Splinter (band)
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Splinter was an English two-man vocal group from
South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...
, England, consisting of Bill Elliott (William Elliott) and Bobby Purvis (Robert J Purvis), who formed in the early 1970s. They were connected with ex-
Beatle The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the development ...
George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
, and had groups of instrumentalists to back them on each album. Splinter was the first act signed to Harrison's
Dark Horse Records Dark Horse Records is a record label founded by former Beatle George Harrison in 1974. The label's formation coincided with the winding down of the Beatles' Apple Records and allowed Harrison to continue supporting other artists' projects whil ...
label, when it was partnered with
A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...
. The band's sound has often been likened to that of The Beatles (particularly
George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
and
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
) and
Badfinger Badfinger were a Welsh rock band formed in Swansea, who were active from the 1960s to the 1980s. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (vocals, guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are rec ...
. The duo's biggest success came with their debut album, the critically admired '' The Place I Love'' (1974), which contained the hit single "Costafine Town". ''The Place I Love'', ''Harder to Live'' and ''Two Man Band'' have been remastered and reissued on compact disc on the Big Pink Music label from South Korea. The remainder of Splinter's catalogue is out of print and has yet to be issued on compact disc. Elliott died in June 2021.


History


Making their debut album

Splinter, who had worked together at various times in the Newcastle and London music scenes, first came to the attention of Harrison through
Mal Evans Malcolm Frederick Evans (27 May 1935 – 5 January 1976) was an English road manager and personal assistant employed by the Beatles from 1963 until their break-up in 1970. In the early 1960s, Evans was employed as a telephone engineer, and a ...
, a longtime assistant to The Beatles and latterly a scout for
Apple Records Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Ma ...
.Leng, p. 142."George Harrison talks about how Mal Evans discovered Splinter and 'Lonely Man' in this the last APPLE film (1974)"
Tom Brennan's Splinter Library, 26 November 2011 (retrieved 25 October 2012). Harrison was impressed with one of their songs, " Lonely Man", which he felt would be ideal for a film he was producing, based on the stage play '' Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs''. Harrison and his then bride of two weeks Patti Boyd attended the play's opening in 1966.Clayson, p. 346. Harrison initially intended to sign Splinter to Apple Records and held sessions at
Apple Studio Apple Corps Limited (informally known as Apple) is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in London in January 1968 by the members of the Beatles to replace their earlier company (Beatles Ltd.) and to form a conglomerate. Its name (pr ...
in central London to work on the song;Leng, p. 143. Harrison associate
Pete Ham Peter William Ham (27 April 1947 – 24 April 1975) was a Welsh singer, songwriter and guitarist best known as a lead vocalist of and composer for the 1970s rock band Badfinger, whose hit songs include " No Matter What", " Day After Day" and " ...
(of Badfinger) also participated in these sessions, held in mid-1973. Plans were made for "Lonely Man" to be released as an Apple single and Splinter were shown performing the piece in the Apple film. In 1971, Bill Elliot was featured on an Apple single (#1835) "God Save Us" b/w "Do the Oz" both written by Lennon/Ono and under the moniker of "Bill Elliot and The Plastic Oz Band" on the A side. The B side was credited to the " Elastic Oz Band". Elliot was also featured on the 45rpm picture sleeve. But as Apple fell apart, Harrison decided to establish his own record label, setting up offices in London on Royal Avenue and in Los Angeles. Once Harrison heard more Splinter material he invited them to record an album.Madinger & Easter, p. 442. Work on this spanned 17 months, with the majority of the sessions taking place at Harrison's Friar Park studio, FPSHOT. Also during this period, Purvis and Elliot co-wrote the song "Kyle" with
Gary Wright Gary Malcolm Wright (born April 26, 1943) is an American musician and composer best known for his 1976 hit songs "Dream Weaver" and " Love Is Alive", and for his role in helping establish the synthesizer as a leading instrument in rock and pop ...
, another friend of Harrison's who contributed to the lengthy sessions for Splinter's album. ("Kyle" appeared on the 1974
Spooky Tooth Spooky Tooth were an English rock band originally formed in Carlisle in 1967. Principally active between 1967 and 1974, the band re-formed several times in later years. History Prior to Spooky Tooth, four of the band's five founding members ...
album '' The Mirror''.) On their Dark Horse Records debut album, '' The Place I Love'', Harrison produced all the songs and played a variety of instruments, including electric and acoustic guitars,
dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson (guitar company), Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. ...
, bass guitar and
harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...
.Bruce Eder
"Splinter biography"
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
(retrieved 26 October 2012). As well as Wright, other musicians included
Alvin Lee Alvin Lee (born Graham Anthony Barnes; 19 December 1944 – 6 March 2013) was an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lead guitarist of the blues rock band Ten Years After. Early life He w ...
,
Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...
,
Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...
,
Klaus Voormann Klaus Otto Wilhelm Voormann (born 29 April 1938) is a German artist, musician, and record producer. Voormann was the bassist for Manfred Mann from 1966 to 1969, and performed as a session musician on a host of recordings, including " You're So ...
,
Willie Weeks Willie Weeks (born August 5, 1947) is an American bass guitarist. He has gained fame performing with famous musicians in a wide variety of genres. He has been one of the most in-demand session musicians throughout his career. Weeks has also ...
and
Mel Collins Melvyn Desmond Collins (born 5 September 1947, Isle of Man) is a British saxophonist, flautist and session musician. Collins has played in several progressive rock groups, having been a member of King Crimson on two occasions (the first from ...
.''Select:'' albums: The Place I Love
Tom Brennan's Splinter Library, 26 November 2011 (retrieved 25 October 2012). The album was so heavy with George Harrison's participation it was rumoured this was secretly Harrison's new band. Most of the songs were written by Purvis, with Elliott co-writing lyrics on "China Light" and "Costafine Town".Bruce Eder
"Splinter ''The Place I Love''"
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...
(retrieved 26 October 2012). "Costafine Town" was an international hit single, reaching the top ten in Australia and South Africa, and the top 20 in the United Kingdom. Both this single and the album also charted on the '' Billboard'' charts in the United States. The follow-up single, "Drink All Day", was banned in the UK by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
for the inclusion of the word "bloody".


