The Purple Gang are a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

active intermittently since the 1960s. They were originally associated with the London

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

scene. They released their debut album, ''The Purple Gang Strikes'' in 1968, with one track, "Granny Takes a Trip" banned from being broadcast by the

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History

Although they were associated with 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 ...

psychedelic music scene, they originated in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

, then in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, as The Young Contemporaries jugband. The band adopted the name, The Purple Gang, when they changed their image to the well-dressed, clean-cut "gangster" style in the 1960s. In London, they engaged

Joe Boyd Joe Boyd (born August 5, 1942) is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked on recordings of Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band ...

as their

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, and shared a

studio A studio is an artist or worker's workroom. This can be for the purpose of acting, architecture, painting, pottery (ceramics), sculpture, origami, woodworking, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, industrial design ...

with

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

as they recorded their first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "Granny Takes A Trip" (named after the eponymous shop in the

Kings Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

, London). Pink Floyd were making their own first single, "

Arnold Layne "Arnold Layne" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd. Released on 10 March 1967, it was the band's first single release. It was written by Syd Barrett. Lyrics The song's title character is a transvestite whose strange hobby is stealing wom ...

", at the time. The

spotted the word 'trip' in the title and, assuming it to be a reference to

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

, banned the record from their airwaves. Also noting that the band's lead singer at the time (Pete Walker) was nicknamed 'Lucifer', the BBC Controller said "... a song with a dubious title designed to corrupt the nation's youth – and a band that boasts a warlock for a singer will not be tolerated by any decent society..." An

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 ...

, ''The Purple Gang Strikes'' was released in 1968, but failed to sell, although

Pirate radio station Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially w ...

DJs such as

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

praised the group. The band continued during the early 1970s, with a slightly different line-up. In 1998, the band reformed and recorded an album, ''Night of the Uncool'', with several new songs by Joe Beard, some of which were produced by Gerry Robinson, the

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

player from the original 1967 line-up. From 1999, their new lead vocalist was Stuart Pevitt (born 27 December 1952, Sale,

, England). They enjoyed some commercial success in Eastern Europe; in Bulgaria and Hungary one of their singles, "Sunset Over the Mersey", entered the national charts. In 2003, they re-released ''The Purple Gang Strikes'' on CD. It contained

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es of several of their 1967 songs, including the BBC-banned track "Granny Takes A Trip". Another track, "Madam Judge", was their reply to the latter's banning. Most of their songs were written by their early members: guitarist Joe Beard (born Christopher John Beard, 28 November 1945,

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

, Cheshire), and organist Geoff Bowyer (born Geoffrey Paul Bowyer, 1948,

Leek, Staffordshire Leek is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet. It is situated about north east of Stoke-on-Trent. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1 ...

). Some other members were vocalist Pete Walker (born Peter John Walker, 1946, Hyde, North Cheshire), jug / banjo player Ank Langley (born Trevor Langley, 1946, Stockport, Cheshire) and mandolin / harmonica player Gerry Robinson (born David John Robinson, 1947, Hyde). Their musical influences and styles are varied, from

jug band A jug band is a band employing a jug player and a mix of conventional and homemade instruments. These homemade instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, bones, stovepipe, ...

country and western A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

, through psychedelic, to

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

. The band's unofficial headquarters was The Castle Inn, Macclesfield, where they regularly practised and jammed for their enthusiastic local fans. Stuart Pevitt died of cancer in 2009, aged 56. Joe Beard has written a biography of the band – ''Taking the Purple - The Extraordinary Story of The Purple Gang - Granny Takes a Trip… and All That'' (). Beard and Robinson released a new CD in 2014 – ''We Meant No Harm''.

Discography

*''The Purple Gang Strikes'' (1968, re-released 2003) *''Night of the Uncool'' (1998)

References

External links

Guardian Article, 28 June 2002Joe Beard's biography of the band – Taking the Purple
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Purple Gang, The English rock music groups Beat groups British session musicians