Bill Legend | |
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Birth name | William Arthur Fifield |
Born | Barking, Essex, England | May 8, 1944
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Formerly of |
Bill Legend (born William Arthur Fifield; 8 May 1944) is an English musician and former drummer for glam rock band T. Rex during their most successful period. His life and career have been discussed in mutiple published books and other works about the band. [1] [2] [3]
One of three children, Legend worked as a commercial artist after leaving school, while playing the drums in a variety of bands. He was drumming under his real name for a group called "Legend", fronted by Mickey Jupp, when Marc Bolan, the man behind the new-found success of T. Rex, spotted him and asked producer Tony Visconti to approach him. [1] [2] [3]
Legend agreed to join T. Rex, immediately buying a number of the band's albums from their days as Tyrannosaurus Rex to familiarise himself with Bolan's previous work. [1] At the time, T.Rex had enjoyed their first hit single with "Ride a White Swan". Bolan and his percussionist Mickey Finn had already recruited a bassist in Steve Currie, but still needed a drummer to complete the rhythm section of their new electric line-up. At Legend's first session, he played drums on "Hot Love" and the B-side "Woodland Rock". However, T. Rex stayed as a three-piece band for a short period, forcing Finn to mime playing the drums on Top of the Pops when "Hot Love" was at No. 1. [2]
Bolan suggested Legend's stage name, which was derived from the name of the band he had been playing in with Mickey Jupp. [1] Legend played drums for T. Rex on four albums: Electric Warrior , The Slider , Tanx and Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow . The band had four UK No. 1 singles and four UK No. 2 singles in a three-year period, after which it began to disintegrate as the hits dried up. Legend reverted to session drumming afterwards.
Despite signing a petition against the 1997 formation of Mickey Finn's T-Rex, [4] Legend had his own tribute band called X-T. Rex, which in 2014 was expected to write an album of their own. [5]
Legend is the only surviving member of any T. Rex or Tyrannosaurus Rex line-up from August 1967 to June 1973. Bolan (in 1977) and Currie (in 1981) both died in car crashes, and Finn succumbed to illness in 2003. Finn's predecessor Steve Peregrin Took choked to death in 1980.
Marc Bolan was an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan strongly influenced artists of many genres, including glam rock, punk, post-punk, new wave, indie rock, Britpop and alternative rock. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of T. Rex.
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's "Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of many hits in collaboration with Marc Bolan. Visconti's lengthiest involvement was with David Bowie: intermittently from the production and arrangement of Bowie's 1968 single "In the Heat of the Morning" / "London Bye Ta-Ta" to his final album Blackstar in 2016, Visconti produced and occasionally performed on many of Bowie's albums. Visconti's work on Blackstar was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical and his production of Angelique Kidjo's Djin Djin received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary World Music Album.
Steve Peregrin Took was an English musician and songwriter, best known for his membership of the duo Tyrannosaurus Rex with Marc Bolan. After breaking with Bolan, he concentrated on his own singer-songwriting activities, either as a solo artist or as a frontman for several bands.
Michael Norman Finn was an English musician. He was best known as the percussionist and sideman to Marc Bolan in his band Tyrannosaurus Rex and later the 1970s glam rock group T. Rex. After Bolan's death and T. Rex's demise, he worked as a session musician for The Blow Monkeys and The Soup Dragons.
Electric Warrior is the second studio album by English rock band T. Rex and their sixth since their 1968 debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex, released on 24 September 1971. The album marked a turning point in the band's style, moving away from the folk-oriented sound of the group's previous albums and pioneering a more flamboyant, pop-oriented glam rock style.
The Slider is the seventh studio album by English rock band T. Rex, and the third since abbreviating their name from Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was released on 21 July 1972 by record labels EMI and Reprise. Two number-one singles, "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru", were released to promote the album. Issued at the height of the band's popularity, The Slider received acclaim from critics, reaching number 4 in the UK Albums Chart and number 17 in the US.
