me Down” (2:55)
A2. “You Make Me Feel So Good” (3:41) — Gillan, Mike Moran, Dave Wintour, Bernie Holland, Andy Steele
A3. “Shame” (2:47)
A4. “My Baby Loves Me” (3:35)
A5. “Down the Road” (3:27)

B1. “Child in Time” (7:23) — reinterpreted from the 1970 Deep Purple in Rock version, slowed and expanded with jazz-rock textures and ARP synthesizer shading
B2. “Let It Slide” (11:41)

Sessions occurred at Musicland Studios, Munich, between December 1975 and January 1976, with Roger Glover producing and mixing completed at Mountain Studio, Montreux, in February 1976.

Polydor promoted Child in Time with “You Make Me Feel So Good” (b/w “Lay Me Down”) in Europe, followed by “Down the Road” in the US and Japan.

The album’s reinterpretation of “Child in Time” demonstrated Gillan’s willingness to revisit his past material through a new stylistic lens, bridging hard rock intensity with a more exploratory, jazz-inflected sensibility that foreshadowed the direction of his next release, Clear Air Turbulence.

Clear Air Turbulence

The Ian Gillan Band released their second album, Clear Air Turbulence, on April 4, 1977, on Island.

The album continues Ian Gillan’s exploration of jazz-rock and fusion elements begun on Child in Time, marking a further departure from his Deep Purple sound toward a more intricate, rhythmic, and harmonically layered direction. The music integrates horns, complex time signatures, and extended instrumental passages across six lengthy compositions.

Gillan fronted guitarist Ray Fenwick, bassist John Gustafson, keyboardist–flutist Colin Towns, and drummer–percussionist Mark Nauseef. The band augmented their sound with trumpeters John Huckridge and Derek Healey, trombonist Malcolm Griffiths, tenor saxophonist Phil Kersie, and baritone saxophonist Martin Firth.

Gillan wrote most of the material with Towns, Fenwick, Gustafson, and Nauseef. The arrangements emphasize interplay between Towns’ electric piano, synthesizers, and flute with Fenwick’s fluid guitar phrasing and Nauseef’s polyrhythmic percussion.

The opening title track develops through shifting rhythmic sections with brass punctuations and layered keyboard textures that evolve into an extended jam. “Five Moons” contrasts with an understated, dreamlike tempo centered on Towns’ flute and Gustafson’s modulated bass. “Money Lender” fuses funk and hard rock with horn stabs and biting lyrical imagery. On side two, “Over the Hill” employs tempo changes and vocal callouts reminiscent of Gillan’s early-’70s intensity. “Goodhand Liza” adds syncopated percussion and Latin rhythmic turns, while “Angel Manchenio” closes the album with alternating quiet and expansive passages framed by fluid electric piano motifs.

A1. “Clear Air Turbulence” (7:35)
A2. “Five Moons” (7:30)
A3. “Money Lender” (5:38)

B1. “Over the Hill” (7:14)
B2. “Goodhand Liza” (5:24)
B3. “Angel Manchenio” (7:17)

Sessions occurred at Kingsway Recorders, London, with Ian Gillan producing and Brad Davis engineering. Louis Austin handled remix engineering with assistant engineers Paul Watkins and Bob Broglia. Cy Payne arranged brass parts on “Clear Air Turbulence,” “Money Lender,” and “Goodhand Liza.” An earlier mix, completed at Rockfield Studios in Wales, surfaced in 1997 on The Rockfield Mixes with an extra track, “This Is the Way.”

Island promoted Clear Air Turbulence in select markets, but the album’s experimental direction limited its reach beyond Japan, where the Ian Gillan Band subsequently recorded Live at the Budokan later that year.

Scarabus

The Ian Gillan Band released their third album, Scarabus, on October 7, 1977, on Island.

The album found Ian Gillan steering his group away from the extended jazz-rock of Clear Air Turbulence toward a tighter, riff-oriented hard rock style with residual funk and fusion undertones. The songs are shorter, more direct, and framed around ensemble precision rather than instrumental sprawl.

Gillan fronted guitarist Ray Fenwick, bassist John Gustafson, keyboardist–flutist Colin Towns, and drummer–percussionist Mark Nauseef.

Gillan co-wrote all ten songs with his bandmates. Fenwick reintroduced a riff from his 1971 solo track “Back USA” on “Mercury High,” while Gillan later reworked the vocal melody of “Scarabus” for “Disturbing the Priest” on Black Sabbath’s Born Again.

The album balances propulsive hard rock numbers with more rhythmic and hybridized pieces. The opening title track features syncopated guitar interplay and surreal imagery uncommon in Gillan’s writing. “Twin Exhausted” maintains a brisk pace with compact structure, while “Poor Boy Hero” fuses clipped rhythm guitar with funk inflection. “Pre-Release” and “Fool’s Mate” close each side with faster tempos and sharp instrumental trade-offs, the latter combining heavy rhythmic attack with Towns’ jazz-toned keys. Elsewhere, “Slags to Bitches” and “Apathy” inject humor and R&B phrasing into the sequence, while “Mad Elaine” and “Country Lights” explore more lyrical terrain with layered keyboards and falsetto backing vocals.

A1. “Scarabus” (4:53) — Gillan later reused the vocal melody for “Disturbing the Priest” on the 1983 Black Sabbath album Born Again
A2. “Twin Exhausted” (4:08)
A3. “Poor Boy Hero” (3:08)
A4. “Mercury High” (3:31) — features a guitar riff first heard on Ray Fenwick’s 1971 solo track “Back USA” from Keep America Beautiful, Get a Haircut
A5. “Pre-Release” (4:22)

B1. “Slags to Bitches” (5:09)
B2. “Apathy” (4:19)
B3. “Mad Elaine” (4:15)
B4. “Country Lights” (3:16)
B5. “Fool’s Mate” (4:19)

Sessions occurred at Kingsway Recorders in London between July and August 1977 with Ian Gillan producing and Paul Watkins engineering, assisted by Bob Broglia and Mark Perry.

The US edition featured alternative artwork adapted from the 1976 horror film The Witch Who Came from the Sea, based on a Frank Frazetta painting.

Island issued Scarabus without a single, and though it marked the final studio effort by the Ian Gillan Band, the lineup’s fusion of rock energy and technical interplay bridged Gillan’s transition toward the heavier direction he pursued on Gillan the following year.