The Edgar Broughton Band, founded in

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and ...

in 1968, were an English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band.

Career

The band started their career as a blues group under the name of The Edgar Broughton Blues Band, playing to a small following in the region around their hometown of Warwick. However, when the band began to lean towards the emerging

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science o ...

movement, dropping the 'Blues' from their name as well as their music, Victor Unitt left. In 1968, the Edgar Broughton Band moved to

Notting Hill Gate Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name. Location At Ossington Street/ ...

, London, seeking a recording contract and a wider audience, and were picked up by

Blackhill Enterprises Blackhill Enterprises was a rock music management company, founded as a partnership by the four original members of Pink Floyd (Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright), with Peter Jenner and Andrew King. Blackhill were the or ...

. Blackhill landed them their first record deal, on

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

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. Initi ...

label

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo a ...

, in December 1968. Their first single was "Evil"/"Death of an Electric Citizen", released in June 1969, which was also the first single released by Harvest. The first single was followed by the Edgar Broughton Band's first album, '' Wasa Wasa''. ''Wasa Wasa'' retained a heavily blues influenced sound that was hard-driven and propelled by Edgar Broughton's gritty vocal style, which was similar to that of

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...

and

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...

. The Broughtons entered into an attempt to capture their live sound on record by organising a performance at

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It is the last album the group started recording, although ''Let It Be'' was the last album completed before the band's break-up in April 1970. It was mostly re ...

on 9 December 1969. Only one track was released at the time: a rendition of " Out Demons Out", an adaptation of

The Fugs The Fugs are an American rock band formed in New York City in late 1964, by the poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg, with Ken Weaver on drums. Soon afterward, they were joined by Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber of The Holy Modal Rounders. Kupfer ...

' song "Exorcising the Demons Out Of the Pentagon", which had become the band's set-closer and anthem. The rest of the recording was lost until its rediscovery and release in a remixed form in 2004 as ''Keep Them Freaks a Rollin': Live at Abbey Road 1969''. The band's touring attracted some controversy from their series of free concerts at locations such as children's playgrounds, and from a number of cases of civil disorder occurring at their shows. The most notorious incidents were a show in

Redcar Redcar is a seaside town on the Yorkshire Coast in the Redcar and Cleveland unitary authority in the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is located east of Middlesbrough. The Teesside built-up area's Redcar subdivision had a population o ...

at which a fight broke out between audience members and led to violent police intervention, and a show in

Keele Keele is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is approximately three miles (5 km) west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village of Silverdale. Keele lies on the A53 ro ...

where the audience vandalized the venue using paint given to them by the band. Though the band denied doing anything to incite any of these incidents (in the case of Keele, Edgar Broughton admitted to giving paint to the audience but argued that "we didn't tell them to do anything with it"), several towns banned the group's concerts. The Edgar Broughton Band kept recording, releasing the live performance of "Out Demons, Out!" as a single (b/w "Momma's Reward (Keep Those Freaks a Rollin')") and following it, in June 1970, with the album ''

Sing Brother Sing ''Sing Brother Sing'' is the second album by English psychedelic rock band, Edgar Broughton Band. It was originally released as "Harvest SHVL 772" in June 1970. The 2004 CD reissue contains 8 bonus tracks. There were no A-side singles released ...

''. This was accompanied by the single "Up Yours!" (b/w "Officer Dan"), a polemic on the 1970 General Election declaring their intention to drop out. The song featured a

string String or strings may refer to: * String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian ani ...

arrangement by

David Bedford David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter ...

. Their next single, "Apache Dropout", combined

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre-Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

' "

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño and ...

" with

's "Drop Out Boogie".

Jerry Lordan Jerry Lordan (born Jeremiah Patrick Lordan, 30 April 1934 – 24 July 1995) was an English songwriter, composer and singer. He achieved 3 hit singles on the UK Singles Chart before focusing purely on songwriting. Amongst his songwriting c ...

, the composer of "Apache", insisted that the title be "Apache Dropout" instead of the original "Dropout Apache". The single reached No. 33 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top ...

. In 1971, the band decided that existence as a

power trio A power trio is a rock and roll band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit (drums and cymbals), leaving out a second rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quarte ...

was limiting, and asked Victor Unitt, who had been playing meanwhile in

The Pretty Things ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, to rejoin the band. In May, with the new lineup, they released their eponymous third album, which contained "Evening Over Rooftops" (again with strings by David Bedford). ''

Edgar Broughton Band The Edgar Broughton Band, founded in Warwick in 1968, were an English rock band. Career The band started their career as a blues group under the name of The Edgar Broughton Blues Band, playing to a small following in the region around th ...

'' contained heavy blues and even country influences. The album was followed by the release of the

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

"Hotel Room"/"Call Me A Liar". The single failed to chart, but the album sold well throughout Europe, especially in Germany. With the success of their third album, the Edgar Broughton Band relocated to

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is a ...

to begin recording for their next album, ''

In Side Out ''In Side Out'' is the fourth album by psychedelic rock group, Edgar Broughton Band. The album was originally released as "Harvest SHTC 252" in July 1972. The 2004 CD reissue features three bonus tracks. Track listing #"Get Out of Bed / There ...

''. The band then recorded their fifth album, '' Oora'', in 1972; following the release of this album Unitt departed the band. In 1975 the band signed to NEMS. In the same year, John Thomas joined the band on guitar for the Broughtons' sixth album, ''

Bandages A bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to or to restrict the movement of a part of the body. When used with a dressing, the dressing is applie ...

