Keef Hartley Band -

The Keef Hartley Band was an English brass-rock ensemble that released five albums and a live disc on Deram between 1969 and 1972. Drummer–bandleader Keef Hartley and frontman–songwriter Miller Anderson later collaborated in Broken Glass and Dog Soldier, releasing one album with each band in 1975.

Members: Keef Hartley (drums), Miller Anderson (guitar, vocals), Gary Thain (bass), Peter Dines [aka Dino Dines] (organ), Spit James [aka Ian Cruickshank] (guitar), Wynder K. Frog (organ), Henry Lowther (trumpet, violin), Jimmy Jewell (saxophone), Johnny Almond (flute), Jon Hiseman (drums), Harry Beckett (trumpet)

Background

Keith “Keef” Hartley (1944–2011), a native of Preston, Lancashire, studied drumming under big-band drummer and educator Lloyd Ryan, who also taught Phil Collins, John Coghlan (Status Quo), and sessionist Graham Broad (Procol Harum, Jeff Beck, Van Morrison, Tina Turner, Tony Banks, ABC, Wham!).

Hartley got his first gig in 1962 with Rory Storm & the Hurricanes, a Merseyside act whose prior drummer, Ringo Starr, recently joined another up-and-coming band, The Beatles.

During the mid-1960s, he cut multiple singles and the album Art Gallery with Decca R&B–beatsters The Artwoods, which also featured organist Jon Lord (later Deep Purple) and singer Art Wood, the older brother of future Faces–Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood.

In 1967, Hartley began a brief stint in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, serving as their third drummer. He replaced Aynsley Dunbar (later Journey, Jefferson Starship), who in turn replaced Hughie Flint (McGuinnes Flint). Hartley played on two Bluesbreakers albums, Crusade and The Blues Alone (both 1967), then cleared way for ex-GBO drummer Jon Hiseman, who would soon form Colosseum with Dick-Heckstall Smith.

For his own band, Hartley recruited organist Peter Dines, guitarist Ian Cruickshank, Kiwi bassist Gary Thain, and Scottish singer, guitarist, and songwriter Miller Anderson.

Thain hailed from a sequence of NZ beat groups (The Strangers, The Secrets, The New Nadir, Me and the Others). Miller cut a single apiece with a string of beat and psych bands: Karl Stuart and the Profiles (1965), The Voice (1966), Paper Blitz Tissue (1967), and At Last the 1958 Rock & Roll Show (1968).

Halfbreed

The Keef Hartley Band released their debut album, Halfbreed, in March 1969 on Deram.

Side A contains two preludes to the title song, co-written by Hartley, Peter Dines, and Ian Cruickshank, identified here as ‘Split James.’ Hartley and Dines collaborated with Gary Thain on “Too Much Thinking” and “Born to Die,” the latter fourth-credited to Fiona Hewitson (aka Miller Anderson, who used his wife’s name for contractual reasons).

Veteran jazz trumpeter/violinist Henry Lowther arranged the album’s four-piece horn section, rounded by Barbadian trumpeter Harry Beckett and English tenor saxophonists Lyn Dobson and Juicy Lucy‘s Chris Mercer. Lowther contributed “Just to Cry,” a co-write with Savoy Brown percussionist Owen Finnegan, who also co-wrote numbers by Dines/Thain (“Too Much Thinking”) and the Hartley/Dines/Miller track “Sinnin’ for You.”

Side B includes covers of American bluesmen Sleepy John Estes (“Leavin’ Trunk”) and BB King (“Think It Over”).

A1. “Sacked (Including Hearts and Flowers)” (0:40)
A2. “Confusion Theme” (1:05)
A3. “The Halfbreed” (6:07)
A4. “Born to Die” (9:58)
A5. “Sinnin’ for You” (5:51)

B1. “Leavin’ Trunk” (5:55)
B2. “Just to Cry” (6:20)
B3. “Too Much Thinking” (5:30)
B4. “Think It Over” (4:59)
B5. “Too Much to Take” (0:32)

Sessions occurred in October and December 1968 at Decca Studios with Neil Slaven, a rookie producer fresh off his first credit with Quartet, an Australian supergroup Twilights guitarist Terry Britten and three-fourths of the James Taylor Move: Alan Tarney, Trevor Spencer, and future Sky guitarist Kevin Peek. Studio staffer Derek Varnals engineered Halfbreed amid Decca/Deram titles by Dana Gillespie, John Mayall, Kathe Green, Martha Velez, and the 1969 Moody Blues albums On the Threshold of a Dream and To Our Children’s Children’s Children.

