Gerald Thomas Moore (born 2 May 1949) is an English singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist with a recording career that stretches back to the early 1970s. Moore recorded and performed with numerous musicians such as
Jimmy Cliff
James Chambers OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, t ...
,
Lee 'Scratch' Perry
Lee may refer to:
Name
Given name
* Lee (given name), a given name in English
Surname
* Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee:
** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname
** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese s ...
,
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...
,
Johnny Nash
John Lester Nash Jr. (August 19, 1940October 6, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter, best known in the United States for his 1972 hit " I Can See Clearly Now". Primarily a reggae and pop singer, he was one of the first non-Jamaican artists ...
, and
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
,
[ Retrieved 2014-09-09] and
Airto Moreira
Airto Guimorvan Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the ...
covered his songs.
Early life and career
Moore was born in
Reading, Berkshire
Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...
, England.
Moore started playing about the age of 14 at the English Martyrs Youth Club,
Tilehurst
Tilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It lies to the west of the centre of Reading, and extends from the River Thames in the north to the A4 road in the south. The suburb is partly within the boundaries ...
. The first band was called The Missing Links
but they quickly changed the name to The Muddy Waters and eventually stayed with the name: The Delta Sound.
The Delta Sound evolved along with the British scene from Chicago blues to soul.
At the end The Delta Sound had a large brass line-up. When The Memphis Gents singer, Malcolm Webster, became sick, Moore was asked to replace him temporarily but soon became the permanent singer of one of the top Reading bands.
Most of the band members went to the same school as Moore, Ashmead.
After moving to
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...
to go to Art School and later to London, Moore experimented with his own solo band.
His first solo recording was 'I Wouldn't Mind' on the folk blues compilation 'Firepoint' released in 1969.
Heron
In this same period Moore met Roy Apps and Tony Pook at the Dolphin folk club in
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...
, and with them formed the band
Heron
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...
.
Heron's line-up moved around in this period and included Robert Collins, Tony Brummle Smith and Martin Hayward.
Producer and manager
Peter Eden
Peter Eden (born 1943) is a British former record producer and record label executive, best known for his work in the mid-1960s with Donovan, and later with jazz musicians such as John Surman.
Biography
Eden was born in Hadleigh, Essex. In his ...
was brought to see the band and with a new album planned Steve Jones was brought in to bolster the sound.
Their first album is most notable for the fact that all the music was actually recorded outdoors in a field by the River Thames.
In 1971 they got in to
Pye Studios for their first studio recording, a maxi single with a version of
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 'Hobo'.
The second album was released as a double album at the price of one.
Like the first album, it was again recorded outdoors, this time outside a
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 ...
country cottage,
which gives the album a unique atmosphere. This album shows a greater variety of musical styles compared to the debut album.
But still the acoustic folk-style is predominant mixed with some more rocking tunes.
G.T. Moore and the Reggae Guitars
In the spring of 1973 a new reggae band was formed, 'G.T. Moore and the Reggae Guitars'.
The line-up included Tom Whyte, Martin Hayward,
Malcolm Mortimore
Malcolm Paul Mortimore (born 16 June 1953 in Wimbledon, London, England) is a drummer and percussionist who has played with Arthur Brown, Ian Dury, Herbie Flowers, Gentle Giant, Spike Heatley, Tom Jones, G.T. Moore, Mick and Chris Jagger, Oli ...
, Tony Hannaford, Tom Robinson and Tim Jones.
But there were several variations of their band with guest musicians like
John 'Rabbit' Bundrick,
Steve Holley
Stephen Jeffrey Holley (born 24 August 1954) is an English rock drummer. He was a member of Wings from August 1978 to April 1981. In 1984 he played drums and percussion in Julian Lennon's debut album ''Valotte''. He has also toured with Ian Hu ...
and
Tony Braunagel
Tony Braunagel is an American drummer, producer, and songwriter from Houston, Texas, United States, who is based in Los Angeles, California. Braunagel has played on many film scores and television shows as well as numerous albums as a musician, ...
.
At some point they had two drummers, congas and a three-piece brass section.
They started off on the Pub Rock circuit but grew fastly to eventually play gigs all over the country and in Europe.
Moore signed to the
Charisma
Charisma () is a personal quality of presence or charm that compels its subjects.
Scholars in sociology, political science, psychology, and management reserve the term for a type of leadership seen as extraordinary; in these fields, the term "ch ...
label and released two albums: G.T. Moore & The Reggae Guitars (1974) and Reggae Blue (1975) and five 7" singles.
Attracting both white and black fans touring with
Jimmy Cliff
James Chambers OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, t ...
,
Betty Wright
Bessie Regina Norris (December 21, 1953 – May 10, 2020), better known by her stage name Betty Wright, was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter and background vocalist. Beginning her professional career in the late 1960s as a teena ...
,
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...
and
Dr Feelgood.
An American launch was set up and a mix of live and studio material was released in America but shortly after,
in 1977, the band split up. A third studio album was recorded but never got released.