Working in the 70s

In preparing for Splinter's second album, ''Harder to Live'', Harrison arranged for them to record at
A&M Studios The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of North La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property serv ...
in Los Angeles during the late spring and early summer of 1975.Leng, p. 178. The band were unable to use the studio time, however, due to Purvis suffering from hay fever, apparently brought on by the LA smog. Since Harrison was in town working with fellow Dark Horse acts such as Keltner's band Attitudes, he instead used the pre-booked studio time to record his own album, '' Extra Texture''. This would be Harrisons last Apple album. Harrison only participated on one track on ''Harder to Live'' – a new version of " Lonely Man"."Splinter –Harder to Live 1975"
waddywachtelinfo.com (retrieved 26 October 2012). The original recording from 1973 remains unreleased, apart from its appearance in the ''Little Malcolm'' movie. The song was co-produced by Harrison and Tom Scott, and featured Harrison on guitar.Leng, p. 187. "Lonely Man" was a hit in Japan, and in recording a version of the song in Japanese, Splinter became the first western artists to sing in that language. They were helped to achieve this by Japanese actor and singer Masatoshi Nakamura. The Japanese single credited the song as written by B Pervis/M Evans. Another set of musicians provided backing:
Chris Spedding Christopher John Spedding (born Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944) is an English musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his st ...
,
Waddy Wachtel Robert "Waddy" Wachtel (born May 24, 1947) is an American musician, composer and record producer, most notable for his guitar work. Wachtel has worked as session musician for other artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Kim Carnes, Randy ...
and John Taylor. Recently the film "Little Malcolm" has been released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK. Also during this period, Splinter won the Outstanding Song Award at the 1976 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival, held at the
Budokan The , often shortened to simply Budokan, is an indoor arena located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts ...
in Tokyo, with their song "Love Is Not Enough". This performance was released on an album that documented this annual song festival. As a result of this success, "Love Is Not Enough" was released as a single in Japan. This first version was produced by Tom Scott, and is a different arrangement from the one that subsequently appeared on ''Two Man Band''. After ''Two Man Band'', Splinter recorded two more albums that were each released in just two countries. The first of these, '' Streets at Night'', was issued only in Japan, in 1979. Purvis and Elliott produced and arranged this album themselves. ''Streets at Night'' featured
Alan Clark Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tr ...
, who played keyboards, synthesizers and clavinet. During this period, Splinter were associated with the Japanese music TV station NTVM, and worked with the Japanese rock band
Godiego are a Japanese rock band, consisting of keyboardist and composer Mickie Yoshino, vocalist Yukihide Takekawa, guitarist Takami Asano and Yoji Yoshizawa, bassist Steve Fox, and drummer Tommy Snyder. Over their 40-year career (with hiatuses), Go ...
. A single of Splinter singing the Godiego song "Ghandara" (associated with the TV show '' Monkey'') was released, and they also appeared on a compilation album, ''Our Favourite Songs'', a set led by members of Godiego. A single "Danger Zone" b/w "Swear to God" was released in the UK in 1979 on Barn Records.


