Spiritual enlightenment descended upon Nottinghill Gate in 1969 when Ram Jam alias Ron Rothfield formed the esoteric Quintessence. Members included ex Unknown Blues vocalist Phil Jones (Shiva Shankar) keyboards, ex Confusion Allan Mostert lead guitar / Veena, Sitar, Maha Dev rhythm guitar, Shanbhu Baba bass, ex Junior’s Eyes Jake Milton drums & Dave Balen tablas. […] Continue reading →

The word underscore comes to mind when I hear Pearls Before Swine. Here lies a wooden expression lightly fused with jazz tempo, but solidified exoterically with remarkable poetry, the ultimate impression of Tom Rapp. Tom got it together quite early when he recruited high school friends Wayne Harley (banjo, mandolin), Lane Lederer (bass, guitar) & […] Continue reading →

This is part of Shiloh Noone’s weekly write up of rare groups. Group write-ups you never hear of or little is known about. The Gothic Bram Stoker Cressida’s keyboard dominated style was not unlike the Gothic drone of Bournemouth band Bram Stoker, singularly England’s most ignored Prog entity. Bram Stoker who rose out of the […] Continue reading →

Tudor Lodge – Golden threads from Morocco. Born in the year 1968, from the temporary union of John Stannard & Roger Stevens came the textured harmony and guitar of Tudor Lodge. Also to come on board was Lyndon Green who replaced Roger Stevens shortly after they met at the ‘Windsor Folk Festival.’ Thanks to the […] Continue reading →

T 2 was singularly in the same power surge as Jody Grind and Led Zeppelin. T2 formed in 1970 when Peter Dunton of The Flies left Gun to join guitarist Keith Cross and bassist Bernard Jenkins from Bulldog Breed. By the time they performed their third gig they were booked for the ‘BBC’ sessions and […] Continue reading →

Churchill’s into Jericho Out of the chosen fields of Zion came the Judaic Churchill’s, one of the least known freakbeat pioneers. The eventual group consisted of 15 year old bassist Michael Gabriellov, guitarist Rob Huxley, drummer Ami Trybich and a lethal 13 year old axeman called Hayim Romano.The story started in 1965 when founder member […] Continue reading →

The first rays of Indian Summer broke through Coventry campus in 1969. Bob Jackson and Paul Hooper’s first gathering was called Just Us, a beat group that would later evolve into The Rochester Beaks and later Monster Magnet. The dazzle of psyche had already embellished the gifted Bob who defected to The Acme Patent Electric […] Continue reading →

The opportunity to see The Eagles fell into our laps the other day. Veronica, a huge fan who had never seen them live, was chomping at the bit. I, however, was skeptical. Having seen The Eagles in their heyday, during the 1976 Hotel California tour, I didn’t want to spoil that memory. Sure, the stranger […] Continue reading →

The inception of Whitsuntide Easter started in 1973 by founder Nanneke Coumou who were regulars on the coffee bar circuit and Jesus Festivals in the Netherlands. The final fruit of the group came together with multi-instrumentalist Henk van der Werfhorst , ex Credo Jan Van Straalen and drummer Rob van Straalen who made their official […] Continue reading →

Flat Earth Society was fueled by the surreal guitar of future Cottonwood Rick Doyle , Jack Kerivan organ / vox, Phil Dubuque rhythm /recorder and ex New Chantells bassist Phil Carter. The group put out this amazing album called Waleeco steeped in the emotive shades of “Dark Street Downtown” and “Portrait In Grey”, while the […] Continue reading →