Martin Stephenson & the Daintees are a

British rock British rock describes a wide variety of forms of music made in the United Kingdom. Since around 1964, with the "British Invasion" of the United States spearheaded by the Beatles, British rock music has had a considerable impact on the develop ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

/pop band combining elements of "

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

show tune A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context. T ...

s, rootsy pop, straight-ahead rock and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

". The band is fronted by songwriter/guitarist Martin Stephenson.

Career

Martin Stephenson and the Daintees (Glasgow, 2010)

The band were signed to a recording contract with

Kitchenware Records Kitchenware Records was an independent record label based in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, UK. It was founded in 1982 by Keith Armstrong, Paul Ludford and Phil Mitchell, and was originally part of The Soul Kitchen, an artist collective a ...

and released their first single in 1982. Like other Kitchenware acts the group had their origins in the North East England. The band enjoyed a high critical profile and some minor commercial success. Their best-selling and most acclaimed album is '' Boat to Bolivia'' released in 1986. In June 1989, Stephenson took part in that year's Glastonbury Festival. They recorded three further albums – ''Gladsome, Humour & Blue'' in 1988, ''Salutation Road'', produced by

Pete Anderson Pete Anderson is an American guitarist, music producer, arranger and songwriter. Anderson is most known for his guitar work with, and critically acclaimed production of, country music star Dwight Yoakam from 1984 through 2002, a partnership th ...

, in 1990 and ''The Boy's Heart'' in 1992 – but sales fell short of expectations and the band were dropped by their label. After parting company with Kitchenware, Stephenson disbanded the group in 1992, but continued to record both solo and as part of a group. The Daintees reformed in 2000. In April 2012, Stephenson completed an eleven-date high-profile tour with The Daintees playing ''The Boat to Bolivia'' album in full to critical acclaim. The touring Daintees line up since November 2010 features original guitarist John Steel (Boat to Bolivia/Jackdaw4), John's wife Kate Stephenson (Midge Ure/Sam Brown/Jackdaw4) on drums, and Lou Short (Martin Stephenson 1997/2000) on bass guitar who left the group March 2013. Daintees have signed a major deal with Absolute music and also have a new agent Neil O'Brien They have remained active in recent years and, in 2018, performed a multi date tour "Gladsome, Humour and Blue 30th Anniversary" tour which culminated in a rapturous reception at the Sage on Tyneside on 8 December that year. This performance was filmed and released on DVD entitled ''Gladsome 30''. In the same year the actor, comedian and musician

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

filmed with Stephenson for the two part documentary about Glaswegian's life, in which Stephenson performed the track "Rain" and Connelly described him warmly him as his idea of a musician and songwriter.

Martin Stephenson

Martin George Stephenson was born on 27 July 1961, to Alfred and Francis Stephenson in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

. In January 1990, he married Angela Cape who appeared on the cover of the album ''Boat to Bolivia'', though they later divorced. Stephenson has two daughters. Stephenson's work has increasingly drawn on

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

and traditional musical roots, and his performances have often taken in low-key live events and venues for recording. He has recorded albums in a Scottish church and a disused lighthouse. Martin Stephenson currently lives in the highlands in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

Discography

Stephenson's albums have been released on various UK and US labels, including

Kitchenware :'' For a record label, see Kitchenware Records'' Kitchenware are the tools, utensils, appliances, dishes, and cookware used in food preparation, or the serving of food. Kitchenware can also be used in order to hold or store food before or af ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Capitol USA, Floating World Records, Fresh Ear Records, Ramseur, and most recently, his Barbaraville label with Voiceprint.

