Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, at various times also known as "Velvet Opera", was a British rock band active in the late 1960s. Members of the band, Richard Hudson,

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

and

Paul Brett Paul Brett (born 20 June 1947 in Fulham, London) is an English classic rock guitarist. He played lead guitar with Strawbs (although he was never actually a member), The Overlanders, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, T ...

, would later become members of The

Strawbs Strawbs (or 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. They are best known fo ...

Hudson Ford Hudson Ford were a UK rock band-style duo, formed when John Ford and Richard Hudson left Strawbs in 1973. The original line-up featured Hudson (now playing guitar instead of drums) and Ford along with Chris Parren on keyboards, Mickey Keen o ...

and Stretch.

History

The group emerged from a soul/blues band called 'The Five Proud Walkers'. After supporting

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

on tour, they were inspired to change their approach and become a more psychedelic outfit. The band consolidated as Richard Hudson on drums,

on bass, Colin Forster on lead guitar, Jimmy Horrocks (Horovitz) on organ and flute (who left early in the band's history), and Dave Terry on vocals and harmonica.Larkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 208 Initially just calling themselves Velvet Opera, they developed their full name when Terry took to wearing a cape and preacher's hat in the style of the title character in the 1960

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...

of Sinclair Lewis' novel, ''

Elmer Gantry ''Elmer Gantry'' is a satirical novel written by Sinclair Lewis in 1926 that presents aspects of the religious activity of America in fundamentalist and evangelistic circles and the attitudes of the 1920s public toward it. The novel's protagonis ...

''. They started to make club appearances in London, using electronic backing sounds, and secured a record deal with the short lived Direction Records subsidiary of CBS Records in the UK. Their first recording was the single "Flames" (November 1967) which also featured on the CBS sampler record "

The Rock Machine Turns You On ''The Rock Machine Turns You On'' was the first bargain priced sampler album. It was released in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, The Netherlands, Germany and a number of other European countries in 1968 as part of an internat ...

", and was later

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

on stage by

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

. Williamson, Nigel: ''The Rough Guide to Led Zeppelin'', (Dorling Kindersley Ltd, 2007), , p. 44 Further singles and a self-titled album followed, including the track "Mary Jane" which was taken off the BBC playlist after they realised its drug connotations, although the band continued to make regular live appearances on John Peel's

Radio 1 Radio 1 or Radio One most commonly refers to: *BBC Radio 1, a music radio station from the BBC ** BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station broadcasting black music *CBC Radio One, a talk radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporatio ...

programme ' Top Gear', and other BBC radio shows. Around this time, Terry, as lead singer of the band was regularly being approached as "Elmer." The band found this amusing and joined in and the name stuck, Dave Terry became (and remains) Elmer Gantry. However, the recording success of the band was limited, and Forster left to be replaced by Paul Brett, who had worked with Gantry in ex- Arthur Brown backing band "The High Society." When Brett, Hudson and Ford wanted to take the band in a different direction, Elmer Gantry was the next to depart and the band reverted to the name "Velvet Opera" and took on 12 string guitarist John Joyce and the band released a second album, ''Ride a Hustler's Dream''. This again failed to achieve success, and in 1970 Ford left (to be replaced by Colin Bass), subsequently followed by Richard Hudson; both of them joining The

shortly afterwards. At this point the band dissolved. In 1971, Forster and Bass formed a new version of Velvet Opera with ex- Tintern Abbey vocalist, Dave MacTavish and drummer Mike Fincher. Short-lived, they recorded one single on the Spark Records label. Meanwhile, Gantry formed "The Elmer Gantry Band" with ex-members of the

Downliners Sect Downliners Sect are an English R&B and blues-based rock band, formed in the 1960s beat boom era. Stylistically, they were similar to blues-based bands such as The Yardbirds, The Pretty Things and the Rolling Stones, playing basic R&B on their ...

(whose bass player was Paul Martinez, later to also be a member of what became known as "The Fake Fleetwood Mac" and Stretch). The Gantry band gigged for about 18 months before Gantry joined the cast of "Hair" in order to sit out his contracts. In 1974, at the invitation of Mick Fleetwood and Clifford Davis he agreed, along with musical partner

Kirby Gregory Graham Patrick "Kirby" Gregory, often credited simply as Kirby (born 11 March 1953 in Wallingford, Berkshire, England) is an English musician best known for playing with rock bands Curved Air and Stretch. He now works in the field of addiction ...

