Fat Mattress
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Fat Mattress were an English rock band that formed in
Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...
in 1968. Founded by guitarist and vocalist
Noel Redding Noel David Redding (25 December 1945 – 11 May 2003) was an English rock musician, best known as the bass player for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and guitarist/singer for Fat Mattress. Following his departure from the Experience in 1969 a ...
, during his time as bassist for
The Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
, and vocalist
Neil Landon Neil Landon (born Patrick Cahill, 26 July 1941 – 26 March 2020) was an English singer, who has been credited with singing on a number of hits in the UK Singles Chart. In addition, he was a singer and songwriter with the band Fat Mattre ...
, the band was completed by multi-instrumentalist
Jim Leverton Jim Leverton (born 6 June 1946, Dover, Kent, England) is an English professional musician, with a career spanning nearly fifty years, including as a sidesman to the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Noel Redding, Steve Marriott, Blodwyn Pig and the Ca ...
, drummer Eric Dillon and keyboardist
Mick Weaver Mick Weaver (born 16 June 1944, Bolton, Lancashire, England) is an English session musician, best known for his playing of the Hammond B3 organ. Career Weaver's band performed as Wynder K. Frog and became popular on the student union and club ...
. The band released two albums – '' Fat Mattress'' and '' Fat Mattress II'' – before splitting up in 1970.


History

Fat Mattress was formed in late 1968 by Noel Redding with vocalist
Neil Landon Neil Landon (born Patrick Cahill, 26 July 1941 – 26 March 2020) was an English singer, who has been credited with singing on a number of hits in the UK Singles Chart. In addition, he was a singer and songwriter with the band Fat Mattre ...
, bass guitarist
Jim Leverton Jim Leverton (born 6 June 1946, Dover, Kent, England) is an English professional musician, with a career spanning nearly fifty years, including as a sidesman to the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Noel Redding, Steve Marriott, Blodwyn Pig and the Ca ...
and drummer Eric Dillon. Redding (from Folkestone) and Leverton (from Dover) had been involved in the flourishing early 1960s group scene in South East Kent which also included Landon (who hailed originally from
Kirdford Kirdford is a village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. Its nearest town is Petworth, located southwest of the village. The parish has an area of . In the 2001 census 912 people lived in 373 households, of wh ...
,
Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...
). Dillon (from
Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...
,
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
) was brought in by Leverton who had met him while playing in Engelbert Humperdinck's
backing band A backup band or backing band is a Band (music), musical ensemble that typically Accompaniment, accompanies a single artist who is the featured performer. The situation may be a live performance or in a Studio recording, recording session, and the ...
. The band was formed while Redding was a member of the
Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
, with a view to enabling Redding to play guitar and to sing lead, as well as to record original material. While he had done all three things with the Experience, they were restricted to rare occasions. Unterberger, Richie. Biography of Fat Mattress ''
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
''
Martin Barre Martin Lancelot Barre (; born 17 November 1946) is an English guitarist best known for his longtime role as lead guitarist of British rock band Jethro Tull, with whom he recorded and toured from 1968 until the band's initial dissolution in 201 ...
was briefly a member of the band, but soon left to replace Mick Abrahams in Jethro Tull. The first major public exposure of the band was as the opening act to the Jimi Hendrix Experience on a tour of the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, during which Redding performed with both bands. Landon, Redding, and Leverton all sang lead, allowing the group to employ vocal harmonies. The group was signed to
Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...
and released the
eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...
''Fat Mattress'' album in 1969. The album was modestly successful, with one song, "Magic Forest" becoming a hit in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. In August 1969, the band made an appearance at the
Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport, Isle of Wight, Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a Counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. Th ...
in front of a crowd of an estimated 120,000 people. The line-up also included
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
&
The Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...
,
The Nice The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock, jazz and classical music. Keyboardist Keith Emerson, bassist Lee Jackson (bassist), Lee Jackson, guitarist David O'List, and drummer Ian Hague ori ...
,
The Pretty Things ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
,
The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...
, and the
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as the Bonzo Dog Band or the Bonzos) was created by a group of British Art school, art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelic music, psychedelia with sur ...
.Robinson, Alan (February 2000). "Fat Mattress". In ''Black Sheep of the Family'' D booklet Chessington: Castle Music Ltd. On 27 September 1969, Fat Mattress (along with The Who) appeared on the
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
TV show, ''
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 ...
''. They performed three songs; "Naturally", "Mr. Moonshine" and "Magic Forest". On 22 February 1970, Fat Mattress headlined over
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
's new band
Hype HYPE is a Polish PocketQube nanosatellite developed by students at the AGH University of Krakow designed with a " selfie-stick" to image a 240x240px OLED screen on the satellite's surface. At the time of its launch onboard the Falcon 9 Transpor ...
at the Roundhouse, a gig later described by 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 ...
as "arguably ... mark ngthe birth of
glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...
." A major U.S. tour was cancelled after completing only five dates of an initially anticipated 30. In the midst of recording ''Fat Mattress II'', Redding and Leverton had a falling out, resulting in Redding's departure from the band. He was replaced by Steve Hammond at roughly the same time as Mick Weaver was added to relieve Leverton on keyboard duties, allowing Leverton to focus on bass and vocals. ''Fat Mattress II'' was less of a success than their debut, and the band split in the middle of recording what would have been their third album.


Band members

*
Neil Landon Neil Landon (born Patrick Cahill, 26 July 1941 – 26 March 2020) was an English singer, who has been credited with singing on a number of hits in the UK Singles Chart. In addition, he was a singer and songwriter with the band Fat Mattre ...
vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
(1968–1970; died 2020) *
Jim Leverton Jim Leverton (born 6 June 1946, Dover, Kent, England) is an English professional musician, with a career spanning nearly fifty years, including as a sidesman to the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Noel Redding, Steve Marriott, Blodwyn Pig and the Ca ...
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
, vocals,
harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...
,
organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...
(1968–1970) *Eric Dillon –
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
,
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...
(1968–1970) *
Noel Redding Noel David Redding (25 December 1945 – 11 May 2003) was an English rock musician, best known as the bass player for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and guitarist/singer for Fat Mattress. Following his departure from the Experience in 1969 a ...
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
, vocals (1968–1970; died 2003) *Steve Hammond – guitar (1970; died 1994) *
Mick Weaver Mick Weaver (born 16 June 1944, Bolton, Lancashire, England) is an English session musician, best known for his playing of the Hammond B3 organ. Career Weaver's band performed as Wynder K. Frog and became popular on the student union and club ...
– keyboards (1970)


Discography


Studio albums

*'' Fat Mattress'' (1969) U.S. No. 134 *'' Fat Mattress II'' (1970)


Compilation albums

*'' The Black Sheep of the Family: The Anthology'' (2000) *'' Magic Forest: The Anthology'' (2006)


Singles

*from ''Fat Mattress'': **"Magic Forest"/"Petrol Pump Assistant" (1969) *from ''Fat Mattress II'': **"Naturally"/"Iridescent Butterfly" (1969) **"Highway"/"Black Sheep of the Family" (1970) *Non-album singles: **"Magic Lanterns"/"Bright New Way" (1970)


References


Further reading

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1968 English folk rock groups English progressive rock groups English psychedelic rock music groups Musical groups disestablished in 1970 People from Folkestone Atco Records artists Musical groups from Kent