Warhorse was a British

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 ...

band formed by

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

's first

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

Nick Simper Nicholas John Simper (born 3 November 1945) is an English bass guitarist, who was a co-founding member of Deep Purple and Warhorse. In the 1960s, he began his professional career in bands such as Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, The Flower Pot Men, ...

Career

After being sacked by Deep Purple in 1969, Simper joined Marsha Hunt's backing band. Not long after, Simper replaced her backing band with

Ged Peck Ged Peck (19 October 1947 – 10 January 2015) was an English musician who played in several bands - mainly backing work with Billy Fury, Vince Eager, Tommy Quickly when he was managed by Brian Epstein, Americans Bob & Earl who had a hit sing ...

on guitar and Mac Poole on drums. When Hunt became pregnant, the band stopped touring, and Simper and Peck re-organized the group as Warhorse. Ashley Holt became the band's singer, and they recruited keyboardist

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...

. When their first

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

was recorded in April 1970, Wakeman left to join the

Strawbs Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known fo ...

and was replaced by Frank Wilson. Warhorse signed to

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

, and released their first

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 ...

, ''

Warhorse The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot designs ...

'' in November 1970. Warhorse was managed by Ron Hire, originally part of HEC Enterprises, the original investors in Deep Purple. The band began to tour, but made little progress, and the album failed to

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

. A single, "St. Louis", was released, which failed to chart. By 1971, after arguments about style, Peck left and moved to classical guitar playing. He was replaced by Pete Parks. In June 1972, their next album, ''

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

'', was released, but soon after Warhorse was dropped from the

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

. Around the same time, Poole decided to leave Warhorse for

Gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

. The band carried on, and replaced Poole with

Barney James Barney James (11 November 1944 – 11 April 2016) was an English musician, actor and writer. He was known as the drummer with the band Warhorse (British band), Warhorse and for Rick Wakeman. His acting credits include the Derek Jarman films ''Seb ...

. Rick Wakeman remembered Ashley Holt and Barney James and recruited both when he formed his band The English Rock Ensemble for his solo albums, ''

Journey to the Centre of the Earth ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (french: Voyage au centre de la Terre), also translated with the variant titles ''A Journey to the Centre of the Earth'' and ''A Journey into the Interior of the Earth'', is a classic science fiction novel ...

'' and ''

The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table ''The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table'' is a studio album by English keyboardist Rick Wakeman, released on 27 March 1975 by A&M Records. It is a concept album based on the stories and people of the King Arthur ...

''. Warhorse's last concert in 1974 was at Polhill College,

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. Warhorse musicians (Holt, Parks, Simper, Wilson, and Poole) have since played together on several occasions, including 1985 and 2005, latterly for drummer Poole's 60th birthday. Poole died on 21 May 2015.

Personnel

Members

* Ashley Holt - lead vocals (1970-1974, 1985, 2005) *

- bass guitar (1970-1974, 1985, 2005) * Mac Poole - drums (1970-1972, 1985, 2005; died 2015) *

- guitar (1970-1971; died 2015) *

- keyboards (1970) * Frank Wilson - keyboards (1970-1974, 1985, 2005) * Pete Parks - guitar (1971-1974, 1985, 2005) *

- drums (1972-1974; died 2016)

Line-ups

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (1970) * ''

'' (1972)

Compilation albums

* ''Best of Warhorse'' (1986) * ''Outbreak of Hostilities'' (1991)

References

External links

* Allmusic.com Overview for Warhorse
Discography @ Disocgs.com

Rick Wakeman The Myths and Legends

Nick Simper's web site
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1970 English rock music groups English progressive rock groups Vertigo Records artists 1970 establishments in England Musical groups disestablished in 1974 1974 disestablishments in England