Halfbreed appeared in a vertical gatefold credited to the Decca Publicity Art Dept. It shows Harley in Apache Indian garb with a musket rifle in hand. The inner-gates show monochrome studio pics of each member and the sound team by Richard Sacks, their ongoing photographer.

Lowther joined the Keef Hartley Band while Dines stepped down for the next two albums. The reconfigured sextet included tenor saxist Jim Jewell, a recent sideman for early UK rock wildman Screaming Lord Sutch.

On August 12, 1969, the Keef Hartley Band played the 4:45–5:30 pm slot party Woodstock in upstate New York, where they performed between sets by Lovin’ Spoonful frontman John Sebastian and Scottish folksters the Incredible String Band.

The Battle of North West Six

The Keef Hartley Band released their second album, The Battle of North West Six, in November 1969 on Deram.

Miller Anderson emerged as chief songwriter under the ‘Fiona Hewitson’ pseudonym. He co-wrote “Waiting Around,” “Tadpole,” and “Believe in You” with Hartley and bassist Gary Thain, joined by guitarist Ian Cruickshank (under the ‘Split James’ moniker) for the other six originals. Despite his co-writing input, Skip only played on “Don’t Be Afraid” and “The Dansette Kid Hartley Jam for Bread.”

Trumpeter Henry Lowther tripled on flugelhorn, violin, and arranged the album’s brass, played by Jimmy Jewell and returning guests Harry Beckett, Lyn Dobson, and Chris Mercer. Addition guests include trumpeter Mike Davis, baritone saxist Barbara Thompson, flutist Ray Warleigh, and Wynder K. Frog organist Mick Weaver. Recent Rolling Stones recruit Mick Taylor (Hartley’s former Bluesbreakers bandmate) played guitar on “Believe in You.”

Side A contains “Me and My Woman,” a Little Joe Blue cover.

A1. “The Dansette Kid Hartley Jam for Bread” (3:59)
A2. “Don’t Give Up” (4:07)
A3. “Me and My Woman” (4:24)
A4. “Hickory” (2:45)
A5. “Don’t Be Afraid” (4:25)

B1. “Not Foolish, Not Wise” (3:56)
B2. “Waiting Around” (2:29)
B3. “Tadpole” (7:00)
B4. “Poor Mabel” (3:08)
B5. “Believe in You” (5:23)

Sessions occurred between April and July 1969 at Decca Studios with Neil Slaven and Derek Varnals, who engineered The Battle of North West Six ahead of albums by Bread Love and Dreams, Granny’s Intentions, Harvey Andrews, and Honeybus.

The Battle of North West Six appeared in gatefold with the band positioned as Wild West outlaws (instruments held like rifles) over a map of Northwest London. The title alludes to a battle of six NW hooligans (the current band plus Skip).

Deram lifted “Waiting Around” as a UK/European single (b/w “Not Foolish, Not Wise”). “Don’t Be Afraid” became their second German release and inaugural US/NZ single (b/w “Don’t Give Up”).

The Time Is Near

The Keef Hartley Band released their third album, The Time Is Near, in September 1970 on Deram. It features six Miller Anderson originals credited (for the first time) under his real name.

“Morning Rain” and “Change” feature the Battle of North quintet: Hartley, Anderson, Gary Thain, Henry Lowther, and Jim Jewell. The latter two cleared for Galliard hornists Dave Caswell (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Lyle Jenkins (saxophone), who both play on the remaining tracks apart from “Another Time Another Place,” a duet between Miller and Caswell, who wrote “Premonition.”

Organist Stuart Wicks plays on “From the Window” and the title track. “Change” features added percussion by ex-Riot Squad drummer Del Roll.

