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 […]
Racing Cars were a Welsh roots rock band that released three albums on Chrysalis between 1976 and 1978: Downtown Tonight, Weekend Rendezvous, and Bring On the Night. They scored a 1977 UK Top 20 hit with the rustic ballad “They Shoot Horses Don’t They?” The band was led by ex-Ancient Grease frontman Gareth “Morty” Mortimer. […]
America is a rustic folk–pop combo, formed in 1968 in Watford, England, by American musicians Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek, the sons of U.S. Air Force personnel stationed in the UK. They rose to fame in the early 1970s with the transatlantic chart-topper “A Horse with No Name,” followed by a string of […]
Starry Eyed and Laughing were an English rustic-rock band that released the 1974–75 CBS albums Starry Eyed and Laughing and Thought Talk. Earlier recordings later surfaced on the archival discs Forever Young and To Try for the Sun. Their use of Rickenbacker 12-string guitars and West Coast harmonies drew comparisons to The Byrds. Members: Tony […]
The Sutherland Brothers were an English folk-rock duo from London that cut a pair of albums on Island in 1972, after which they merged with rustic-rockers Quiver for a run of five albums during the ensuing half-decade, switching to Columbia for the 1976/77 releases Slipstream and Down to Earth. The merged group initially featured bassist […]
Help Yourself was a rustic English jam band that released the 1971–72 Liberty–UA albums Help Yourself, Strange Affair, and Beware the Shadow, followed by a 1973 split release with the side-project Happy Days. Members: Malcolm Morley (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Dave Charles (drums, percussion, vocals, 1970-73), Richard Treece (bass, guitar, vocals, harmonica, 1970-73), Ken Whaley (bass, […]
The Dog That Bit People was an English four-piece that released a self-titled album on Parlophone in 1971. The band was formed by bassist Mick Hincks and drummer Bob Lamb after the breakup of their prior outfit Locomotive. Members: John Caswell (guitar, vocals), Mick Hincks (bass, vocals), Keith Millar (guitar, keyboards, Mellotron, vocals), Bob Lamb […]
Home was an English rustic art-rock band from London, best remembered for the 1972 epic “Lady of the Birds” and the 1973 concept album The Alchemist. They released three albums on CBS. Members: Mick Stubbs (vocals, guitar, piano), Laurie Wisefield (acoustic guitar, steel guitar, vocals), Cliff Williams (bass, vocals), Mick Cook (drums, percussion), Clive John […]
Heads Hands & Feet were an English rustic-rock band that released three albums between 1971 and 1973. Their first, recorded as a six-piece, appeared as a double-album on Capitol (US) and a single album on Island (UK). They trimmed to five members for the 1972 release Tracks and the following Old Soldiers Never Die, released […]
The Parlour Band was an English rustic art-pop band that released the album Is a Friend? on Deram in 1972. Four-fifths of the band continued as A Band Called O and released four albums (alternately billed as The “O” Band or simply “O”) between 1974 and 1977. Members: Peter Filleul (lead vocals, keyboards, acoustic guitar), […]
Tranquility was an English rustic-rock/folk band assembled by manager-producer Ashley Kozak around singer-songwriter Terry Shaddick. They released the 1972 Epic albums Tranquility and Silver, then reconfigured for the 1974 Island single “Midnight Fortune.” Shaddick later co-wrote the 1981 Olivia Newton-John single “Physical” with Steve Kipner. Bassist Jim Leverton played beforehand with Fat Mattress and Juicy […]
Charlie Dore is an English songwriter and occasional singer who made the 1979 Alan Tarney-produced Island album Where to Now, followed by the 1981 Chrysalis release Listen! She scored a 1980 US country-pop hit with “Pilot of the Airwaves” and wrote “Strut,” a 1984 hit for Sheena Easton. Background Charlie Dore was born in 1956 in […]
