Edgar Broughton Band were a 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 ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band founded in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

in 1968, and in their initial form were operative through to 1976. The group were also a significant influence on the emerging politically conscious and spiritually aware

proto punk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock genre and movement. A retrospective label, the musicians involved were generally not originally associated with each other and came from a variet ...

scene of the 1970s. They were a

power trio A power trio is a rock band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit, leaving out a dedicated vocalist or an additional rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...

consisting of brothers Edgar (vocals and guitar) and Steve Broughton (drums) with Arthur Grant (bass), which was augmented at various times by a second guitarist and/or keyboardist, significantly Victor Unitt. They released five studio albums, including '' Sing Brother Sing'' (

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

#18), and six singles, including " Out Demons Out" ( UK Singles Chart #39), on the EMI Harvest label and one further studio album for NEMS. The group reformed from 1978 to 1982, initially renamed as The Broughtons, issuing two more studio albums, and again from 2006 to 2010 with Edgar's son Luke for live appearances only.

Career

The band started their career as a

group under the name of The Edgar Broughton Blues Band, playing to a small following in the region around their hometown of

. However, the band began to lean towards the emerging

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

movement, dropping the 'Blues' from their name as well as their music. In 1968, the Edgar Broughton Band moved to

Notting Hill Gate Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in Inner London. Historically the street was a location for Tollbooth, toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossingto ...

, London, seeking a recording contract and a wider audience, and were picked up by

Blackhill Enterprises Blackhill Enterprises was a rock music management company, founded as a partnership by the four original members of Pink Floyd ( Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright), with Peter Jenner and Andrew King. Blackhill were the ...

. Blackhill arranged their first record deal, on

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

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 ...

label

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

, in December 1968. Their first single was "Evil"/"Death of an Electric Citizen", released in June 1969, which was also the first single released by Harvest. The first single was followed by the Edgar Broughton Band's debut album, '' Wasa Wasa''. ''Wasa Wasa'' retained a heavily blues influenced sound that was hard-driven and propelled by Edgar Broughton's gritty vocal style, which was similar to that of

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...

and

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

. The Broughtons entered into an attempt to capture their live sound on record by organising a performance at

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969, by Apple Records. It is the last album the group recorded, although '' Let It Be'' (1970) was the last album completed before th ...

on 9 December 1969. Only one track was released at the time: a rendition of " Out Demons Out", an adaptation of

The Fugs The Fugs are an American rock band formed in New York City in late 1964, by the poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg, with Ken Weaver (musician), Ken Weaver on drums. Soon afterward, they were joined by Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber of the Holy ...

' song "Exorcising the Demons Out Of the Pentagon", which had become the band's set-closer and anthem. The rest of the recording was lost until its rediscovery and release in a remixed form in 2004 as ''Keep Them Freaks a Rollin': Live at Abbey Road 1969''. The band's touring attracted some controversy from a series of free concerts at locations such as children's playgrounds, and from a number of cases of

civil disorder Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, civil strife, or turmoil, are situations when law enforcement and security forces struggle to Public order policing, maintain public order or tranquility. Causes Any number of thin ...

occurring at their shows. The most notorious incidents were a show in

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority. It is in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England, and is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdiv ...

at which a fight broke out between audience members and led to violent police intervention, and a show in

Keele Keele is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is approximately west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village of Silverdale. Keele lies on the A53 road from Newcastle to ...

where the audience

vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vandal ...

ised the venue using paint given to them by the band. Though the band denied doing anything to incite any of these incidents (in the case of Keele, Edgar Broughton admitted to giving paint to the audience but argued that "we didn't tell them to do anything with it"), several towns banned the group's concerts. The Edgar Broughton Band kept recording, releasing the live performance of "Out Demons, Out!" as a single (b/w "Momma's Reward (Keep Those Freaks a Rollin')") and following it, in June 1970, with the album '' Sing Brother Sing''. This was accompanied by the single "Up Yours!" (b/w "Officer Dan"), a

polemic Polemic ( , ) is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called polemics, which are seen in arguments on controversial to ...

on the 1970 General Election declaring their intention to drop out. The song featured a

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arrangement by

David Bedford David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter ...

. Their next single, "

Apache The Apache ( ) are several Southern Athabaskan language-speaking peoples of the Southwestern United States, Southwest, the Southern Plains and Northern Mexico. They are linguistically related to the Navajo. They migrated from the Athabascan ho ...

Dropout", combined

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters between 1958 and 1959) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the pre-Beatles era from the late 1950s to the early 1960s. They served as the bac ...

' "

" with

's "Drop Out Boogie".

Jerry Lordan Jeremiah Patrick Lordan (30 April 1934 – 24 July 1995) was an English songwriter, composer and singer. He had three hit singles on the UK Singles Chart before focusing purely on songwriting. Amongst his songwriting credits were the cha ...

, the composer of "Apache", insisted that the title be "Apache Dropout" instead of the original "Drop out Apache". The single reached No. 33 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1971, the band decided that existence as a

was limiting, and asked Victor Unitt, who had been playing meanwhile in

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 ...

, to rejoin the band. In May, with the new lineup, they released their eponymous third album, which contained "Evening Over Rooftops" (again with strings by David Bedford). ''

Edgar Broughton Band Edgar Broughton Band were a British blues rock band founded in Warwick in 1968, and in their initial form were operative through to 1976. The group were also a significant influence on the emerging politically conscious and spiritually aware ...

'' contained heavy

and even

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

influences. The album was followed by the release of the

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

"Hotel Room"/"Call Me A Liar". The single failed to chart, but the album sold well throughout Europe, especially in Germany. With the success of their third album, the Edgar Broughton Band relocated to

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

to begin recording for their next album, '' In Side Out''. The band then recorded their fifth album, '' Oora'', in 1972; following the release of this album Unitt departed the band. In 1975 the band signed to NEMS. In the same year, John Thomas joined the band on guitar for the Broughtons' sixth album, ''

Bandages A bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support for the movement of a part of the body. When used with a dressing, the dressing is applied directly on ...

