Patrick Campbell-Lyons (born 13 July 1943), is an Irish composer and musician who is one half of the cult symphonic-rock band, Nirvana, [1] [2] formed in London in 1967. [3]
Campbell-Lyons, a native of Lismore, County Waterford, was part of the West London music scene from the early 1960s playing in several bands. He was the vocalist and a founding member of a locally-popular R&B band Second Thoughts whose lineups included future record producer Chris Thomas, Thunderclap Newman founder/drummer Speedy Keen and two future members of prog-rock band Jade Warrior (Jon Field and Tony Duhig). Second Thoughts split up in late 1965 and after a year living in Sweden, Campbell-Lyons returned to London in late 1966.
In early 1967 he formed Nirvana with Greek musician Alex Spyropoulos. The duo (augmented in the studio and live by a floating line-up of session musicians) created a series of critically acclaimed baroque, orchestrated albums before disbanding in the early 1970s.
Campbell-Lyons then pursued a career in the music business as an A&R executive and producer - while continuing to occasionally record solo albums including Me & My Friend, The Electric Plough and The Hero I Might Have Been.
Campbell-Lyons' first solo album Me & My Friend was reissued on CD in 2001 in the UK by Market Square Records together with bonus tracks from one of Nirvana's later albums Songs of Love and Praise.
In early July 2008, Campbell-Lyons started to write a book, Psychedelic Days, about his life and times in 1960’s London and beyond.
In 2017 he released a new album on the Market Square Records Label called You're a Cloud, I'm a Comet released on 180-gramme vinyl LP with CD included. [4]
Nirvana was an English pop rock band formed in London in 1966. Though the band achieved only limited commercial success, they were acclaimed both by music industry professionals and by critics. In 1985, the band reformed. The members of the band sued the American band Nirvana over the usage of the name, reaching an out-of-court settlement.
Bo Hansson was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental progressive rock studio albums released throughout the 1970s.
Victoria Williams is an American singer, songwriter and musician, originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, although she has resided in Southern California throughout her musical career. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the early 1990s, Williams was the catalyst for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.
The Raincoats are a British experimental post-punk band. Ana da Silva and Gina Birch formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art in London.
Golden Earring was a Dutch rock band, founded in 1961 in The Hague as The Tornados. They achieved worldwide fame with their international hit songs "Radar Love" in 1973, which went to number one on the Dutch chart, reached the top ten in the United Kingdom, and went to number thirteen on the United States chart, "Twilight Zone" in 1982, and "When the Lady Smiles" in 1984. During their career they had nearly 30 top-ten singles on the Dutch charts and released 25 studio albums.
Georg Albert Ruthenberg, better known by his stage name Pat Smear, is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead guitarist and co-founder of Los Angeles-based punk band The Germs and for being a rhythm guitarist for grunge band Nirvana, which he joined as a touring guitarist in 1993, and Foo Fighters, with whom he has recorded six studio albums. After Nirvana disbanded following the suicide of its frontman Kurt Cobain, drummer Dave Grohl went on to become the frontman of rock band Foo Fighters, with Smear joining on guitar. He left Foo Fighters in 1997, before rejoining as a touring guitarist in 2005, and has been a full-time member since 2010.
Kevin Ayers was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely associated with the Canterbury scene. He recorded a series of albums as a solo artist and over the years worked with Brian Eno, Syd Barrett, Bridget St John, John Cale, Elton John, Robert Wyatt, Andy Summers, Mike Oldfield, Nico and Ollie Halsall, among others. After living for many years in Deià, Mallorca, he returned to the United Kingdom in the mid-1990s before moving to the south of France. His last album, The Unfairground, was released in 2007. The British rock journalist Nick Kent wrote: "Kevin Ayers and Syd Barrett were the two most important people in British pop music. Everything that came after came from them."
John David Percy "Speedy" Keen was a songwriter, vocalist, drummer and keyboard player, best known for his association with the rock band Thunderclap Newman. He wrote "Something in the Air" (1969) for the band, which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart. He also released two solo albums.
Brian Laurence Bennett, is an English drummer, pianist, composer and producer of popular music. He is best known as the drummer of the UK rock and roll group the Shadows. He is the father of musician and Shadows band member Warren Bennett.
Junior Campbell is a Scottish composer, songwriter and musician. He was a founding member, lead guitarist, piano player, and singer with the Scottish band Marmalade and co-wrote and produced some of their biggest successes, including "Reflections of My Life", "I See the Rain" and "Rainbow".
Egg were an English progressive rock band formed in July 1968. They produced two studio albums and ended in 1972, but in 1974, they produced another album and then disbanded.
Earl Slick is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Robert Smith. He has also worked with other artists including John Waite, Tim Curry and David Coverdale, in addition to releasing several solo recordings, and two records with Phantom, Rocker & Slick, the band he formed with Slim Jim Phantom & Lee Rocker.
Keith Hopkins, known by his stage name Keith West, is a British rock singer, songwriter and music producer. He is best known for his single "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera", which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart.
Heidi Berry is an American musician. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, she recorded and released four critically acclaimed solo albums on the British independent record labels Creation Records and 4AD.
The Smoke were an English psychedelic pop group from York. They consisted of Mick Rowley, Mal Luker, John "Zeke" Lund (bass) and Geoff Gill.
The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period, including Bob Marley & The Wailers, on their first single "Simmer Down." They reformed in 1983 and have played together ever since.
The Story of Simon Simopath is the debut album by British psychedelic band Nirvana, released by Island Records in 1967. Described by Melody Maker's Chris Welch as a "science fiction pantomime album", the songs are linked with a story on the back cover which details the dream of Simon Simopath to fly. "Pentecost Hotel" was released as a single with the non-album b-side, "Feelin' Shattered". "Wings of Love" was the next single, also with a non-album b-side, "Requiem to John Coltrane". "Girl in the Park", from the second album, All of Us, featured the b-side, "C Side In Ocho Rios", which is an instrumental version of "In the Courtyard of the Stars".
Robert Lelièvre was a French singer, songwriter and guitar player. He is best remembered as a member of the folk rock trio Cy, Maia & Robert, and for fronting the Danish progressive rock band Pan. Their eponymous debut album is considered amongst the best in the history of Danish rock music.
July is a psychedelic rock band from Ealing, London that was professionally active between 1968 and 1969, and reformed in 2009. The band's music was a blend of psychedelic rock and psychedelic pop, marked by lush harmonies, acoustic guitars, keyboards, and intricate lead guitar work. Although none of the band's records managed to chart in the UK or the U.S., July are today best remembered for their songs "My Clown", "Dandelion Seeds", and "The Way", which have all been included on a number of compilation albums over the years.
Percewood's Onagram (1969–1974) was a German-American band founded by Wolfgang Michels based in Bremen, Germany. The music can be described as psychedelic rock and progressive rock with folk music elements, some call it Krautrock.