Henry Cave Small (born February 29, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and radio personality. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Small has been a member of four
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 ...
bands:
Prism
Prism usually refers to:
* Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light
* Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron
Prism may also refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...
,
Scrubbaloe Caine
Scrubbaloe Caine was a Canadian rock music group, active from 1970 to 1975. at
...
, Small Wonder, and the Gainsborough Gallery.
With Prism, Small enjoyed some success in the early 1980s. His first
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
with the band was '' Small Change'' (1981). It was the band's most commercially successful studio album on the U.S. '' Billboard'' 200, being their first and only album to make the Top 100. The
lead single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date.
Release s ...
Jim Vallance
James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...
with
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...
, became Prism's first and only Top 40 hit in the US. It went on to peak at number one on the ''Billboard''
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...
chart in 1982, and stayed in the charts for just over four months. Their follow-up studio album, ''
Beat Street
''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American drama dance film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to var ...
'' (1983) however, was more of a solo album by Small than a Prism album as it features no founding members of the band and relied heavily on
session musician
Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...
s. After Prism broke up in 1984, Small worked with
the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
's bass guitarist
John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band The Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member ...
, singing all of the lead vocals on his sixth solo studio album '' The Rock'' which was released ten years after it was first recorded, in 1996. He has also worked with
Eddie Money
Edward Joseph Mahoney (March 21, 1949 – September 13, 2019), known professionally as Eddie Money, was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including "Baby Hold On", "Two Tickets to Parad ...
Richie Zito
Richie Zito (born August 21, 1952) is an American songwriter, composer and record producer from Los Angeles. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Zito has experienced success as a prolific session musician, being featured on a wide array of ...
.
Small pursued a solo career and released his debut studio album ''Time'' in 2002. For quite some time he worked as a morning radio personality at
CIFM-FM
CIFM-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 98.3 FM in Kamloops, British Columbia. The station currently broadcasts an Active rock format branded as ''98.3 CIFM''.
The station was launched in 1962 as CFFM-FM by Inland Broadcasters, an ...
in
Kamloops
Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...
, British Columbia.
Early life
Henry Cave Small was born on February 29, 1948, in
Beacon, New York
Beacon is a city located in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The 2020 census placed the city total population at 13,769. Beacon is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area as we ...
. He learned how to play the violin at an early age, but in high school discovered other kinds of music. He was bullied as a child because of his height, which led to confrontations.
Musical career
1966-1969: The Group
Small was lead singer of a rock band performing in clubs and events in Potsdam NY and Brasher Falls NY while a student of Crane School of music, SUNY Potsdam
1971–1975: Scrubbaloe Caine
From 1970–1975, Small was a member of the band Scrubbaloe Caine. Other members included Paul Dean later of
Loverboy
Loverboy is a Canadian rock band formed in 1979 in Calgary, Alberta. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly " Turn Me Loose" and "Working for the Weekend", have become arena rock staples and are still heard on many classic rock and classic hits r ...
, and the band was produced by
David Kershenbaum
David Kershenbaum is an American record producer and entrepreneur, born in Springfield, Missouri. He has worked with many artists including Duran Duran, Tracy Chapman, Joe Jackson, Laura Branigan, Bryan Adams, Supertramp, Cat Stevens, Elkie Br ...
from
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
. The band released one studio album, ''Round One'' in 1973. They broke up in 1975, after being unable to find a new
recording contract
A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...
.
1976–1977: Small Wonder
In 1976, Small formed the band Small Wonder with Jimmy Phillips, Jerry Morin, and William King. They released their debut studio album, ''Small Wonder'', in the same year. In 1977, they released their second studio album ''Growin. Small Wonder brought Small a three-year songwriting contract with Irving Almo Music. During this period, he made a guest appearance on
Burt Sugarman
Burton Roy Sugarman (born January 4, 1939) is an American film and television producer best known for creating and producing the iconic 1970s/early '80s variety series '' The Midnight Special'', which served as a showcase for popular musical group ...
Prism
Prism usually refers to:
* Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light
* Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron
Prism may also refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...
. As the band was preparing to record their follow-up album to '' Young and Restless'' (1980) in the summer of 1981, lead vocalist Ron Tabak was fired. Various reasons cited were his conflicts with other band members, several run-ins with the law, and a lack of songwriting ability. Around the same time, keyboardist John Hall left the band. Small was brought in, and the new four-piece line-up of Small, guitarist
Lindsay Mitchell
Lindsay Christopher Mitchell (born 28 May 1949) is an English-born Canadian musician and songwriter who achieved success as the guitarist and founder of the Canadian rock band Prism.
