Gryphon are an English

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

and

medieval folk rock Medieval folk rock, medieval rock or medieval folk is a musical subgenre that emerged in the early 1970s in England and Germany which combined elements of early music with rock music. It grew out of the British folk rock and progressive folk move ...

band formed in London in 1972. They are known for their

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

style of music. The band briefly flourished in the progressive rock heyday of the early 1970s, and then retired to other musical activities before reforming for a one-off reunion in 2009. Subsequently, Gryphon played some gigs in 2015, featured at the Cropredy Festival in 2016, and in 2017, an invitation to a ProgRock festival in Portugal, and in the UK, the NewDay Festival near Canterbury. The first new Gryphon record for 41 years was released in 2018.

History

Formation

Gryphon formed in early 1972 as a four-piece band by English musicians

Graeme Taylor Graeme Taylor (born 2 February 1954 in Stockwell, South-West London) is a British guitarist. Taylor played lead guitar with 1970s medieval/rock band Gryphon, and leading folk rock bands including the Albion Band and Home Service. With Gryphon ...

Richard Harvey Richard Allen Harvey (born 25 September 1953) is an English composer and musician. Originally of the mediaevalist progressive rock group Gryphon, he is best known now for his film and television soundtracks. He is also known for his guitar co ...

Dave Oberlé Dave Oberlé (born 9 January 1953 in Farnborough, London, Farnborough, Kent, England) is percussionist and lead vocalist with the 1970s band Gryphon (band), Gryphon. After the band split up in 1977, Oberlé went on to help launch the heavy rock ma ...

, and Brian Gulland. Harvey and Gulland were graduates of the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

in London who started an acoustic band, using their classically trained backgrounds to perform a mixture of English

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

, contemporary rock,

and

music. The duo were joined by guitarist

and drummer

shortly after, thus becoming the first line-up of Gryphon. They soon signed a recording deal with the folk label

Transatlantic Records Transatlantic Records was a British independent record label. The company was established in 1961, primarily as an importer of American folk, blues and jazz records by many of the artists who influenced the burgeoning British folk and blues boom ...

and secured Nick Wright as their manager. The band's first live gig took place at the Stone Parish Church in

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

, Buckinghamshire, promoted by the town's

Friars A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the o ...

venue. Their publicist Martin Lewis described their sound: "Imagine

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

in a rock'n'roll band – think Gryphon."

First incarnation

In June 1973, Transatlantic released Gryphon's self-titled debut album, recorded in engineer Adam Skeaping's attic. It marked an early expansion to their sound with the addition of electric guitars, keyboards, and various wind instruments such as the

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

and krumhorn that were featured little in rock music at the time. The group developed a live reputation in folk and rock clubs across the country; their early period included performances at Shakespeare celebrations at St. Paul's and

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

s. Gryphon received nationwide exposure soon after with features on all four

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

stations within a five-day period. Later that year they composed for the documentary film '' Glastonbury Fayre'' (1972) and completed a European tour. By 1974, Gryphon acquired Phillip Nestor as their new bassist. Gryphon recorded their second album, ''Midnight Mushrumps'', in January 1974 at

Chipping Norton Recording Studios Chipping Norton Recording Studios was a residential recording studio in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, which operated from 1971 until October 1999. The studios were created by Mike and Richard Vernon as the in-house studio for Mike Ver ...

, Oxfordshire. Its centrepiece is the 18-minute title track conceived by Harvey. Around the time of the album, Lewis arranged for the band to be commissioned to write and record music for stage production of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's '' The Tempest '' at the National Theatre in London, directed by Peter Hall. It opened at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit organization, not-for-profit producing house, producing theatre in Waterloo, London, Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Th ...

in April 1974, the same month as the album's release. Gryphon's music for the play inspired the direction of ''Midnight Mushrumps'' named after a phrase mentioned in the play. Following the successful premiere of the play and acclaim for its music, Lewis arranged for Gryphon to perform at The Old Vic in July 1974, the first concert at the venue by a rock band. A month following their success at The Old Vic, the band recorded their third album, ''Red Queen to Gryphon Three''. The album marked a reduction in the use of non-standard instruments. By this time they had swapped Wright for a new manager, Brian Lane, who also managed

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

. Former Yes keyboardist

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...

