T2 – England’s foremost powerpack from the seventies
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 clubs all over London as the group Morning. The inevitable led to ‘Decca’ scooping them up for their 1972 debut It’ll All Work Out In Boomland under the production of Peter Johnson as T2. Here was a force that plastered the ‘Marquee’ with guitar solos like never before and the encores were non stop with club owners staying open later than normal.
Keith Cross was being hailed the new Clapton a privilege which he bypassed. Also to charge up from the debut was the brass pounding “No More White Horses” previously done by Dunton’s psychedelic Please. The range and diversity of T2 was vast and dimensional such as the Caravan sounding “J.L.T.”, a pleasurable brassy escape into Keith’s keyboards. They were really a live band and this is where the true grit and ferocious breaks of Keith Cross are ignited. The 20min “Morning” is their opus tour de force that opens with acoustic reverence and ear pleasing vox until the floors open up to psychedelic patterns with superlative leadbreaks. It is here that drummer Pete Dunton proves his worth within the raging time signatures and power tightness. The bluesy “Questions And Answers” is another T2 gem that would blow any present day Mettallica clean away. Their was Cream, Mountain and to complete the trinity T2, ‘listen to the bass and vox /guitar on “CD”, Cross then left the band after the album failed to find its mark and the remaining two also called it a day.
The only remaining legacy was a batch of ‘BBC’ sessions and aborted recordings, namely the genteel “Timothy Monday”, a psyche nugget with flashing breaks only equaled by the thunderous “Highway” opener. Also to stir the ghosts was the ambient “Minstrel” soothingly enhanced by flute. The sessions reflected a sensitive side to the trio such as the idling “Careful Sam”, another prophetic Tolkien foresight, but beware the backbending bars that slaughter “Fantasy”. The theme title “T2” complete with synth & flute was a fitting epitaph to England’s greatest knight of the Prog round table.