Stackridge were a British rock group which had their greatest success in the early 1970s.

History

Classic period

Stackridge Lemon were formed from the remains of a previous band, Grytpype Thynne, by Andy Davis and James "Crun" Walter during 1969 in the

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

area of

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...

. After initial experimentation, the word ''Lemon'' was dropped from the band's name. The band played their first

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

gig at The Temple in Wardour Street on 6 February 1970. They were the opening and closing act at the first

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

between 19 September and 20 September 1970. During 1970, the members of the band shared a communal flat as their headquarters at 32, West Mall in

Clifton, Bristol Clifton is both a suburb of Bristol, England, and the name of one of the city's thirty-five council wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells. The eastern part of the suburb lies within the ward of Clifton D ...

, the address of which Davis and Warren later used as the title of a song, which appeared on the debut album, '' Stackridge''. During 1971, Stackridge began serious gigging, although Crun left to take up bricklaying. Davis, Warren, Bent, Evans, and Slater embarked on a UK tour supporting Wishbone Ash. Later in the year they signed to

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

and recorded their first album ''Stackridge'', at De Lane Lea Studios, London. They toured the UK as headliners with

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

supporting and played their first

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 ...

session for the BBC, which included a version of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' " Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". The group continued on a year of touring, again with Wishbone Ash and also Forever More. On 30 September they supported

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...

at Newcastle City Hall. The second album '' Friendliness'' was quickly recorded in August 1972, and released in November with some songs that had started life in pre-Stackridge days. By this time Crun had rejoined the band which consisted of Davis, Warren, Slater, Evans, Walter and Billy Sparkle. In February 1973, the band made their first television appearance on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

's '' The Old Grey Whistle Test''. They then toured during February and March with

Camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...

in support. The third album '' The Man in the Bowler Hat'' was recorded during 1973 at AIR Studios,

with producer

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

. The album was released in February 1974 to excellent reviews, but failed to sell in large quantities. This was the highest-charting Stackridge album in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, reaching no. 23. A different version of the album was released in the U.S. under the title '' Pinafore Days'' and became their only U.S. chart entry, peaking at no. 191, although a US tour never materialised. Almost as soon as the album was finished, the band were joined by Keith Gemmell from

Audience An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), o ...

; and shortly thereafter Evans, Slater, Sparkle, Walter, and Warren all departed the band and were replaced by Rod Bowkett (keyboards),

Rare Bird Rare Bird were an English progressive rock band formed in 1969. They had more success in other European countries. They released five studio albums between 1969 and 1974. In the UK, they never charted with an album but charted with one singl ...

member Paul Karas (bass), and Roy Morgan (drums), as Davis took full control of the band. The group that went on tour to support the album sounded quite different from the one on the record. The fourth album ''

Extravaganza An extravaganza is a literary or musical work (often musical theatre) usually containing elements of burlesque, pantomime, music hall and parody in a spectacular production and characterized by freedom of style and structure. It sometimes also ...

'' on

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's record label

The Rocket Record Company The Rocket Record Company was a record label founded by Elton John, along with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown and others, in 1973 in music, 1973. The company was named after the hit song "Rocket Man (song), Rocket Man". The label was ...

, was recorded at AIR Studios with Tony Ashton producing and Rod Bowkett joining to contribute to the songwriting. The band now consisted of Davis, Bowkett, Gemmell, Karas and Morgan, along with the returning Slater, Evans, and Walter. Non-Stackridge written songs and cover versions became more prevalent. With more touring and an appearance at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

concert with

and

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

, 1975 saw the recording of the band's fifth outing in the studio, the concept album '' Mr. Mick''. It was based on stories/poems by

Steve Augarde Steve Augarde (born 3 October 1950) is a British author and artist. He has written and illustrated several novels for children and young adults as well as over seventy picture books for younger children, including pop-up books for which he design ...

and was eventually recorded at

Ramport Studios Ramport Studios was a recording studio on Thessaly Road, Battersea, south London, owned by the Who. The studio was built in an old church hall. Several major albums were recorded at Ramport, including 1974's '' Crime of the Century'' by Supertra ...

, Putney with the revised line-up of Davis, Slater, Walter, Gemmell plus the addition of ex-

Greenslade Greenslade were an English progressive rock band, formed in the autumn of 1972 by keyboard player Dave Greenslade and bassist Tony Reeves, with keyboardist Dave Lawson and drummer Andrew McCulloch. History The band made their live deb ...

