Barry Wickens (born 23 May 1956) is a British musician, multi-instrumentalist and composer. Primarily a violinist and guitarist, he also plays mandolin, viola, Appalachian dulcimer (psaltery), dobro and keyboards. He is best known for being one of the longest-serving members of Steve Harley's rock group Cockney Rebel,[2] and for being a former member of the pop group Immaculate Fools.[3] He also taught violin and guitar in schools for Create Music, formerly Brighton & Hove Music & Arts, between 2001 and 2023.[4][5]
Wickens was taught piano by his father at the age of seven, and became a member of Worcester Cathedral choir two years later. At the age of 10, Wickens moved to the Isle of Wight where he began learning the violin, and self-taught guitar. During his teenage years he explored various violin styles, and in 1972 received an Isle of Wight LEA Scholarship for funded violin studies. He went on to study violin, piano and composition at the Trinity College of Music in London. Between 1974 and 1978, he completed the violin performers course with piano and composition second studies at the college. In 1978 he became a Licentiate, as well as a Fellow of Trinity College of Music, and completed a composition course and basic film technique at London International Film School.
In 1977 he achieved a Leonard Smith Prize for Violin and Piano Duo, accompanied by Stephen Collings. The following year, 1978, Wickens gained an Arved Kurtz Prize for Violin Playing, the Beethoven Violin Prize, another Leonard Smith Prize for Violin and Piano Duo, as well as the Kantrovitch Prize for Solo Strings. Following his education Wickens began playing around small venues in London, and worked with a number of acts including Steve Knightly's band, Short Stories, and the English acoustic roots and folk duo Show of Hands.
Wickens first met Steve Harley in 1982, during which time Wickens was in Short Stories.[8] In 1984, Wickens joined Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel as violinist and guitarist. Wickens' debut performance with the band was at London's Camden Palace in 1984. This show was professionally filmed and released on VHS under the name "Live from London".[9] Although the band wouldn't go on tour again until the 'Comeback: All is Forgiven' tour of 1989,[10] Wickens would continue to tour with the band until the early-1990s. The Brighton and Northampton concerts of the 1989 tour were also professionally filmed, and the footage edited to create a VHS titled "Steve Harley + Cockney Rebel: Live".[11] He was involved in the recording of Harley's solo album Yes You Can, which was released in 1992. He performed on and co-wrote the track "Victim of Love", and also played violin on "Promises" and "The Lighthouse".[12] Wickens left the band in 1992, and was replaced by Nick Pynn.
In 1989, Wickens had become a member of the pop band Immaculate Fools, who had achieved a couple of minor hits in the UK.[13] During the late 1980s the band underwent a major line-up change, when Wickens joined the group along with three other new musicians. He recorded, co-produced, co-wrote and toured with the group, and during his time with the band released the albums Another Man's World (1990), The Toy Shop (1992), Woodhouse (1995) and Kiss and Punch (1996).[14]
In 1997 Wickens formed the music production company Hydraphonic - a partnership project with Immaculate Fools' guitarist, Brian Betts. Using their writing, recording and production skills, the company has served various advertising agencies and publishers such as Sony/ATV, Universal Music and Sonoton. During the 1990s, he co-founded the contemporary Irish trio, Clann na Mara, alongside Paul Gillieron and J Eoin.[15] Around the same time Wickens and Brian Aldwinckle formed the folk duo The MacNamaras.[16]
After leaving Immaculate Fools in 1998, Wickens returned as a key member of Cockney Rebel. He has remained with the group since, performing as part of the full rock band line-up as well as the three-man acoustic shows. With the band he has performed at the Glastonbury Extravaganza, and the Isle of Wight Festival, as well as many of Europe's major rock festivals.[17][18] The band's 2004 performance at Isle of Wight was released as a DVD in 2005.[19]
Wickens featured playing violin and guitar on five tracks from Harley's 2003 live album Acoustic and Pure: Live,[20] as well as all tracks on the 2004 live album Anytime! (A Live Set).[21] He provided violin, guitar and backing vocals for Cockney Rebel's 2005 studio album The Quality of Mercy,[22] as well as Harley's 2010 studio album Stranger Comes to Town. On the former album he helped co-write "Journey's End", and on the latter album co-wrote the lead single "Faith & Virtue" with Harley, and also received a writing credit on the track "Take the Men and the Horses Away".[23] In 2018, Wickens released his debut solo album, Where Birdsong Meets Aeroplane, through his label Observation Records.[24]
Personal life
Wickens married Georgia Georgiou on 10 March 1990. They live in Brighton, East Sussex, with their two sons, Nicholas and Michael.[5]
Acclaim
Wickens' violin playing has been highly praised. Of his performance at Glastonbury Festival in 2005, eFestivals reviewer Karen Morrison noted that he performed a "stupendous exhibition in virtuoso violin - so good he does it twice at Harley's bidding."[25] A performance at the O2 Academy at Bournemouth in November 2010 saw Bournemouth Echo writer Lucas Maybe describe Wickens as "fantastically sensual".[26] Jo Davison of the Sheffield Star reviewed a November 2010 acoustic show from Cockney Rebel at the Memorial Hall, noting that "masterly violinist Barry Wickens, and James Lascelles on keyboards created something spine-shiveringly beautiful."[27]
Alan Cooper, writing for the Portsmouth Evening News spoke of a Cockney Rebel concert at the King's Theatre during February 2011, noting "solos particularly from Wickens, were blissful."[28] Martin Hutchinson, in a review of the band live at the HMV Ritz in Manchester during December 2011 for the Bolton News, noted "Wickens' violin solo in "The Lighthouse" was amongst the highlights of the show."[29] In the York Press, Dan Bean reviewed a Cockney Rebel concert at the Harrogate Royal Hall in November 2013, and commented: "The band is uniformly excellent, but special praise goes to violinist and occasional guitarist Barry Wickens, whose extended solos received and deserved standing ovations."[30]
Discography
Solo career
Where Birdsong Meets Aeroplane (2018)
Selected credits
Steamboat Bluegrass Band - Bluegrass Express (1974)[31]
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel were an English rock band who formed in the early 1970s in London. Their music covered a range of styles from pop to progressive rock. Over the years, they have had five albums on the UK Albums Chart and twelve singles on the UK Singles Chart.
