Sam Gopal (originally known as Sam Gopal's Dream) were an underground British

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 ...

band who formed in 1966 and released their first album, ''

Escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a Electric motor, motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the st ...

'', in 1969.

History

Original line-up (Sam Gopal's Dream)

The band was formed under the name Sam Gopal's Dream, named after its founder, Sam Gopal. Born in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and coming to England in 1962 to study music, Gopal played

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

, a northern Indian percussion instrument, from the age of seven, which replaced drums in the band.Eder, Bruce
Sam Gopal biography

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 ...

The band's first line-up was Sam Gopal on tabla, Mick Hutchinson on guitar,

Pete Sears Peter Roy Sears (born 27 May 1948) is an English rock musician. In a career spanning more than six decades, he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock ...

on bass guitar and keys, and (towards the end) Andy Clark on vocals and keyboards. For most of 1967, Sam Gopal's Dream was an instrumental trio and played at the

UFO Club The UFO Club ( ') was a short-lived UK underground, British counter-culture nightclub in London in the 1960s. The club was established by Joe Boyd and John Hopkins (political activist), John "Hoppy" Hopkins. It featured light shows, poetry r ...

(their first show), The Electric Garden in Covent Garden (later to become

Middle Earth Middle or The Middle may refer to: * Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits. Places * Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man * Middle Bay (disambiguation) * Middle Brook (disambiguation) * Middle Creek ...

The Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a performing arts and concert venue at the Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England. The building was erected in 1846–1847 by the London & North Western Railway as a roundhouse, a circ ...

, and Happening 44. In April 1967, the band performed at The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, a

UK Underground The British counter-culture or underground scene developed during the mid-1960s, and was linked to the hippie subculture of the United States. Its primary focus was around Ladbroke Grove and Notting Hill in London. It generated its own magazin ...

event organised by the ''

International Times ''International Times'' (''it'' or ''IT'') is the name of various Underground press, underground newspapers, with the original title founded in London in 1966 and running until October 1973. Editors included John Hopkins (p ...

'' at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...

. Other performing bands included

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

, The Pretty Things, Savoy Brown,

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown The Crazy World of Arthur Brown are an English rock music, rock band formed by singer Arthur Brown (musician), Arthur Brown in 1967. The original band included Vincent Crane (Hammond organ and piano), Drachen Theaker (drums), and Nick Greenwoo ...

Soft Machine Soft Machine are an English Rock music, rock band from Canterbury, Kent. The band were formed in 1966 by Mike Ratledge, Robert Wyatt, Kevin Ayers, Daevid Allen and Larry Nowlin. Soft Machine were central in the Canterbury scene; they became o ...

and

The Move The Move were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine Top 40, top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of ...

. In December of the same year, they played ''Christmas on Earth Continued'' at Kensington Olympia in London, alongside bands such as

Jimi Hendrix 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 ...

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

. Jimi Hendrix later sat in with the original Sam Gopal's Dream at London's

Speakeasy Club The Speakeasy Club, also known as The Speak, was a club situated at 48 Margaret Street, London, England, and was a popular late-night meeting place for the music industry from 1966 to June 1978. The club took its name and theme from the speakeas ...

. In 1967, some of the band's first recordings were engineered by

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, " Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US N ...

, who had previously worked with acts such as

The Zombies The Zombies are an English Rock music, rock band formed in St Albans in 1961. Led by keyboardist/vocalist Rod Argent and lead vocalist Colin Blunstone, the group had their first British and American hit in 1964 with "She's Not There". In the U ...

and

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 ...

, and would later go on to work with acts such as

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 ...

and

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

. In 1968, Clark, Hutchinson, and Sears teamed up with Viv Prince on drums, under the name Vamp ("Viv, Andy, Mick, and Pete"), releasing a single called "Floatin" on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. They also recorded another track which featured Gopal on tabla, but its location is unknown. This original line-up broke up in 1968. Sears went on to session work and formed his own band with Prince, called Giant. Hutchinson and Clark recorded three albums together as Clark-Hutchinson.

Second line-up and ''Escalator''

In the same year as the previous break-up, Gopal formed a new line-up under his name, which included vocalist-guitarist Ian Fraser Kilmister (better known as

Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was a British musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the metal band Motörhead, of which he ...

, who had just finished working as a roadie on a tour featuring

and

), Roger D'Elia and Phil Duke. Under this new line-up, the band were managed by

Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer, and impresario, best known for managing musicians such as Cream, Andy Gibb, and the Bee Gees; theatrical produc ...

, also the manager of

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

. Their album ''

'' was recorded in late 1968 and released in January 1969, on Stable Records. According to Lemmy, the majority of the album was composed by him over the course of one night. Subsequently, the band also released the single "Horse", with a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

cover of "Back Door Man" by

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

. Formerly of the Rockin' Vickers,

went on to be the bassist of

Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...

and, in 1975, the founder, singer and bassist of

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

. Roger D'Elia (who was grandson of the actress

Mary Clare Mary Clare Absalom (17 July 1892 – 29 August 1970) was a British actress of stage, film and television. Biography Daughter of George Alfred Absalom, Clare was educated at Wood Green secondary school, first worked in an office but a loan ...

) later performed in a mid-1970s band called Glider, which included Twink (ex-

Fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

), Andy Colquhoun and Chas McKay.

Additional line-up changes and albums

A further line-up of the band (under the name Cosmosis) featured Alan Mark (vocals), Mox Gowland (harmonica & flutes), Mickey Waller (also known as Mickey Finn; guitar) and Freddie Gandy (ex- The Fairies; bass), with management from

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

manager Peter Grant; however, this lineup did not release any records before breaking up in 1971, partially due to Gopal himself being incapacitated for several years by a car accident. Sam Gopal then recorded multiple further albums with professional musicians in the band's lineup (including ''Building B'', ''Largo'', ''Soap Opera'' (with Andy Clark), and ''Not for Sale''); however, they remain unreleased. Gopal himself was also involved with additional side projects, such as a trio with

Didier Malherbe Didier Malherbe (born 22 January 1943) is a French jazz, rock, and world music musician and poet. He is a member of the bands Gong and Hadouk. He plays the saxophone, flute, alto clarinet, ocarina, Laotian Khen, Bawu flute, Hulusi, and ma ...

(saxophone) and Patrice Lemoine (piano), a band named Sangit (who recorded a live album at the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal and a soundtrack for the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

documentary series '' The Great Moghuls''), and Brain Tonic (who recorded the album ''Blind Man's Movie''). In 1999, Sam Gopal

self-published Self-publishing is an author-driven publication of any media without the involvement of a third-party publisher. Since the advent of the internet, self-published usually depends upon digital platforms and print-on-demand technology, ranging fr ...

another album, ''Father Mucker'' (GPS CD 001, Munchen, Germany). Songs from that album were recorded in 1990 (many with Andy Clark) but not mixed and overdubbed until 1999, in which year he also recorded one additional song for the album.

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (recorded 1968, released 1969, Morgan Blue Town reissue 2017) * ''Father Mucker'' (recorded 1990, released 1999)

Singles and EPs

* "Escalator" / "Angry Faces" / "Cold Embrace" / "The Sky Is Burning" (promo 1968) *"Horse" / "Backdoor Man" (1969, only acetates exist)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sam Gopal English psychedelic rock music groups Musical groups established in 1966 Rock music groups from London