Dave Lawson Dave Lawson (born 25 September 1978) is an Australian comedian, actor, and TV and radio personality. He is a regular performer on the stand up comedy circuit, and at one time participated in a talk back radio segment on the commercial radio st ...

on keyboards and Peter Van Hooke on drums. The Rocket Record Company, the group's record label, performed considerable editing on ''Mr. Mick'', and insisted on the inclusion of a Beatles cover song, " Hold Me Tight". The album received some good press, but some shows were abandoned on the grounds that the stages were too small. Stackridge performed a final show in April 1976, and shortly afterwards the band disintegrated.

released the compilation '' Do the Stanley'' late in 1976. It contained songs from the first three albums along with singles and a previously unreleased song "Let There Be Lids", taken from live performances. Stackridge officially announced in 1977 that they had disbanded; James Warren and Andy Cresswell-Davis formed

The Korgis The Korgis are a British pop band known mainly for their hit single "Everybody's Got to Learn Sometime" in 1980. The band was originally composed of singer/guitarist/keyboardist Andy Davis (born Andrew Cresswell-Davis 10 August 1949) and singe ...

a few years later, and had some commercial success in the early 1980s.

Revival period

''BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert'', released by Windsong in July 1992, raised renewed interest in the band. John Sherry, Roy Morgan and Rod Lynton proposed a reunion tour but this never materialized. The album was re-issued by Strange Fruit in 1996. During 1996, talks were held between original members about possible reunion and recording started. And the following year, 1997 ''Stackridge - The Radio One Sessions'' was released by Strange Fruit Records. By June 1999, the Come Back To Front UK tour was under way and June that year saw ''Something for the Weekend'' released, featuring the line-up of James Warren, Jim "Crun" Walter, Mike Evans, Richard Stubbings, John Miller, and Tim Robinson. This album featured "Something about the Beatles". Then in 2001 ''Pick Of The Crop'' and '' The Original Mr. Mick'' were released on Stackridge's own DAP Records. Mike and Jennie Evans were responsible for re-marketing the band, including setting up a website. There were infrequent live guest appearances by Mike 'Mutter' Slater. However, further turmoil within the band occurred as attempts to reunite the original band led to the Evans falling out with Warren, Walter and Slater as Davis came back to the fold; leading to Evans' departure and Slater's full-time return to the band. 2005 saw the release of the album '' Sex and Flags'' on Angel Air Records, a collection comprising many songs from ''Something for the Weekend'', all six songs from the fan release only limited edition ''Lemon'' CD in 2002, and two Andy Davis demo recordings. The album was the first since 1973 (apart from the ''Lemon'' mini CD) to feature the core foursome of Warren, Davis, Walter and Slater. Stackridge signed up with reissue experts Angel Air in 2005. All the CDs have extensive sleeve notes, pictures of memorabilia and bonus tracks and two, ''Mr Mick'' and ''Forbidden City'' are double CD sets. A spring 2007 tour was announced featuring this line-up, along with additional musicians. A show at The Rondo Theatre, Bath, on 1 April 2007 was filmed for a DVD, released under the title ''Forbidden City'' (also available as a CD release). The band continued to perform during 2008. In 2008 it returned to the Glastonbury Festival to play the acoustic stage on Sunday afternoon. They also appeared at the 2008 Rhythm Festival in

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 t ...

and at Fairport's Cropredy Convention. An album ('' A Victory for Common Sense'' - including a rework of the Korgis's "Boots and Shoes") was released on 13 July 2009 on Helium Records. Stackrdigegig

In June 2010, it was announced that Mutter Slater had resigned from Stackridge. The stated reason was that, because of his full-time job, he could not always accept weekday bookings without taking a day out of his holiday entitlement. The announcement concluded "The rest of the band are very sorry to see him go, but will continue as a seven piece at least until the end of the year. Rehearsals will take place over the next two months to create a new direction, ready for Autumn/Winter gigs." On 14 March 2011, the band performed live on ''

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airing ...

'' performing "The Last Plimsoll". In April 2014 ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

'' columnist Euan McColm suggested that UK Labour Party leader

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliba ...

was "more Stackridge than Beatles." In late 2014, Stackridge took a break from touring, and in early 2015 the band embarked on a UK tour as

. Around this time, the group announced that the last ever Stackridge tour would take place in Autumn 2015, called "The Final Bow", at Fiddlers Club in

. It commented on Twitter: "We have decided that our Autumn Tour will be our last gigs. We don't want the gigs to be sad events but a celebration of all we have done". Former member Keith Gemmell died from throat cancer on 24 July 2016.

