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Family
were formed in 1967 in Leicester, England. The band originally
started life as the Farinas who were a popular local R&B act in the
Leicester area during the early to mid-1960s. The
Farinas originally consisted of John "Charlie" Whitney, Tim
Kirchin, Harry Ovenall and Jim King, forming at Leicester Art College in
1962. Ric Grech replaced
Despite
having the opportunity to record with Fontana, greater recognition
eluded them so they decided on a more gimmicky approach. They donned
double-breasted suits to give themselves a 1920's look and changed their
name to the 'Roaring Sixties'. The
American record producer Kim Fowley suggested they call themselves
"The Family", as they regularly wore double-breasted suits in
performances, giving themselves a mafia appearance, a look they soon
abandoned in favour a more casual dress code. They became much
more progressive than they had been hitherto, doubtless due to the
originality of Whitney and Chapman's song writing. Their
1960s albums now better represent the group’s early material than
their singles, the first of which was almost ignored and now fetches a
high price as a collector's item. Family's
debut single, "Scene Through The Eye Of A Lens/Gypsy Woman",
released by Liberty Records in October 1967, was not a particular
success. Around this time, drummer Harry Ovenall was asked to leave the
band and was replaced by Rob Townsend. The band's debut album Music in a
Doll's House, released in July 1968, was produced by former Traffic
member Dave Mason. Mason also contributed one composition to the album,
"Never Like This", the only song recorded by Family not
written by a band member. Music in a Doll's House charted at #35 in the
UK to critical acclaim with the support of radio broadcaster John Peel
around this time. The highly original sound of the album was
characterised by Chapman's vocals, described as a "bleating
vibrato", were considered unique, although Chapman was trying to
emulate the voices of R&B and soul singers Little Richard and Ray
Charles, with some reviewers noting however that Chapman' voice could be
grating and irritating occasionally. John "Charlie" Whitney
was an accomplished guitarist, and Family's often complex song
arrangements were made possible courtesy of the presence of
multi-instrumentalists Grech and King, which including saxophones,
violin, cello and harmonica. Family's
1969 follow-up Family Entertainment toned down the psychedelic
experimentation of their previous offering to some extent, reaching #6
on the UK album charts and featured the single "The Weaver's
Answer".
Family
were particularly known for their live performances; one reviewer
describing the band as "as one of the wildest, most innovative
groups of the underground rock scene", noting that they produced
"some of the rawest, most intense performances on stage in rock
history" and "that the Jimi Hendrix Experience were afraid to
follow them at festivals". Family
played a few more gigs in the United States, appearing in San Francisco
and Boston. In
early 1970, Family released their third studio album, A Song for Me this
was to be the highest charting album the band released, reaching #4 on
the UK album charts. The album itself was a blend of hard rock and folk
rock. Family's new lineup played at major rock festivals that summer,
including the Kralingen Festival in the Netherlands and the Isle of
Wight Festival for the second year in a row. The band appeared in the
documentary film Message to Love about the latter festival. Family's
followup album Anyway, released in late 1970, had its first half consist
of new material recorded live at Fairfield Hall in Croydon, England,
with the second half a set of new songs recorded in the studio, and
reached #7 on the UK charts. In March 1971 the compilation album of
previously recorded material Old Songs New Songs was released, during
that year Weider left Family to join the band Stud and was replaced by
former Mogul Thrash bassist John Wetton. As with Ric Grech in Family's
original lineup, Wetton also shared vocal duties with Chapman, and this
line-up soon released Family's highest-charting single "In My Own
Time/Seasons" which reached #4, and the album Fearless in October
1971, which charted in both the UK and the US. In
1972, another album, Bandstand was released, which leant more towards
hard rock than art rock, featuring the single "My Friend the
Sun" which was released in early 1973. In mid-1972, John Wetton
left Family to join a new lineup of King Crimson and was replaced by
bassist Jim Cregan, and at the end of that year John "Poli"
Palmer also left
After
Wetton's departure but before Palmer's exit, Family toured the United
States and Canada, as the support act for Elton John. In 1973 Family
released the largely ignored It's Only a Movie, which would be their
last studio album. Family gave their final concert at Leicester
Polytechnic on October 13, 1973. The band never reformed, but instead
many of its members went onto different musical projects; Roger Chapman
and John "Charlie" Whitney formed the band Streetwalkers, and
John Wetton eventually became the lead singer of the band Asia. Ric
Grech died of kidney and liver failure in 1990 at the age of 43, as a
result of alcoholism. Tony Ashton died in 2001 at the age of 55 of
cancer. The band's sound has been variously described as progressive rock, psychedelic rock, acid rock, folk rock, jazz fusion and hard rock. The band's sound can most closely be compared with Traffic, but that Family were a considerably stronger group. Family was an influence on Jethro Tull, with Ian Anderson noting that the band were particularly underrated. Gallagher is the man who, without question, spearheaded and
influenced the entire Irish rock movement.
ALBUMS Music in a Doll's House (Reprise, 1968) · Family Entertainment (Reprise, 1969) · A Song for Me (Reprise, 1970) · Anyway (Reprise, 1970) · Fearless (Reprise, 1971) · Bandstand(Reprise, 1972) · It's Only a Movie (Raft, 1973) |
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