Stackridge were a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

group which had their greatest success in the early 1970s.

History

Classic period

Stackridge Lemon were formed from the remains of a previous band, Grytpype Thynne, by Andy Davis and James "Crun" Walter during 1969 in the

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

area of

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of four regions that altogether make up Southern England. South West England con ...

. After initial experimentation, the word ''Lemon'' was dropped from the band's name. The band played their first

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

gig at The Temple in Wardour Street on 6 February 1970. They were the opening and closing act at the first

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

between 19 September and 20 September 1970. During 1970, the members of the band shared a communal flat as their headquarters at 32, West Mall in Clifton, Bristol, the address of which Davis and Warren later used as the title of a song, which appeared on the debut album, '' Stackridge''. During 1971, Stackridge began serious gigging, although Crun left to take up bricklaying. Davis, Warren, Bent, Evans, and Slater embarked on a UK tour supporting

Wishbone Ash Wishbone Ash are a British Rock music, rock band who achieved success in the early to mid-1970s. Their albums include ''Wishbone Ash (album), Wishbone Ash'' (1970), ''Pilgrimage (Wishbone Ash album), Pilgrimage'' (1971), ''Argus (album), Argu ...

. Later in the year they signed to

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

and recorded their first album ''Stackridge'', at De Lane Lea Studios, London. They toured the UK as headliners with

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

supporting and played their first John Peel session for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, which included a version of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' " Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". The group continued on a year of touring, again with Wishbone Ash and also Forever More. On 30 September they supported

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th centu ...

at Newcastle City Hall. The second album '' Friendliness'' was quickly recorded in August 1972, and released in November with some songs that had started life in pre-Stackridge days. By this time Crun had rejoined the band which consisted of Davis, Warren, Slater, Evans, Walter and Billy Sparkle. In February 1973, the band made their first television appearance on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

's ''

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music series broadcast by the BBC. It was devised by producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough, and aired on BBC2 from ...

''. They then toured during February and March with

Camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

in support. The third album '' The Man in the Bowler Hat'' was recorded during 1973 at AIR Studios,

with producer George Martin. The album was released in February 1974 to excellent reviews, but failed to sell in large quantities. This was the highest-charting Stackridge album in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, reaching no. 23. A different version of the album was released in the U.S. under the title '' Pinafore Days'' and became their only U.S. chart entry, peaking at no. 191, although a US tour never materialised. Almost as soon as the album was finished, the band were joined by Keith Gemmell from

Audience An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...

; and shortly thereafter Evans, Slater, Sparkle, Walter, and Warren all departed the band and were replaced by Rod Bowkett (keyboards), Rare Bird member Paul Karas (bass), and Roy Morgan (drums), as Davis took full control of the band. The group that went on tour to support the album sounded quite different from the one on the record. The fourth album '' Extravaganza'' on

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

's record label The Rocket Record Company, was recorded at AIR Studios with Tony Ashton producing and Rod Bowkett joining to contribute to the songwriting. The band now consisted of Davis, Bowkett, Gemmell, Karas and Morgan, along with the returning Slater, Evans, and Walter. Non-Stackridge written songs and cover versions became more prevalent. With more touring and an appearance at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

concert with

and

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

, 1975 saw the recording of the band's fifth outing in the studio, the concept album '' Mr. Mick''. It was based on stories/poems by

Steve Augarde Steve Augarde (born 3 October 1950) is a British author and artist. He has written and illustrated several novels for children and young adults as well as over seventy picture books for younger children, including pop-up books for which he desi ...

and was eventually recorded at Ramport Studios, Putney with the revised line-up of Davis, Slater, Walter, Gemmell plus the addition of ex- Greenslade Dave Lawson on keyboards and Peter Van Hooke on drums. The Rocket Record Company, the group's record label, performed considerable editing on ''Mr. Mick'', and insisted on the inclusion of a Beatles cover song, " Hold Me Tight". The album received some good press, but some shows were abandoned on the grounds that the stages were too small. Stackridge performed a final show in April 1976, and shortly afterwards the band disintegrated.

released the compilation '' Do the Stanley'' late in 1976. It contained songs from the first three albums along with singles and a previously unreleased song "Let There Be Lids", taken from live performances. Stackridge officially announced in 1977 that they had disbanded; James Warren and Andy Cresswell-Davis formed The Korgis a few years later, and had some commercial success in the early 1980s.