Later in 1979
Airto Moreira
Airto Guimorvan Moreira (born August 5, 1941) is a Brazilian jazz drummer and percussionist. He is married to jazz singer Flora Purim, and their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer. Coming to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the ...
did a Brazilian cover of Move It on Up. In 1985 he covered this again but now with
Flora Purim
Flora Purim (born March 6, 1942) is a Brazilian jazz singer known primarily for her work in the jazz fusion style. She became prominent for her part in Return to Forever with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke. She has recorded and performed with nu ...
.
Session work
After the split up, Moore focused on session work. He went to America to play on Johnny Nash's 'Tears on My Pillow'. It is there he met Tony Braunagel and
Terry Wilson, with whom he later formed '
The Rhythm Tramps'.
They played almost exclusively in Europe, mainly Amsterdam.
Eventually Moore started living in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
. It's there he met Henk Targowski, who was then working at the famous coffeeshop ''De Melkweg''.
Henk was the former of 'Black Star Liner', a distribution company and record label
with the purpose of releasing Jamaica's best producers. Recently visiting
Lee 'Scratch' Perry
Lee may refer to:
Name
Given name
* Lee (given name), a given name in English
Surname
* Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee:
** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname
** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese s ...
, Targowski
had to find session players for his new
Upsetters album, so he asked Moore and some of the Rhythm Tramps to audition.
The audition went well. The album would be recorded in Perry's Black Arc Studio in Kingston so a trip to
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
was set up.
Musicians added to the entourage included former Rhythm Tramps keyboardist
James Lascelles
James Edward Lascelles (born 5 October 1953) is a British musician and the second son of the 7th Earl of Harewood and his first wife, Marion. Lascelles is a second cousin once to King Charles III.
Music
When young, Lascelles had classical pian ...
and saxophonist Bud Beadle, a former member of
Geno Washington's Ram Jam Band.
While they were there the situation became chaotic and it took a while before they started recording the album but still constantly music was played with or without Perry.
Many other musicians like
Joe Higgs
Joseph Benjamin Higgs (3 June 1940 – 18 December 1999) was a reggae musician from Jamaica. In the late 1950s and 1960s he was part of the duo Higgs and Wilson together with Roy Wilson. He was a popular artist in Jamaica for four decades and is ...
,
Rico Rodriguez,
Max Romeo
Max Romeo (born Maxwell Livingston Smith; 22 November 1944)["Respect to th ...](_blank)
,
Dwight Pickney would come to the studio.
Meanwhile, Moore was also doing sessions with
Zap Pow
Zap Pow is a Jamaican reggae band, founded by singer/bassist Michael Williams aka Mikey Zappow and guitarist Dwight Pinkney. Members also included singer Beres Hammond, trumpeter David Madden, saxman Glen DaCosta, and drummer Cornell Marshall. ...
at Harry J's and with
Sly & Robbie
Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separat ...
at
Channel One.
Back in Europe he did some session work on
Poly Styrene
Marianne Joan Elliott-Said (3 July 1957 – 25 April 2011), known by the stage name Poly Styrene, was an English musician, singer-songwriter, and frontwoman for the punk rock band X-Ray Spex.
Early life
Poly Styrene was born Marianne Joan Ell ...
's album '
Translucence
In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions a ...
'.
In the early and mid 1970s, he also played on most of
Shusha Guppy
Shushā Guppy ( fa, شوشا گوپی; née Shamsi Assār ( fa, شمسی عصار; 24 December 1935 – 21 March 2008) was a writer, editor and a singer of Persian and Western folk songs. She lived in London from the early 1960s, until her death ...
's studio albums. Together they were responsible for the soundtrack to the 1976 documentary film ''
People Of The Wind
:''The People of the Wind is also the title of a science fiction novel by Poul Anderson''
''People of the Wind'' is a 1976 American documentary film about the Bakhtiari people, produced by Anthony Howarth and David Koff. It was nominated for an ...
''. The following year, the film was nominated for the
Best Documentary Feature Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
and also for a
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
.
Imdb: "People of the Wind" awards
Retrieved 22 September 2014 The film follows the annual migration of the nomadic Bakhtiari tribes in southern Iran. The soundtrack was later released on vinyl in the US.