Shape of the Rain was an English rustic-rock band that released the 1971 album Riley, Riley, Wood and Waggett on RCA/Neon. Members: Keith Riley (vocals, guitar), Len Riley (bass), Brian Wood (guitar, vocals), Tag Waggett (drums, percussion) Background Singer/guitarist Keith Riley and guitarist/vocalist Brian Wood, cousins from the mining village of Eckington near Chesterfield, England, […]
Snafu was an English rustic funk-rock band behind the 1973–74 WWA albums Snafu and Situation Normal, followed by the 1975 Capitol release All Funked Up. Frontman Bobby Harrison played in the initial Procol Harum lineup that recorded their 1967 hit “A Whiter Shade of Pale.” As Snafu folded, he went solo with Funkist. Other players […]
Moonrider was an English rustic-rock band that released a self-titled album on small-press Anchor Records in 1975. The band featured ex-Tomorrow vocalist Keith West and once-Quiver/future-Attractions bassist Bruce Thomas. Members: Brian “Chico” Greenwood (drums), Bruce Thomas (bass), John Weider (guitar, vocals), Keith West (guitar, vocals) Background The band developed through ties between Keith West and […]
Cochise was an English rustic-rock band that released three albums on United Artists/Liberty between 1970 and 1972. Members: B.J. Cole (steel guitar, cello), Willie Wilson (drums, percussion), Mick Grabham (guitar, piano, keyboards, vocals), Rick Wills (bass, vocals), Stewart A. Brown (guitar, vocals), John Gilbert (vocals), Roy O’Temro (drums) Inception Cochise formed in 1969 when steel […]
Hookfoot was an English rustic/hard-rock band that released four albums between 1971 and 1974 on A&M/DJM. Their vaulted 1969 album appeared four decades later courtesy of AMR Archive. The band featured DJM house musicians who backed Elton John on his early albums for the label. Members: Caleb Quaye (guitar, piano, vocals), Ian Duck (vocals, guitar, […]
Taggett was an English rustic-rock supergroup that made a self-titled album in 1973, re-released in 1975. Members: Peter “Pete” Arnesen (keyboards, vocals), Colin Horton-Jennings (lead vocals), Tony Hicks (guitar), Terry Fogg (drums), Tim Wheatley (bass, vocals) Background Singer Colin Horton-Jennings played flute and acoustic guitar on two albums with The Greatest Show on Earth. Keyboardist […]
Wally was an English symphonic/rustic-rock band from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, that released the 1974–75 Atlantic albums Wally and Valley Gardens. The Old Grey Whistle Test presenter Bob Harris produced both albums, with Rick Wakeman as co-producer on the debut. Members: Roy Webber (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Nick Glennie-Smith (keyboards), Paul Middleton (steel guitar, bass guitar), […]
Unicorn was an English rustic-rock band behind the 1971 album Uphill All the Way on Transatlantic Records, followed in 1974 with Blue Pine Trees, produced for Charisma by David Gilmour, who oversaw their 1976 Harvest release Too Many Crooks. The band evolved from The Late, a pop-psych quartet that cut twenty vaulted songs circa 1967/68, […]
Ace was an English soul-rock band from Sheffield that released three albums on Anchor between 1974 and 1977. Guitarist/vocalist Alan King hailed from ’60s modsters The Action and their psychedelic rebirth Mighty Baby. Keyboardist/vocalist Paul Carrack recorded three 1970–72 albums with brass-rockers Warm Dust and subsequently scored high-profile stints with Squeeze and Mike and the […]
Chilli Willi & The Red Hot Peppers were an English rustic-rock band that released the album Kings of the Robot Rhythm on Revelation Enterprises Ltd. in 1972, followed by Bongos Over Balham on Mooncrest in 1974. Later in the decade, drummer Pete Thomas reemerged in Elvis Costello‘s Attractions while guitarist Phil Lithman released a string […]
