David Crosby & Graham Nash with guest Neil Young, March 26, 1972. Winterland, San Francisco, California: "Sheriff Hongisto Prisoners' Benefit" - complete set.
Neil Young drops by a Crosby & Nash gig.
This is a soundboard recording from a Crosby and Nash show for the Sheriff's Benefit on March 26, 1972. The Crosby and Nash shows from 1972 are held in very high regard, and fans at this particular show were treated to something very special.
Just over a month and a half after "Harvest" was released, Neil Young joins his former bandmates for the first time since CSNY's famed Filmore shows in 1970 :
The video here is the opening track FIVE YEARS, Ziggy Stardust the last great superstar before the Apocalypse, a track that live-wise would soar to a climax as the band poured on layers of power chords behind Bowie's agonised vocals. And Mick Ronson on piano.
It all began when Peter Wicker (then, the owner of Studio 19) met with the members of Egg. Also, some other group had an influence over Arzachel, particularly, a one named Uriel. It was formed in 1967 by two people:
Steve Hillage (guitar, vocal) and Martin Montgomery-Campbell know as Mont Campbell (bass, guitar, piano)
Other members: Dave Stewart ( keyboard) and Clive Brooks (drums) joined later.
The group's name is also a name of one of biblical angels. The group chose the name, inspired by Milton's 'Paradise Lost' (as Stewart remembers it). They played the first show in a youth club in Sheen. That night, they played several covers of Hendrix and a group called Nice. Right after the show, they started writing their own material. At that time, they recorded a demo (Egoman) which wasn't released until today. In the summer of 1968, they played a few gigs at Ryde Castle Hotel, on Island of Wight. Also, Hillage decided to quit the band and went to study on Kent University. The group survived, though, and they played as a trio. Thanks to Bill Jelett (whom they met shortly before,) Uriel started playing at the famous The Middle Earth.
Dave Howson and Paul Walden at that time started to have a huge influence over the group. They suggested changing the name into EGG (January, 1969). After some trouble, EGG signs an agreement with Decca and record the first album. At the same time they met Peter Wicker, who had a small recording studio. He suggested that they recorded an album, with a psychedelic twist to it. Wicker stated a condition, though. Namely, the expenditures should not exceed 250 pounds. There was also another problem. Egg still had a contract with Decca Record. Both issues were resolved very simply. The whole material was recorded during one afternoon in Studio 19, on London's Denmark Street. Steve Hillage participated in the recording. The whole group changed their names (just for the album's sake and created new biographies.)
- Sam Lee ~Uff - David Stewart, it was the name of his Latin teacher
- Basil Downing - Clive Brooks, it was the name of his math teacher
- Simeon Sasparella - Steve Hillage (it was the best name, as Stewart nicely puts it, for testing new microphones)
- Njerogi Gatetaka (Martin Montgomery- Mont Campbell) was the fourth member. His biography was the most real one. Indeed, he was born in Africa and, at the beginning of the 60s, he moved to England.
David Stewart claims that the name was inspired by one of the craters of the Moon*. Musically, the material sounded like the early tapes of Uriel. The cover was designed by David Stewart. If you take a closer look, you ll surely notice 250 (this is the budget of the recording.) The album, released in 1969, has been reissued a few times, both legally and illegally. Hence, the prices literally skyrocketed and the album itself became a sort of a rara avis among record collectors.
*Arzachel - a Spanish astronaut, with Arabic roots. He lived in XI century, the real name Al Zarqali. David Stewart came across the name in some very interesting circumstances.
This was the only album by Arzachel as a group. The musicians members did not sit on their laurels, though.
Steve Hillage played with Khan, Gong, and in the 70s he cooperated with various musicians as a producer (K. Ayers, Charlatan, T.Banks, Blink). Since the beginning of the 90s, he is the member of System 7.
Martin Campbell after Egg disbanded in 1972, he joined Hatfield & The North, National Health, Mosaic and several own projects.
Clive Brooks for two years he played with Grounhogs and later with Liar.
David Stewart - since 1972, he joined Ottawa Music Company, Khan, Gong, National Health, Bruford, Rapid Eye Movement, released a few solo albums, and created a pop (!!!) duo: Stewart and Gaskin.
Druid were a 1970's progressive rock band from Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England and initially came to public attention by winning a 1974 unsigned band contest by Melody Maker magazine. The band went on to perform on The Old Grey Whistle Test and to record two albums. Their sound was notably influenced by Yes.
In '75 they released their debut-LP "Towards the Sun" and a year later a second album entitled "Fluid Druid".
Their first effort is their best: fluent and melodic songs, layered with mellotron, often in combination with sensitive electric guitarwork. The echoes from YES are obvious: lots of vocal harmonies, a Chris SQUIRE-like bass, WAKEMANesque keyboards and even the high-pitched vocals like Jon ANDERSON. The second LP entitled "Fluid Druid" is in the vein of their first but less mature, as if the band is a bit running out of ideas.
After the demise of Druid, Neil Brewer and Dane Stevens formed the Never Never Band with a more commercial approach.
Former member Cedric Sharpley, who went on to back Gary Numan in the band Tubeway Army, died from a heart attack on 13 March 2012.
Years active: 1971 -1977
Line-up:
Cedric Sharpley - drums (founding member; died 2012)
Fantasy was founded from Gravesend in Kent, UK, in 1970 and were originally known as Chapel Farm, after their rehearsal space. The disbanded in 1974 and reformed briefly in 1976-1977
The story of this band started at the Chapel Farm, a farmhouse near Gravesend (Kent) were the band had their first rehearsals. It was the family home of singer Paul Petley, other musicians were Geoff Whitehorn (electric guitar), Paul Lawrence (acoustic guitar/vocals), David Metcalfe (keyboards), David Read (bass guitar) and Brian Chatham (drums), later replaced by John Webster. The lead guitar was by the promising Bob Vann but he died in a car accident, he was replaced by Pete James.
The new line-up FANTASY sent a demo tape to the label Decca and changed their name in FIREQUEEN. But Polydor was also interested and they pursuaded the band to sign for them. Again the band decided to change their name, it became FANTASY, a name that fitted more to the style and flavour of the music. The debut album was called "Paint A Picture" and released in 1973. Soon FANTASY belonged to the past, the tapes for a next album remained in the vaults of time.
Fortunately the label Audio Archives released these tapes as a CD called "Beyond The Beyond" (originaly made in 1974). This one is an absolute beauty and it contains nine very refined compositions with warm vocals and 12-string acoustic guitars, flowing and sensitive electric guitar and lots of Hammond organ and Mellotron.
T2 were an English progressive rock band, best known for their 1970 album, It'll All Work Out in Boomland. It is generally regarded as an excellent album. T2 evolved from an earlier band, Neon Pearl, which was led by their drummer, Pete Dunton. Dunton was by 1968 a member of Please, which also included fellow Neon Pearl member Bernard Jinks. When that band broke up in 1969, due to Dunton's joining Gun alongside Adrian Gurvitz, Jinks became a member of Bulldog Breed.
Biography:
Founded in London, England in 1970 (a spin-off from "Please") - Disbanded in 1972 - Reformed from 1992 to 1997
T2 was a progressive rock trio that attempted to take the Jimi Hendrix Experience/Cream sound a step further, which was quite possibly the intelligent thing to do back in 1970. Despite their relative youth, lead vocalist/drummer Peter Dunton, bassist Bernard Jinks and 17-year old guitar prodigy Keith Cross brought to T2 a fair bit of experience as former members of a variety of psychedelic rock bands such as Please, Gun and Bulldog Breed. Basing their sound on blues/jazz influenced hard rock with a loose almost improvised feel, and topping it off with the melancholic vocals of Dunton and brass-heavy orchestration, T2 crafted an album that is unique in the annals of progressive rock ... and then disappeared!
At the point at which they released "It'll All Work Out In Boomland" (the album upon which the T2 legend largely rests) T2 was sitting pretty. They were signed to the influential Decca Records label and enjoyed a strong reputatation as a live band, playing at the Isle Of Wight festival alongside Hendrix. Unfortunately, after the release of the album, internal tensions led to the departure of Cross, leaving a second album unfinished in the vaults. After initially attempting to continue with guitarist Mike Foster, the group called it quits in 1972. That same year Cross released Bored Civillians, an album he recorded with one Peter Ross as Cross and Ross, but little was heard of any of them for a couple of decades.
The re-issue of "It'll All Work Out In Boomland" under German label SPM/WorldWide had the startling effect of prompting a T2 reunion. Dunton, Jinks and Moore (crucially Cross was not present) were the featured musicians on "Second Bite", and T2 enjoyed a surprising second run, following it up with "Waiting For The Band" (1993) and "On The Frontline" (1994), although by the time of "Waiting For The Band", Jinks had left and Moore had shifted to bass to accomodate new guitarist Ray Lee.
The T2 revival didn't last, but it helped make possible the release of the nearly completed tracks that had been intended for T2's second album. Titled "Fantasy" (although it's also known simply as "T2"), this album is a companion one to "It'll All Work Out In Boomland", boasting the same line-up and a similar sound, even if most of its tracks have a distinct unpolished feel.
Most recently, Dunton was to be found playing in psychedelic revivalist band Sun Dial. He drummed on their 2002 release "Zen For Sale", and Sun Dial frontman Gary Ramon has even released pre-T2 works by Bulldog Breed, Neon Pearl and Please
Rush was a Canadian rock band formed in Toronto in 1968, consisting of Geddy Lee (bass, vocals, keyboards, composer), Alex Lifeson (guitars, composer), and Neil Peart (drums, percussion, lyricist). After its formation in 1968, the band went through several configurations before arriving at its classic power trio lineup with the addition of Peart in 1974, who replaced original drummer John Rutsey right after the release of their eponymous debut album, which contained their first highly-regarded song, "Working Man".
After Peart joined the band, Rush achieved commercial success in the 1970s with several albums. Rush continued to record and perform until 1997, after which the band entered a four year hiatus due to personal tragedies in Peart's life. The trio regrouped in 2001 and released three more studio albums.
They ceased large-scale touring at the end of 2015, and Lifeson announced in January 2018 that the band would not continue. On January 7, 2020, Peart died of glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer at the age of 67.
Rush is known for its musicianship, complex compositions, and eclectic lyrical motifs drawing heavily on science fiction, fantasy and philosophy. The band's style changed over the years, from a blues-inspired hard rock beginning, later moving into progressive rock, then a period marked by heavy use of synthesizers, before returning to guitar-driven hard rock since the end of the 1980s. The members of Rush have been acknowledged as some of the most proficient players on their respective instruments, with each winning numerous awards in magazine readers' polls.
Also known as: The Projection (1968), Hadrian (1969)
Years active: 1968 - 2018
Short biography (1968 till 1974):
The band was formed in the neighbourhood of Willowdale in Toronto, Ontario, by guitarist Alex Lifeson, bassist and frontman Jeff Jones, and drummer John Rutsey, in August 1968. Lifeson and Rutsey had been friends since a young age and played together in The Projection, a short lived band that broke up earlier in the year. The two stuck together and brought in Jones to form a new group; their first gig was in September at the Coff-Inn, a youth centre in the basement of St. Theodore of Canterbury Anglican Church in nearby North York.
They had not named themselves at the time of the booking; Rutsey's brother Bill thought they needed a name that was short and to the point. He suggested Rush, and the group went with it. When Jones chose to attend a party hours before their second gig, Lifeson got his schoolmate Gary "Geddy" Weinrib to step in on lead vocals and bass. Jones did not return, so Weinrib became their frontman, adopting the stage name Geddy Lee. Rush rehearsed a set mainly formed of covers by various rock artists, including Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and John Mayall and underwent several lineup configurations that included Lindy Young on keyboards and various instruments, Joe Perna on bass and vocals, and Mitchel Bossi on second guitar. For a brief time, Lee was kicked out of the band after Rutsey wished to recruit a new bassist; Lifeson complied and the group of Lifeson, Rutsey, and Perna named themselves Hadrian. After a disastrous gig with Perna, Rutsey invited Lee back and the group continued as Rush. In May 1971, the band stabilised as a trio of Lifeson, Rutsey, and Lee.
Members:
Definitive lineup:
Alex Lifeson – guitars, backing vocals, synthesizers (1968–2018)
Geddy Lee – lead and backing vocals, bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, guitar (1968–1969, 1969–2018),[216][217] lyrics (1973–1974)
Neil Peart – drums, percussion, lyrics (1974–2015; died 2020)
Former members:
John Rutsey – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1968–1974, died 2008), lyrics (1968–1973)
Jeff Jones – bass guitar, lead vocals (August–September 1968)
Lindy Young – keyboards, backing and lead vocals, guitars, percussion, harmonica (January–July 1969)
Joe Perna – bass guitar, lead and backing vocals (May–July 1969)