A Beard of Stars is the fourth studio album by English psychedelic folk band Tyrannosaurus Rex, and their last before changing their name to T. Rex. It was released in March 1970 by record label Regal Zonophone.
Unicorn is the third studio album by English psychedelic folk band Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was released on 16 May 1969 by record labels Regal Zonophone and Blue Thumb, and was the last Tyrannosaurus Rex album to feature Steve Peregrin Took.
T. Rex is a 1970 album by Marc Bolan's band T. Rex, the first under that name and the fifth since their debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1968. It was released on 18 December by record labels Fly and Reprise. The album continued the shift begun by its predecessor from the band's previous folk style to a minimal rock sound, with an even balance of electric and acoustic material.
Tanx is a 1973 album by rock band T. Rex, the eighth since their debut as Tyrannosaurus Rex in 1968, and the fourth under the moniker T. Rex. It was released on 16 March by record label EMI. Tanx was a musical departure from previous works: still containing tracks in the vein of The Slider, singer and songwriter Marc Bolan showed his interest for soul music, funk and gospel. Female backing singers appeared on a few tracks. New instruments such as mellotron were used, played by producer Tony Visconti, allowing the T. Rex sound to evolve.
"Hot Love" is a song by English glam rock band T. Rex, released as a standalone single on 12 February 1971 by record label Fly. It was the group's first number one placing on the UK Singles Chart, where it remained at the top for six weeks beginning on 14 March 1971.
Paul Fenton is an English drummer, best known for his work with T. Rex. After leaving Christie, he started playing drums for T. Rex in 1973, after being recommended to Marc Bolan by his producer Tony Visconti.
Mickey Finn's T-Rex are a band formed in 1997 by former T. Rex members Mickey Finn, Jack Green, and drummer Paul Fenton. They have been regularly touring worldwide since their formation, despite Finn's death in 2003.
"Ride a White Swan" is a song by English band T. Rex. It was released as a stand-alone single on 9 October 1970 by record label Fly, and was the first single credited under the band's new, shorter name. Like all of the band's songs, it was written by the group's singer, guitarist and founder Marc Bolan. The song was included on the US version of the 1970 album, T. Rex.
Bolan's Zip Gun is the tenth studio album by English rock band T. Rex, released in February 1975 by record label EMI.
Bolan Boogie is a compilation album by the English glam rock band T. Rex. After Marc Bolan had left Fly Records to form his own label distributed through EMI/T. Rex Wax Co, his former label released this compilation in 1972 with recent single A- and B-sides recorded in 1970 and 1971, many of which had not appeared on previous albums. Also included are album tracks from Tyrannosaurus Rex's Unicorn (1969), A Beard of Stars (1970) and T. Rex's T. Rex (1970).
Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow is an album by English rock band T. Rex, the ninth since Tyrannosaurus Rex's debut LP. It was released in March 1974 on the T.Rex record label, distributed by EMI. It was the first and only album to be released under the moniker "Marc Bolan & T. Rex".
T. Rex were an English rock band formed in London in 1967 by singer-songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan, who was their leader, frontman and only consistent member. Though initially associated with the psychedelic folk genre, Bolan began to change the band's style towards electric rock in 1969 and shortened their name to T. Rex the following year. This development culminated in 1970 with their first significant hit single "Ride a White Swan", and the group soon became pioneers of the glam rock movement.
"The Groover" is a 1973 single by the British glam rock band T. Rex. Neither the track nor its B-side are taken from an album. However, they are often added as bonus material on re-releases of the 1974 album Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow.
Billy Super Duper is an album by English glam rock band T. Rex and Marc Bolan's second posthumous album release. Released in 1982 by record label Marc on Wax, it was the first LP of entirely new and unheard material released after Marc Bolan's death in 1977 as the previous posthumous release, You Scare Me to Death consisted of augmented versions of demos first released in 1974. Billy Super Duper consists of studio outtakes and home demos recorded by the band between 1972 and 1977, with arrangements produced by John and Shan Bramley. The album was intended to "complete" the demos and bring them up to date with contemporary music.