McDonald and Giles were an English symphonic-rock duo that released a self-titled album on Island in January 1971. The duo consisted of multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald and drummer–percussionist Michael Giles, who commenced the project fresh off their one-album stint in King Crimson. Michael cut an earlier album in Giles Giles and Fripp, a pop-psych trio with […]
Giles Giles and Fripp were the English pop-psych trio behind the 1968 Deram album The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp. They consisted of guitarist Robert Fripp and brothers Michael and Peter Giles. After the album, they demoed songs with singer Judy Dyble (Fairport Convention, Trader Horne) and keyboardist Ian McDonald. They morphed into […]
Nirvana was an English orchestral-pop duo comprised of Patrick Campbell-Lyons and Alex Spyropoulos. They debuted with the 1967 rock opera, The Story of Simon Simopath, recorded with the four-piece Nirvana Ensemble. After their 1968 psych hit “Rainbow Chaser,” they released All of Us and the string-laden opus Dedicated to Markos III. Campbell-Lyons continued the name […]
Hatfield and the North were an English jazz-rock band that released the 1974/75 Virgin albums Hatfield and the North and The Rotter’s Club. They were formed by ex-members of Caravan, Delivery, and Matching Mole. Keyboardist Dave Stewart (Arzachel, Egg, Khan) completed the band. Their backing vocalists, The Northettes, included singer Barbara Gaskin (Spirogyra). Three-fourths of Hatfield […]
Colosseum was an English brass-rock band that released the 1969 albums Those Who Are About to Die Salute You (Fontana) and Valentyne Suite (Vertigo). They were led by drummer Jon Hiseman and reedist Dick Heckstall-Smith, fellow travelers in the Graham Bond Organization and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. As an instigator of pop’s shift into maximalism, they […]
Byzantium was an English rustic-rock band that released the 1972/73 albums Byzantium and Seasons Changing on A&M, followed by a self-issued demos album. They were formed and managed by ex-Ora songwriter and frontman Jamie Rubinstein. Guitarist/singer Chas Jankel later served as the keyboardist and musical director of Ian Dury and the Blockheads and issued a […]
Jodo was an English hard-rock/blues band that released the album Guts on Decca in 1970. That same year, two members appeared on the MCA release Green Bullfrog, an impromptu jam session with members of Deep Purple. Members: Rod Alexander (lead guitar, vocals), Brian “Chico” Greenwood (drums), Earl Jordan (vocals), Bill Kimber [William E. Kimber] (vocals), […]
Jasper was an English blues-psych band that released the album Liberation on Spark Records in 1969. Half its members drifted soon afterward into Jodo and Trifle. Members: Nick Payn [aka Nick Payne] (vocals, harmonica, flute), Steve Radford (guitar), Jon Taylor (bass), Brian “Chico” Greenwood (drums), Alan Fealdman (keyboards) Formation Jasper formed in 1967 as Union […]
Please was an English pop-psych band that recorded two albums worth of material during 1968 and 1969. They emerged from Neon Pearl and underwent three iterations over a two-year period. Their constant was drummer Pete Dunton, who moonlighted in The Flies and Gun. Bassist Bernard Jinks formed Bulldog Breed, which cut the 1969 Deram album […]
Westwind was an English folk trio that released the album Love Is… on the Penny Farthing label in 1970. Members: Chris Stowell, Nick Storey, Sarah Dyson The Band Westwind consisted of singer-songwriters Chris Stowell, Nick Storey, and Sarah Dyson. Their light harmonies and arrangements drew from soft ’60s folk-pop à la Gale Garnett, The Seekers, […]
Wild Turkey was an English progressive hard-rock band that released the album Battle Hymn on Chrysalis in 1971, followed by Turkey in 1972. The band was formed by Jethro Tull‘s original bassist Glenn Cornick, who subsequently joined German rockers Karthago and later played in the stateside trio Paris. Members: Glenn Cornick (bass, 1971-74, 1995-97, 2006-14), […]
Agincourt was the first group project of English musicians Peter Howell and John Ferdinando, who started with a pair of home-recorded soundtracks for the local production Alice Through the Looking Glass and the amateur film Tomorrow Come Someday (both 1969). In 1970, they teamed with singer Lee Menelaus in the folk-psych trio Agincourt and recorded […]
Pete Brown & Piblokto! were an English post-psych band that released two albums on Harvest in 1970: Things May Come and Things May Go, but the Art School Dance Goes on Forever and Thousands on a Raft. Brown fronted the Battered Ornaments on their first of two 1969 albums and served as lyricist for Jack […]
Steamhammer was an English blues-rock band that released the 1969/70 albums Steamhammer (aka Reflection), MK II, and Mountains. Guitarist Martin Pugh assembled a new lineup for the 1972 release Speech on the German Brain label, featuring original Renaissance members Keith Relf and Louis Cennamo, who regrouped with Pugh in the 1975 A&M one-off Armageddon. Members: […]
Quiet Sun was an English jazz-rock band from London, initially active circa 1970/71 and briefly reactivated in 1975 by guitarist Phil Manzanera during a break from his main act, Roxy Music. Their singular album, Mainstream, appeared that year on Island/Antilles. Drummer/vocalist Charles Hayward subsequently formed the experimental trio This Heat and later headed Camberwell Now. […]
Third World War was an English rock band that released two albums between 1971 and 1973 on Fly and Track. Along with the Groundhogs, Pink Fairies, and the Edgar Broughton Band, they gave blues rock a fractious twist that presaged punk. Members: Terry Stamp (guitar, vocals), Jim Avery (bass), Paul Olsen (drums, 1971-73), Mick Liber […]
Gracious was an English symphonic/art-rock band that released a self-titled album on Vertigo in 1970, followed by This is…Gracious!! on Phillips in 1971. Each album contained one multi-movement sidelong suite and four short-to-medium-length songs and instrumentals. The band had already split by the time their second album hit the shelves. Drummer Tim Wheatley later surfaced […]
Fusion Orchestra was an English symphonic/art-rock-soul band that released the album Skeleton in Armour in 1973 on EMI. Members: Dave Bell (drums), Mick Sluman (bass, 1969-71), Dave Cowell (bass, harmonica, 1971-73), Paul Jennings (bass, 1973-75), Colin Dawson (guitar), Stan Land (guitar, synthesizer, percussion, horns), Jill Saward (guitar, synthesizer, flute, vocals) Background They sprung from a […]
Manfred Mann Chapter Three was an English jazz-rock/psych band that released two albums on Vertigo: Manfred Mann Chapter Three (1969) and Volume Two (1970). They were a followup to keyboardist Manfred Mann’s namesake R&B/beat combo of the 1960s. He followed this project with the Earth Band for a 13-album run between 1972 and 1987. Members: […]
The Greatest Show on Earth was an English brass-rock band that released the albums Horizons and The Going’s Easy on Harvest in 1970. All eight members initially grouped in the Ossie Laine Show, an R&B covers band that cut an album for the Spanish market. Bassist Norman Watt-Roy later surfaced in Ian Dury’s Blockheads. Members: […]
