FAMILY
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 Kirchin on bass in 1965 and Roger Chapman joined the following year on vocals. 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". With the UK success of Family's first two albums, the band undertook a tour of the United States, although they ultimately never achieved great recognition there due to several problems with the tour. During their first tour of the US in 1969, Ric Grech left the band to join the new supergroup Blind Faith and was replaced by John Weider, previously of Eric Burdon and The Animals. Also, a big handicap to Family's success in the United States came about during their first concert at Bill Graham's Fillmore East, whilst sharing the bill with Ten Years After and The Nice: Chapman, during his stage routine, lost control of his microphone stand which fell in Graham's direction, an incident from which Family's reputation in the US never recovered. However, the band did appear at The Rolling Stones' Hyde Park gig and the Isle of Wight Festival that summer. In late 1969, Jim King was asked to leave Family due to "erratic behaviour" and was replaced by multi-instrumentalist John "Poli" Palmer. 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 and was replaced by keyboardist Tony Ashton, previously of Ashton, Gardner and Dyke. 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. .
	LIVEMUSICMAGAZINE.COM2007