Still Life was an English

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. Init ...

band characterized by expert

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

playing, intricate and original vocal harmonies, and an agile and precise rhythm section. They had one self-titled album that was originally released in 1971, and later re-released in 2003. The album credits kept an aura of mystery about their membership. Martin Cure, Graham Amos, Terry Howells and Alan Savage were actually involved.

Career

Bassist Graham Amos and vocalist Martin Cure began their musical experience in 1963 in a

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

based band called The Sabres. They later formed The Peeps in 1965. The other two members of the band were Roy Albrighton (guitar) and Paul Wilkinson (drums). The Peeps recorded five SPs for

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in A ...

(1966–68). In 1968, they recruited Terry Howells on organ (ex-Ray King Soul Band). Their drummer, P. Wilkinson, left the band in 1968 (he joined a band called Flying Machine). With a new drummer, Gordon Reed (ex-Vampires), the group's name was changed to Rainbows. They recorded two

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

for CBS Records. The Rainbows also had some gigs in Hamburg, Germany, and when they were finished there their guitarist, R. Albrighton, decided to stay in Germany (later, he formed a band called Nektar). When Rainbows came back to England, Reed left the band. The three remaining musicians: Amos, Cure, and Howells, changed a band name to Still Life. Alan Savage was recruited at short notice prior to the new line-up recording their debut

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 ...

. It was recorded at Nova Sound Recording Studios, near Marble Arch,

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. Savage was involved with the recording on the following dates: 1, 2, 5, 6 and 13 October 1970. The album was mixed on 26 October. Stephen Shane

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the album, which was released through Vertigo Records. The

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Richie Unterberger Richie Unterberger (born January 19, 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing. Life and writing Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' ...

, noted "The record was early organ-dominated progressive rock, its lyrical themes dwelling upon uneasy doubt and sadness, the melodies colored with the gothic classicism prevalent in much of the genre during the period". The band had a

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 ...

to produce six such albums, but they drifted apart.

After the split

Amos was living in England, but he died in June 2003. Howells now lives in Switzerland, and in April 2012 recorded a solo album, ''Tangerine Puddles''. The album is solo piano, with all composition by Howells. Savage lives in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, and still plays the drums. Martin Cure joined

Cupid's Inspiration Cupid's Inspiration are a British pop group, active with various line up changes since 1968 when they had two hit singles. The band are currently on the road with original drummer Roger Gray re-joining the veteran line up of Paul Shanahan and Bo ...

in 1971, and in 1980, he and his friends from Cupid's Inspiration formed a group called Chevy. In 1981, they had a record deal with Avatar Records and recorded one album and three singles. In 1983, Cure played with the group Red on Red. He now has his own PA company but still does occasional gigs with Cupid's Inspiration and The Rouges.

Discography

* ''Still Life'' ( Vertigo Records, 1971) (Akarma, 2003)

References

External links

Republika.pl
{{Authority control English progressive rock groups Vertigo Records artists