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Crawler | |
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| Genres | Hard rock |
| Years active | 1976–1979 |
| Labels | Epic Records |
| Past members | Terry Wilson-Slesser Terry Wilson Tony Braunagel John 'Rabbit' Bundrick Geoff Whitehorn |
Crawler was a British heavy rock band formed in the late 1970s as an offshoot of Back Street Crawler, [1] following the death of guitarist, Paul Kossoff.
Following the death of founding member Paul Kossoff, the remaining members of the band Back Street Crawler (John 'Rabbit' Bundrick, Tony Braunagel, Terry Wilson and Terry Wilson-Slesser) decided that it would be best to move on to both another record label and another manager. There is and was a history of problems with the band members obtaining record and publishing royalties from the original manager of Paul Kossoff.
Atlantic Records' Ahmet Ertegun had wanted to replace Paul Kossoff with Mick Taylor, who had left the Rolling Stones, however Taylor did not want to replace a musician who had died. Back Street Crawler bassist Terry Wilson had dinner with ex-Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green in London to find out whether Peter's reclusive and unusual lifestyle had changed his mind about wanting to play or be in the music business. Green was not ready to return to the stage and therefore turned-down Crawler's offer. The band then recruited former If guitarist Geoff Whitehorn. The band was then dropped by Atlantic Records, due to Whitehorn's then relative obscurity.
The band switched management to a young American named Abe Hoch, who was working at Swan Song Records at the time with Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant. Hoch had close ties with Epic/CBS Records and obtained an offer from them. Band members then shortened the band name to Crawler.
Crawler initially toured the UK as part of a package tour which included label mates Boxer and Moon. Their debut album, Crawler, did well in the US, thanks to airplay of the track "Stone Cold Sober", on FM radio stations. The band concentrated on the American market. Working with producer Gary Lyons, they released a second album, Snake, Rattle & Roll.
An exhaustive series of live performances saw Crawler as the support band for Robin Trower, Cheap Trick, and Foreigner, and a 54-date tour across the US as support band for Kansas. At the end of a US tour in December 1978, keyboard player John 'Rabbit' Bundrick left to work with The Who. The band folded soon afterwards.
Crawler had limited commercial success but charted the single "Stone Cold Sober" which reached a peak on Billboard Hot 100 at number 65 in November 1977.
In recent years, a number of live albums, including Snakebite (2001) and Pastime Dreamer (2003), recorded during tours in 1977 and 1978, have been released from John Bundrick's private collection of recordings.
After the dissolution of the band, Terry Wilson-Slesser went on to join Charlie He also provided backing vocals on Def Leppard's Pyromania album. In 1984, Wilson-Slesser acted as an offstage singer for the Michael Schenker Group, performing on a European and Japanese tour.
Geoff Whitehorn has since played with Maggie Bell, Elkie Brooks, Roger Chapman's band Shortlist, Bad Company and Roger Waters. He has also released several solo albums including Geoff Who? and Big In Gravesend. In the 1990s, the guitarist teamed up with ex-Free and Bad Company vocalist Paul Rodgers. In 1991, he joined Procol Harum and is now their longest serving guitarist. He appears on their DVDs at Union Chapel and with a Danish symphony orchestra in Ledrebourg. The popular video site also has great footage of his Hyde Park concert playing lead for the Who's Quadrophenia, Rockpalast with Paul Rogers and Never the Bride & the British Rock Symphony playing Stairway to Heaven. There is also one great Crawler video of Stone Cold Sober.
Bassist Terry Wilson has since worked with Jimmy Reed, Lightnin' Hopkins, Eric Burdon, Little Whisper & The Rumor, Teresa James & the Rhythm Tramps (producing as well as being a principal songwriter), The Stephen Bruton Band, Bill Champlin, L.A.'s Pockets rhythm and blues band, Delbert McClinton and Gary Nicholson. He has also contributed to the sessions for John Martyn, Stephen Bruton, Darling Cruel's 1993 album Passion Crimes and Ana Popović's Still Making History. As a songwriter, Wilson has had his songs covered by such artists as Eric Burdon, Maria Muldaur, Kathy Mattea, Tommy Castro, Paul Rodgers, Juice Newton, Teresa James and Tamara Champlin. Terry has also had several songs included in movie soundtracks, such as Michael with John Travolta and Holes .
Drummer Tony Braunagel went to on to work with Bette Midler, Rickie Lee Jones, Taj Mahal, Andy Fraser, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, John Martyn, John Mayall, Ian McNabb, Keb Mo, Maria Muldaur, Bonnie Raitt, The Blues Brothers, Teresa James & the Rhythm Tramps. He has also acted as a producer or co-producer, including records by Taj Mahal, Jodie Siegal, Curtis Salgado and Eric Burdon. [2]
Bad Company were an English rock supergroup that was formed in London in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, drummer Simon Kirke, guitarist Mick Ralphs and bassist Boz Burrell. Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, also managed Bad Company until 1982.
Free were an English rock band formed in London in 1968 by Paul Rodgers (vocals), Paul Kossoff (guitar), Andy Fraser and Simon Kirke. They are best known for their hit songs "All Right Now" and "Wishing Well". Although renowned for their live performances and non-stop touring, their music did not sell well until their third studio album, Fire and Water (1970), which featured the hit "All Right Now". The song helped secure them a performance at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, where they played to an audience of 600,000 people. In the early 1970s they became one of the best-selling British blues rock groups; by the time they disbanded, they had sold more than 20 million records worldwide and had played in more than 700 arenas and festival concerts. "All Right Now" remains a staple of R&B and rock, and has entered ASCAP's "One Million" airplay singles club.
