Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, at various times also known as Velvet Opera, were a British rock band active in the late 1960s. Members of the band, Richard Hudson,

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

and

Paul Brett Paul Brett (20 June 1947 – 31 January 2024) was an English classic rock guitarist. He played lead guitar with Strawbs (although he was never actually a member), The Overlanders, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, T ...

, would later become members of The

Strawbs 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 for their hi ...

Hudson Ford Hudson Ford were an English rock band, formed when John Ford and Richard Hudson left Strawbs in 1973. The original line-up featured Hudson (now playing guitar instead of drums) and Ford along with Chris Parren on keyboards, Mickey Keen on guit ...

and Stretch.

History

The group emerged from a soul/blues band called The Five Proud Walkers. After supporting

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, 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 experiments ...

on tour, they were inspired to change their approach and become a more psychedelic outfit. The band consolidated as Richard Hudson on drums,

on bass, Colin Forster on lead guitar, Jimmy Horrocks (Horovitz) on organ and flute (who left early in the band's history), and Dave Terry on vocals and harmonica.Larkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 208 Initially just calling themselves Velvet Opera, they developed their full name when Terry took to wearing a cape and preacher's hat in the style of the title character in the 1960

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1930, he became the first author from the United States (and the first from the America ...

' novel ''

Elmer Gantry ''Elmer Gantry'' is a 1927 satirical novel written by Sinclair Lewis that presents aspects of the religious activity of the United States in fundamentalist and evangelistic circles and the attitudes of the 1920s public toward it. Reverend Dr. ...

''. They started to make club appearances in London, using electronic backing sounds, and secured a record deal with the short-lived Direction Records subsidiary of

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company * CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony * CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...

in the UK. Their first recording was the single "Flames" (November 1967), which also appeared on the CBS sampler record ''

The Rock Machine Turns You On ''The Rock Machine Turns You On'' was the first bargain priced sampler album. It was released in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, The Netherlands, Germany and a number of other European countries in 1968 as part of an interna ...

'', and was later

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

on stage by

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

. Williamson, Nigel: ''The Rough Guide to Led Zeppelin'', (Dorling Kindersley Ltd, 2007), , p. 44 Further singles and a self-titled album followed, including the track "Mary Jane", which was taken off the BBC playlist after they realised its drug connotations, although the band continued to make regular live appearances on

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

's Radio 1 programme ''

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...

'' and other BBC radio shows. Around this time, Terry, as lead singer of the band, was regularly being approached as "Elmer." The band found this amusing and joined in and the name stuck: Dave Terry became (and remains) Elmer Gantry. However, the recording success of the band was limited, and Forster left to be replaced by Paul Brett, who had worked with Gantry in ex–

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, ...

backing band The High Society. When Brett, Hudson and Ford wanted to take the band in a different direction, Elmer Gantry was the next to depart. The band reverted to the name Velvet Opera, took on 12-string guitarist John Joyce, and released a second album, ''Ride a Hustler's Dream''. This again failed to achieve success, and in 1970 Ford left (to be replaced by Colin Bass), followed by Richard Hudson, both of them joining The

shortly afterwards. At this point the band dissolved. In 1971, Forster and Bass formed a new version of Velvet Opera with ex–

Tintern Abbey Tintern Abbey ( ) is a ruined medieval abbey situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which at this location forms the border between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. ...

vocalist Dave MacTavish and drummer Mike Fincher. Short-lived, they recorded one single on the

Spark Records Spark Records was a record label started by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller around 1954 in Los Angeles, California. Artists released on Spark Records included Willy & Ruth, The Sly Fox, Ervin "Big Boy" Groves, and The Robins. Leiber and Stoller ...

label. Meanwhile, Gantry formed The Elmer Gantry Band with ex-members of the Downliners Sect (whose bass player was Paul Martinez, later to also be a member of what became known as The Fake Fleetwood Mac and Stretch). The Gantry band gigged for about 18 months before Gantry joined the cast of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and ...

'' in order to sit out his contracts. In 1974, at the invitation of

Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and actor. He is the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of the group's bassist John Mc ...

and Clifford Davis he agreed, along with musical partner

Kirby Gregory Graham Patrick "Kirby" Gregory, often credited simply as Kirby (born 11 March 1953 in Wallingford, Berkshire, England) is an English musician best known for playing with rock bands Curved Air and Stretch. He now works in the field of addictio ...

Curved Air Curved Air are an English progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classical, folk and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band is a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fu ...

