Stone the Crows | |
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 Stone the Crows at Kralingen Music Festival 1970 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1969–1973 |
| Past members | Leslie Harvey Maggie Bell Colin Allen John McGinnis Jim Dewar Steve Thompson Ronnie Leahy Jimmy McCulloch |
Stone the Crows were a Scottish blues rock band formed in Glasgow in late 1969. They are remembered for the onstage electrocution of guitarist and founding member Les Harvey.
The band were formed after Maggie Bell was introduced to Les Harvey by his elder brother Alex Harvey. [2] After playing together in the Kinning Park Ramblers, their next band Power was renamed Stone the Crows (after a British/Australian English exclamation of surprise or shock) by Led Zeppelin's manager, Peter Grant. [3] [4] The band was co-managed by Grant and Mark London. London was associated with Lulu as the co-writer of her signature song, "To Sir With Love" and was also married to Lulu's manager, Marion Massey. London had also managed the predecessor band Cartoone, in which Peter Grant had a financial interest and featured Les Harvey on guitar. [5]
The band's first two albums were recorded with the original line up and Bell's vocals were described as being similar to Janis Joplin's. [6]
McGinnis and Dewar left the band in 1971 and were replaced by Ronnie Leahy and Steve Thompson. [2]
Guitarist and co-founder Les Harvey was electrocuted onstage in front of a live audience at Swansea's Top Rank Suite in May 1972. Wires to the group's equipment were reportedly damaged by the audience and although the road crew attempted to repair the damage, they overlooked a loose ground wire. [7] Harvey received a jolt of electricity as he reached for a microphone while his fingers touched the metal strings on his guitar. His body reportedly flew into the air and came to rest with his guitar in contact with the microphone stand. Bandmates who tried to rescue him reportedly got shocked themselves and it wasn't until someone kicked his guitar away [8] that medical personnel were able to render aid. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Jimmy McCulloch would subsequently replace the main songwriter Harvey as lead guitarist, following Harvey's death. [2] After Harvey's death the band reconsidered their direction. [9]
Stone the Crows ultimately broke up in June 1973, [2] and Peter Grant continued to manage Maggie Bell's career. Guided by Grant, Bell subsequently recorded two solo albums, Queen of the Night (1974) and Suicide Sal (1975) and an album with the Grant-managed band Midnight Flyer (1981). Bell is also known for her session work on Rod Stewart's album Every Picture Tells a Story (1971), in particular her co-lead vocal with Stewart on the album's title track (credited as "vocal abrasives"). [10] Jimmy McCulloch joined Paul McCartney's group Wings, in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1974.
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist and keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are cited as one of the progenitors of hard rock and heavy metal, although their style drew from a variety of influences, including blues and folk music. Led Zeppelin have been credited as significantly impacting the nature of the music industry, particularly in the development of album-oriented rock (AOR) and stadium rock.
Led Zeppelin III is the third studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 5 October 1970. It was recorded in three locations. Much of the work was done at Headley Grange, a country house, using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. Additional sessions were held at Island Studios and Olympic Studios in London. As with the prior album, the band eschewed the use of guest musicians, with all music performed by band members Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitars), John Paul Jones, and John Bonham (drums). The range of instruments played by the band was greatly enhanced on this album, with Jones especially emerging as a talented multi-instrumentalist, playing a wide range of keyboard and stringed instruments, including various synthesizers, mandolin and double bass, in addition to his usual bass guitar. As with prior albums, Page served as producer on the album, with mixing done by Andy Johns and Terry Manning.
Houses of the Holy is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 28 March 1973 by Atlantic Records. The album benefited from two band members installing studios at home, which allowed them to develop more sophisticated songs and arrangements and expand their musical style. Several songs subsequently became fixtures in the group's live set, including "The Song Remains the Same", "The Rain Song" and "No Quarter". Other material recorded at the sessions, including the title track, was shelved and released on the later albums Physical Graffiti and Coda. All instruments and vocals were provided by the band members Robert Plant (vocals), Jimmy Page (guitar), John Paul Jones, and John Bonham (drums). The album was produced by Page and mixed by Eddie Kramer. The cover was the first for the band to be designed by Hipgnosis and was based on a photograph taken at Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland.
Physical Graffiti is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was released as a double album on 24 February 1975. It was the group's first album to be released under their new label, Swan Song Records.