''. This featured a softer sound than previous releases. Shortly after the release of ''Bandages'', John Thomas left and was replaced by Terry Cottam. In 1976, having recorded the live album ''Live Hits Harder'' (which was not released until 1979), the Edgar Broughton Band dissolved. However, Edgar and Steve Broughton together with Grant regrouped as The Broughtons to release '' Parlez-Vous English?'' in 1979, with Tom Nordon and Pete Tolson (ex-

Pretty Things Pretty Things were an English Rock music, rock band formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent, taking their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing", and active in their first incarnation until 1971. They released five studio albums, i ...

) playing guitar and Richard de Bastion on keyboards. This was the Band's first adventure into a fuller, more orchestral style of

heavy rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard rock mu ...

. Pete Tolson was not retained after the release of the album and was replaced by John Thomas for the two years of European touring that followed. Tom Nordon appears again, along with keyboardists Duncan Bridgeman and Dennis Haynes, on '' Superchip'', released in 1982. After this the band dissolved again; recording no more studio material but touring infrequently throughout the 1980s and 1990s. A mini-tour in 1989 included a gig at

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

in London. The band reformed properly once again in 2006, with Edgar's son Luke joining on keyboards and guitar, after the re-issue of their back catalogue had stimulated new interest in their work. They had a mini tour of England and Germany then completed a European tour in 2007, including an appearance at the German . The Edgar Broughton Band disbanded once again in 2010, with Edgar Broughton opting to continue to perform as a solo artist. Steve Broughton died on 29 May 2022.

Personnel

* Edgar Broughton – lead vocals, guitars, keyboards, percussion, bass (1968–1976, 1978–1982, 1989, 2006–2010) * Steve Broughton – drums, percussion, vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards (1968–1976, 1978–1982, 1989, 2006–2010) * Arthur Grant – bass, vocals, guitars, keyboards, percussion (1968–1976, 1978–1982, 1989, 2006–2010) * Victor Unitt – guitars, keyboards, vocals (1971–1973) * Digger Davies – lead guitar (1975) * Richard Moore – guitar, vocals (1975) Norway tour * John Thomas – guitars, bass, vocals (1975–1976, 1979–1981) * Terry Cottam – guitars, vocals (1976) * Tom Nordon – guitars, vocals (1978–1982) * Richard de Bastion – keyboards, vocals (1978–1981) * Pete Tolson – guitars (1978–1979) * Duncan Bridgeman – keyboards (1981–1982) * Dennis Haynes – keyboards, vocals (1981–1982) * Philip James Manchester – keyboards (1981) * John Wesley Barker – keyboards (1987) * Luke Broughton – keyboards, guitars, vocals (2006–2010) * Andrew Taylor – guitars, vocals (2006–2008) * Dave Cox – guitars (2008–2010)

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Discography

Studio albums

*'' Wasa Wasa'' (1969) *'' Sing Brother Sing'' (1970) – No. 18 UK *''

'' (1971) – No. 28 UK *'' In Side Out'' (1972) *'' Oora'' (1973) *''

'' (1976) ;The Broughtons *''Parlez-Vous English?'' (1979) *'' Superchip: The Final Silicon Solution?'' (1982)

Compilations

*''A Bunch of 45s'' (1975) *''The Legendary Edgar Broughton Band'' (1984) *''Out Demons Out: The Best of the Edgar Broughton Band'' (1986) *''As Was: The Best of the Edgar Broughton Band'' (1988) *''Classic Album and Single Tracks 1969–73'' (1992) *''The Very Best of the Edgar Broughton Band – Out Demons Out!'' (2001) *''Bandages & Chilly Mornings'' (2006) *''The Harvest Years 1969–1973'' (2011). 4-CD boxset. The Edgar Broughton Band has also appeared on several

compilations: *''

Picnic – A Breath of Fresh Air ''Picnic – A Breath of Fresh Air'' is a sampler issued by the Harvest Records label, originally released in 1970 and notable for including the previously unreleased Pink Floyd song, "Embryo". The similarly-entitled ''A Breath of Fresh Air – ...

'' (1970) *''The Harvest Bag'' (1971) *''Harvest Sweeties'' (1971) *''Harvest Heritage 20 Greats'' (1977) *''Harvest Festival'' (1999)

Live albums

*''Live Hits Harder'' (1979) *''Chilly Morning Mama'' – Live (1998) *''Demons at the Beeb, Live'' (2000) *''Keep Them Freaks a Rollin': Live at Abbey Road 1969'' (2004) *''Live at Rockpalast 2006'' (2008) *''Live at The Monarch'' (2014)

Singles

*"Evil" / "Death of an Electric Citizen" (1969) *" Out Demons Out" / "Momma's Reward" (1970) – No. 39 UK *"Up Yours!" / "Officer Dan" (1970) *"Apache Drop Out" / "Freedom" (1971) – No. 33 UK *"Hotel Room" / "Call Me a Liar" (1971) *"Gone Blue" / "Someone" / "Mr. Crosby" (1972)

DVDs

*''Live at Rockpalast'' (2006) – performance by the band for German television.

References

External links

A review of an Edgar Broughton Band gig in 1998

Edgar Broughton Yahoo Group

Edgar Broughton – official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edgar Broughton Band, The People from Warwick Musical groups established in 1968 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 1968 establishments in England 2010 disestablishments in England English protopunk groups English psychedelic rock music groups Harvest Records artists Freak scene musicians