Musical style

Stackridge were described by ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' as "

prog 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. Initi ...

and

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

without the self-regarding pomposity of the former and the high seriousness of the latter at their worst". They have also been described as a precursor to Britpop.

Personnel

Members

*Andy Cresswell-Davis - lead guitars, keyboards, vocals (1969–1976, 2002–2015) *Mike "Mutter" Slater - flute, vocals (1969–1973, 1974–1976, 2002–2010) *Mike Evans - violin, vocals (1969–1973, 1974–1975, 1999–2002) *James Warren - guitars, bass, vocals (1969–1973, 1999–2015) *Billy "Sparkle" Bent - drums (1969–1973) *Jim "Crun" Walter - bass (1969–1971, 1972–1973, 1974–1976, 1999–2012) * Keith Gemmell - saxophone, clarinet, flute (1973–1976; died 2016) *Rod Bowkett - keyboards (1973–1975) *Paul Karas - bass, vocals (1973–1975) *Roy Morgan - drums (1973–1975) *

- keyboards (1975–1976) * Peter Van Hooke - drums (1975–1976) *Tim Robinson - drums (1999–2002) *Richard Stubbings - flute, accordion, keyboards, guitar, penny whistle, vocals, whistling (1999–2002) *John Miller - keyboards, vocals (1999–2000) *Ian Towers - keyboards, vocals, guitars (2000–2002)

Touring musicians

*Ruth Evans - violin, backing vocals (1999–2000) *Nina Smith - violin, backing vocals (1999–2000) *Glenn Tommey - keyboards, trombone, vocals, sticks, flute, ukulele (2007–2015) *Sarah Mitchell - violin, vocals, keyboards, whistle, tambourine (2007–2011) *Rachel Hall - violin (2007–2009) *Andy "Codge" Marsden - drums (2007–2008) *Eddie John - drums, ukulele (2007, 2008–2015) *Nigel Newton - lead guitars (2007) *Katy Salvidge - violin (2007) *Clare Lindley - violin, guitar, ukulele, vocals (2009–2015)

Lineups

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1000 height:500 PlotArea = left:200 bottom:120 top:0 right:40 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1969 till:31/12/2015 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1969 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1969 Colors = id:voc value:red legend:Vocals id:ww value:gray(0.5) legend:Wind_Instruments id:vln value:drabgreen legend:Violin id:g value:green legend:Guitars id:key value:purple legend:Keyboards id:b value:blue legend:Bass id:dr value:orange legend:Drums id:alb value:black legend:Studio_releases LineData = at:06/08/1971 layer:back at:01/11/1972 at:01/02/1974 at:01/01/1975 at:01/03/1976 at:12/10/1999 at:01/05/2001 at:01/07/2009 PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,–4) bar:Andy Cresswell-Davis from:start till:01/05/1976 color:g bar:Andy Cresswell-Davis from:start till:01/09/1973 color:key width:7 bar:Andy Cresswell-Davis from:start till:01/05/1976 color:voc width:3 bar:Andy Cresswell-Davis from:01/07/2002 till:31/12/2015 color:g bar:Andy Cresswell-Davis from:01/07/2002 till:31/12/2015 color:key width:7 bar:Andy Cresswell-Davis from:01/07/2002 till:31/12/2015 color:voc width:3 bar:James Warren from:start till:01/07/1971 color:g bar:James Warren from:01/07/1971 till:01/07/1972 color:b bar:James Warren from:01/07/1972 till:01/09/1973 color:g bar:James Warren from:start till:01/09/1973 color:voc width:3 bar:James Warren from:01/06/1999 till:31/12/2015 color:g bar:James Warren from:01/07/2012 till:31/12/2015 color:b width:7 bar:James Warren from:01/06/1999 till:31/12/2015 color:voc width:3 bar:Mike "Mutter" Slater from:start till:01/09/1973 color:ww bar:Mike "Mutter" Slater from:start till:01/09/1973 color:voc width:3 bar:Mike "Mutter" Slater from:01/07/1974 till:01/05/1976 color:ww bar:Mike "Mutter" Slater from:01/07/1974 till:01/05/1976 color:voc width:3 bar:Mike "Mutter" Slater from:01/04/2002 till:01/06/2010 color:ww bar:Mike "Mutter" Slater from:01/04/2002 till:01/06/2010 color:voc width:3 bar:Keith Gemmell from:01/04/1973 till:01/05/1976 color:ww bar:Richard Stubbings from:01/06/1999 till:01/10/2002 color:ww bar:Richard Stubbings from:01/06/1999 till:01/10/2002 color:key width:7 bar:Richard Stubbings from:01/06/1999 till:01/10/2002 color:voc width:3 bar:Mike Evans from:start till:01/09/1973 color:vln bar:Mike Evans from:01/07/1974 till:01/07/1975 color:vln bar:Mike Evans from:01/06/1999 till:01/10/2002 color:vln bar:Rod Bowkett from:01/09/1973 till:01/07/1975 color:key bar:Dave Lawson from:01/07/1975 till:01/05/1976 color:key bar:John Miller from:01/06/1999 till:01/07/2000 color:key bar:John Miller from:01/06/1999 till:01/07/2000 color:voc width:3 bar:Ian Towers from:01/07/2000 till:01/10/2002 color:key bar:Ian Towers from:01/07/2000 till:01/10/2002 color:g width:7 bar:Ian Towers from:01/07/2000 till:01/10/2002 color:voc width:3 bar:Jim "Crun" Walter from:start till:01/07/1971 color:b bar:Jim "Crun" Walter from:01/07/1972 till:01/09/1973 color:b bar:Jim "Crun" Walter from:01/07/1974 till:01/06/1976 color:b bar:Jim "Crun" Walter from:01/06/1999 till:01/07/2012 color:b bar:Paul Karas from:01/09/1973 till:01/07/1975 color:b bar:Paul Karas from:01/09/1973 till:01/07/1975 color:voc width:3 bar:Billy "Sparkle" Bent from:start till:01/09/1973 color:dr bar:Roy Morgan from:01/09/1973 till:01/07/1975 color:dr bar:Peter Van Hooke from:01/07/1975 till:01/06/1976 color:dr bar:Tim Robinson from:01/06/1999 till:01/10/2002 color:dr

