Gun (1960s band)

Last updated

The Gun
Origin London, England
Genres Hard rock, psychedelic rock
Years active1967–1970
Labels CBS
Past members Adrian Gurvitz
Paul Gurvitz
Louie Farrell

The Gun were a late 1960s British rock guitar trio who had a single British Top Ten hit, "Race with the Devil" and recorded two albums before disbanding. The band included brothers Paul Gurvitz and Adrian Gurvitz. [1]

Contents

History

Evolving from the Ilford-based band, The Knack, which included guitarist/vocalist Paul Gurvitz (born Paul Anthony Gurvitz, 6 July 1944, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire (although he was known by the surname Curtis until the early 1970s), his brother Adrian Gurvitz and drummer Louie Farrell, the trio changed their name in early 1968 to The Gun. The full Knack lineup had been Paul Curtis (Gurvitz) on guitar and vocals, Louie Farrell (born Brian John Farrell, 8 December 1947, Goodmayes, Essex) [2] (who had joined The Knack in mid 1966) on drums, Gearie Kenworthy on bass guitar (born 17 October 1946), Tim Mycroft playing organ (born 1949, Purewell, Christchurch, Dorset died 1 January 2010), and for a short while, Jon Anderson of Yes. The Knack had regularly performed at the UFO Club, supporting bands such as Pink Floyd, Arthur Brown and Tomorrow. Recording sessions at Olympic Studios produced the unreleased single "Lights on the Wall", while in November 1967 they recorded for the BBC alternative music radio programme Top Gear [2] and twice played on air. In early 1968, the band changed its line-up to a trio, with Paul Curtis (Gurvitz) on bass, Louie Farrell on drums and Adrian Curtis (Gurvitz) on guitar. [1]

After being signed to CBS Records in early 1968, the band scored a hit with the opening track from their eponymous album (1968), "Race with the Devil". Issued as a single in October 1968, it reached the top 10 in the UK Singles Chart, number 35 on the Australian Singles Chart and number 1 in many UK territories in March 1969. [3] Jimi Hendrix quoted the song's riff during his song "Machine Gun" at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970, [4] as did Status Quo on their song "Forty Five Hundred Times" during a stage show at Apollo Theatre in Glasgow in 1976. [5] "Race with the Devil" has been covered by Judas Priest ((1977) on the 2001 remastered CD version of Sin After Sin ), Black Oak Arkansas (on their 1977 album Race with the Devil), Girlschool (on their 1980 album Demolition ), and Church of Misery (on their 1996 demo, released as a split album with Acrimony, and on their full-length LP Vol. 1).

Their debut album's cover is noteworthy as it was the first by Roger Dean (credited as "W. Roger Dean" on the back of the sleeve). AllMusic described it as having a "distinctive psych-flavoured proto-metal" sound. [6] Their second album, Gunsight included "cover design + photos" by Hipgnosis and was released in 1969. [1]

Despite releasing a number of other singles, and an attempt by their record label to identify them with the underground counter-culture, [2] the band had no further hits.

Aftermath

After a short time working separately, the Gurvitz brothers formed Three Man Army in 1971 and recorded three albums.

Between 1974 and 1976, Three Man Army became the Baker Gurvitz Army with Ginger Baker, the former drummer for Cream, in the line-up. [2] The trio recorded three albums: Baker Gurvitz Army, Elysian Encounter and Hearts on Fire. During the same period, the Gurvitz brothers recorded two albums under the name The Graeme Edge Band, with drummer Graeme Edge of The Moody Blues: Kick Off Your Muddy Boots and Paradise Ballroom. It was not a touring band, and also featured Baker. Paul Gurvitz latterly toured as the Paul Gurvitz and the New Army.

Discography

Gun track listing

Side One

  1. "Race with the Devil" (A. Gurvitz), 3:35
  2. "The Sad Saga of the Boy and the Bee" (A. Gurvitz), 4:49
  3. "Rupert's Travels" (A. Gurvitz), 2:12
  4. "Yellow Cab Man" (A. Gurvitz, J. Parsons), 4:15
  5. "It Won't Be Long (Heartbeat)" (A. Gurvitz), 4:26

Side Two

  1. "Sunshine" (A. Gurvitz), 4:25
  2. "Rat Race" (A. Gurvitz), 3:55
  3. "Take Off" (A. Gurvitz), 11:01 [9]

Gun Sight track listing

Side One

  1. "Head in the Clouds"
  2. "Drown Yourself iun the River"
  3. "Angeline"
  4. "Dreams and Screams"

Side Two

  1. "Situation Vacant"
  2. "Lady Link Part One"
  3. "Oh Lady You"
  4. "Lady Link Part Two"
  5. "Long Hair Wildman"

Personnel

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ginger Baker</span> English drummer (1939–2019)

Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and African rhythms and pioneered both jazz fusion and world music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Bozzio</span> American drummer (born 1950)

Terry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Persons. Bozzio has been a prolific sideman, playing on numerous releases by other artists since the mid-1970s. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elvin Jones</span> American jazz drummer (1927–2004)

Elvin Ray Jones was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as My Favorite Things, A Love Supreme, Ascension and Live at Birdland. After 1966, Jones led his own trio, and later larger groups under the name The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. His brothers Hank and Thad were also celebrated jazz musicians with whom he occasionally recorded. Elvin was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1995. In his The History of Jazz, jazz historian and critic Ted Gioia calls Jones "one of the most influential drummers in the history of jazz". He was also ranked at Number 23 on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Revere & the Raiders</span> American rock band

Paul Revere & the Raiders were an American rock band formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. They saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was known for including Revolutionary War-style clothes in their attire.

