Katmandu were a short-lived British

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

band, formed in 1983, featuring Peter Green,

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 ...

, Len Surtees and

Vincent Crane Vincent Rodney Cheesman (21 May 194314 February 1989), known professionally as Vincent Crane, was an English keyboardist, best known as the organist for the Crazy World of Arthur Brown (he was a co-writer of that group's 1968 hit single "Fire") ...

. After releasing one album, the group split the following year.

Formation

Katmandu were formed when ex-

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

leader Peter Green became dissatisfied with his solo career and his band Kolors, and looked to form a new band with new musicians. Retaining Kolors percussionist Jeff Whittaker, he made contact with former

Mungo Jerry Mungo Jerry (formerly known as Mungo Jerry Blues Band) are a British rock band formed by Ray Dorset in Ashford, Middlesex, in 1970. Experiencing their greatest success in the early 1970s, with a changing line-up always fronted by Dorset, the ...

frontman Ray Dorset through a mutual acquaintance, and they met up at Dorset's Satellite Studio, where he was running a video and commercials production company. During a

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

, one of Dorset's clients from a Swiss company made an offer to fund recording sessions and an album, providing £120,000 for this purpose.

Recording and split

Green, Dorset and Whittaker were joined by former

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keyboardist Vincent Crane, along with bassist Len Surtees (ex-

The Nashville Teens The Nashville Teens are an English rock band, formed in Surrey in 1962. They are best known for their 1964 hit single " Tobacco Road", a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom and Canada, and a Top 20 hit in the United States. Career While playing ...

) and drummer Greg Terry-Short (ex-

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

), and recorded an album during December 1983 and January 1984. '' A Case for the Blues'' was not released until 1985, but by then the group had already split up. According to Whittaker, Green had enjoyed recording the album but became disillusioned over Dorset's handling of the group's finances and refused to work with him again. Green reformed his band Kolors in the summer of 1984, retaining Whittaker and Terry-Short, but by the end of the year the band had disintegrated, and Green began a period of 12 years of musical inactivity. Thus the Katmandu project represents Green's last recorded work before the

Peter Green Splinter Group The Peter Green Splinter Group were a blues band formed in 1996, fronted by guitarist and singer Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green was the leader of Fleetwood Mac until 1970. He suffered a mental breakdown during the 1970s and was rehab ...

's first album in 1997, apart from one track recorded with

Mick Green Michael Robert Green (22 February 1944 – 11 January 2010) was an English rock and roll guitarist who played with Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, The Pirates (with and without Johnny Kidd (singer), Johnny Kidd), Billy J. Kramer The Dakotas (band), ...

in 1986.

Later releases

''A Case for the Blues'' has been re-released several times, sometimes as a Peter Green solo album, such as the 1987 release on the Original Masters label. Other releases credit the album to Peter Green and Friends.

Personnel

* Peter Green – vocals, guitar, harmonica, drums *

– vocals, guitar, bass guitar, harmonica *

– keyboards *Len Surtees – bass guitar *Greg Terry-Short – drums *Jeff Whittaker – vocals, percussion, drums

References

External links

* {{Authority control English blues musical groups Electric blues musicians English pop music groups English rock music groups Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups from London