A1. “Morning Rain” (3:00)
A2. “From the Window” (3:28)
A3. “The Time Is Near” (10:09)

B1. “You Can’t Take It With You” (7:19)
B2. “Premonition” (4:24)
B3. “Another Time Another Place” (2:35)
B4. “Change” (4:00)

The Keef Hartley Band recorded “Morning Rain” and “Change” in December 1969 at Trident Studios with Lowther and Jewell, who both left and made Child Song, the 1970 Deram release by the Henry Lowther Band. Groundhogs soundman Colin Caldwell engineered the Trident sessions ahead of the debut albums by Alice, C.O.B., and Curved Air (Air Conditioning).

Subsequent sessions with Caswell and Jenkins spanned April/May 1970 at Morgan Studios, where Hartley co-produced the album with Neil Slaven, who oversaw The Time Is Near with engineer Robin Black, a concurrent soundman for Egg (The Polite Force), Jethro Tull (Benefit), Red Dirt, Stone the Crows, Supertramp (debut), and T2 (It’ll All Work Out In Boomland).

The Time Is Near appeared in a single sleeve with the appropriated image of Appeal to the Great Spirit, a 1908 equestrian statue by American sculpture Cyrus Edwin Dallin (1861–1944). Band associate Richard Sacks photographed the field silhouette backside. Original copies included a sixteen-page booklet with studio pics, lyrics, and credits.

Overdog

The Keef Hartley Band released their fourth album, Overdog, on April 8, 1971, on Deram.

Overdog contains six Miller Anderson compositions and one (“Imitations From Home”) by Hartley himself, who co-wrote the “En Route” sequence with bassist Gary Thain. They retain hornists Dave Caswell and Lyle Jenkins and welcome back Battle of North keyboardist Mick Weaver.

The “Theme Song” suite features guest flutist Johnny Almond and Colosseum drummer Jon Hiseman. Original keyboardist Peter Dines returns on “Roundabout,” an advance single.

A1. “You Can Choose” (5:28)
A2. “Plain Talkin'” (3:23)
A3. “Theme Song / En Route / Theme Song Reprise” (8:05)

B1. “Overdog” (4:20)
B2. “Roundabout” (6:06)
B3. “Imitations From Home” (3:34)
B4. “We Are All the Same” (4:41)

The Keef Hartley Band recorded “You Can Choose” and “Roundabout” in October 1970 at Morgan Studios with Robin Black. Deram issued “Roundabout” in late November as an advance single in the UK and France. Meanwhile, the band recorded Hartley’s “Imitations From Home” at AIR Studios in North London with John Punter, who engineered concurrent titles by Caravan, East of Eden, Hunter Muskett, Satisfaction, Trapeze, and Walrus.

They recorded the balance of Overdog in January 1971 at Trident Studios with Roy Thomas Baker, a future heavyweight whose then-list of credits included Chicken Shack, Every Which Way, Free, Freedom, Ten Years After, T. Rex, and the debut album by Gentle Giant.

Overdog appeared in a gatefold designed by Keef Hartley, whose front-cover painting depicts a canine with totem-pole details inside a flaming circle. The inner-gate features a surrealist painting by English postwar artist Peter Dunn, whose work depicts a stormy scene where spirits float from an Indian den to heaven, where a ponyrider hunts bison while volcanic clouds hover over cities surrounded by vast waters.

Little Big Band

In late 1971, the Keef Hartley Band released the live album Little Big Band, a document of their June 13–14 showcase at the Marquee Club.

Side A contains renditions of one Time Is Near piece (“You Can’t Take It With You”) and two Battle of North West Six numbers. Side B consists of the “Leg Overture,” a medley of four Halfbreed songs.

Little Big Band features a five-piece rock band combined with an eleven-piece brass ensemble. Hartley’s band features Miller Anderson, Gary Thain, Gass keyboardist Derek Austin, and percussionist Peter York (ex-Spencer Davis Group).

Henry Lowther arranged the brass ensemble, which includes Mogul Thrash trumpeter Mike Rosen, Chapter Three auxiliary trombonist Derek Wadsworth, Blue Horizon label trumpeter Terry Noonan, and prior Hartley studio guests Barbara Thompson, Chris Mercer, Harry Beckett, Lyn Dobson, and Mike Davis.