, also a student at the Royal College of Music, had introduced the band to Lane and suggested they be signed to an American label. Released in December 1974, the album was their first released in the US, through

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

. Gryphon toured the album across the US, Canada, and the UK as the opening act for Yes between November 1974 and May 1975 (with bass guitarist/flute player Malcolm Bennett replacing Philip Nestor). The tour was a breakthrough for the group, performing in large venues and crowds nationwide and joining Yes on stage for some encores. Following Gryphon's fourth album, 1975's ''Raindance'' (which featured far more song material and David Oberlé beginning to concentrate on singing as well as drumming), Malcolm Bennett and Graeme Taylor both left the band and went on to form Precious Little, which Taylor hoped would be "a British beat combo with the improvisational freedom of The (Grateful) Dead." Taylor and Bennett were replaced on guitars and bass by Bob Foster and Jonathan Davie respectively, with Alex Baird recruited as kit drummer to allow Oberlé to focus fully on singing and lighter percussion. This lineup recorded a fifth, even more rock-oriented album, ''Treason'', which was released on

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 ...

in 1977. Gryphon split up later in 1977, after the release of ''Treason'', due to the band members feeling that the band's momentum had been lost and that the advent of punk had sidelined their style of music. Another factor was that Richard Harvey's projects outside the band (in folk rock, sessions and soundtrack work) were developing further and beginning to require too much of his attention. In the same year, both Harvey and Jonathan Davie - under the names Rik Mansworth and John Thomas - were briefly members of the punk/new wave "scam" group

The Banned ''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 ...

Reunion

In September 2007, Gryphon announced on their website that they had finally decided to produce a new album after a silence of thirty-one years. A one-off performance occurred on 6 June 2009 at the

Queen Elizabeth Hall The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by Benjamin Britten. The ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, thirty-two years after their last performance. The four original members - Richard Harvey, Brian Gulland, Graeme Taylor and Dave Oberlé - opened the evening with a selection of songs and instrumentals from the first album ''Gryphon''. They were then joined by Jon Davie (the final bass player, who appeared on ''Treason'') and a new member, the multi-instrumentalist and film/production music composer Graham Preskett for the rest of the evening. A follow-up tour was postponed, but the band eventually played six dates in May 2015, with further dates in 2016 including

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Martin Lamble after their first gig.) They started o ...

's Cropredy Convention and a return to Union Chapel Hall. Harvey left the group in early 2016, and shortly after they were joined by Keith Thompson on woodwinds and

Rory McFarlane Rory Mcfarlane is a British session musician who has also written scores for anime and games. He is probably best known for his score to the influential anime series ''Cyber City Oedo 808 is a 1990–1991 cyberpunk original video animation. ...

on bass. In September 2018, the band released a new studio album of original material entitled ''ReInvention'', their first in 41 years. This was followed in November 2020 by a seventh studio album, ''Get Out Of My Father's Car!''

Personnel

Band members

;Current members * Brian Gulland (born 30 April 1951) — bassoon, trombone,

crumhorn The crumhorn is a double reed instrument of the woodwind family, most commonly used during the Renaissance period. In modern times, particularly since the 1960s, there has been a revival of interest in early music, and crumhorns are being play ...

, recorder, keyboards, vocals (1973-1977, 2009, 2015–present) *

— guitars, vocals (1973-1975, 2009, 2015–present) *

— drums, percussion, lead vocals (1973-1977, 2009, 2015–present) * Rob Levy — bass (2018–present)Facebook > Rob Levy photo (10 September 2018)
/ref> * Andy Findon — winds and reeds (2017-present) * Clare Taylor — violin, keyboards (2019-present) ;Former members *

— recorder, crumhorn, mandolin, keyboards, vocals (1973-1977, 2009, 2015-2016) * Philip Nestor — bass guitar, vocals (1974) * Malcolm Bennett (known since 1989 as Malcolm Markovich) — bass guitar, flute (1974-1975) * Alex Baird — drums, (1977) * Jonathan Davie — bass guitar,

acoustic bass guitar The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar a ...

(1975-1977, 2009, 2015) * Bob Foster — guitar (1977) * — keyboards, mandolin, violin, guitar, percussion (2009, 2015–2019) * Keith Thompson — recorder, crumhorn, oboe (2016–2017) *