<i>Wheels of Fire</i> 1968 studio album / Live album by Cream

Wheels of Fire is the third album by the British rock band Cream. It was released in the US in June 1968 as a two-disc vinyl LP, with one disc recorded in the studio and the other recorded live. It was released in the UK on August 9. It reached number three in the United Kingdom and number one in the United States, Canada and Australia, becoming the world's first platinum-selling double album. In May 2012, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at number 205 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was voted number 757 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Fraser</span> British bass guitarist (1952–2015)

Andrew McIan Fraser was a British musician and songwriter, best known as the bassist and co-composer for the rock band Free, which he helped found in 1968 when he was 15. He also founded the rock band Sharks after leaving Free in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Lemer</span> English jazz pianist

Peter Naphtali Lemer is an English jazz musician. He worked with the Pete Lemer Quintet, Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Annette Peacock, Harry Beckett, Gilgamesh, Baker Gurvitz Army, Seventh Wave, Harry Beckett's Joy Unlimited, Pierre Moerlen's Gong, Mike Oldfield Group, In Cahoots, and Miller/Baker/Lemer. He currently works with In Cahoots, Peter Lemer Trio/Quartet, Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia, and the Peter Lemer-Billy Thompson Quartet and Duo.

Third Ear Band were a British musical group formed in London during the mid-1960s. Their line-up initially consisted of violin, cello, oboe and percussion. Most of their performances were instrumental and partly improvised. Their records for the Harvest label, Alchemy and Third Ear Band, achieved some popularity, after which they found some success creating soundtrack music for films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buddy Miles</span> American drummer and singer (1947–2008)

George Allen "Buddy" Miles Jr. was an American composer, drummer, guitarist, vocalist and producer. He was a founding member of the Electric Flag (1967), a member of Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys (1969–1970), founder and leader of the Buddy Miles Express and later, the Buddy Miles Band. Miles also played and recorded with Carlos Santana and others. He also sang lead vocals on the California Raisins claymation TV commercials and recorded two California Raisins R&B albums.

Adrian Curtis Gurvitz is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. His prolific songwriting ability has gained him hits with Eddie Money's No. 1 Billboard Mainstream Rock hit "The Love in Your Eyes" and with his own song "Classic", a No. 8 UK hit single, as well as the top 10 UK Rock Chart single "Race with the Devil", with his band the Gun. He also co-wrote the track "Even If My Heart Would Break" from the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack The Bodyguard. His early bands the Gun, Three Man Army and the Baker Gurvitz Army were major influences to the first wave of the British hard rock circuit. Gurvitz also gained notability as a lead guitarist, known for his intricate, hard-driving solos. Gurvitz was placed at No. 9 by Chris Welch of Melody Maker’s "Best Guitarists in the World" list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graeme Edge</span> British musician (1941–2021)

Graeme Charles Edge was an English musician, songwriter and poet, best known as the co-founder and drummer of the English band the Moody Blues. In addition to his work with the Moody Blues, Edge worked as the bandleader of his own outfit, the Graeme Edge Band. He contributed his talents to a variety of other projects throughout his career. In 2018, Edge was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Moody Blues.

T2 were an English progressive rock band, best known for their 1970 album, It'll All Work Out in Boomland. It is generally regarded as an excellent album.

Baker Gurvitz Army were an English rock group. Their self-titled debut album featured a blend of hard rock laced with Ginger Baker's jazz- and Afrobeat-influenced drumming. The lengthy "Mad Jack" was that album's outstanding track, and the album hit the US Billboard 200 chart, and peaked at number 22 in the UK Albums Chart. The two following albums contained similar material, although neither charted in the UK nor the US.

<i>Baker Gurvitz Army</i> (album) 1974 studio album by Baker Gurvitz Army

Baker Gurvitz Army is Baker Gurvitz Army's first studio album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atomic Rooster</span> British rock band

Atomic Rooster are a British rock band originally formed by members of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, organist Vincent Crane and drummer Carl Palmer. Their history is defined by two periods: the early-mid-1970s and the early 1980s. The band went through radical style changes, but they are best known for the hard, progressive rock sound of their hit singles, "Tomorrow Night" and "Devil's Answer", both in 1971.

Three Man Army was a British hard rock band active in the first half of the 1970s.

May Blitz was a Canadian-British hard rock power trio that was active in the early 1970s.

<i>Hearts on Fire</i> (Baker Gurvitz Army album) 1976 studio album by Baker Gurvitz Army

Hearts on Fire is Baker Gurvitz Army's third and last studio album, released in 1976.

<i>Elysian Encounter</i> 1975 studio album by Baker Gurvitz Army

Elysian Encounter is Baker Gurvitz Army's second studio album.

The Knack were a British R&B-based freakbeat and psychedelic rock band from Ilford, near London in the United Kingdom who were active 1960s. They are not to be confused with either of the two American bands of the same name, one from the 1960s and the other who became a popular new wave act in the late 1970s. They were unable to achieve any hits in the UK or elsewhere, but in more recent years their work has come to the attention of music enthusiasts.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 553. ISBN   1-85227-745-9.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Colin Larkin (1997). Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music. Muze UK Ltd. p. 221. ISBN   0-7535-0149-X.
  3. "Go-Set Australian charts – 5 March 1969". Poparchives.com.au. 5 March 1969. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  4. It can be heard on the Blue Wild Angel Live at the Isle of Wight CD/DVD.
  5. It can be heard on the Live! CD/DVD.
  6. "Gun". AllMusic . Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  7. "Album Reviews" (PDF). Melody Maker. 22 March 1969. p. 19. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  8. "Album Reviews" (PDF). Melody Maker. 27 December 1969. p. 12. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  9. "Gun : Gun : Overview". AllMusic . Retrieved 13 June 2020.