A1. “You Can’t Take It With You” (7:15)
A2. “Me and My Woman” (4:56)
A3. “Not Foolish, Not Wise” (5:06)

B. “Leg Overture (Medley)” (23:16)
— a. “Leavin’ Trunk”
— b. “Halfbreed”
— c. “Just to Cry”
— d. “Sinnin’ for You”

Little Big Band was engineered by Trinity soundman Phil Dunne and mixed by Roy Thomas Baker. The album appeared in a gatefold with a monochrome photo of Hartley at his drum kit (back) and a color image of sixteen-piece band (inner-gates). The cover depicts Hartley as a turquoise engraving with an Indian medallion and a stamped white impression of the band in concert.

Miller Anderson left the Keef Hartley Band to make a solo album, the 1971 Deram release Bright City, recorded with Thain, Weaver, Beckett, Dobson, and Peter Dines. He retained Weaver and Dines for the 1973 Deram one-off Hemlock. In 1975, Miller reunited with Hartley in the UA one-off Dog Soldier.

Meanwhile, Hartley reunited with John Mayall on the bluesman’s 1971 double-album Back to the Roots.

Seventy Second Brave

The Keef Hartley Band released their fifth studio album, Seventy Second Brave, in 1972 on Deram.

Hartley leads a seven-piece band with Gary Thain, Mick Weaver, returning saxophonist Chris Mercer, and three new recruits: Jelleybread pianist Pete Wingfield, Satisfaction reedist Nick Newell, and Reebop guitarist Junior Kerr.

Seventy Second Brave contains two songs each by Kerr (“Heartbreakin’ Woman,” “Don’t You Be Too Long”) and Mercer (“Marin County,” “Don’t Sign It”), plus one apiece by Wingfield (“Hard Pill to Swallow”) and Thain (“You Say You’re Together Now”). Side B contains three odd-numbered entries by outsider Curly Crowe.

A1. “Heartbreakin’ Woman” (4:18)
A2. “Marin County” (3:55)
A3. “Hard Pill to Swallow” (5:40)
A4. “Don’t You Be Too Long” (5:16)

B1. “Nicturns” (3:02)
B2. “Don’t Sign It” (4:24)
B3. “Always Thinking of You” (4:37)
B4. “You Say You’re Together Now” (3:42)
B5. “What It Is” (1:19)

Sessions occurred at Island Studios in West London, where John Burn engineered Seventy Second Brave in sequence with Reebop, the Atlantis debut, and Foxtrot, the breakthrough fourth album by Genesis. Additional work took place at Trident with Roy Thomas Baker, who also engineered 1972 albums by Byzantium, Joan Armatrading, and Nazareth.

Seventy Second Brave appeared in a single sleeve with an Apache illustration and a backside monochrome photo collage.

In early 1972, Thain replaced bassist Mark Clarke (ex-Colosseum) in Uriah Heep, a recent KHB tour mate. Thain joined early into the sessions for their 1972 fourth album Demons and Wizards. and played on the subsequent tree: The Magician’s Birthday, Sweet Freedom, and Wonderworld. In December 1975, he died at age 27 from a drug overdose.

Meanwhile, Hartley sat in with Vinegar Joe as a second drummer on their first two albums, Vinegar Joe and Rock ‘n’ Roll Gypsies (both 1972).

Lancashire Hustler

Keef Hartley released his singular solo album, Lancashire Hustler, in 1973 on Deram.

Side A contains three Hartley originals and the John Mayall co-write “Australian Lady.” Side B includes a Sly & The Family Stone cover and two songs by producer/engineer John Burns.

Hartley retained keyboardist Mick Weaver and Seventy Second guitarist Junior Kerr on Lancashire Hustler, which also features Hanson keyboardist Jean Roussel, Butts Band bassist Phil Chen, and backing vocalists Elkie Brooks and “Circles” writer Robert Palmer. The latter pair’s Vinegar Joe bandmate, Pete Gage, did orchestral arrangements on “Shovel a Minor” and “Jennie’s Father,” a song by Ken Cumberbatch of Gage-associated Sixties soulsters Joe E Young & The Toniks. Bronco frontman Jess Roden (Palmer’s predecessor in the Alan Bown Set) serves as lead vocalist.

A1. “Circles” (5:21) is a 1972 Palmer original from the self-titled Vinegar Joe debut.
A2. “You and Me” (3:57)
A3. “Shovel a Minor” (4:22)
A4. “Australian Lady” (4:36)
A5. “Keef’s Mom” (1:01)