Paul Francis Kossoff was an English guitarist, best known as the co-founder and guitarist of the rock band Free. He was ranked number 51 in Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
Simon Frederick St George Kirke is an English musician who was the co-founder, drummer, and only continuous member of the rock supergroup Bad Company. Prior to forming Bad Company he was the drummer and co-founder of Free.
Back Street Crawler were an English rock band formed in 1975 by ex-Free guitarist Paul Kossoff. They were signed to Atlantic Records in 1975. The band took the name from Kossoff's solo album, Back Street Crawler. Terry Wilson, Mike Montgomery and Tony Braunagel had played together in the short-lived Bloontz, whose only album was released in 1973 and included versions of the Mike Montgomery songs, "Jason Blue" and "Long Way Down", both of which featured on Back Street Crawler's album The Band Plays On.
Heartbreaker is the sixth and final studio album by the English rock band Free, that provided them with one of their most successful singles, "Wishing Well". It was recorded in late 1972 after bassist Andy Fraser had left the band and while guitarist Paul Kossoff was ailing from an addiction to Mandrax (Quaalude) and features a different line up from previous albums. Tetsu Yamauchi was brought in to replace Fraser, while John "Rabbit" Bundrick became the band's keyboard player to compensate for the increasingly unreliable Kossoff. Both Yamauchi and Bundrick had played with Kossoff and drummer Simon Kirke on the album Kossoff, Kirke, Tetsu & Rabbit during that period in late 1971 when Free had broken up for the first time. Also, several other musicians were used on the album. The album was co-produced by Andy Johns as well as Free themselves.
Geordie are a British rock band from Newcastle upon Tyne, most notably active in the 1970s. With notable songs, "Don't Do That", "All Because of You", "Can You Do It", "Electric Lady" and "Goodbye Love".
John Douglas "Rabbit" Bundrick is an American keyboardist. He is best known for his work with the rock band the Who and associations with others including Eric Burdon, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Roger Waters, Free and Crawler. Bundrick is noted as the principal musician for the cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In the mid-1970s, he was a member of the short-lived group Mallard, formed by ex-members of Captain Beefheart's Magic Band. He is also known as a composer and has recorded solo albums. He was also a member of the Texas group Blackwell, who had a hit single in 1969 entitled "Wonderful".
Terry Slesser is a blues rock singer from South Shields, England. He is chiefly known for his role as vocalist in ex-Free guitarist Paul Kossoff's band Back Street Crawler, renamed Crawler after Kossoff's death in 1976.
Now & Live is a double CD compilation-like album released in 1997 by Paul Rodgers of Free and Bad Company fame. In fact, it is a re-release of the studio album Now including a disc of live material recorded in 1995 and issued on the album Live: The Loreley Tapes. The album's full 24-track version, but as one CD also is known.
Kossoff Kirke Tetsu Rabbit is an album by guitarist Paul Kossoff, drummer Simon Kirke, bassist Tetsu Yamauchi and keyboard player John "Rabbit" Bundrick. The album was released in 1972.
Geoffrey Charles Whitehorn is a guitarist and singer-songwriter, who has played as a member of If, Crawler and Procol Harum.
Tetsu Yamauchi is a Japanese retired musician. In the 1970s, he was a member of several popular rock bands, including Free, where he replaced original bassist Andy Fraser before the band's final album Heartbreaker, and Faces, where he replaced Ronnie Lane and appears on the band's final single, "You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything", as well as touring with them and playing on the live album Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners. He also recorded various solo albums and did extensive work as a session musician before retiring from the music sometime in the late 1990s.
Back Street Crawler is the debut studio album by English guitarist Paul Kossoff, released in 1973; the same year Kossoff's band Free disbanded, Kossoff was able to moderate his drug addiction to record the album, which featured contributions from his former Free bandmates, as well as Yes drummer Alan White.
The Band Plays On is the debut album from Back Street Crawler, fronted by ex-Free guitarist Paul Kossoff. Keyboard player Mike Montgomery composed six songs and co-wrote two others on the album, in addition to singing lead vocals on "All the Girls Are Crazy" and "Survivor". He dueted with Terry Wilson-Slesser on "New York, New York". Montgomery subsequently left the band and was replaced by John "Rabbit" Bundrick.
2nd Street is the second studio album by the English rock band Back Street Crawler and was released on the Atco Records label. It was released after Paul Kossoff's death in March 1976, and is dedicated to him. The album is regarded as a considerable advance on their 1975 debut The Band Plays On, but Kossoff's involvement in it is limited to lead guitar lines over the completed tracks.
Liar were a UK band formed in 1975. They released two albums, Straight from the Hip and Set the World on Fire and two singles, and toured internationally. A third album was recorded in Los Angeles but never released.
Robert Terry Wilson is an American bass player, record producer and composer.
Tony Braunagel is an American drummer, producer, and songwriter from Houston, Texas, United States, who is based in Los Angeles, California. Braunagel has played on many film scores and television shows as well as numerous albums as a musician, composer and producer. He is best known as a session drummer and/or percussionist of over 200 albums including those of Otis Rush, Eric Burdon, Johnny Nash, Coco Montoya, Lucky Peterson, as well as Grammy winning albums of Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal, Buddy Guy (percussion) and for performing live with dozens of music icons including Bonnie Raitt, Rickie Lee Jones, BB King, Lightnin’ Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, Robert Cray, Bette Midler, Lyle Lovett, and Taj Mahal to name just a few.
Mulgrave Street is an album released by the band Amazing Blondel in 1974. It is their first album on the DJM Records label after leaving Island Records.
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