Beggars Opera was a Scottish

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 ...

band from

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, formed in 1969 by guitarist Ricky Gardiner (born 31 August 1948,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland), vocalist Martin Griffiths (born 8 October 1949, Newcastle upon Tyne), and bassist Marshall Erskine (bass/flute). After working together building parts of the M40 Motorway near Beaconsfield, the three lads moved back to Glasgow to look for an organist and drummer and recruited Alan Park (keyboards) (born 10 May 1951,

, Scotland) and Raymond Wilson (drums). After an intensive time in rehearsal, they took up residency at Burns Howff club/pub in West Regent Street in the centre of Glasgow. Tours of Europe followed and the band found success in Germany, appearing on German TV's legendary ''

Beat-Club ''Beat-Club'' was a West German music programme that ran from September 1965 to December 1972. It was broadcast from Bremen, West Germany on ''Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen'', the national public TV channel of the ARD, and produced by one of its m ...

'', then at the first British Rock Meeting in

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

in September 1971.Larkin C ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) ) p45

History

In 1970, after signing to

Vertigo Records Vertigo Records is a British record company. It was a subsidiary of the Philips/Phonogram record label, launched in 1969 to specialise in progressive rock and other non-mainstream musical styles. Today, it is operated by Universal Music Group#B ...

, the band recorded their first album, '' Act One'', and a single, "Sarabande", which charted in several European countries. The following year, for their second album, '' Waters of Change'', the band were joined by Virginia Scott (mellotron) and Gordon Sellar (bass) (born 13 June 1947,

). The single "Time Machine" from that album was successful in Germany, where the band toured extensively. Erskine left the band before they recorded their third album, ''

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'' (1972), which included a cover version of

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. Having studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, he rose to prominence as an icon of the British New Wave. He received numerous a ...

' hit "

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". Several other personnel changes ensued, with Pete Scott replacing Griffiths in 1972, and Linnie Paterson replacing Pete Scott in 1973. By 1973's final album, ''Get Your Dog Off Me'', Beggars Opera were reduced to a trio of Gardiner, Park and Sellar. In 1974/76 a new version of Beggars Opera recorded two albums for Jupiter Records in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

: ''Sagittary'', featuring Gardiner (guitar), Pete Scott (vocals), Virginia Scott (

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

) (born 1948, Glasgow, Scotland) and Mike Travis (drums), and ''Beggars Can't Be Choosers'' with

Clem Cattini Clemente Anselmo Agustino Cattini (born 20 August 1937) is an English rock and roll drummer of the late 1950s and 60s, who was a member of The Tornados before becoming well known for his work as a session musician. He is one of the most prolifi ...

replacing Travis on drums. Gardiner went on to play for

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on the ''

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'' album, and with

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

on the '' Lust for Life'' album as well as his ''

Idiot An idiot, in modern use, is a stupid or foolish person. "Idiot" was formerly a technical term in legal and psychiatric contexts for some kinds of profound intellectual disability where the mental age is two years or less, and the person cannot ...

'' tour of 1976. He co-wrote " The Passenger" with Iggy Pop. Alan Park (organist) worked with

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

for many years as musical director. Griffiths sang and was compere in the working men's clubs in and around Manchester until he left for Germany in 1974. He went on tour and worked with

Brian Auger Brian Albert Gordon Auger (born 18 July 1939) is an English jazz rock and rock keyboardist who specialises in the Hammond organ. Auger has worked with Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, John McLaughlin, Sonny Boy Williamson, Eric B ...

Osibisa Osibisa is a Ghanaian-Caribbean Afro rock band founded in London in the late 1960s by four expatriate West African and three London-based Caribbean musicians. Osibisa was the most successful and longest lived of the African-heritage bands in ...

Ekseption Ekseption was a Dutch rock band active from 1967 to 1989, playing mostly-instrumental progressive rock and Classical crossover, classical rock. The central character in the changing roster, and the only band member present on every album, was con ...

Klaus Doldinger Klaus Doldinger (; born 12 May 1936) is a German saxophonist known for his work in jazz and as a film music composer. He was the recipient of the 1997's Bavarian Film Awards. He is also a frequent collaborator of German filmmaker Wolfgang Pet ...

, Ange and Can before signing a recording contract with Jupiter Records (Ralph Siegel) releasing three singles: "I’ll Be Coming Home", ”Sitting on the Dock of the Bay" and "Israelites", which reached number 3 in the German Disco Charts in 1977.

Discography

*1970 '' Act One'' *1971 '' Waters of Change'' *1972 ''

'' *1973 ''Get Your Dog Off Me!'' *1974 ''Sagittary'' *1975 ''Beggars Can't Be Choosers'' *1980 ''Lifeline'' *1996 ''The Final Curtain'' (compilation) *2007 ''Close to My Heart'' *2009 ''Touching the Edge'' *2010 ''All Tomorrows Thinking'' *2010 ''Suddenly Ahead Ahead'' *2011 ''Lose a Life'' ( EP) *2011 ''Promise in Motion'' *2012 ''Mrs. Calagari's Lighter''

References

;Notes ;Bibliography *''Big Noise: The History of Scottish Rock 'n' Roll as Told by the People Who Made It'' by Martin Keilty.

External links

Beggars Opera website
* * {{Authority control Scottish progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 1976 1969 establishments in Scotland 1976 disestablishments in Scotland Rock music groups from Glasgow Scottish rock music groups Vertigo Records artists Verve_Records_artists