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Stackridge'' (1971) Angel Air SJPCD 230 (original vinyl; UK MCA and US Decca) *'' Friendliness'' (1972) Angel Air SJPCD 231 (original vinyl; UK MCA and US MCA) *'' The Man in the Bowler Hat'' (1974) Angel Air SJPCD 232 (original vinyl; UK MCA) (Released in 1974 in the US as ''Pinafore Days'' on Sire Records) *''

'' (1975) Angel Air SJPCD 233 (original vinyl; UK

Rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...

and US Sire) *'' Mr. Mick'' (1976) (original vinyl; UK Rocket - no US issue) *'' Something for the Weekend'' (1999) Angel Air SJPCD 235 *'' The Original Mr. Mick'' (2001) Angel Air SJPCD 234 *'' A Victory for Common Sense'' (2009) (Helium B002C6K7UI)

Other albums

*'' Do the Stanley'' (1976, compilation, one previously unreleased track "Let There Be Lids") (original vinyl; UK MCA - no US issue) *''BBC Radio 1 In Concert'' (originally Windsong WINCD 019, 1992) (re-issued 1996) Strange Fruit SFRSCD 032 *''The Radio 1 Sessions'' (1996) Strange Fruit SFRSCD 40 *''More (4 alternative 'Something for the Weekend' mixes)'' (1998, fan club only CD) *''Pick of the Crop : Official Bootleg No. 1'' (2000, live at Cropredy Festival, 12 August 2000) Dap 104CD *''CD-Romp: The Official Stackridge Bootleg No. 2'' (2001) Dap 105CD *''Lemon 2002'' (2002; fan club only; no label) *'' Sex and Flags'' (2005, compilation of most of ''Something for the Weekend'', all of ''Lemon 2002'' plus two Andy Davis demos) Angel Air SJPCD 205 *''Purple Spaceships Over Yatton: The Best Of'' (2006, 19 track compilation, with new recording of title track, October 2006) Angel Air SJPCD 228 *''The Forbidden City'' (2008, live at Rondo Theatre, Bath, 1 April 2007) Angel Air SJPCD 251 *''Anyone For Tennis'' (CD and DVD set, combining ''Purple Spaceships Over Yatton: Best of'' CD and ''Forbidden City'' DVD with new photos and new, extensive sleevenotes, September 2008) Angel Air SJPCD 271

DVD

*''The Forbidden City'' (July 2007 - live at the Rondo Theatre,

- 1 April 2007) Angel Air NJPDVD 630

References

External links

Official Stackridge Web SiteBBC's John Peel tribute and StackridgeStackridge - The Cavern, Liverpool – 05/07/08Lummy Days the Stackridge Official PodcastHelium Records
*
Stackridge
at Discogs.com {{Authority control British progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups from Bristol Rocket Records artists