The Gun (band)
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''The Gun'' were a late 1960s 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 ...
guitar trio who had a single British Top Ten hit, "Race with the Devil" and recorded two albums before disbanding. The band included brothers Paul Gurvitz and
Adrian Gurvitz Adrian Curtis Gurvitz (; born 26 June 1949) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. His prolific songwriting ability has gained him hits with Eddie Money's No. 1 ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock hit " The Love in Your Eyes" a ...
.


History

Evolving from the Ilford-based band,
The Knack The Knack was an American rock band based in Los Angeles that rose to fame with its first single, "My Sharona", an international number-one hit in 1979. History Founding (1977–1978) Singer Doug Fieger was a native of Oak Park, Michigan, a no ...
, which included guitarist/vocalist Paul Gurvitz (born Paul Anthony Gurvitz, 6 July 1944,
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,
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(although he was known by the surname Curtis until the early 1970s), his brother
Adrian Gurvitz Adrian Curtis Gurvitz (; born 26 June 1949) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. His prolific songwriting ability has gained him hits with Eddie Money's No. 1 ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock hit " The Love in Your Eyes" a ...
and drummer Louie Farrell, the trio changed their name in early 1968 to ''The Gun''. The full Knack lineup had been Paul Curtis (Gurvitz) on guitar and vocals, Louie Farrell (born Brian John Farrell, 8 December 1947,
Goodmayes Goodmayes is a district of Ilford in the London Borough of Redbridge, England. It is situated eleven miles north-east of Charing Cross, and forms part of both the Romford and Ilford post towns. Historically part of Essex, it was part of the Muni ...
,
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
) (who had joined The Knack in mid 1966) on drums, Gearie Kenworthy on bass guitar (born 17 October 1946), Tim Mycroft playing organ (born 1949, Purewell,
Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...
,
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died 1 January 2010), and for a short while,
Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...
of Yes. The Knack had regularly performed at the
UFO Club The UFO Club ( ') was a short-lived British counter-culture nightclub in London in the 1960s. The club was established by Joe Boyd and John "Hoppy" Hopkins. It featured light shows, poetry readings, well-known rock acts such as Jimi Hendrix, ...
, supporting bands such as
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 ...
,
Arthur Brown Arthur Brown may refer to: Entertainment * Arthur William Brown (1881–1966), Canadian commercial artist * H. Arthur Brown (1906–1992), American orchestral conductor * Arthur Brown (musician) (born 1942), English rock singer * Arthur Brown, ak ...
and Tomorrow. Recording sessions at
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produced the unreleased
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"Lights on the Wall", while in November 1967 they recorded for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
alternative music radio programme ''Top Gear'' and twice played on air. In early 1968, the band changed its line-up to a trio, with Paul Curtis (Gurvitz) on bass, Louie Farrell on drums and Adrian Curtis (Gurvitz) on guitar. After being signed to
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...
in early 1968, the band scored a
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with the opening track from their eponymous album (1968), "Race with the Devil". Issued as a single in October 1968, it reached the top 10 in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, number 35 on the Australian Singles Chart and number 1 in many UK territories in March 1969.
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
quoted the song's riff during his song "Machine Gun" at the
Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...
in 1970, as did
Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...
on their song "
Forty Five Hundred Times "Forty Five Hundred Times" is a song by British rock band Status Quo. It is the final track on their 1973 album ''Hello!'', almost ten minutes long and regularly performed live. The group's frontmen, Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt, have said it i ...
" during a stage show at
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in Glasgow in 1976. "Race with the Devil" has been
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by
Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...
((1977) on the 2001 remastered CD version of ''
Sin After Sin ''Sin After Sin'' is the third studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 8 April 1977 by Columbia Records. Produced by Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover, it was the band's major label debut, their first album for the ...
''),
Black Oak Arkansas Black Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970charting ten albums according to Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Their style is punctuated ...
(on their 1977 album ''Race with the Devil''),
Girlschool Girlschool are a British rock band that formed in the new wave of British heavy metal scene in 1978. Frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead, they are the longest-running all-female rock band, still active after more than 40 ye ...
(on their 1980 album ''
Demolition Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...
''), and
Church of Misery is a Japanese doom metal band from Tokyo, formed in 1995. Church of Misery's musical style melds early Black Sabbath-style doom with psychedelic rock; most of the band's songs are about serial killers and mass murderers. Bassist Tatsu Mikami ...
(on their 1996 demo, released as a split album with
Acrimony Acrimony may refer to: * a feeling of hatred * Acrimony (band), a rock band * ''Acrimony'' (film), a 2018 film See also * Agrimony, a plant * ''Acremonium ''Acremonium'' is a genus of fungi in the family Hypocreaceae. It used to be known a ...
, and on their full-length LP ''Vol. 1''). Their debut album's cover is noteworthy as it was the first by Roger Dean (credited as "W. Roger Dean" on the back of the sleeve).
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described it as having a "distinctive psych-flavoured
proto-metal Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...
" sound. Their second album, ''Gunsight'' was released in 1969. Despite releasing a number of other singles, and an attempt by their record label to identify them with the underground counter-culture, the band had no further hits.


Aftermath

After a short time working separately, the Gurvitz brothers formed Three Man Army in 1971 and recorded three albums. Between 1974 and 1976, Three Man Army became the
Baker Gurvitz Army Baker Gurvitz Army were an English rock group. Their self-titled debut album featured a blend of hard rock laced with Ginger Baker's jazz- and Afrobeat-influenced drumming. The lengthy "Mad Jack" was that album's outstanding track, and the a ...
with
Ginger Baker Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and Music of Africa, Africa ...
, the former drummer for
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, in the line-up. The trio recorded three albums: ''Baker Gurvitz Army'', ''Elysian Encounter'' and ''Hearts on Fire''. During the same period, the Gurvitz brothers recorded two albums under the name The Graeme Edge Band, with drummer
Graeme Edge Graeme Charles Edge (30 March 1941 – 11 November 2021) was an English musician, songwriter and poet, best known as the co-founder and drummer of the English band the Moody Blues. In addition to his work with the Moody Blues, Edge worked as ...
of
The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...
: ''Kick Off Your Muddy Boots'' and ''Paradise Ballroom''. It was not a touring band, and also featured Baker. Paul Gurvitz latterly toured as the Paul Gurvitz and the New Army.


Discography

* Gun – March 1969 * Gunsight – December 1969


''Gun'' track listing

Side One #"Race with the Devil" (A. Curtis), 3:35 #"The Sad Saga of the Boy and the Bee" (A. Curtis), 4:49 #"Rupert's Travels" (A. Curtis), 2:12 #"Yellow Cab Man" (A. Curtis, J. Parsons), 4:15 #"It Won't Be Long (Heartbeat)" (A. Curtis), 4:26 Side Two #"Sunshine" (A. Curtis), 4:25 #"Rat Race" (A. Curtis), 3:55 #"Take Off" (A. Curtis), 11:01


Personnel

* Adrian Curtis – guitar, vocals * Paul Curtis – bass guitar * Louie Farrell – drums


References


External links


Paulgurvitz.comGun
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gun English rock music groups Musical groups established in 1967 Musical groups established in 1970 CBS Records artists