''. This featured a softer sound than previous releases. Shortly after the release of ''Bandages'', John Thomas left and was replaced by Terry Cottam. In 1976, having recorded the live album ''Live Hits Harder'' (which was not released until 1979), the Edgar Broughton Band dissolved. However, Edgar and Steve Broughton together with Grant regrouped as The Broughtons to release '' Parlez-Vous English?'' in 1979, with Tom Nordon and Pete Tolson (ex-

Pretty Things The Pretty Things were an English band formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent. They took their name from Willie Dixon's 1955 song "Pretty Thing". A pure rhythm and blues band in their early years, with several singles charting in the Un ...

) playing guitar and Richard de Bastion on keyboards. This was the Band's first adventure into a fuller, more orchestral style of heavy rock. Pete Tolson was not retained after the release of the album and was replaced by John Thomas for the two years of European touring that followed. Tom Nordon appears again, along with keyboardists Duncan Bridgeman and Dennis Haynes, on '' Superchip'', released in 1982. After this the band dissolved again; recording no more studio material but touring infrequently throughout the 1980s and 1990s. A mini-tour in 1989 included a gig at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

in London. The band reformed properly once again in 2006, with Edgar's son Luke joining on keyboards and guitar, after the re-issue of their back catalogue had stimulated new interest in their work. They had a mini tour of England and Germany then completed a European tour in 2007, including an appearance at the German . The Edgar Broughton Band disbanded once again in 2010, with Edgar Broughton opting to continue to perform as a solo artist. Steve Broughton died on 29 May 2022.

Personnel

* Edgar Broughton – lead vocals, guitars, bass, percussion (1968–1976, 1978–1982, 1989, 2006–2010) * Steve Broughton- drums, percussion, guitars, bass, keyboards, vocals (1968–1976, 1978–1982, 1989, 2006–2010) * Arthur Grant – bass, guitars, keyboards, percussion, vocals (1968–1976, 1978–1982, 1989, 2006–2010) * Victor Unitt – guitars, keyboards, vocals (1971–1973) * Digger Davies – lead guitar (1975) * Richard Moore – guitar, vocals (1975) Norway tour * John Thomas – guitars, vocals (1975–1976, 1979–1981) * Terry Cottam – guitars, vocals (1976) * Tom Nordon – guitars, vocals (1978–1982) * Richard de Bastion – keyboards, vocals (1978–1981) * Pete Tolson – guitars (1978–1979) * Duncan Bridgeman – keyboards (1981–1982) * Dennis Haynes – keyboards, vocals (1981–1982) * Philip James Manchester – keyboards (1981) * John Wesley-Barker – keyboards (1986–1987) * Luke Broughton – keyboards, guitars, vocals (2006–2010) * Andrew Taylor – guitars, vocals (1986–198?, 2006–2008) * Bill Taylor – bass (1989) * Dave Cox – guitars (2008–2010)

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Discography

Studio albums

*'' Wasa Wasa'' (1969) *''

'' (1970) – No. 18 UK *''

'' (1971) – No. 28 UK *''

'' (1972) *'' Oora'' (1973) *''

'' (1976) *'' Parlez-Vous English?'' (1979) (as The Broughtons) *'' Superchip'' (1982) (subtitled 'The Final Silicon Solution?')

Compilations

*''A Bunch of 45s'' (1975) *''The Legendary Edgar Broughton Band'' (1984) *''Out Demons Out: The Best of the Edgar Broughton Band'' (1986) *''As Was: The Best of the Edgar Broughton Band'' (1988) *''Classic Album and Single Tracks 1969–73'' (1992) *''The Very Best of the Edgar Broughton Band – Out Demons Out!'' (2001) *''Bandages & Chilly Mornings'' (2006) *''The Harvest Years 1969–1973'' (2011). 4-CD boxset. The Edgar Broughton Band has also appeared on several

compilations: *''

Picnic – A Breath of Fresh Air ''Picnic – A Breath of Fresh Air'' is a sampler issued by the Harvest Records label, originally released in 1970 and notable for including the previously unreleased Pink Floyd song, " Embryo". The similarly-entitled ''A Breath of Fresh Air – ...

'' (1970) *''The Harvest Bag'' (1971) *''Harvest Sweeties'' (1971) *''Harvest Heritage 20 Greats'' (1977) *''Harvest Festival'' (1999)

Live albums

*''Live Hits Harder'' (1979) *''Chilly Morning Mama'' – Live (1998) *''Demons at the Beeb, Live'' (2000) *''Keep Them Freaks a Rollin': Live at Abbey Road 1969'' (2004) *''Live at Rockpalast 2006'' (2008) *''Live at The Monarch'' (2014)

Singles

*"Evil" / "Death of an Electric Citizen" (1969) *" Out Demons Out" / "Momma's Reward" (1970) – No. 39 UK *"Up Yours!" / "Officer Dan" (1970) *"Apache Drop Out" / "Freedom" (1971) – No. 33 UK *"Hotel Room" / "Call Me a Liar" (1971) *"Gone Blue" / "Someone" / "Mr. Crosby" (1972)

DVDs

*''Live at Rockpalast'' (2006) – performance by the band for German television.

References

External links

A review of an Edgar Broughton Band gig in 1998

Edgar Broughton Yahoo Group

Edgar Broughton – official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edgar Broughton Band, The People from Warwick Musical groups established in 1968 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 1968 establishments in England 2010 disestablishments in England Protopunk groups English psychedelic rock music groups English progressive rock groups Harvest Records artists Freak scene musicians