Last albums and splitting up

Splinter toured America briefly as an opening act for Duran Duran and other 80s British bands touring at the time. Although the duo of Purvis and Elliott continued to perform together until 1984, ''Two Man Band'' was the last Splinter album released in most countries and their final album on Dark Horse Records. Harrison is credited as co-executive producer, and played some of the guitar. The main production duties were entrusted to
Norbert Putnam Norbert Auvin Putnam (born August 10, 1942) is an American musician, studio owner and record producer who was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2019.Robert McFarland, Jr"Norbert Putnam."'' Delta Business Journal''. November 2004. Acce ...
. This album had two singles released "Round & Round" b/w "I'll Bend for You". The latter was a non-LP track and lastly "Motions of Love" as double sided promo single in 1977. "Motions" did get released in 1978 with a B side of "I Need Your Love". The final Splinter album was ''Splinter'', which was released in the UK in 1980 on the Bellaphon label. The album was also issued in Japan the following year under the title ''Sail Away'', with a song called "Pigalle" used in place of "All That Love". Splinter finally split up in 1984. In recent years, Purvis has re-emerged as a performer and composer, working for a British cancer research charity.


Legacy project

In 2019, both members of Splinter, realising their recordings were not on the market and had not been for some considerable time, decided to commence a Legacy Project, thus ensuring that unreleased material will be made available to fans. In October 2020 they released ''Never Went Back'', an album consisting of recordings of rehearsals for their 1981 tour.


Discography


Albums

* 1974: '' The Place I Love'' (US Dark Horse SP 22001) (UK AMLH 22001) (Japan King AML-220) * 1975: ''Splinter'' (Dark Horse DH2) Promo album of acoustic demos released in plain white sleeve. Said to have been limited to 100 copies. * 1975: ''Harder to Live'' (US Dark Horse SP-22006) (UK AMLH 22006) (Japan King GP-270) * 1976: ''World Popular Song Festival in Tokio '76'' (Yamaha YL 7615) * 1977: ''Two Man Band'' (US Dark Horse DH 3073 or Warner K 17009 ) (UK DRC 8439) (Japan Warner P-10425D) * 1979: ''Streets at Night'' (Columbia YX-7228-AX) * 1979: ''Our Favourite Songs'' (Columbia YX-7240-AX) * 1980: ''Splinter'' (Bellaphon BPLP 002) ** 1981: ''Sail Away'' (Columbia Japan YX-7292-AX; same tracks as ''Splinter'') * 2020: ''Never Went Back'' (Gonzo Multimedia, Cat No 207916)


Album details


''The Place I Love''

''See The Place I Love''


''Harder to Live''

Track listing: # "Please Help Me" # "Sixty Miles Too Far" # "Harder to Live" # "Half Way There" # "Which Way Will I Get Home" # "Berkley House Hotel" # "After Five Years" # "Green Line Bus" # "Lonely Man" # "What Is It (If You Never Ever Tried It Yourself)"