, to join

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

for a tour of the US. In the event, Mick Fleetwood never arrived for the start of the tour, which collapsed in litigation with some of the members of Fleetwood Mac. Members of the band later re-formed as Stretch and recorded what has since become a classic track, "Why Did You Do It?", written by Kirby about Mick Fleetwood's actions around the "Fake Mac" saga. Stretch recorded three studio albums, ''Elastique'', ''You Can't Beat Your Brain For Entertainment'' and ''Life Blood''. Later, Gantry recorded with

The Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock music, rock duo formed in London in 1975. Its core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons, and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They shared w ...

and sang lead vocals on the tracks "May Be a Price to Pay" on ''

The Turn of a Friendly Card ''The Turn of a Friendly Card'' is the fifth studio album by the British progressive rock band the Alan Parsons Project, released in 1980 by Arista Records. The title piece, which appears on side 2 of the LP, is a 16-minute suite broken up int ...

'' and "Psychobabble" on '' Eye in the Sky''. He also provided lead vocals for

Cozy Powell Cozy Powell (born Colin Trevor Flooks; 29 December 1947 – 5 April 1998) was an English drummer who made his name with major rock bands and artists such as The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Graham Bonnet, B ...

's solo album ''

Tilt Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 ...

'' and sang and wrote for

Jon Lord John Douglas "Jon" Lord (9 June 194116 July 2012) was an English keyboardist and composer. In 1968, Lord co-founded the hard rock band Deep Purple. Lord performed on most of the band's most popular songs; he and drummer Ian Paice were the only ...

's solo album '' Before I Forget''. More recently, Stretch released the John Peel BBC Sessions and a newly recorded album, ''Unfinished Business''.

Members

* Richard Hudson –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

(1967–1970) *

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

(1967–1970) * Dave Terry a.k.a. "Elmer Gantry" –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

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 incl ...

(1967–1968) *Colin Forster – lead guitar (1967–1968, 1969–1971) *Jimmy Horrocks (Horovitz) –

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

(1967) *

– guitar, vocals (1968) *Johnny Joyce – guitar, vocals (1969–1970; died 2004) * Colin Bass – bass guitar (1970–1971) *Dave MacTavish – vocals (1971) *Mike Fincher – drums (1971) ImageSize = width:800 height:250 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1967 till:31/12/1971 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:keys value:purple legend:Organ,_flute id:bass value:blue legend:Bass id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:album value:black legend:Studio_releases Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1967 BarData = bar:Terry text:Elmer Gantry bar:Joyce text:Johnny Joyce bar:MacTavish text:Dave MacTavish bar:Forster text:Colin Forster bar:Brett text:Paul Brett bar:Horrocks text:Jimmy Horrocks bar:Ford text:John Ford bar:Bass text:Colin Bass bar:Hudson text:Richard Hudson bar:Fincher text:Mike Fincher LineData = at:01/07/1967 layer:back at:15/09/1969 layer:back PlotData = width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Terry from:01/01/1967 till:31/12/1968 color:vocals bar:Terry from:01/01/1967 till:31/12/1968 color:guitar width:3 bar:Joyce from:01/01/1969 till:31/12/1970 color:vocals bar:Joyce from:01/01/1969 till:31/12/1970 color:guitar width:3 bar:MacTavish from:01/01/1971 till:31/12/1971 color:vocals bar:Forster from:01/01/1967 till:01/09/1968 color:guitar bar:Forster from:01/01/1970 till:31/12/1971 color:guitar bar:Brett from:01/09/1968 till:01/01/1970 color:guitar bar:Brett from:31/12/1968 till:01/01/1970 color:vocals width:3 bar:Horrocks from:01/01/1967 till:01/11/1967 color:keys bar:Ford from:01/01/1967 till:01/03/1970 color:bass bar:Bass from:01/03/1970 till:31/12/1971 color:bass bar:Hudson from:01/01/1967 till:01/04/1970 color:drums bar:Fincher from:01/04/1970 till:31/12/1971 color:drums

Discography

Albums

*''Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera'' -

Direction Direction may refer to: *Body relative direction, for instance left, right, forward, backwards, up, and down ** Anatomical terms of location for those used in anatomy ** List of ship directions *Cardinal direction *Bearing (navigation) Mathemat ...

S8-63300 (July 1968) *''Ride a Hustler's Dream'' (September 1969)

Singles

*"Flames"/"Salisbury Plain" *"Mary Jane"/"Dreamy" *"Volcano"/"A Quick B" *"Anna Dance Square"/"Don't You Realise" *"Black Jack Davy"/"Statesboro Blues" *"She Keeps Giving Me These Feelings"/"There's a Hole In My Pocket"

References

{{Authority control English psychedelic rock music groups Musical groups established in 1967 Musical groups disestablished in 1971 1967 establishments in England 1971 disestablishments in England