Revival period

''BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert'', released by Windsong in July 1992, raised renewed interest in the band. John Sherry, Roy Morgan and Rod Lynton proposed a reunion tour but this never materialized. The album was re-issued by Strange Fruit in 1996. During 1996, talks were held between original members about possible reunion and recording started. And the following year, 1997 ''Stackridge – The Radio One Sessions'' was released by Strange Fruit Records. By June 1999, the Come Back To Front UK tour was under way and June that year saw ''Something for the Weekend'' released, featuring the line-up of James Warren, Jim "Crun" Walter, Mike Evans, Richard Stubbings, John Miller, and Tim Robinson. This album featured "Something about the Beatles". Then in 2001 ''Pick Of The Crop'' and '' The Original Mr. Mick'' were released on Stackridge's own DAP Records. Mike and Jennie Evans were responsible for re-marketing the band, including setting up a website. There were infrequent live guest appearances by Mike 'Mutter' Slater. However, further turmoil within the band occurred as attempts to reunite the original band led to the Evans falling out with Warren, Walter and Slater as Davis came back to the fold; leading to Evans' departure and Slater's full-time return to the band. 2005 saw the release of the album '' Sex and Flags'' on Angel Air Records, a collection comprising many songs from ''Something for the Weekend'', all six songs from the fan release only limited edition ''Lemon'' CD in 2002, and two Andy Davis demo recordings. The album was the first since 1973 (apart from the ''Lemon'' mini CD) to feature the core foursome of Warren, Davis, Walter and Slater. Stackridge signed up with reissue experts Angel Air in 2005. All the CDs have extensive sleeve notes, pictures of memorabilia and bonus tracks and two, ''Mr Mick'' and ''Forbidden City'' are double CD sets. A spring 2007 tour was announced featuring this line-up, along with additional musicians. A show at The Rondo Theatre, Bath, on 1 April 2007 was filmed for a DVD, released under the title ''Forbidden City'' (also available as a CD release). The band continued to perform during 2008. In 2008 it returned to the Glastonbury Festival to play the acoustic stage on Sunday afternoon. They also appeared at the 2008 Rhythm Festival in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

and at Fairport's Cropredy Convention. An album ('' A Victory for Common Sense''—including a rework of the Korgis's "Boots and Shoes") was released on 13 July 2009 on Helium Records. Stackrdigegig

In June 2010, it was announced that Mutter Slater had resigned from Stackridge. The stated reason was that, because of his full-time job, he could not always accept weekday bookings without taking a day out of his holiday entitlement. The announcement concluded "The rest of the band are very sorry to see him go, but will continue as a seven piece at least until the end of the year. Rehearsals will take place over the next two months to create a new direction, ready for Autumn/Winter gigs." On 14 March 2011, the band performed live on '' The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' performing "The Last Plimsoll". In April 2014 ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' columnist Euan McColm suggested that UK Labour Party leader Ed Miliband was "more Stackridge than Beatles." In late 2014, Stackridge took a break from touring, and in early 2015 the band embarked on a UK tour as The Korgis. Around this time, the group announced that the last ever Stackridge tour would take place in Autumn 2015, called "The Final Bow", at Fiddlers Club in

. It commented on Twitter: "We have decided that our Autumn Tour will be our last gigs. We don't want the gigs to be sad events but a celebration of all we have done". Former member Keith Gemmell died from throat cancer on 24 July 2016.

Musical style

Stackridge were described by ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as " prog rock and

without the self-regarding pomposity of the former and the high seriousness of the latter at their worst". They have also been described as a precursor to

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

Personnel

Members

*Andy Cresswell-Davis – lead guitars, keyboards, vocals (1969–1976, 2002–2015) *Mike "Mutter" Slater – flute, vocals (1969–1973, 1974–1976, 2002–2010) *Mike Evans – violin, vocals (1969–1973, 1974–1975, 1999–2002) *James Warren – guitars, bass, vocals (1969–1973, 1999–2015) *Billy "Sparkle" Bent – drums (1969–1973) *Jim "Crun" Walter – bass (1969–1971, 1972–1973, 1974–1976, 1999–2012) * Keith Gemmell – saxophone, clarinet, flute (1973–1976; died 2016) *Rod Bowkett – keyboards (1973–1975) *Paul Karas – bass, vocals (1973–1975) *Roy Morgan – drums (1973–1975) * Dave Lawson – keyboards (1975–1976) * Peter Van Hooke – drums (1975–1976) *Tim Robinson – drums (1999–2002) *Richard Stubbings – flute, accordion, keyboards, guitar, penny whistle, vocals, whistling (1999–2002) *John Miller – keyboards, vocals (1999–2000) *Ian Towers – keyboards, vocals, guitars (2000–2002)

