Blonde on Blonde was a guitar-led

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

group from

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. The band was formed in Newport in 1967 by vocalist/guitarist Ralph Denyer, drummer Les Hicks, bassist/organist Richard Hopkins and guitarist/sitar player Gareth Johnson.Larkin C 'Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) ) p22 – note: Larkin has Ralph Denyer erroneously as Ralph Denver throughout The band was named after

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

's 1966 album of the same name. In 1968 the quartet left Wales for London, and was joined by guitarist Simon Lawrance, playing clubs such as Middle Earth and appearing on the BBC TV series ''How Late It Is''. Signing to

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhoo ...

, they released their first album, ''Contrasts'', produced by Barry Murray, in 1969. The album included the

Robin Williamson Robin Duncan Harry Williamson (born 24 November 1943) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and storyteller who was a founding member of The Incredible String Band. Career Williamson lived in the Fairmilehead area of Edinbur ...

covers "No Sleep Blues" and "I Need My Friend", and a cover of The Beatles' "

Eleanor Rigby "Eleanor Rigby" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album ''Revolver''. It was also issued on a double A-side single, paired with " Yellow Submarine". The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to L ...

". That summer they appeared at the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...

. 1970's ''Rebirth'' was released on Ember Records after a personnel change that saw Ralph Denyer joining Aquila and replaced by school friend David Thomas. Thomas' introduction gave the band a tougher, rock-orientated sound. Their second album included Moody Blues-styled ballads ("Castles In The Sky"),

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

songs ("You'll Never Know Me/Release") and fuzz-guitar based rockers ("November"). In 1971 Richard Hopkins left and was replaced by Graham Davis. Blonde on Blonde's final album ''Reflections on a Life'' was released by Ember Records in 1971, but the band achieved only modest commercial success. They disbanded in early 1972. Ralph Denyer went on to co-write ''The Guitar Handbook'' with Isaac Guillory. He died in 2011. Richard Hopkins died in late October 2022. Les Hicks died 29 October 2022.

Discography

Singles

* 1968 - "All Day All Night" / "Country Life" * 1969 - "I Need My Friend" / "Conversationally Making the Grade" * 1969 - "Castles in the Sky" / "Circles"

Albums

* June 1969 - '' Contrasts'' * 1970 - ''

Rebirth Rebirth may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film * ''Rebirth'' (2011 film), a 2011 Japanese drama film * ''Rebirth'' (2016 film), a 2016 American thriller film * ''Rebirth'', a documentary film produced by Project Rebirth * ''The Re ...

'' * 1971 - '' Reflections on a Life''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blonde On Blonde British psychedelic rock music groups Welsh rock music groups