Curved Air Curved Air are an English progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classical, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band is a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fus ...

, to join

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

for a tour of the US. In the event, Mick Fleetwood never arrived for the start of the tour which collapsed in litigation with some of the members of Fleetwood Mac, Members of the band later reformed as Stretch and recorded what has since become a classic track, "Why Did You Do It?" written by Kirby about Mick Fleetwood's actions around the "Fake Mac" saga. Stretch recorded three studio albums, "Elastique," "You Can't Beat Your Brain For Entertainment" and "Life Blood." Later, Gantry recorded with

The Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990, whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They were accompanie ...

and sang lead vocals on the tracks "May Be a Price to Pay" on ''

The Turn of a Friendly Card ''The Turn of a Friendly Card'' is the fifth studio album by the British progressive rock band The Alan Parsons Project, released in 1980 by Arista Records. The title piece, which appears on side 2 of the LP, is a 16-minute suite broken up in ...

'' and "Psychobabble" on '' Eye in the Sky''. He also provided lead vocals for

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, ...

's solo album "

Tilt Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 * ...

" and sang and wrote for Jon Lord's solo album " Before I Forget". More recently, Stretch have released the John Peel BBC Sessions and a newly recorded album "Unfinished Business."

Members

* Richard Hudson –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

(1967-1970) *

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(1967-1970) * Dave Terry aka "Elmer Gantry" –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

(1967-1968) *Colin Forster - lead guitar (1967-1968, 1969-1971) *Jimmy Horrocks (Horovitz) –

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

(1967) *

– guitar, vocals (1968) * Johnny Joyce – guitar, vocals (1969-1970; died 2004) * Colin Bass - bass guitar (1970-1971) *Dave MacTavish - vocals (1971) *Mike Fincher - drums (1971) ImageSize = width:800 height:250 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1967 till:31/12/1971 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:album value:black legend:Studio_releases Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1967 BarData = bar:Terry text:Elmer Gantry bar:Joyce text:Johnny Joyce bar:MacTavish text:Dave MacTavish bar:Forster text:Colin Forster bar:Brett text:Paul Brett bar:Horrocks text:Jimmy Horrocks bar:Ford text:John Ford bar:Bass text:Colin Bass bar:Hudson text:Richard Hudson bar:Fincher text:Mike Fincher LineData = at:01/07/1967 layer:back at:15/09/1969 layer:back PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Terry from:01/01/1967 till:31/12/1968 color:vocals bar:Joyce from:01/01/1969 till:31/12/1970 color:vocals bar:Joyce from:01/01/1969 till:31/12/1970 color:guitar width:3 bar:MacTavish from:01/01/1971 till:31/12/1971 color:vocals bar:Forster from:01/01/1967 till:01/09/1968 color:guitar bar:Forster from:01/01/1970 till:31/12/1971 color:guitar bar:Brett from:01/09/1968 till:01/01/1970 color:guitar bar:Brett from:31/12/1968 till:01/01/1970 color:vocals width:3 bar:Horrocks from:01/01/1967 till:01/11/1967 color:keys bar:Ford from:01/01/1967 till:01/03/1970 color:bass bar:Bass from:01/03/1970 till:31/12/1971 color:bass bar:Hudson from:01/01/1967 till:01/04/1970 color:drums bar:Fincher from:01/04/1970 till:31/12/1971 color:drums

Discography

Albums

*''Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera'' - Direction S8-63300 (July 1968) *''Ride a Hustler's Dream'' (September 1969)

Singles

*"Flames"/"Salisbury Plain" *"Mary Jane"/"Dreamy" *"Volcano"/"A Quick B" *"Anna Dance Square"/"Don't You Realise" *"Black Jack Davy"/"Statesboro Blues" *"She Keeps Giving Me These Feelings"/"There's a Hole In My Pocket"

References

{{Authority control English psychedelic rock music groups Musical groups established in 1967 1967 establishments in England