The Churchills was one of the first

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i rock bands, formed by

Yitzhak Klepter Yitzhak Klepter (; 31 March 1950 – 8 December 2022) was an Israeli singer, composer and guitarist. He was a pioneer of Israeli rock, and had several collaborations with Israeli artists such as Arik Einstein and Gidi Gov. Biography Yitzhak Kl ...

. They later became the backing band of

Arik Einstein Arieh Lieb "Arik" Einstein ( ; (3 January 1939 – 26 November 2013) was an Israeli singer, songwriter, actor, comedian and screenwriter. He was a pioneer of Israeli rock music and was named "the voice of Israel." Through both high public and c ...

on his late 1960s and early 1970s rock efforts which helped the genre breakthrough in Israel.

History

The Churchills was founded in 1965. The band played

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

in English, from

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

and

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 ...

. Outside of Israel, it was active under the aliases of ''Jericho Jones'' and ''Jericho''. The band was a leading force in the early Israeli beat scene, but it was its cooperation with

that helped it cross over to the mainstream of Israeli pop and gain recognition. It began when the Churchills were invited to work with Einstein on his third solo album ''Poozy'', recorded in 1969. This is considered by many to be the first rock album in Hebrew. The Churchills played on half of the tracks in that album, one of which was a Hebrew version of one of their own songs ("When You're Gone"). Following ''Poozy'', the Churchills also played with Einstein in his gigs, and continued to play and produce three more albums with Einstein: ''Shablul'' (1970), ''Plastelina'' (1970) and ''On Avigdor's Grass'' (1971). Contributing to the Churchills' sound at the time was the joining of two foreign members: Canadian vocalist Stan Solomon and British guitarist Robb Huxley (formerly with

The Tornados The Tornados were an English instrumental rock group of the 1960s that acted as backing group for many of record producer Joe Meek's productions and also for singer Billy Fury. They enjoyed several chart hits in their own right, including ...

). The A-side of their last single, ''Time is Now'', was written by

Ray Dorset Raymond Edward Dorset (born 21 March 1946) is a British guitarist, singer, songwriter, and founder of Mungo Jerry. He composed most of the songs for the band, including the hit record, hit single (music), singles "In the Summertime", "Baby Ju ...

, who included his own version on his solo album

Cold Blue Excursion ''Cold Blue Excursion'' was a solo album recorded by Ray Dorset, leader of Mungo Jerry. The majority of the group's songs at the time were good-time blues, skiffle and rock’n’roll, and these songs on the solo album, written by him during the ...

Band members

* First Ensemble (1965–1967) ** Selwyn Lifshitz – vocals **

– guitars ** Haim Romano – guitars **

Miki Gavrielov Miki Gavrielov (; born 1949) is an Israeli composer and performer of folk/rock music. His career spans many decades, beginning with being a member of rock group The Churchills. He is known for a long collaboration with Arik Einstein. Many of t ...

– bass ** Ami Traibetch – drums * Second Ensemble (1968–1969) ** Haim Romano – guitars **

– bass ** Ami Traibetch – drums ** Stan Solomon – lead vocals ** Robb Huxley – guitars, backing vocals * Third Ensemble (1969–1972) ** Haim Romano – guitars **

– bass ** Ami Traibetch – drums ** Robb Huxley – guitars, backing vocals ** Dani Shoshan – lead vocals * Fourth Ensemble (1972–1973) ** Haim Romano – lead guitar ** Robb Huxley – rhythm guitar, backing vocals ** Dani Shoshan – bass, lead vocals ** Chris Perry – drums * Fifth Ensemble (1972–1973) (as The New Churchills) **

– bass ** Ami Traibetch – drums ** Roni Demol – guitars ** Shmulik Bodgov – guitars

Discography

Albums

* 1968 ''Cherchilim'' (צ'רצ'ילים, "Churchill's") - Tracks: "Open Up Your Eyes"/"Song From The Sea"/"Pictures in my Mind"/"Comics"/"When You're Gone"/"Strangulation"/"Straight People"/"Subsequent Finale"/"So Alone Today"/"Debka" * 1971 As ''Jericho Jones'': Junkies, Monkeys and Donkeys - Tracks: Mare Tranquilitatas / Man in the Crowd / There Is Always a Train/ Yellow and Blue / Freedom / Trangulum / No School to Day / Junkies Monkeys & Donkeys / What Have We Got to Lose / Mama's Gonna Take You Home * 1972 As ''Jericho'': Jericho - Tracks: "Ethiopia"/"Don't You Let Me Down"/"Featherbed"/"Justin And Nova"/"Kill Me With Your Love"

Singles

* 1968 "Too Much In Love To Hear" (Gale/Holder)/"Talk To Me" (A-side first recorded by

) * 1970 ''Churchill Sebastian Bach: Coral for Young Lovers/Double Concerto'' (צ'רצ'יל סבסטיאן באך: קוראל לאוהבים הצעירים/קונצ'רטו כפול) * 1970 "Signs of You"/"Living Loving" * 1970 "She's a Woman"/"Sunshine Man" * 1971 "Time is Now"/"Freedom" * 2021 "Dangerous People"

Collaborations

* 1969

– ''Poozy'' * 1970 Arik Einstein &

Shalom Hanoch Shalom Hanoch (; born September 1, 1946) is an Israeli rock singer, lyricist and composer. He is considered one of the founders of Israeli rock and modern Israeli music in more generally, both of which have been profoundly influenced by his w ...

– ''Shablul'' * 1970 Arik Einstein & Shalom Hanoch – ''Plastelina'' * 1970 Oshik Levi – ''Kzat Sheket'' * 1971 Pupik Arnon – ''Kol Ehad'' * 1971 Arik Einstein & Robb Huxley – ''Shirei Yeladim'' * 1971 Arik Einstein & Miki Gavrielov – ''BaDeshe Etzel Avigdor'' * 1973 Arik Einstein – ''Eretz Israel HaYeshana VeHaTova''

References

External links

* *
Richard Klin: "Israeli Gears"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Churchills, The Israeli rock music groups Musical groups established in 1965 Musical groups disestablished in 1973 1965 establishments in Israel 1973 disestablishments in Israel Beat groups