The Ghost

The Ghost was an English folk-psych band from Birmingham that released the album When You’re Dead – One Second on Gemini in 1970. The prior year, guitarist–singer Paul Eastment recorded one album with psych-rockers Velvett Fogg.

Members: Paul Eastment (vocals, guitar), Terry Guy (keyboards, vocals), Charlie Grima (drums), Daniel MacGuire (bass, vocals), Shirley Kent (vocals, guitar, 1969-70)

Formation

The Ghost formed in 1969 when guitarist–singer Paul Eastment teamed with bassist–singer Daniel MacGuire. Eastment, the cousin of Black Sabbath guitarist Toni Iommi, had recently cut a psych-rock album with Velvett Fogg. MacGuire hailed from Brummie beatsters The U.K. Bonds, which issued two 1966 singles on Polydor. They jammed for several months in a blues-rock mold with keyboardist Terry Guy and drummer Charlie Grima.

Months later, they met singer Shirley Kent, whose background included two songs on a 1966 split-EP with the Master Singers. Her arrival added a folk side to The Ghost, which wrote and rehearsed material in Eastment’s living room.

In late 1969, The Ghost made their vinyl debut with “When You’re Dead,” co-written by Eastment and one Paul William Keatley. The single first appeared on President Records (Germany), then Gemini (UK), and Tecla (Portugal), backed with Guy’s “Indian Maid.”

When You’re Dead – One Second

The Ghost released their singular album, When You’re Dead – One Second, in January 1970 on Gemini. It features both sides of the single plus nine other originals, including three by Guy (“In Heaven,” “For One Second,” “Me and My Loved Ones”) and two by Kent (“Hearts and Flowers,” “Time Is My Enemy”). Eastment wrote “My Castle Has Fallen” and three additional numbers in partnership with Keatley (“Too Late to Cry,” “The Storm”) and Guy (“Night of the Warlock”).

The original UK release of When You’re Dead appeared as GME 1004 on Gemini, a short-lived CBS spinoff that mostly released pop singles and easy listening albums with risque covers. It was produced by Gordon Henderson, writer of the 1970 Gemini single “I Try to Make You Good” (b/w “Man In a Suitcase”) by Alexander Stone. The engineer, John Taylor, also worked on the 1971 Dandelion Records release Creation by singer/songwriter Beau (aka John Trevor Midgley).

When You’re Dead appeared in a flipback cover with a picture of a tombstone overlaid with a transparent photo of the band (ghosts). The back features liner notes by Carl Denker, who also worked that year with a band called The Iron Maiden (not to be confused with Iron Maiden), who released one 1970 single on Gemini but were otherwise vaulted until the 1998 Audio Archives release Maiden Voyage.

In other territories, When You’re Dead was released on Stateside (France), Columbia (Italy), Odeon (Venezuela), Ekipo (Spain), and Vida (Mexico).

Later Activity

Soon after the album’s release, The Ghost recorded one further song, Kent’s “I’ve Got to Get to Know You,” issued as a single on Gemini in the spring of 1970 (b/w “For One Second”).

After the departure of Kent over personal conflicts (see comments section↓), The Ghost continued briefly as Resurrection but made no further recordings.

Grima surfaced in Mongrel with ex-Move bassist Rick Price. Their album, Get Your Teeth Into This, appeared on Polydor in 1973. They joined Roy Wood‘s Wizzard for a string of 1973–76 albums, including the long-vaulted Main Street.

Kent adopted the name Virginia Tree for the 1975 solo folk album Fresh Out. Her next album, Forever a Willow, appeared on self-press Magic Spell Records in 1987. She later released a cassette album titled Demoesque – Studio Demo Recordings 1969, featuring demos pre-dating her time in The Ghost.

Reissues

When You’re Dead – One Second was first reissued on LP in 1987 as For One Second on Bam-Caruso. This release has a different cover and track order to the 1970 album.

In 1991, the album was reissued on CD with its original title and cover on UFO Records as part of the label’s Blast from the Past series, which also included reissues of Kaleidoscope and Second Hand. This version of When You’re Dead adds “I’ve Got to Get to Know You” as a bonus track, as do subsequent reissues on Mellotron Records and Walhalla Records.

Discography:

• When You’re Dead – One Second (1970)

Sources:

• Discogs: The Ghost