McGuinness Flint was an English folk-rock combo, best-known for the 1970–71 UK hits “When I’m Dead and Gone” and “Malt and Barley Blues.” They released the albums McGuinness Flint and Happy Birthday, Ruthy Baby on Capitol Records, followed by the 1973–74 titles Rainbow and C’est la Vie on Bronze. Tom McGuinness (ex-Manfred Mann) and Hughie […]
Glencoe was an English rustic-rock band behind the 1972/73 Epic albums Glencoe and The Spirit of Glencoe. They featured ex-Skip Bifferty/ARC guitarist John Turnbull, former Greatest Show on Earth bassist Norman Watt-Roy, and Forever More alumnus Stuart Francis. Turnbull and Watt-Roy cut a 1976 album in Loving Awareness and joined Ian Dury’s Blockheads. Members: Stuart […]
Quiver was an English rustic-rock band from London that made the 1971/72 Warner albums Quiver and Gone in the Morning. They subsequently merged with the folk-pop duo Sutherland Brothers for a five-album run (1973–1977). Bassist Bruce Thomas, who departed one album into the merger, appeared in the 1975 one-off Moonrider with ex-Tomorrow vocalist Keith West. […]
Meal Ticket was an English rustic-rock band that released the album Code of the Road on EMI International in 1977, followed by the albums Three Times a Day and Take Away in 1978, the last of those on Logo. Members: Willy Finlayson (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Rick Jones (keyboards, vocals), Steve Simpson (guitar, violin, vocals), Ray […]
Limey was an English rustic-rock band that cut an eponymous 1975 album on RCA. Guitarist–singer Brian Engel was a longtime collaborator of Martin Briley. In 1977, Limey released Silver Eagle with the rhythm section of Argent. Members: Dave Bowker [aka David Booker] (bass, guitar), Brian Engel (vocals, guitar), Ian Kewley (keyboards), Robin Le Mesurier (guitar, […]
Brinsley Schwarz was an English rustic-rock band that released six albums between 1970 and 1974 on UA/Liberty. They were named after their guitarist who, along with keyboardist Bob Andrews, later formed The Rumour, the backing band of Graham Parker. Bassist Nick Lowe became an in-demand producer and recording artist. Members: Brinsley Schwarz (guitar, percussion, saxophone, […]
Jackie Lomax (May 10, 1944 — Sept. 15, 2013) was an English singer, guitarist, and songwriter who led the Merseybeat bands The Undertakers, The Lost Souls, and Lomax Alliance. In 1969, he released the album Is This What You Want? on Apple Records, followed by a one-off with blues-rockers Heavy Jelly. On Warner Bros., he […]
Bronco was an English rustic-rock band from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, that released two albums on Island in 1970 and 1971, followed by a third on Polydor in 1973. The Island albums feature ex-Alan Bown Set vocalist Jess Roden, who subsequently launched a successful solo career. Members: Kevyn Gammond (guitar), John Pasternak (bass), Pete Robinson (harmonica, drums), […]
Graphite was an English rustic-folk band, active between 1970 and 1974. Despite constant gigging, their recorded output was limited to a single apiece on Beacon and EMI. However, they recorded nearly two album’s worth of material that was later released on the CD Chestnut Loke by Audio Archives. Members: Chris Gore (mellotron, organ, piano), Dave […]
Holy Mackerel was an English rustic-rock band from Tonbridge, Kent, that released a self-titled album on CBS in 1972. Three-fifths of the band hailed from psych-rockers Jason Crest, including vocalist Terry Clarke, who also sang on the 1970 singular release by Orang-Utan. Members: Terry Clarke (lead vocals), Derek Smallcombe (lead guitar, vocals), Chris Ware (lead […]
Hokus Poke were an English rustic-rock band from London that released the album Earth Harmony on Vertigo in 1972. Members: Clive Blenkhorn (guitar, vocals), Roger Clarke (guitar), Smith Campbell (bass), Johnnie Miles (drums) Discography: Earth Harmony (1972)
