The Gods were an English rock band founded in 1965. The original band members included

Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, h ...

(later with

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...

and

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

Brian Glascock Brian Glascock (born 17 July 1948) is an English rock drummer for The Gods, Toe Fat, Carmen, Captain Beyond, Soy Cowboy, and primarily for The Motels. He also played on albums by Dolly Parton, Iggy Pop, and Joan Armatrading. He performed ...

, his brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

(later with Jethro Tull), keyboardist

Ken Hensley Kenneth William David Hensley (24 August 1945 – 4 November 2020) was an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, best known for his work with Uriah Heep during the 1970s. He wrote or co-wrote the majority of Uriah ...

(later with Uriah Heep) and Joe Konas. Lee Kerslake (drums) joined in 1967 and would later also play in Uriah Heep.

Greg Lake Gregory Stuart Lake (10 November 1947 – 7 December 2016) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock bands King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP). Born and b ...

(later with

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

and

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

) joined in 1967 and left the band after approximately one year.

Career

Taylor and the Glascock brothers were schoolmates from Hatfield and had been playing together as The Juniors (or The Strangers), a band they formed in 1962. Also part of this band were Malcolm Collins (vocals) and

Alan Shacklock Alan Shacklock (born 20 June 1951) is an English musician, composer, arranger and recording producer, who lives and works in Nashville, Tennessee. His 1972 song "The Mexican" as performed by Babe Ruth is considered influential in the early devel ...

(guitar). They eventually signed with

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. Their first 7" single (Columbia DB7339) appeared in 1964 ("There's a Pretty Girl"/"Pocket Size"). In 1965, the line-up changed. Mick Taylor continued to play guitar and teamed up with Hensley (organ/vocals). They also added Konas (guitar/vocals) and changed their name to "The Gods". In 1966, the Gods opened for

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

at the Starlite Ballroom in

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, London. A single ("Come On Down to My Boat Baby"/"Garage Man") was recorded in early 1967 on Polydor Records. At this point the line-up included

John Glascock John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

, and Joe Konas. In May 1967, Taylor got a call from

John Mayall John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among it ...

who was looking for a new guitarist to replace Peter Green. When Taylor joined the

Bluesbreakers John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...

, he left behind a faltering blues band. The band sought to revive their fortunes on the club/college circuit. They relocated to London and secured a

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...

The Marquee The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed whe ...

. John Glascock (bass) was replaced by Paul Newton in June 1967 and then by Greg Lake. But the latter was too talented for the backing role they had him in so he soon left to join

in the summer of 1968. The band had to re-group again and John Glascock was asked to return. With Glascock back in the fold, they recorded a couple of progressive rock albums and a few singles. Of their singles, "Hey! Bulldog", a

Beatles 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 developme ...

track, is their best known, and both sides have been included on the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, ''The Great British Psychedelic Trip Vol. 3''. The band played an amalgam of psychedelia and progressivism. Tracks like "Towards the Skies" and "Time and Eternity" from their 1968 album ''

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

'' are full of heavy ploughing

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 ...

and distorted guitar riffs and Ken Hensley's unique and rather dramatic vocals add a further dimension. Most of the Gods' material is fairly typical late 1960s pop/rock, epitomised by songs like "Radio Show" and "Yes I Cry". There are shades of

Vanilla Fudge Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band known predominantly for their slow extended heavy rock arrangements of contemporary hit songs, such as their hit cover of The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On". The band's original line–up—vocalist a ...

on their cover of the West Side Story extract "Maria". On a few tracks like "Candlelight" and "Real Love Guaranteed", there is an inkling of the heavier sound Hensley and Kerslake would propagate in their next venture, Uriah Heep. The Gods were the successors of

at the

Marquee Club The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed whe ...

in London. After recording two albums, ''

'' (1968) and ''To Samuel a Son'' (1969), they signed with a new record company and formed

Toe Fat Toe Fat were an English rock band, active from June 1969 to 1971, notable for including two future members of Uriah Heep and a future member of Jethro Tull. Career Formed in June 1969, the band was fronted by former Rebel Rouser Cliff Ben ...

, which also lasted two years and two albums. In 1970, they published an album under the pseudonym Head Machine, titled ''Orgasm'' with Ken Hensley on keys, guitars and vocals, John Glascock on bass, Joe Konas on guitars and Lee Kerslake on drums.

Personnel

- organ, guitars, vocals (1965-1969, died 2020) * Joe Konas - guitars, vocals (1965-1969) *

- bass (1965-1967, 1968-1969; died 1979) *

- guitars (1965-1967) *

- drums (1965-1967) *

Lee Kerslake Lee Gary Kerslake (16 April 1947– 19 September 2020) was an English musician, best known as the longtime drummer and backing vocalist for the rock band Uriah Heep and for his work with Ozzy Osbourne in the early 1980s. Biography Early life a ...

- drums (1967-1969; died 2020) *

- bass (1967-1968; died 2016) * Paul Newton - bass (1967) *

- guitars (1969)

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (1968), Columbia SCX 6286, re-issued 1994 on Repertoire Records * ''To Samuel a Son'' (1969), Columbia SCX 6372, re-issued 1995 on Repertoire Records * ''Orgasm'' (as Head Machine) (1970), Audio Archives AACD014 * ''Best of the Gods'' (compilation CD)

Singles

* " Come On Down to My Boat Baby" / "Garage Man" (Polydor 56168) * "Baby's Rich" / "Somewhere in the Street" (Columbia DB 8486) * "Hey Bulldog" / "Real Love Guaranteed" (Columbia DB 8544) * "Maria" (from ''West Side Story'') / "Long Time Sad Time Bad Time" (Columbia DB 8572)

References

External links

The Gods Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gods, The Musical groups established in 1965 Musical groups established in 1969 English rock music groups Uriah Heep (band) 1965 establishments in England 1969 disestablishments in England