David John Greenslade (born 18 January 1943)[1] is an English composer and keyboard player. He has played with Colosseum from the beginning in 1968 until the farewell concert in 2015 and also from 1973 in his own band, Greenslade, and others including If and Chris Farlowe's Thunderbirds.
Greenslade was born in Woking, Surrey, England.[1] His mother was a singer and pianist who sang in the local church choir.[2] A common misconception is that Greenslade is the son of composer Arthur Greenslade; Dave has revealed in interviews that he is actually the son of a pianist called Jack Greenslade, who ran a dance club in the 1930s.[3]
His family moved to Eltham, South East London when he was a child.[3] Dave's parents encouraged him to play the piano.[3] He joined a local church youth club when he was thirteen and met Jon Hiseman and Tony Reeves, who would become three of the founding members of Colosseum.[3] With Hiseman, he played in his first band as a teenager, The Wes Minster Five.[3]
Career
Greenslade was recruited by Clive Burrows to join Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band in August 1968.[2][4] Four months later, he left the Ram Jam Band to form Colosseum.[4] Greenslade was a constant member of the band until 2015. He joined the band If for a year in 1972, touring with them in Italy, but left before an American tour to form his own band, Greenslade.[3]
In the mid 1980s, Greenslade vanished from the public eye for nearly a decade. Greenslade's association with author Terry Pratchett, brought him back out into public view, with the 1994 release of From the Discworld, an album of music inspired by Pratchett's novels.[6] Greenslade was active in the second formation of Colosseum, which was formed in 1994 after Greenslade met with the former bandmates at his surprise 50th birthday party.[3] They toured again until 2015; the band would return five years later, reforming in 2020, but without Greenslade
Greenslade returned to his solo career with the release of the 2011 solo studio album, Routes/Roots, which is his latest solo release to date. He now performs in the duo G&T with blues musician David Thomas, who was the guitarist in the Welsh rock group Blonde on Blonde.[3][7]
Vernon Joynson (2014), The Tapestry of Delights - The Comprehensive Guide to British Music of the Beat, R&B, Psychedelic and Progressive Eras 1963-1976, Borderline Productions, ISBN1-899855-04-1
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