Touring musicians

*Ruth Evans – violin, backing vocals (1999–2000) *Nina Smith – violin, backing vocals (1999–2000) *Glenn Tommey – keyboards, trombone, vocals, sticks, flute, ukulele (2007–2015) *Sarah Mitchell – violin, vocals, keyboards, whistle, tambourine (2007–2011) *Rachel Hall – violin (2007–2009) *Andy "Codge" Marsden – drums (2007–2008) *Eddie John – drums, ukulele (2007, 2008–2015) *Nigel Newton – lead guitars (2007) *Katy Salvidge – violin (2007) *Clare Lindley – violin, guitar, ukulele, vocals (2009–2015)

Lineups

Timeline

ImageSize = width:900 height:500 PlotArea = left:110 bottom:120 top:0 right:0 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1969 till:31/12/2015 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1969 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1969 Colors = id:voc value:red legend:Vocals id:ww value:gray(0.5) legend:Wind_Instruments id:vln value:drabgreen legend:Violin id:g value:green legend:Guitars id:key value:purple legend:Keyboards id:b value:blue legend:Bass id:dr value:orange legend:Drums id:alb value:black legend:Studio_releases LineData = at:06/08/1971 layer:back at:01/11/1972 at:01/02/1974 at:01/01/1975 at:01/03/1976 at:12/10/1999 at:01/05/2001 at:01/07/2009 PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,–4) bar:Andy Cresswell-Davis from:start till:01/05/1976 color:g bar:Andy Cresswell-Davis from:start till:01/09/1973 color:key width:7 bar:Andy Cresswell-Davis from:start till:01/05/1976 color:voc width:3 bar:Andy Cresswell-Davis from:01/07/2002 till:31/12/2015 color:g bar:Andy Cresswell-Davis from:01/07/2002 till:31/12/2015 color:key width:7 bar:Andy Cresswell-Davis from:01/07/2002 till:31/12/2015 color:voc width:3 bar:James Warren from:start till:01/07/1971 color:g bar:James Warren from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1972 color:b bar:James Warren from:01/07/1972 till:01/09/1973 color:g bar:James Warren from:start till:01/09/1973 color:voc width:3 bar:James Warren from:01/06/1999 till:01/07/2012 color:g bar:James Warren from:01/07/2012 till:31/12/2015 color:b bar:James Warren from:01/06/1999 till:31/12/2015 color:voc width:3 bar:Mike "Mutter" Slater from:start till:01/09/1973 color:ww bar:Mike "Mutter" Slater from:start till:01/09/1973 color:voc width:3 bar:Mike "Mutter" Slater from:01/07/1974 till:01/05/1976 color:ww bar:Mike "Mutter" Slater from:01/07/1974 till:01/05/1976 color:voc width:3 bar:Mike "Mutter" Slater from:01/04/2002 till:01/06/2010 color:ww bar:Mike "Mutter" Slater from:01/04/2002 till:01/06/2010 color:voc width:3 bar:Keith Gemmell from:01/04/1973 till:01/05/1976 color:ww bar:Richard Stubbings from:01/06/1999 till:01/10/2002 color:ww bar:Richard Stubbings from:01/06/1999 till:01/10/2002 color:key width:7 bar:Richard Stubbings from:01/06/1999 till:01/10/2002 color:voc width:3 bar:Mike Evans from:start till:01/09/1973 color:vln bar:Mike Evans from:01/07/1974 till:01/07/1975 color:vln bar:Mike Evans from:01/06/1999 till:01/10/2002 color:vln bar:Rod Bowkett from:01/09/1973 till:01/07/1975 color:key bar:Dave Lawson from:01/07/1975 till:01/05/1976 color:key bar:John Miller from:01/06/1999 till:01/07/2000 color:key bar:John Miller from:01/06/1999 till:01/07/2000 color:voc width:3 bar:Ian Towers from:01/07/2000 till:01/10/2002 color:key bar:Ian Towers from:01/07/2000 till:01/10/2002 color:g width:7 bar:Ian Towers from:01/07/2000 till:01/10/2002 color:voc width:3 bar:Jim "Crun" Walter from:start till:01/07/1971 color:b bar:Jim "Crun" Walter from:01/07/1972 till:01/09/1973 color:b bar:Jim "Crun" Walter from:01/07/1974 till:01/06/1976 color:b bar:Jim "Crun" Walter from:01/06/1999 till:01/07/2012 color:b bar:Paul Karas from:01/09/1973 till:01/07/1975 color:b bar:Paul Karas from:01/09/1973 till:01/07/1975 color:voc width:3 bar:Billy "Sparkle" Bent from:start till:01/09/1973 color:dr bar:Roy Morgan from:01/09/1973 till:01/07/1975 color:dr bar:Peter Van Hooke from:01/07/1975 till:01/06/1976 color:dr bar:Tim Robinson from:01/06/1999 till:01/10/2002 color:dr

