Rare Bird (prog rock / UK)

Rare Bird was a progressive rock band founded in 1969. They were formed in England, but had more success in other European countries than they did at home. They are mostly remembered for the haunting, organ-based track "Sympathy". It sold one million copies globally.

The history of Rare Bird began when Graham Field placed an advertisement for a pianist in a musical periodical. He got thirty replies and formed a group called 'Lunch'. He met Dave Kaffinetti in November 1968, and together they formulated the basic ideas for Rare Bird. In August 1969, they finally found the ideal rhythm section in Steve Gould, Chris Randall and Mark Ashton. Field and Kaffinetti had originally envisaged that the band would be a four piece and were looking for a singer/bass player. Steve and Chris applied to the ad as vocals/guitar and bass and were taken on. 


The band's initial line-up was as below, although there would be changes by the time they came to work on their third album. The first two members listed were a constant throughout the lifetime of the band.




Steve Gould - lead vocals & bass, rhythm guitar 
Dave Kaffinetti - pianos & assorted keyboards
Graham Field - organ & assorted keyboards
Mark Ashton - drums & backing vocals 


Later members included Fred Kelly (Nic Potter), Ced Curtis, Paul Holland, and Paul Karas on the Epic Forest album with Andy Curtis and Fred Kelly appearing on the album Somebody's Watching. The band finally split up in the mid 1970s.

Dave Kaffinetti (credited as David Kaff) played the part of Viv Savage in This Is Spinal Tap (1984).
The song "Beautiful Scarlet" from their first album was sampled in the 2010 song "Summer's Gonna Hurt You" by electronic music producer/DJ Diplo.


Peace of Mind:

Beautiful Scarlet (1970) Live:

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_Bird