James Patrick Page is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Prolific in creating guitar riffs, Page’s style involves various alternative guitar tunings and melodic solos, coupled with aggressive, distorted guitar tones. It is also characterized by his folk and eastern-influenced acoustic work. He is noted for occasionally playing his guitar with a cello bow to create a droning sound texture to the music.
Alexander James Harvey was a Scottish rock and blues musician. Although his career spanned almost three decades, he is best remembered as the frontman of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, with whom he built a reputation as an exciting live performer during the era of glam rock in the 1970s.
Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist. He is best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the band Mountain, whose song "Mississippi Queen" peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has become a classic rock radio staple. Originating in the eclectic music scene in New York's Greenwich Village, he became closely attached to the British power trio Cream, writing, arranging, and producing for their second album Disraeli Gears. As a producer for Atlantic Records, he worked on several projects with guitarist Leslie West; in 1969 their partnership evolved into the band Mountain. The band lasted less than five years, but their work influenced the first generation of heavy metal and hard rock music. Pappalardi continued to work as a producer, session musician, and songwriter until he was shot and killed by his wife Gail Collins in 1983.
Pearl is the second and final solo album by Janis Joplin, released on January 11, 1971, three months after her death on October 4, 1970. It was the final album with her direct participation, and the only Joplin album recorded with the Full Tilt Boogie Band, her final touring unit. It peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, holding that spot for nine weeks. It has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA.
Edwin H. Kramer is a British recording producer and engineer. He has collaborated with several artists now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, including Jimi Hendrix, the Beatles, David Bowie, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, the Kinks, Kiss, John Mellencamp, and Carlos Santana, as well as records for other well-known artists in various genres, including Anthrax, Joe Cocker, Loudness, Peter Frampton, John Mayall, Ten Years After, Mott the Hoople, John Sebastian, Carly Simon, Dionne Warwick, Small Faces, Sir Lord Baltimore and Whitesnake.
James McCulloch was a Scottish musician best known for playing lead guitar and bass, as a member of Paul McCartney's band Wings from 1974 to 1977. McCulloch was a member of the Glasgow psychedelic band One in a Million, Thunderclap Newman, and Stone the Crows.
Honeybus were a 1960s pop group formed in April 1967, in London. They are best known for their 1968 UK Top 10 hit single, "I Can't Let Maggie Go", written by group member Pete Dello who also composed their previous single "(Do I Figure) In Your Life", later recorded by Dave Berry, Ian Matthews, Joe Cocker, Dave Stewart, Paul Carrack, Samantha Jones, Dana and Pierce Turner.
"Whole Lotta Love" is a song by British rock band Led Zeppelin. It is the opening track on the band's second album, Led Zeppelin II, and was released as a single in 1969 in several countries; as with other Led Zeppelin songs, no single was released in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it became their first hit and was certified gold. Parts of the song's lyrics were adapted from Willie Dixon's "You Need Love", recorded by Muddy Waters in 1962; originally uncredited to Dixon, a lawsuit in 1985 was settled with a payment to Dixon and credit on subsequent releases.
Smokin' is the fifth studio album by English rock band Humble Pie, released in 1972 through A&M Records. It was the band's international breakthrough, peaking at number 6 on the US Billboard 200 album chart, and hit number 20 in the UK and number 9 in Australia.
Margaret Bell is a Scottish rock vocalist. She came to fame as co-lead vocalist of the blues-rock group Stone the Crows, and was described as the UK's closest counterpart to American singer Janis Joplin. Bell was also prominently featured as a guest vocalist on the song "Every Picture Tells a Story" (1971) by Rod Stewart.
Leslie Cameron Harvey was a Scottish guitarist in several bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s, most notably Stone the Crows. He was the brother of Alex Harvey.
The Joker is Wild was the second album released by Alex Harvey after the demise of The Soul Band. The album was released in 1972. Some time after 1972 the album The Joker Is Wild was reissued and repackaged, the album song listings stayed the same, but the album was credited as being made by The Sensational Alex Harvey Band even though this band did not exist at the time, and the title was changed to This Is.
Stone the Crows is the debut album by Scottish rock band Stone the Crows.
Mark London is a Canadian-born British soundtrack composer, songwriter and music producer. He is perhaps best known as composer of the song "To Sir with Love".
Ode to John Law is the second studio album by Scottish band Stone the Crows.
This is a summary of 1972 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
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