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Rod Coombes | |
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| Birth name | Rodney Coombes |
| Born | 15 May 1946 (age 78) |
| Origin | Notting Hill, London |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Labels | Various |
| Formerly of |
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Rodney Coombes (born 15 May 1946) is an English musician. He was mostly known from playing drums with British bands Stealers Wheel in 1972 to 1973 and again in 2008 and Strawbs from 1974 to 1977 and again from 2004 to 2010.
Rod is an artist and musician whose first instrument was the guitar, but his father, Roy Coombes, was a drummer/vocalist; so drums became Rod's instrument. He has played drums professionally since he was 17, when he joined singer Lulu's backing band, The Luvvers. [1] After the Luvvers, Rod got a call to join George Bean and The Runners, a soul band with a full horn section. Ironically, George got a call for the band to back Lulu on her radio- and UK tours so it was back to Lulu again. The band also backed Cat Stevens when his single "Matthew And Son" was riding high in the charts. Rod got a call from Rod Stewart to join him and Jeff Beck and Ronnie Wood in the Jeff Beck Band, which was riding high in the charts with the single "Hi Ho Silver Lining". Rod recalls the marquee gig with the band where every face in the London music scene turned up to see Jeff, including the Rolling Stones, some of the Beatles, Eric Clapton, etc. "It was an offer I couldn’t refuse", said Rod, "And it sealed my career path, and of course it was a great privilege playing with Jeff". Rod moved on to the blues rock band Juicy Lucy [2] for two albums, including the single "Who Do You Love", which saw the band on Top Of The Pops twice, unusual for a blues rock band. As Juicy Lucy fell apart Rod got an offer from Gerry Rafferty to join Stealers Wheel for their eponymous first album (which spawned the million seller "Stuck in the Middle With You"). [3] In 1973, they had a global hit with "Stuck in the Middle with You". Gerry didn’t like the idea of touring, and all that flying bothered him. So, he left the band but then tried to break it up. But A&M Records persuaded the band to continue to promote the single and album with Joe Egan taking Gerry's place on vocals. Later, A&M America then persuaded the band to bring Gerry back to tour America, and that led to Gerry's opportunity to break up the band and steal Joe away. Soon after, Rod joined Strawbs, with whom he stayed until after the release of the 1977 album Burning for You .[ citation needed ]
After spending some time on the studio side, learning to engineer and produce, at Falconer Studios in Chalk Farm, where their first project, the Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams album put the studio firmly on the London map, Rod moved to Malaysia for a period, working as a glass artist, then returning to obtain his master's degree in glass at the University of Wolverhampton. He rejoined The Strawbs in 1998 for their 30th anniversary concert at Chiswick House and played on subsequent tours in the US, Canada, UK, and Europe.[ citation needed ] Rod also composed and recorded with jazz group Ming Hat and toured the UK. Later, he joined with keyboardist Mark Horwood (The Mummers) and bassist Matt Gray in the fusion group E.V.A. Rod says, "We were too ahead of our time I think, labels didn't get what we were doing and told us were just jamming and there were no singles, ironic because it now sounds like we recorded it yesterday". After being contacted by iTunes and K-tel in California, Tony Williams briefly re-formed Stealers Wheel in Blackpool in 2008 with Rod Coombes and Paul Pilnick, together with close friend Tony Mitchell. On 10 November 2008, they started filming a music video for a re-recording of "Stuck in the Middle" on the Fylde coast. They also began writing new songs, although they had no plans to tour. After Pauls' sad demise they decided not to pursue it, although Rod says they still get calls to tour the band because nobody ever really got to see us live, apart from being the opening act for David Bowies' Spiders From Mars tour. [4] Rod got together with Matt Gray from E.V.A., and Rod began writing for their band Project Seven. They played some dates until everyone got too busy to continue. So, Rod decided to compose for his own solo album, titled Hip Joints, recorded at Playroom Studios in West Sussex and co-produced with Mike Sanders. It should be mastered in November 2024, ready for release. Rod said he had spent years working to support others in their music careers, and he felt it was time to show what his real roots are, Jazz and RnB, and to stretch out.
Unless otherwise stated, the details are of the singles released in the UK.
Stealers Wheel were a Scottish folk rock/rock band formed in 1972 in Paisley, Scotland, by former school friends Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty. Their best-known hit is "Stuck in the Middle with You". The band broke up in 1975 and re-formed briefly in 2008.
"Stuck in the Middle with You" is a song written by Scottish musicians Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan and performed by their band Stealers Wheel.
The Strawbs are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock.
John Christopher Hawken was an English keyboard player, best known as a member of The Nashville Teens, Renaissance, and the Strawbs. He also played in Spooky Tooth, Third World War, Vinegar Joe and Illusion, as well as being a session musician.
Hero and Heroine is the seventh studio album by English band Strawbs.
Nomadness is the ninth studio album by English band Strawbs. It was their last album recorded for A&M Records and their first with no full-time keyboard player since 1970's Dragonfly. Indeed, Strawbs would not feature a full-time keyboard player until 1978 when Andy Richards joined the band. All the tracks are timed at less than five minutes giving the album a lighter, less 'epic' feel in contrast to the previous three studio albums. Rick Wakeman came back to help on electric harpsichord on one song.
Dave Lambert is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter, who has been a member of the Strawbs at various stages of the band's career, beginning in the 1970s.
The Best of Strawbs is a compilation album of songs by Strawbs, with one track from the Dave Cousins solo album Two Weeks Last Summer.
"Shine on Silver Sun" is a song by English band Strawbs featured on their 1974 album Hero and Heroine. It is written by Dave Cousins and was intended as a "come-back" single after the post-"Part of the Union" band split. The single was a minor success peaking at number 34 in the UK Singles Chart.
Strawbs in Concert is a live album by English band Strawbs. The tracks are taken from recordings of two BBC In Concert programmes from 1973 and 1974.
The Very Best of the Strawbs: Halcyon Days is a compilation album by English band Strawbs. Although credited to Strawbs it does contain three Hudson Ford tracks and a Dave Cousins solo track. The album was released as a 2-CD set in the UK and US. The US release has a slightly different title and a different track listing.
Live at NEARFest is a live album by Strawbs. It was recorded at NEARFest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on July 11, 2004 and featured the line-up which played together on the albums Hero and Heroine (1974), Ghosts (1975), and Déjà Fou (2004).
"Hero and Heroine" is a song by English band Strawbs featured on their 1974 album of the same name. It is written by Dave Cousins. The song is in a similar vein to an earlier track "Witchwood" but with rather more obvious allegory.
"Autumn" is a three-part song by English band Strawbs featured on their 1974 album Hero and Heroine. The final part "The Winter Long" was released as a single in 1974 under the title "Hold on to Me ".
"Grace Darling" is a song by English band Strawbs, featured on their 1975 album Ghosts.
"Lemon Pie" is a song by English band Strawbs. featured on their 1974 album Ghosts.
"I Only Want My Love to Grow in You" is a song by English band Strawbs featured on their 1976 album Deep Cuts.
Anthony Williams is an English musician who played bass guitar in the folk rock/rock band Stealers Wheel and who also played with Jethro Tull.
Lay Down with the Strawbs is a live album by English band Strawbs. It was recorded at Robin 2 in Bilston and features the "Hero and Heroine line-up" of the band with a guest appearance of former member John Ford.
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