''Two Man Band''

Track listing: # "Little Girl" # "Round & Round" # "Baby Love" # "I Apologize" # "Black Friday" # "New York City (Who Am I)" # "I Need Your Love" # "Motions of Love" # "Silver" # "Love Is Not Enough"


''Streets At Night''

Track listing: # "Streets At Night" # "I Can't Turn You On" # "Is It for Life" # "Stateside Girl" # "Evergreen" # "Danger Zone" # "When Will You Let Go" # "Where Do I Go from Here?" # "Took My Breath Away" # "Flyin' Blind"


''Splinter''

Track listing: # "Innocent" # "Plane Leaving Tokyo" # "Another Time Another Place" # "Too Far Down the Line" # "Take It or Leave It" # "Passing Through" # "Touch Yet Never Feel" # "Don't Leave Me Now" # "All That Love" # "Sailaway"


Singles

* 1971: "God Save Us" Bill Elliot and The Elastic Oz Band /B side "Do the Oz" Elastic Oz Band (Apple 1835) * 1974: "Costafine Town" / "Elly-May" (UK AMS 7135) (US DH 10002) (Japan King AM-232) (Germany 13 607 AT) – UK No. 17Roberts, p. 521. AUS No. 16 * 1975: "Drink All Day" / "Haven't Got Time" (UK AMS 5501) (Germany 13 842 AT) * 1975: "China Light" / "Drink All Day" (UK AMS 5502) * 1975: "China Light" / "Haven't Got Time" (US DH 10003) * 1975: "Which Way Will I Get Home" / "Green Line Bus" (UK AMS 5503) * 1976: "Which Way Will I Get Home" / "What Is It" (US DH 10007) * 1976: "Half Way There" / "What Is It" (UK AMS 5506) AUS No. 85 * 1976: "After Five Years" / "Half Way There" (US DH 10010) * 1976: " Lonely Man" (in Japanese) / "Lonely Man" (Japan King CM 2006) * 1976: "Love Is Not Enough" / "White Shoe Weather" (Japan Warner P-77D) * 1977: "Sun Shine on Me" / "What Is It" (Japan Warner P-94D) * 1977: "Round and Round" / "I'll Bend for You" (US DRC 8439) (UK K 17009) * 1977: "Motions of Love" / "Motions of Love' Promo (DRC 8523) * 1977: "Black Friday" / "Silver" (Japan Warner P-239D) * 1978: "Motions of Love" / "I Need Your Love" (US DRC 8523) * 1978: "New York City" / "Baby Love" (UK K 17116) * 1978: "Taking Off / "Touch and Go" (Japan Columbia YK-113-AX) * 1979: "I Can't Turn You On" / "Where Do I Go from Here?" (Japan Columbia YK-115-AX) * 1979: "If Somewhere and Somehow" / "Gandhara" (Japan Columbia YK-129-AX) * 1979: "Danger Zone" /"Swear to God" (Uk Barn Records Barn 004) * 1981: "Touch Yet Never Feel" / "Pigalle" (Japan Columbia YH-2-AX) * 1981: "I Can't Turn You On" / "Touch Yet Never Feel" (Japan Columbia TD-1067) (sample only)


Notes


References

* Alan Clayson, ''George Harrison'', Sanctuary (London, 2003; ). * Simon Leng, ''While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison'', Hal Leonard (Milwaukee, WI, 2006; ). * Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, ''Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium'', 44.1 Productions (Chesterfield, MO, 2000; ). * David Roberts, ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (19th edn), Guinness World Records (London, 2006; ). * Nigel Pearce/JK Media, ''The Splinter Legacy project 2019/2020'' (The Official Splinter Legacy Project).


External links


The Official Splinter Legacy WebsiteInformation on Splinter at Tom Brennan's Splinter Library
{{Authority control English vocal groups English folk rock groups Musical groups established in 1974 Musical groups disestablished in 1984 Dark Horse Records artists English musical duos Musical groups from Tyne and Wear