Rocky and the Natives

Last updated

L-R Chris Godden, Jim Leverton, Geoffrey Richardson, Malcolm Barnard, Andy Newmark Rocky and the Natives on Whitstable Beach.jpg
L-R Chris Godden, Jim Leverton, Geoffrey Richardson, Malcolm Barnard, Andy Newmark

Rocky and the Natives are an English country rock band, formed in 2011 in Kent. The band is composed of songwriter/musicians Chris Godden (guitar/lap steel guitar) and Malcolm Barnard (vocals) and featuring Jim Leverton (bass), Andy Newmark (drums) and Geoffrey Richardson (violin and mandolin). [1] [2]

Rocky and the Natives' debut single Oyster Girl was released in July 2011 to coincide with the Whitstable Oyster Festival and with all profits going to Operation Blessing International to support Oystermen in the Urato Islands, Japan. It was reviewed in Maverick Magazine in July 2011. [3] The supporting video was shot on Whitstable beach by Luke Sewell, director of Channel 4's The Undateables series. Researching the Byrds cover of "Lazy Waters" on Farther Along led to a collaboration with American songwriter Bob Rafkin who joined the band on tour in Kent in 2012. In November 2012 the band released their version of Bob's song "Lazy Waters".

In 2012 the band was invited to contribute to the John Lennon tribute album Lennon Bermuda and recorded a version of "Tight A$", a Lennon track from the 1973 album Mind Games . [4] [5]

"Oyster Girl" and "Tight A$" both feature on the band's first album Let’s Hear it for the Old Guys (Yard Dog Records, released September 2013) and reviewed in Maverick Magazine for January/February 2014. [6] The album is dedicated to Bob Rafkin who died in May 2013. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoko Ono</span> Japanese artist and activist (born 1933)

Yoko Ono is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.

<i>The Beatles</i> (album) 1968 studio album by the Beatles

The Beatles, also referred to colloquially as the White Album, is the ninth studio album and only double album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 22 November 1968. Featuring a plain white sleeve, the cover contains no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed. This was intended as a direct contrast to the vivid cover artwork of the band's previous LP Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967). The Beatles is recognised for its fragmentary style and diverse range of genres, including folk, British blues, ska, music hall, proto-metal and the avant-garde. It has since been viewed by some critics as a postmodern work, as well as one of the greatest albums of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heather Nova</span> Bermudian singer-songwriter

Heather Nova is a Bermudian singer-songwriter and poet. As of 2022, she has released eleven full-length albums, six EPs and twelve singles.

Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal styles, and additional instrumentation, most characteristically pedal steel guitars. Country rock began with artists like Buffalo Springfield, Michael Nesmith, Bob Dylan, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, The International Submarine Band and others, reaching its greatest popularity in the 1970s with artists such as Emmylou Harris, the Eagles, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, Linda Ronstadt, Little Feat, Poco, Charlie Daniels Band, and Pure Prairie League. Country rock also influenced artists in other genres, including The Band, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Rolling Stones, and George Harrison's solo work, as well as playing a part in the development of Southern rock.

<i>Mind Games</i> (John Lennon album) 1973 studio album by John Lennon

Mind Games is the fourth solo studio album by English musician John Lennon. It was recorded at Record Plant Studios in New York in summer 1973. The album was released in the US on 29 October 1973 and in the UK on 16 November 1973. It was Lennon's first self-produced recording without help from Phil Spector. Like his previous album, the politically topical and somewhat abrasive Some Time in New York City, Mind Games received mixed reviews upon release. It reached number 13 in the UK and number 9 in the US, where it was certified gold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitstable</span> Town in Kent, England

Whitstable is a town in the Canterbury district, on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, five miles north of Canterbury and two miles west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of 32,100.

<i>Double Fantasy</i> 1980 studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Double Fantasy is the fifth studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and the final one to feature Lennon before his death. Released in November 1980 on Geffen Records, the album marked Lennon's return to recording music full-time, following his five-year hiatus to raise his son Sean. Recording sessions took place at the Hit Factory in New York City between August and October 1980. The final album features songs from both Lennon and Ono, largely alternating between the two in its track listing. Other tracks recorded by Lennon from the sessions were compiled by Ono for release on Milk and Honey in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Newmark</span> American session drummer (born 1950)

Andrew Newmark is an American session drummer who was a member of Sly and the Family Stone and has played with George Harrison, John Lennon, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Ron Wood and Roxy Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Mavericks</span> American country music band

The Mavericks are an American country music band from Miami, Florida. The band consists of Raul Malo, Paul Deakin (drums), Eddie Perez, and Jerry Dale McFadden (keyboards). Malo and Deakin founded the band in 1989 along with Robert Reynolds and Ben Peeler. After one independent album, the band was signed by MCA Nashville Records and David Lee Holt replaced Peeler on lead guitar; he would be replaced by Nick Kane shortly after their second MCA album and third overall 1994's What a Crying Shame. The band recorded a total of four albums for MCA and one for Mercury Records before disbanding in 2000. They reunited for one album in 2003 on Sanctuary Records, by which point Perez had become their fourth guitarist, and former touring keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden became an official fifth member. The lineup of Malo, Deakin, Reynolds, Perez, and McFadden reunited a second time in 2012 for a series of new albums, first on Big Machine Records' Valory imprint and then on Mono Mundo. Reynolds was fired in 2014 and Ed Friedland served as touring bassist until 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prairie Oyster</span> Country music group from Toronto, Ontario

Prairie Oyster was a Canadian country music group from Toronto, Ontario. They were named Country Group or Duo of the year six times by both the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) and the Juno Awards. The band also won the Bud Country Fans' Choice Award from the CCMA in 1994. They have four No. 1 country singles in Canada, with an additional 12 singles reaching the Canadian Country Top 10. Eight of their albums have been certified gold or platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association, including the 1992 CCMA Album of the Year Everybody Knows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jesse Ed Davis</span> American guitarist (1944–1988)

Jesse Edwin Davis III was a Native American guitarist. He was well regarded as a session artist and solo performer, was a member of Taj Mahal's backing band and played with musicians such as Eric Clapton, John Lennon, and George Harrison. In 2018, he was posthumously inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame at the 18th Annual Native American Music Awards. Davis was an enrolled citizen of the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma with Comanche, Muscogee, and Seminole ancestry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oysterband</span> British folk rock band

Oysterband is a British folk rock and folk punk band formed in Canterbury around 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mind Games (John Lennon song)</span> 1973 single by John Lennon

"Mind Games" is a song written and performed by John Lennon, released as a single in 1973 on Apple Records. It was the lead single for the album of the same name. The UK single and album were issued simultaneously on 16 November 1973. In the US it peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 10 on the Cashbox Top 100. In the UK it peaked at No. 26.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brett Dennen</span> American musician

Brett Michael Dennen is an American folk/pop singer-songwriter from Central California. His seventh studio album, See the World was released in July 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Wilson (musician)</span> American musician and producer (born 1974)

Jonathan Spencer Wilson is a producer, songwriter and musician based in Los Angeles, California, United States.

The Beatles were originally a quartet, but only Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr remain.

Lennon Bermuda is a tribute album and book inspired by John Lennon’s visit to Bermuda in 1980, where he wrote a portion of his Double Fantasy album. The Lennon Bermuda boxed set comprises two discs by various artists with a connection to Bermuda, including Yoko Ono, covering Lennon songs. There is also a book by author Scott Neil, illustrated by artist Graham Foster, describing Lennon’s stay on the island.

Sam Barnard is a British actor with Down syndrome who has appeared in several British television dramas and public information films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Leverton</span> Musical artist

Jim Leverton is an English professional musician, with a career spanning nearly fifty years, including as a sidesman to the Jimi Hendrix Experience's Noel Redding, Steve Marriott, Blodwyn Pig and the Canterbury scene band Caravan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Rafkin</span> American singer-songwriter

Bob Rafkin was an American singer, songwriter and guitar player.

References

  1. "Rocky and the Natives". Red Sands Radio. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  2. "Country Music in Britain". Cmib.co.uk. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  3. "Home | Maverick - The UK's Leading Independent Country Music Magazine". Maverick-country.com. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  4. Rocky & the Natives. "Rocky & the Natives | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  5. "The Bermuda John Lennon Tribute 2012 - Rocky & the Natives". Doublefantasybermuda.com. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  6. "Maverick - The UK's Leading Independent Country Music Magazine". Maverick-country.com. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  7. bwolfsohn (2 May 2013). "Bob Rafkin – 5/2/2013 | GotFolk.com". Wordpress.gotfolk.com. Retrieved 6 June 2014.