Zzebra -

Zzebra was an English ethno jazz-funk band that released the 1974–75 Polydor albums Zzebra and Panic. Material for a third album, recorded in 1975, appeared in 1999 (with the same cover as the US Panic). They featured guitarist Terry Smith (If), percussionist–saxophonist Loughty Amao (Osibisa), and keyboardist Tommy Eyre (Riff Raff).

Members: Loughty Amao (vocals, percussion, saxophone, flute), Liam Genockey (vocals, drums), Dave Quincy (saxophone), Terry Smith (guitar), Gus Yeadon (vocals, piano, guitar), Tommy Eyre (vocals, keyboards, flute), John McCoy (bass)

Background

Zzebra formed after the breakup of the original If, a brass-rock band co-founded in 1969 by Terry Smith and saxophonist Dave Quincy. In 1974, the pair met Osibisa co-founder Loughty Amao, a Nigerian migrant who played with Steve Winwood on the 1973 Island Records release Aiye-Keta, credited to Third World (no connection to the later Jamaican reggae act, also on Island).

Smith, Quincy, and Amao formed Zzebra with bassist John McCoy and Irish drummer Liam Genockey, both from Purple Records signees Maldoon. Through an ad in Melody Maker, Zzebra found Welsh singer Gus Yeadon, once of Decca psych-rockers The Elastic Band.

“Zardoz” / “Amusofi”

Zzebra made their vinyl debut with “Zardoz,” the theme to the 1974 post-apocalyptic sci-fi film by Deliverance director John Boorman, starring Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling.

Dave Quincy appropriated the theme from Symphony 7, Op. 92 by Beethoven. Family singer Roger Chapman produced the b-side, “Amusofe,” which Quincy co-wrote with Gus Eadon and Loughty Amao.

A. “Zardoz (Beethoven Opus 92)” (2:44)
B. “Amusofe” (4:29)

Zardoz hit theaters in February 1974 with a music score by David Munrow.

Zzebra

Zzebra released their self-titled debut album in October 1974 on Polydor. Dave Quincy co-composed six of the album’s eight songs in partnership with Loughty Amao (“Ifé”) and Terry Smith (“Spanish Fly”).

Gus Yeadon submitted the album opener “Cobra Woman.” John McCoy joint-wrote “Mah Jong” with Smith and Quincy, who co-wrote the bulk of Side B with Gus Yeadon and Amao.

Quincy plays piano, clavinet, and multi-saxophone (alto, tenor, soprano) alongside Amao (tenor, baritone), who also plays flute and congas.

Zzebra presents a six-piece lineup — Quincy, Amao, Smith, McCoy, Yeadon, Liam Genockey — with Tommy Eyre as a guest.

A1. “Cobra Woman” (6:14)
A2. “Mr J.” (4:17)
A3. “Mah Jong” (5:10)
A4. “Ifé” (6:20)

B1. “Spanish Fly” (4:16)
B2. “Amuso Fi” (5:16)
B3. “Rainbow Train” (5:05)
B4. “Hungry Horse” (6:45)

Sessions occurred in October 1974 at Escape Studios, an Egerton, Kent, facility used for 1973/74 albums by String Driven Thing and the Irish bands Fruupp, Horslips, and Planxty. Zzebra recorded the album with producer Ken Burgess, a prior songwriting partner of Tomorrow‘s Keith West. They mixed the album at Advision Studios with Paul Hardiman, a soundman on Brian Eno‘s recent solo debut, Here Come the Warm Jets.

Picturepoint’s Keith Silva provided the Zzebra cover photography, which shows field zebras through the window of a room with blue/black zebra wallpaper and sofa covers. The backside removes the zebra imagery and shows the same wall, now brown with matching covers and a window view to the city night.

By 1975, Yeadon cleared for singer Alan Marshall, a onetime member of Sixties beatsters The Happy Magazine (with Yes drummer Alan White) and the frontman of One, a 1969 Fontana jazz-rock sextet. Meanwhile, Terry Smith pursued session work with Maggie Bell, The Meters, and ex-Herd singer Andy Bown. Zzebra hired teenage guitarist Steve Byrd and continued as a septet with Eyre as a full member.

Panic

Zzebra released their second album, Panic, in May 1975 on Polydor.

Dave Quincy composed “Karrola” and co-wrote “Liamo” and “La Si Si-La So So” with Loughty Amao. On “Tree,” Quincy collaborated with outsider Trevor Preston, an occasional If songwriter (“Forgotten Roads,” “Tarmac T. Pirate”).

John McCoy wrote the title track while Tommy Eyre contributed the Side B opener, “Death By Drowning.” Liam Genockey collaborated with outsider Kim Moore on “Put a Light on Me,” which features guest guitarist Jeff Beck. Side A includes Zzebra’s arrangement of the Righteous Brothers classic “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.”

Dave Quincy plays alto and soprano saxophone and juggles tenor with Amao, who plays baritone, percussion, and shares flute tracks with Eyre. Moore singes backing vocals alongside Lesley Duncan.

A1. “Panic” (4:38)
A2. “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” (6:21)
A3. “Karrola” (4:05)
A4. “Liamo” (6:16)

B1. “Death By Drowning” (3:00)
B2. “Tree” (6:08)
B3. “Put a Light on Me” (5:06)
B4. “La Si Si-La So So” (5:20)

Ken Burgess produced Panic at Escape Studios with engineer Tony Tavemer, a Jonesy soundman credited on the 1975 Nazareth release Hair of the Dog. Zzebra finished the album at Advision with Hardiman and Martin Rushent, a rising engineer who worked concurrently on Second Chapter, the solo debut of ex-Fleetwood Mac guitarist Danny Kirwan.

Panic appeared in the UK, Germany, Italy, and Brazil in a matte black cover with a silver-metallic impression of the Zzebra logo. The backside features pencil-retouched photographs of each member. In the US and Spain, Panic appeared with an alternate illustration of three zebras head-to-head.

Take It or Leave It

In late 1975, Zzebra recorded a third album that later appeared as Take It or Leave It, a 2009 archival CD on Disconforme SL.

The disc contains eight songs performed by the Panic lineup. Each track is group-credited to singer Alan Marshall, guitarist Steve Byrd, bassist John McCoy, drummer Liam Genockey, keyboardist/flutist Tommy Eyre, saxophonist Dave Quincy, and reedist/percussionist Loughty Amao.

Take It or Leave It was pressed under license by Erye, who described Zzebra’s music as a “combination o jazz, serious heavy rock and Nigerian folk music.” The CD reused the cover art from US/Spanish copies of Panic.

1. “No Point” (5:28)
2. “Living” (5:08)
3. “Poverty Song” (3:48)
4. “Bai La Jo” (7:00)
5. “Word Trips” (5:39)
6. “Take It or Leave It” (3:47)
7. “Evacuate My Sack” (5:30)
8. “Society” (6:07)

Zzebra recorded the tracks at Escape Studios and mixed them at Advision. The disc lists no producer or recording engineer.

Zzebra performed “No Point,” “Poverty Song,” and “Society” along with three Panic tracks (“Liamo,” “Panic,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling”) and two first-album numbers: “Mr J.” and an extended “Hungry Horse” (16:59) for an October 20, 1975, Radio Bremen broadcast. In 2023, German archivists MIG-Music issued the set on CD as Hungry Horse (Live In Germany 1975).

Discography: