Deep Purple
EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND
The Edgar Broughton Band emerged out of the Blues based Underground Progressive Rock tradition in the late sixties and has been active virtually without break since 1968. Their first five albums are widely considered as seminal:
Wasa Wasa (1969)
Sing Brother Sing (1970)
Edgar Broughton Band (1971)
Inside Out (1972)
Oora (1973)
The original line-up had the creative driving force Edgar Broughton as lead singer and guitarist. Brother Steve Broughton played the drums and Arthur Grant was on the bass. Victor Unitt was part of the original line-up but left before the recording of the first two albums as the band moved away from Blues to Hard Rock. While The Edgar Broughton Band gained fame as one of the leading power trios of its day, Unitt did in fact return for the next two outings.
The band initially gained fame as perhaps the greatest live act of the era that saw them in their pomp, the late sixties and early to mid seventies. The band’s members moved from their native Warwick to Notting Hill in west London in 1969 and their peers tell two stories from those days with great affection. The Broughtons’ mother was the most famous van-driver of the era and the band continued the motoring theme by staging impromptu life gigs from the back of a flat-bed truck once notoriously stopping the traffic in Piccadilly.
A prodigiously talented band generally, and lead singer and guitarist Edgar Broughton himself in particular, it is something of a mystery why this relatively successful in their day Proto-Punk band are not more famous now. The two generally cited reasons are that the band was so talented in every department, and able to turn its hand to so many different styles, occasionally even during the same track, that it failed to mine an obvious niche. A second argument often proposed and one which has great merit is that The Edgar Broughton Band had such political integrity that the disillusion following the summer of love and the 1968 protests caused the group to implode, and perhaps more significantly rendered this anti-establishment hard-left socialist band without the commercial tools or desire to exploit their solid intelligent and informed fan base.
Musically there is little The Edgar Broughton Band recorded that fell short of first class. The first two albums “Wasa Wasa” and “Sing Brother Sing” are a splendid mix of timeless classics and excellent period pieces. On the third album the eponymous “The Edgar Broughton Band” known for reasons obvious to anyone who’s seen its cover as “The Meat Album” the band developed as close as they were ever to come to a homogenous commercially acceptable sound. Often listed as a fan and critic’s favourite, “The Edgar Broughton Band” shows off the band’s musicianship, with Edgar Broughton himself claiming that Dave Bedford’s arrangement on “Evening Over Rooftops” the most beautiful string accompaniment he’s ever heard.
“Inside Out” sees the band returning to cussed revolutionary intensity turning away from the materialist commercial temptations hinted at by its predecessor. Listed in my top twenty greatest albums of all time, “Inside Out” is as relevant now as it was in the early seventies. “Homes Fit For Heroes” has a particular resonance as we watch the returning heroes from Afghanistan, maimed, dead, and alive. John Lennon and David Bowie were just two of the band’s great admirers, and “Inside Out” has a freshness and a poignancy that few protest albums can claim as they enter their fifth decade.
Critically comparable to its two predecessors “Oora” suffers from having to follow the truly iconic “Inside Out” and tends to get overlooked. It does however contain my favourite EBB track of all, and one that will accompany me to my desert island should I ever be asked, “Green Lights”.
I challenge you to listen to “The Edgar Broughton Band” and “Inside Out” three times each and then argue you’re not in the presence of true genius.
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Edgar Broughton himself has continued with his socialist worker ethos by promoting his recent music with his fair day’s pay gigs at parties and in his fans’ homes. Have a look at the website www.edgarbroughton.com
© JD Shanks August 2011
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WISHBONE ASH
Martin Turner and Steve Upton were forming a band in 1970, so legend has it, and they couldn’t choose between Andy Powell and Ted Turner (no relation) on lead guitar. Thus were born the greatest exponents of the glorious and pretty much exclusively Prog Rock phenomenon, twin lead guitars.
If you’re not familiar with this sound you need to download "Blowin’ Free" and you’ll struggle to believe that what seems at first to sound like a clever echo is in fact the two guitars jousting. It’s a staggeringly accomplished track, whether or not in its original electric format, or more Folk-like acoustic, and demonstrates the assurance of a band into its third great album in as many years ("Argus" – 1972).
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Perhaps understandably, given that it is the closest the band ever got to a concept album, Wishbone Ash are primarily remembered for "Argus". At the time Wishbone Ash seemed quite heavy, in the Deep Purple mode, whose stable they shared, and whose own guitarist, one Ritchie Blackmore, is reputed to have been godfather to the band persuading Deep Purple’s own label to take on Wishbone Ash – ironically Turner’s and Powell’s guitars seemed to have aged more gracefully than the iconic Blackmore’s. Listening to Wishbone Ash today, in our post-Prodigy world, the Folk Rock influences, like their contemporaries such as The Strawbs, shine through. Given that Wishbone Ash abounds with myths, it is fitting that "Argus" conjures medieval visions, and Arthurian allusions, a theme common enough in their other work, and through the great Prog Rock bands generally, but at its most complete in "Argus". "Argus" works very well, and the lead guitars take us on epic Tolkienian journeys ("Time Was", "The King Will Come", "Throw Down The Sword", "The Warrior"), and the understated vocals are unusual in that they are reduced to a support function.
While "Argus" and its standout track "Blowin’ Free" should be regarded as essential, their eponymous debut (1970) and 1971’s outing "Pilgrimage" are in many ways its equal, with some equally outstanding tracks, including the legendary "Phoenix". Wishbone IV (1973) and "There’s The Rub" (1974) refine the Wishbone Ash sound, but Punk Rock was knocking, and despite sterling work since, and excellent live gigs ("Live Dates" is an outstanding album) Wishbone Ash had had their spell on the top table.
The generally accepted wisdom is that Wishbone Ash needed a front man, and Wishbone Ash themselves are rumoured to have agreed, leading to the band's first change of personnel in the mid seventies. Competent vocals, and totally appropriate to their sound, but in a world that wanted more Bolan, Broughton, Bowie, Hammill, Gabriel, Daltry and Plant, and was as ready as it was going to be for the emerging Mercury, they weren’t quite Gillan.
While the band has had its share of Floydian internecine squabbles over the years, it’s still active, and has consistently featured Andy Powell on lead guitar. Wishbone Ash is a great personal favourite, and highly recommended. Everything that’s good about lead guitar – restrained and yet flamboyant – in the best possible taste. The most thoroughly British of bands.
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THUNDER
Once described (by themselves) as being the biggest rock 'n' roll band you've never heard of, Thunder are one of the great British rock acts (they sound like a cross between Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones and Bad Company - it's true). Having toured the world extensively since 1989, and released a huge body of records (both studio and live), they've notched up 18 top 40 UK hits. How? Not with massive Radio and TV support, no far from it, their success has been down to a combination of their reputation as a phenomenal live act, and the fanatical support of their ever growing fanbase.
Thunder have toured with acts such as Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Whitesnake, Status Quo, Deep Purple, Bryan Adams, ZZ Top, Metallica, the list goes on. They've won awards galore, including best Rock Vocalist (Danny Bowes - Burrn magazine Japan) and Best Live Rock Act by readers of Kerrang magazine UK.
Thunder formed in 1989, and released their debut album "Backstreet Symphony" in 1990, which went Gold. The follow-up "Laughing on Judgement Day" (which also achieved gold status), peaked at No. 2 in the UK album charts. Their legendary appearance in 1990 at Monsters of Rock at Donington cemented their place in the hearts of British rock fans. Twenty years later, after twenty top-50 singles and 9 studio albums Thunder have announced their retirement !!
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Status Quo
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Deep Purple
Deep Purple formed in England, 1968, and are one of the longest running rock bands to date. They are considered, alongside greats such as Led Zepplin and Black Sabbath to have been amongst the founders of heavy-metal and hard-rock. They were even once listed into the Guiness Book of Records as the World’s Loudest Band.
They have gone through multiple line-up changes and a dramatic eight-year hiatus. The original crew consisted of; guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, vocalist Rod Evans, bassist Nick Simper, keyboardist Jon Lord and drummer Ian Paice were the founding members. The band’s success came with their debut album, ‘Shades of Deep Purple’, which was released shortly after they formed. It was certainly the band’s most pop-orientated release, but gained huge success, gaining a Top 5 US hit with single ‘Hush’.
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With their self-titled third LP, their sound had changed enormously, showing more ambition and complexity. Soon after the release, band members parted ways; singer Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover were recruited. The first output of this new lineup was a mixed electric and orchestral album with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Deep Purple In Concert, with the centrepiece being Lord’s “Concerto For Group And Orchestra.”
Four influential studio albums followed over the next four years: ‘Deep Purple in Rock’, ‘Fireball’, ‘Machine Head’ and ‘Who Do We Think We Are’, with live album ‘Made in Japan’ following.
Many line-up changes followed, but in 1984, the strongest lineup, (Ian Gillan, Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Roger Glover, and Richie Blackmore) reunited to produce the albums ‘Perfect Strangers’ and ‘The House of Blue Light’. Tensions returned however, and Gillan was fired and replaced by Joe Lynn Turner. This lineup only lasted for one album, before Ian Gillan returned again for ‘The Battle Rages On’.
While not as influential as in their original embodiment, the band have remained a successful studio and live act to this day.
Carly Page
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