Martin Stephenson and The Daintees albums

*'' Boat to Bolivia'' (1986) *'' Gladsome, Humour & Blue'' (1988) # 39

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

*''Salutation Road'' (1990) *''The Boy's Heart'' (1992) *''Live in the 21st Century'' (2001) *''Western Eagle'' (2008) *''Live at Town & Country Club, Camden Town 1990'' (2011) *'' California Star'' (2012) *''Haunted Highway'' (2015) *''Boat to Bolivia 30th Anniversary Edition'' (new recording) (2016) *''Bayswater Road'' (2017) *''Gladsome, Humour & Blue 30th Anniversary Edition'' (new recording) (2018) *''Chi Chi and the Jaguar'' (2019) *''Salutation Road 30th Anniversary Edition'' (new recording) (2020) *''The Boy's Heart 30th Anniversary Edition'' (new recording) (2021) *''Howdy Honcho'' (2021)

Compilation albums

*''There Comes a Time – The Best Of...'' (1993)

With others or solo albums

*''High Bells Ring Thin'' (1993) *''Yogi in My House'' (1995) *''Sweet Misdemeanour'' (1995) *''Beyond The Leap, Beyond The Law'' (1997) *''Martin Stephenson'' (1998) *''When It's Gone, It's Gone'' *''Red Man's in Town'' *''Songs for the Floating World'' *''The Lilac Tree'' (1999) *''The Lilac Tree'' (different version with alt. recordings and track listing) *''The Church & The Minidisc'' *''The Disciples of Merle & Doc'' *''The Incredible Shrinking Band'' *''Collective Force'' (2002) *''Down to the Wood'' *''The Well of Harmony'' *''The Haint of the Budded Rose'' *''Airdrie'' *''Live at Lincoln Cathedral'' (2005 and DVD) *''Live at The New Roscoe'' (DVD, 2005) *''Wheel of Fortune'' (2005) *''Hell's Half Acre'' *''High 7 Moon 5'' *''Hamilton Square'' (with

Helen McCookerybook Helen McCookerybook (born Helen McCallum, a.k.a. Dr Helen Reddington) is a British musician and singer-songwriter, who was the bass player and co-singer with The Chefs (an acclaimed Brighton based punk rock, punk band), during the late 1970s and ...

) *''Beyond Leap'' (2011) *''Welcome to Scullyville'' (2011) *''Rock'N'Roll Jamboree'' (2011) (as Stephenson's Rockets) *''Your Kinda People, My Kinda Folk'' (2011) (as Martin & Shippy) *''Bolivia'' (2011) (acoustic versions from "Boat to Bolivia") *''Gladsome'' (2011) (acoustic versions from "Gladsome, Humour and Blue") *''Salutation Road'' (2011) (acoustic versions from "Salutation Road") *''Boy's Heart'' (2011) (acoustic versions from "The Boy's Heart") *''Cafe of Tiny Kindnesses'' (2012) (with

) *''The Skip Sessions'' (DVD – 2012) (with Gipsy Dave Smith) *''Bolivia'' (DVD – 2012) *''Surf 7'' (2013)

Martin Stephenson and The Daintees singles and EPs

*"Roll on Summertime" (1984) *"Trouble Town" (1984) *"Crocodile Cryer" (1986) *"Slow Lovin'" (1986) *''Inferno EP'' (1986) *"Boat to Bolivia" (1986) *"There Comes a Time" (1988) *"Wholly Humble Heart" (1988) *"Left Us to Burn" (1990) *"Endurance" (1990) *"Big Sky New Light" (1992) The 7" and CD single B-sides from "Big Sky New Light" were the remains of an unreleased solo album at the time, but that album was subsequently released in 1993 as ''High Bells Ring Thin''. In addition, there have been a number of unofficial, but sanctioned releases, through Stephenson's fan community. These comprise old

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

or live recordings.

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial Bandcamp page
* *
Martin Stephenson and the Daintees
at

Voiceprint Records Voiceprint Records was a British independent record label based in England, founded in November 1990 by Rob Ayling. They specialised in re-releasing old material, especially progressive rock, but also had new releases, under the Resurgence and B ...

{{Authority control English rock music groups English folk rock groups Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups from Sunderland