— bass (2016–2018?)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:5 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1972 till:01/01/2023 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:01/01/1973 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:01/01/1973 Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:woodwinds value:gray(0.5) legend:Woodwinds id:violin value:drabgreen legend:Strings id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums,_percussion id:lines value:black legend:Studio_album id:bars value:gray(0.95) BackgroundColors = bars:bars LineData = at:04/01/1973 color:black layer:back at:04/01/1974 color:black layer:back at:12/01/1974 color:black layer:back at:06/01/1975 color:black layer:back at:01/01/1977 color:black layer:back at:09/01/2018 color:black layer:back at:11/25/2020 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Brian text:"Brian Gulland" bar:Keith text:"Keith Thompson" bar:Andy text:"Andy Findon" bar:Graham text:"Graham Preskett" bar:Clare text:"Clare Taylor" bar:Graeme text:"Graeme Taylor" bar:Bob text:"Bob Foster" bar:Richard text:"Richard Harvey" bar:Philip text:"Philip Nestor" bar:Malcolm text:"Malcolm Markovich" bar:Jon text:"Jonathan Davie" bar:Rory text:"Rory McFarlane" bar:Rob text:"Rob Levy" bar:David text:"David Oberlé" bar:Alex text:"Alex Baird" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Brian from:start till:12/01/1977 color:woodwinds bar:Brian from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:woodwinds bar:Brian from:05/12/2015 till:end color:woodwinds bar:Brian from:start till:12/01/1977 color:vocals width:3 bar:Brian from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:vocals width:3 bar:Brian from:05/12/2015 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Brian from:start till:12/01/1977 color:keys width:7 bar:Brian from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:keys width:7 bar:Brian from:05/12/2015 till:end color:keys width:7 bar:Keith from:05/01/2016 till:08/23/2017 color:woodwinds bar:Andy from:08/23/2017 till:end color:woodwinds bar:Graham from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:violin bar:Graham from:05/12/2015 till:08/29/2019 color:violin bar:Graham from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:keys width:7 bar:Graham from:05/12/2015 till:08/29/2019 color:keys width:7 bar:Graham from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:guitar width:3 bar:Graham from:05/12/2015 till:08/29/2019 color:guitar width:3 bar:Clare from:08/29/2019 till:end color:violin bar:Graeme from:08/29/2019 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Clare from:08/29/2019 till:end color:keys width:3 bar:Graeme from:start till:01/01/1976 color:guitar bar:Graeme from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:guitar bar:Graeme from:05/12/2015 till:end color:guitar bar:Bob from:01/01/1976 till:12/01/1977 color:guitar bar:Philip from:01/01/1974 till:12/01/1974 color:bass bar:Philip from:01/01/1974 till:12/01/1974 color:vocals width:3 bar:Malcolm from:12/01/1974 till:01/01/1976 color:bass bar:Malcolm from:12/01/1974 till:01/01/1976 color:woodwinds width:3 bar:Jon from:01/01/1976 till:12/01/1977 color:bass bar:Jon from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:bass bar:Jon from:05/12/2015 till:05/01/2016 color:bass bar:Rory from:05/01/2016 till:09/09/2018 color:bass bar:Rob from:09/10/2018 till:end color:bass bar:Richard from:start till:12/01/1977 color:keys bar:Richard from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:keys bar:Richard from:05/12/2015 till:04/22/2016 color:keys bar:Richard from:start till:12/01/1977 color:woodwinds width:3 bar:Richard from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:woodwinds width:3 bar:Richard from:05/12/2015 till:04/22/2016 color:woodwinds width:3 bar:Richard from:start till:12/01/1977 color:vocals width:7 bar:Richard from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:vocals width:7 bar:Richard from:05/12/2015 till:04/22/2016 color:vocals width:7 bar:David from:start till:01/01/1976 color:drums bar:David from:01/01/1976 till:12/01/1977 color:vocals bar:David from:05/12/2015 till:end color:drums bar:David from:start till:01/01/1976 color:vocals width:3 bar:David from:01/01/1976 till:12/01/1977 color:drums width:3 bar:David from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:drums bar:David from:06/01/2009 till:06/01/2009 color:vocals width:3 bar:David from:05/12/2015 till:end color:vocals width:3 bar:Alex from:01/01/1976 till:12/01/1977 color:drums

Additional personnel

* Ernest Hart –

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 ...

(on ''Midnight Mushrumps'' and ''Red Queen to Gryphon Three''). This "credit" is spurious and actually refers to the fact that Ernest Hart of organmakers Copeman Hart made the electronic reed organ played by Richard Harvey on the albums. * Peter Redding –

Acoustic bass The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar a ...

(on ''Red Queen to Gryphon Three'') * Tim Sebastion – lyrics (on ''Treason'')

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Gryphon'' (1973) * ''Midnight Mushrumps'' (1974) * ''Red Queen to Gryphon Three'' (1974) * ''Raindance'' (1975) * ''Treason'' (1977) * ''ReInvention'' (2018) * ''Get Out Of My Father's Car!'' (2020)

Singles

* "Spring Song" / "The Fall of the Leaf" (UK, 1977)

Compilations and other releases

* ''The Collection'' (1991) * ''The Collection II'' (1995) * ''About as Curious as It Can Be'' (2002; BBC Radio sessions from 1974 and 1975) * ''Glastonbury Carol'' (2003; BBC Radio sessions from 1972 and 1974 BBC Radio session performances plus theme music for the Peter Neal film '' Glastonbury Fayre'') * ''Crossing the Styles: The Transatlantic Anthology'' (2004) * ''Raindances: The Transatlantic Years Recordings (1973-1975)'' (2018)

References

External links

Gryphon Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gryphon English folk rock groups English progressive rock groups Medieval folk rock groups Transatlantic Records artists Bell Records artists Harvest Records artists