Early life
Born on May 28, 1949 in North London, England, Mitch ...
, bassist Al Harlow, and drummer Rocket Norton recorded the studio album '' Small Change'', which was released later in 1981. The first track on the album " Don't Let Him Know", written by Jim Vallance (using his real name, as opposed to the Rodney Higgs moniker he often used in his earlier work with the band) and Bryan Adams, became Prism's first Top 40 hit in the US and a number-one single on ''Billboard'''s new Rock Tracks chart. Their follow-up single " Turn on Your Radar" also charted, becoming their fifth and final song to chart in the U.S.
By the end of the tour for ''Small Change'', Mitchell, Harlow and Norton had individually left Prism. With Mitchell's departure, Prism now had no founding members left.
In 1982, the band's touring line-up was Small, guitarist Paul Warren, bassist
John Trivers
John Trivers (born 1946) is an American songwriter and musician, the recipient of gold and platinum records for his involvement with Blue Öyster Cult and Tina Turner, and the co-writer with his wife and partner Elizabeth Myers of several popular ...
, keyboardist Robyn Robbins, and Doug Maddick on drums. Although the band had essentially broken up by the end of 1982, Small decided to continue recording as a solo artist but using the Prism name. He assembled a group of session musicians including
Richie Zito
Richie Zito (born August 21, 1952) is an American songwriter, composer and record producer from Los Angeles. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Zito has experienced success as a prolific session musician, being featured on a wide array of ...
,
Alan Pasqua
Alan Pasqua (born June 28, 1952) is an American rock and jazz pianist. He studied at Indiana University and the New England Conservatory of Music. His album ''Standards'' with drummer Peter Erskine was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2008. As a ...
,
Mike Baird
Michael Bruce Baird (born 1 April 1968) is an Australian investment banker and former politician who was the 44th Premier of New South Wales, the Minister for Infrastructure, the Minister for Western Sydney, and the Leader of the New South W ...
with backing vocalists such as
Bill Champlin
William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, musician, arranger, producer, and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the band Chicago from 1981–2009. H ...
of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
,
Bobby Kimball
Robert Troy Kimball (born March 29, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter best known as the original and longtime frontman of the rock band Toto from 1977 to 1984 and again from 1998 to 2008. Kimball has also performed as a solo artist and ...
Timothy B. Schmit
Timothy Bruce Schmit (born October 30, 1947) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He has performed as the bassist and vocalist for Poco and the Eagles (band), Eagles, having replaced bassist and vocalist Randy Meisner in both cases ...
of the
Eagles
Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...
to assist him. Together, this ad hoc line-up released the studio album ''
Beat Street
''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American drama dance film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to var ...
'' under the Prism name in 1983. The album was not a commercial success and failed to have any charting singles in Canada. Small, by now the band's only member, was dropped from his label, and essentially retired from using the Prism name in early 1984, and the 'band' became defunct. Until it reformed without his participation.
1985–present
In 1996,
John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician who was the bassist for the rock band The Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band's only member ...
, bass guitarist for
the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
, released his sixth solo studio album titled '' The Rock''. This was his only solo album on which he did not sing any of the lead vocals, a role filled instead by Small. The album was actually recorded over an 18-month period in 1985 at Entwistle's Hammerhead Studios in England and was meant to be released by
WEA
The Wea were a Miami-Illinois-speaking Native American tribe originally located in western Indiana. Historically, they were described as either being closely related to the Miami Tribe or a sub-tribe of Miami.
Today, the descendants of the ...
. Legal issues kept it in the vaults for ten years, and the album was then released in four different editions between 1996 and 2005, with separate covers for each.
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
wrote of the album "There's no questioning the technical skill of the performances—this band sounds tight and expert throughout, and Entwistle and akStarkey are a mighty rhythm section.
Discography
* The Gainsborough Gallery — ''Life is a Song'' (1970)
*
Scrubbaloe Caine
Scrubbaloe Caine was a Canadian rock music group, active from 1970 to 1975. at
...
— ''Round One'' (1973)
* Small Wonder — ''Small Wonder'' (1976)
* Small Wonder — ''Growin’'' (1977)
*
Prism
Prism usually refers to:
* Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light
* Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron
Prism may also refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...
Beat Street
''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American drama dance film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to var ...
'' (1983)
* John Entwistle — '' The Rock'' (1996)
* Henry Small — ''Time'' (2002)