Discography

Singles

* "Spin 'Round The Room" (1974) The Rocket Record Company PIG 15-A

Studio albums

*'' Stackridge'' (1971) Angel Air SJPCD 230 (original vinyl; UK MCA and US Decca) *'' Friendliness'' (1972) Angel Air SJPCD 231 (original vinyl; UK MCA and US MCA) *'' The Man in the Bowler Hat'' (1974) Angel Air SJPCD 232 (original vinyl; UK MCA) (Released in 1974 in the US as ''Pinafore Days'' on Sire Records) *'' Extravaganza'' (1975) Angel Air SJPCD 233 (original vinyl; UK

Rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

and US Sire) *'' Mr. Mick'' (1976) (original vinyl; UK Rocket - no US issue) *'' Something for the Weekend'' (1999) Angel Air SJPCD 235 *'' The Original Mr. Mick'' (2001) Angel Air SJPCD 234 *'' A Victory for Common Sense'' (2009) (Helium B002C6K7UI)

Other albums

*'' Do the Stanley'' (1976, compilation, one previously unreleased track "Let There Be Lids") (original vinyl; UK MCA - no US issue) *''BBC Radio 1 In Concert'' (originally Windsong WINCD 019, 1992) (re-issued 1996) Strange Fruit SFRSCD 032 *''The Radio 1 Sessions'' (1996) Strange Fruit SFRSCD 40 *''More (4 alternative 'Something for the Weekend' mixes)'' (1998, fan club only CD) *''Pick of the Crop : Official Bootleg No. 1'' (2000, live at Cropredy Festival, 12 August 2000) Dap 104CD *''CD-Romp: The Official Stackridge Bootleg No. 2'' (2001) Dap 105CD *''Lemon 2002'' (2002; fan club only; no label) *'' Sex and Flags'' (2005, compilation of most of ''Something for the Weekend'', all of ''Lemon 2002'' plus two Andy Davis demos) Angel Air SJPCD 205 *''Purple Spaceships Over Yatton: The Best Of'' (2006, 19 track compilation, with new recording of title track, October 2006) Angel Air SJPCD 228 *''The Forbidden City'' (2008, live at Rondo Theatre, Bath, 1 April 2007) Angel Air SJPCD 251 *''Anyone For Tennis'' (CD and DVD set, combining ''Purple Spaceships Over Yatton: Best of'' CD and ''Forbidden City'' DVD with new photos and new, extensive sleevenotes, September 2008) Angel Air SJPCD 271 *''The Final Bow, Bristol 2015'' (2019, live in Bristol) *''Lost and Found - The Reunion Years 1999-2015'' (2024, 4 x CD Box Set, a combination of ''Something for the Weekend'' (1999), A Victory for Common Sense (2009) & ''The Final Bow, Bristol 2015'' (2019, live in Bristol)

DVD

*''The Forbidden City'' (July 2007 - live at the Rondo Theatre,

- 1 April 2007) Angel Air NJPDVD 630 *''4x4'' (2009)

References

External links

Official Stackridge Web SiteBBC's John Peel tribute and StackridgeStackridge - The Cavern, Liverpool – 05/07/08Lummy Days the Stackridge Official PodcastHelium RecordsStackridge
at Discogs.com {{Authority control British progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 1969 Rock music groups from Bristol Rocket Records artists