Stephen Malcolm Ronald Nice, known by his stage name Steve Harley, was an English singer-songwriter and frontman of the rock group Cockney Rebel. The band achieved six UK hit singles in the mid-1970s, including "Judy Teen", "Mr. Soft", and the number one "Make Me Smile ". Harley later scored a further three UK hit singles as a solo artist, including "The Phantom of the Opera", a duet with Sarah Brightman.
"The Last Goodbye" is a song by the English rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released on 6 February 2006 as a single from their sixth and final studio album, The Quality of Mercy (2005). The song was written by Harley and ex-Cockney Rebel guitarist Jim Cregan, and was produced by Harley.
The Quality of Mercy is the sixth and final studio album by English rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was released by Gott Discs on 3 October 2005. The album was Steve Harley's first studio album in 9 years and the first in 29 years to be released under the Cockney Rebel name. The album was produced entirely by Harley, with Jim Cregan co-producing the track "A Friend for Life". The album's title is based on the Shakespearean phrase.
Stranger Comes to Town is the fifth solo studio album from English songwriter and musician Steve Harley, released by Absolute on 3 May 2010. The album was produced by Harley.
"Star for a Week (Dino)" is a pop-rock song by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, which was released as a promotional single in 1993 from his third solo album Yes You Can. The single coincided with the UK release of the album that year (Yes You Can had been released in Europe in 1992). It was the second single to be released from the album, following "Irresistible" as a European single in 1992. "Star for a Week (Dino)" was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Matt Butler.
Anytime! is a live acoustic album by Steve Harley, released under the name The Steve Harley Band and featuring members of the Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel line-up of the time. It was released in 2004.
"Tumbling Down" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. It was released in 1975 as the third and final single from the band's second studio album The Psychomodo (1974). The song was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons.
"A Friend for Life" is a song by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, released by Intrinsic Records on 30 April 2001 as a non-album single. The song was written by Harley and former Cockney Rebel guitarist Jim Cregan, and was produced by Cregan. Harley's first release of new material since his 1996 album Poetic Justice, "A Friend for Life" was later included on Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel's sixth studio album The Quality of Mercy (2005).
Acoustic and Pure: Live is a live acoustic album by English songwriter and musician Steve Harley, released in 2003. The album features ex-Cockney Rebel guitarist Jim Cregan, while certain tracks also include other members of Cockney Rebel.
Birmingham is a live album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, featuring the Orchestra of the Swan and Chamber Choir. It was recorded live at the Birmingham Symphony Hall on 24 November 2012, and was released on both CD and DVD in 2013. A DVD version of the performance was also released at the same time.
"Mr. Soft" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley, which was released in 1974 as the second single from their second studio album The Psychomodo. The song was written by Harley, and produced by Harley and Alan Parsons. "Mr. Soft" peaked at number 8 in the UK Singles Chart.
Stripped to the Bare Bones is a 1999 live acoustic album by English musician and songwriter Steve Harley. The album was produced by Harley and features Nick Pynn.
"Sebastian" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. It was released as the band's debut single in 1973 from their album The Human Menagerie. The song was written by Harley and produced by Neil Harrison.
"Hideaway" is a song by the British rock band Cockney Rebel, fronted by Steve Harley. Released as the opening track on the band's 1973 debut album The Human Menagerie, "Hideaway" was released in 1974 as a single in Denmark only. It was written by Harley and produced by Neil Harrison.
"The Best Years of Our Lives" is a song by the British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released in 1975 as the title track from the band's third studio album The Best Years of Our Lives. In 1977, a live version of the song was released as a single from the album Face to Face: A Live Recording.
Live at the BBC is a live compilation album by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, released by Windsong International Records in 1995. The compilation features three different sessions by the band for the BBC: two in 1974 and one in 1992.
"Ordinary People" is a song by British singer-songwriter Steve Harley, which was released as a non-album single in 2015. It was written by Harley, Jim Cregan and Robert Hart, and produced by Harley. The song was Harley's first new song of five years, following the release of his fifth solo studio album Stranger Comes to Town in 2010.
The Come Back, All is Forgiven Tour: Live is a live concert video by the British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, which was filmed during their 1989 tour. The concert video has also been released in a variety of guises as a live album.
Live from London is a live concert video by the British rock band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, filmed during a concert in 1984. It was the band's first release on VHS, being released in 1985.
↑ Acoustic and Pure: Live (Media notes). Steve Harley. Comeuppance Discs. 2002. CMUP104CD.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) Accessed on 26 July 2013.
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