Selected discography
Collaborations
* G.T. Moore and the Reggae Guitars – G.T. Moore and the Reggae Guitars (1974)
* G.T. Moore and the Reggae Guitars – I'm Still Waiting / Judgement Day 7" (1974) B 236* G.T. Moore and the Reggae Guitars – Reggae Blue (1975)
* G.T. Moore and the Reggae Guitars – Reggae Reggae / Otis Blue 7" (1975) B 263* G.T. Moore & Shusha
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– People of the Wind Soundtrack (1977) RS 1001* G.T. Moore and The Outsiders – You're The One 7" (1981) P 016* G.T. Moore & The Goldmaster Allstars – Alpha (2011) MCD004* G.T. Moore & The Lost Ark Band – Seek The Kingdom First (2013) AMCD001
Solo
* Gerald Thomas Moore – Song of America / Wake Up 7"(1972/1973) K17* G.T. Moore – Utopia 7" (1980) SL005* G.T. Moore – Meets the High Tech Roots Dynamics at Channel One UK (1993) W011-L* G.T. Moore – Turn Israel 10" (1995) W-016TS* G.T. Moore - Ganja Flower - Jah Works 10" (2002) JW033TI
* G.T. Moore – Herb of Africa / Secret Love 12" (2009) W041T* G.T Moore - Utopia b/w G.T Moore - Utopia Dub - Partial Records 7" - PRTL7012 (2014 reissue)
* G.T. Moore and The Lost Ark Band - Be True, Be True Dub b/w G.T. Moore and The Lost Ark Band - One Two Three Simple As Dub - PRTL12003 Partial Records 12" (2014)
* G.T. Moore - Jerusalem b/w G.T. Moore - Solomon's Temple - Partial Records 7" - PRTL7024 (2015)
* G.T. Moore - Ganja Flower EP Part One: Ganja Flower, Ganja Flower Dub, Divided City b/w Divided City Dub, New Day. New Day Dub - Partial Records 10" PRTL10008 (2016)
* G.T. Moore - Ganja Flower EP Part Two: Heal the Blind, Heal the Blind Dub, Sound of the Ghetto b/w Sound of the Ghetto Dub, Turn Israel, Turn Israel Dub - Partial Records 10" PRTL10009 (2016)
* G.T. Moore - Serengeti b/w G.T. Moore - Serengeti Dub - Partial Records 7" - PRTL7047 (2017)
* G.T. Moore - The Harry J Sessions - Partial Records LP / CD - PRTLLP001 / PRTLCD001 (2018)
• G.T. Moore - Concrete Jungle - Partial Records 7” PRTLDP002 - one-sided 100 copies (2019)
* G.T. Moore & Goldmaster All Stars - Alpha - Partial Records 10” - PRTL10024 (2020)
* G.T. Moore - Jerusalem (Harry J Cut) b/w Mount Zion Dub - Partial Records 7” - PRTL7069 (2021)
Heron
* Heron (1970) NLS 3010* Twice as Nice & Half the Price (1971) NLS 3025* The Best of Heron (1988) EE CD 242* Upon Reflection – The Dawn Anthology (2006) MDDD 1432* Simple as One Two Three (2011) IRNF-011* King's Road (2011) IRPROMO-025
Selected session work
* Mike Cooper and the Machine Gun Co. – Places I Know (1971) NLS 3026* Shusha
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, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg
, image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govhar ...
– From East To West (1974) AS 29575& (1978) GS 138* Johnny Nash
John Lester Nash Jr. (August 19, 1940October 6, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter, best known in the United States for his 1972 hit " I Can See Clearly Now". Primarily a reggae and pop singer, he was one of the first non-Jamaican artists ...
– Tears on My Pillow (1975) BS 69148ref name="Allmusic"> Retrieved 2014-09-09
* Shusha
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, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg
, image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govhar ...
– Before the Deluge (1975) AS 29879* Christopher Jones – No More Range to Roam (1978) 0055TLQTU* Lee "Scratch" Perry
Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...
– The Return of Pipecock Jackxon (1980) SLP 9002* Poly Styrene
Marianne Joan Elliott-Said (3 July 1957 – 25 April 2011), known by the stage name Poly Styrene, was an English musician, singer-songwriter, and frontwoman for the punk rock band X-Ray Spex.
Early life
Poly Styrene was born Marianne Joan Ell ...
– Translucence
In the field of optics, transparency (also called pellucidity or diaphaneity) is the physical property of allowing light to pass through the material without appreciable scattering of light. On a macroscopic scale (one in which the dimensions a ...
(1980) AG 30320* Wigbert – Ticket in De Nachtkastla (1991) R211723* Radical Dance Faction
Radical Dance Faction (RDF), originally Military Surplus, is an English band from Hungerford, Berkshire, England.
History
Radical Dance Faction (RDF) were founded by Chris Bowsher in Hungerford in 1987. Originally known as 'Military Surplus', ...
– Wasteland (1991) Z3V* Brian Nelson – Beautiful Losers (1995) R4004* Goldmaster Allstars – Dub Style (2007) MCD0003* Congo Ashanti Roy & Pura Vida – Hard Road (2012) AM002
References
Bibliography
*''People Funny Boy'', David Katz ()
*''The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Lincoln, Abe-Primettes ()
*''The Virgin encyclopaedia of 70s music'', Colin Larkin ()
*''Electric Eden'', Rob Young ()
External links
*
Relaxx.co.uk
45cat.com
Discogs.com
Discogs.com
Heron.gb
Goldmasterallstars.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, G. T.
1949 births
Living people
People from Reading, Berkshire
English songwriters
English reggae musicians
English folk musicians