Michael George "Chick" Churchill (born 2 January 1946) is an English keyboard player of the late 1960s to 1970s
blues rock band
Ten Years After
Ten Years After are a British rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US ''Billboar ...
.
Career
Churchill began playing the piano at the age of six and studied classical music until he was fifteen. He became interested in
blues and rock music, and joined his first band Sons of Adam in
Nottingham
Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...
. Churchill then met
Alvin Lee
Alvin Lee (born Graham Anthony Barnes; 19 December 1944 – 6 March 2013) was an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lead guitarist of the blues rock band Ten Years After.
Early life
He w ...
of
The Jaybirds
Ten Years After are a British rock group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, the band had eight consecutive Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart. In addition, they had twelve albums enter the US ''Billboar ...
. At first, Churchill joined the band as its
road manager, but he soon became the keyboard player.
In November 1966 there was a name change to Ten Years After. With this group, Churchill played at major
rock festival
A rock festival is an open-air rock concert featuring many different performers, typically spread over two or three days and having a campsite and other amenities and forms of entertainment provided at the venue. Some festivals are singular even ...
s including
Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
in 1969, and 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 ...
on 29 August 1970.
In 1973 he recorded a solo album ''You and Me'' featuring
Rick Davies
Richard Davies (born 22 July 1944) is an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as founder, vocalist and keyboardist of the rock band Supertramp. Davies was its only constant member, and composed some of the band's best known songs ...
and
Roger Hodgson
Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson (born 21 March 1950) is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the former co-frontman and founding member of progressive rock band Supertramp. Hodgson composed and sang the majority of the band’ ...
of
Supertramp
Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending p ...
and
Martin Barre
Martin Lancelot Barre (; born 17 November 1946) is an English guitarist best known for his longtime role as lead guitarist of British rock band Jethro Tull, with whom he recorded and toured from 1968 until the band's initial dissolution in 201 ...
of
Jethro Tull.(Chrysalis 1051) Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Promo
Ten Years After broke up in 1976 and Churchill became Professional Manager at
Chrysalis Music
Chrysalis Music is a British independent music publisher.
The company's roots started in west London in 1967 when Chris Wright and Terry Ellis formed the Ellis-Wright Agency. It was formed to manage and book the bands Ten Years After, and Clouds ...
; the company was then owned by his manager, Chris Wright. In 1977, he left to found Whitsett Churchill Music Publishing with
Tim Whitsett, publishing and promoting American artists, especially from the south.
Solo Album
*'' You And Me''-1973 - With
Roger Hodgson
Charles Roger Pomfret Hodgson (born 21 March 1950) is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the former co-frontman and founding member of progressive rock band Supertramp. Hodgson composed and sang the majority of the band’ ...
,
Cozy Powell
Cozy Powell (born Colin Trevor Flooks; 29 December 1947 – 5 April 1998) was an English rock drummer who made his name with major rock bands and artists such as The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Robert Plant, B ...
,
Rick Davies
Richard Davies (born 22 July 1944) is an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as founder, vocalist and keyboardist of the rock band Supertramp. Davies was its only constant member, and composed some of the band's best known songs ...
and
Martin Barre
Martin Lancelot Barre (; born 17 November 1946) is an English guitarist best known for his longtime role as lead guitarist of British rock band Jethro Tull, with whom he recorded and toured from 1968 until the band's initial dissolution in 201 ...
.
References
External links
BiographyChick Churchill MySpace
1946 births
Living people
20th-century English musicians
21st-century English musicians
English rock keyboardists
English record producers
English songwriters
English rock musicians
English blues musicians
Blues rock musicians
British blues (genre) musicians
British rhythm and blues boom musicians
People from Ilkeston
Ten Years After members
Decca Records artists
Deram Records artists
Columbia Records artists
Chrysalis Records artists
{{UK-keyboardist-stub