Flaming Youth were a British rock band, active in the late 1960s. They were not commercially successful and are now remembered primarily as

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

' first band that had a recording deal.

Career

In 1969, American singer John Walker, of

the Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an American pop group formed in Los Angeles in 1964 by John Walker (musician), John Walker (real name John Maus) and Scott Walker (singer), Scott Walker (real name Noel Scott Engel), with Gary Walker (musician), Gary Wal ...

, toured in England, and was accompanied by keyboardist Brian Chatton, bassist Gordon "Flash" Smith, guitarist

Ronnie Caryl Ronnie Caryl (10 February 1953 – 18 December 2023) was an English guitarist who was a member of the band Flaming Youth. Over the years Caryl worked alongside Phil Collins, plus David Hentschel, Michel Polnareff, Lulu, Stephen Bishop, Eric ...

and drummer

. After the tour, they decided to go on together, calling themselves Hickory, and recorded a single in 1969, "Green Light/The Key". The group met songwriters

Ken Howard Kenneth Joseph Howard Jr. (March 28, 1944 – March 23, 2016) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in ''1776'' (1972) and as high school basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the televisi ...

and

Alan Blaikley Alan Tudor Blaikley (23 March 1940 – 4 July 2022) was an English songwriter and composer, best known for writing a series of international hits in the 1960s and 1970s in collaboration with Ken Howard, including the UK number one hits " Have ...

, who were looking for a band to record an album they were working on, so they changed their name to Flaming Youth. They released the album '' Ark 2'' in 1969. In November, ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

'' reported that the

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

was the subject of an hour-long television special, which the group had filmed 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 ...

. The LP was released on

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. Fontana Distribution, an independent label distributor, takes its name from the label. History Fontana began in the 1950s as a subsidi ...

in the UK to some critical but no commercial success. There was also a follow-up

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

recorded, "Man, Woman, and Child". The band had difficulty getting gigs; organist Rod Mayall (

John Mayall John Brumwell Mayall (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) was an English blues and Rock music, rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of ...

's brother) briefly joined the band before they broke up in early 1970.

Aftermath

Collins and Caryl together auditioned for

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

the following year and Collins joined the band. Although Caryl did not pass his audition, he played at a concert with them at Aylesbury just before they recruited

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English guitarist who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis (band), Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis studio albums, three l ...

. Caryl later played with Collins as rhythm guitarist on his solo tours. After he left Flaming Youth, Chatton joined

Jackson Heights Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the borough of Queens in New York City. Jackson Heights is neighbored by North Corona to the east, Elmhurst to the south, Woodside to the west, and today northern Astoria ( Ditm ...

with Lee Jackson, bassist and singer of

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 ...

, along with multi-instrumentalist John McBurnie. They recorded three albums together. Chatton's solo album ''Playing for Time'' featured Collins on drums.

Citations

General and cited references

* *

External links

Ronnie Caryl Official Biography
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flaming Youth 1969 establishments in the United Kingdom 1970 disestablishments in the United Kingdom British rock music groups Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 1970 Phil Collins