The Move

The Move formed in early 1966. Its members were Roy Wood (guitar and vocals), Carl Wayne (vocals), Trevor Burton (bass), Ace Kefford (guitar) and Bev Bevan (drums), who were based in Birmingham, England.

A prolific writer of songs, Roy Wood supplied the group with virtually all of its material. While it had its roots in soul and rhythm and blues, the band was highly entertaining and innovative and could switch from soul to psychedelia during the course of the one show. The Move became known for its outlandish stunts on stage. Objects, such as television sets, would be smashed, and effigies burned.

Try as it may, the group failed to break into the lucrative American market. Perhaps this was one reason why the band underwent so many changes in its personnel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6o5F0s2SjQ

One such change took place, in 1970, when Jeff Lynne (later of E.L.O. and The Traveling Wilburys) became a member. Nevertheless, Roy and Jeff could not see eye to eye and, therefore, decided to go their separate ways a year later.

In 1972, Roy Wood formed Wizzard, which was to have a string of hits in Britain, that extended into the 1980s. Jeff Lynne, formed The Electric Light Orchestra (E.L.O.) and saw it develop into one of the Seventies’ biggest and most successful bands on stage.

The names of more tracks by The Move can be found in the suggested playlists.

The Small Faces

At the start of 1965 The Small Faces was a band of unknowns, however, by the middle of that year they had been signed to Decca Records. They loved smart clothes and rhythm and blues. Such people were known as Mods.

Jimmy Winston was replaced by keyboardist, Ian McLagan, by the year’s end and the quartet now consisted of leading singer Steve Marriott, guitarist Ronnie Lane, drummer Kenney Jones, and McLagan. Marriott and Lane gelled as songwriters and this coupled with the group’s indisputable ability to perform musically, soon had critics labelling them as London’s answer to The Beatles.

Before The Small Faces and Decca parted company, the group had achieved its first hit, the classic “All Or Nothing”. Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”, from 1969, is clearly based upon The Small Faces’ “You Need Loving”, recorded three years prior.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJzcF0v1eOE

Partaking in drugs, such as LSD, began to influence the quartet’s musical direction and the subject matter of its songs. Psychedelic recordings such as “Itchycoo Park”, “My Mind’s Eye” and “Here Comes The Nice” are examples of this. However, as if prove that its feet were still well and truly grounded, The Small Faces’ greatest triumph was still yet to come, in the form of “Tin Soldier”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcKZoFRpZCI

For the names of more tracks released by The Small Faces, please, refer to the suggested playlists.

Traffic

Before heavy metal and punk rock there was Traffic. Vocalist, songwriter and organist, Steve Winwood, had already tasted success on the charts, as a teenager, with The Spencer Davis Group. Traffic was to allow him the opportunity to break away from his roots in blues, soul and rhythm and blues and experiment with something completely different. Drummer, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood, on alto sax and flute, had already been exposed to acid rock, when they had been members of the band, Deep Feeling, in Birmingham, England, in the middle of the 1960s. Added to this was the fact that Traffic was always open to new ideas.

Steve was still only eighteen when he joined Traffic, while Jim was twenty-two, as was Dave Mason, who could not only play guitar and bass but several other strange instruments.

Strangely enough, not all of the members in the group approved of its first two hits, “Paper Sun” and “Hole In My Shoe”, in 1967. Prior to his departure from the group, Dave Mason was to write “Feeling Alright”, which was later to be covered by Joe Cocker.

Traffic broke up in January, 1969 when Steve left to join Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker — both formerly with Cream — in Blind Faith. However, the band was to reform in February, 1970 with Rick Grech having replaced Dave Mason. Under multiple changes in personnel it cotinued to release albums for years to come. Steve Winwood enjoyed a solo career in the 1980s, which not only included the release of albums but singles such as “While You See A Chance” (I’ve always loved its instrumental introduction) and “Valerie”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56QSczF231Q

For a further track refer to the suggested playlist.

Jefferson Airplane

Jefferson Airplane was formed by Paul Kantner and Marty Balin and made its public debut in San Francisco, in 1965. The band was musically symbolic of the neighbourhood, within this city, known as Haight-Ashbury, which, at that time, was a haven for those living in accommodation that required the payment of low rents — students, artists and the like.

As with other groups of that time, its members sought a freedom to express themselves and to explore musical boundaries. However, as with so many experimental bands in the mid-to-late 1960s Jefferson Airplane’s success was to be relatively ephemeral, with it managing to produce just two singles of quality, namely “Somebody To Love” and “White Rabbit”; both of which were hits in 1967.

Singer, Grace Slick, moved on to join the similarly named Jefferson Starship which posted entries on singles’ charts, extending  from 1974 into the next decade.

As if proof was needed that good music can span generations, “Somebody To Love” enjoyed popularity in the Noughties, when it was covered by The Boogie Pimps.

The Electric Prunes

The Electric Prunes was a quartet, from Los Angeles, that experienced success in its recording of psychedelic pop. Although the group released its first single, “Ain’t It Hard”/”Little Olive”, in 1966, it was in the following year that “I Had Too Much To Dream (Last Night)” brought it international recognition. However, the follow-up, “Get Me To The World On Time”, was to achieve only moderate success by comparison and with the charts of the time so awash with talent of such a diverse and extraordinary magnitude, the band quickly faded from prominence.

The Electric Prunes was comprised of singer, James Lowe; bassist, Mark Tulin; guitarist, Ken Williams and drummer, Michael Weakley.

The Electric Prunes
The Electric Prunes