The Alan Bown Set | |
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| Also known as | The Alan Bown! Alan Bown |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | jazz,freakbeat,[1]blues,soul,R&B,psychedelia,progressive rock |
| Years active | 1965–1972 |
| Labels | Deram,Island,CBS,United Artists |
| Members | Alan Bown Jeff Bannister Dave Green Stan Haldane John Helliwell Jess Roden Tony Catchpole Robert Palmer Gordon Neville Andy Brown Mel Collins Dougie Thomson Derek Griffiths Dave Lawson Tony Dangerfield Frank White Alan Coulter Nick Payn Pete Goodall |
The Alan Bown Set, later known asThe Alan Bown! or justAlan Bown, were a British band of the 1960s and 1970s whose music evolved fromjazz andblues throughsoul andrhythm and blues and ended up aspsychedelia andprogressive rock. The band achieved limited chart success and is best known for the role it played in developing the careers of numerous musicians includingMel Collins,John Helliwell,Robert Palmer,Jess Roden andDougie Thomson.
Alan Bown (born Alan James Bown, 21 July 1942,Slough, Berkshire died 16 December 2014, Slough), a trumpet player, joined The Embers in 1963, when he left theRAF.[2] This group played bothjazz and Americanrhythm and blues, and were a successful live act, playing at venues likeThe Star-Club, Hamburg at the same time asThe Beatles. Bown left the group to joinThe John Barry Seven, who were backingBrenda Lee, and toured and recorded with the band until it broke up in 1965; Barry made Bown the leader of the touring band, so he could spend more time composing.[3]
Bown formed The Alan Bown Set around May 1965, initially with three former members ofThe John Barry Seven—Jeff Bannister (lead vocals and organ) (born Jeffrey Bannister, 7 January 1943), Dave Green (sax, clarinet and flute) and Stan Haldane (bass)[4]—together with Pete Burgess (guitar) and Vic Sweeney (drums). They played American R&B and soul and played the same club circuit asGeorgie Fame and the Blue Flames andCliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers. In 1965Tony Hatch signed to them toPye Records but their first single, "Can't Let Her Go" / "I'm The One", did not chart. In 1966 Green was replaced byJohn Helliwell and shortly afterJess Roden joined as a vocalist, allowing Bannister to concentrate on keyboards. They appeared onReady Steady Go! and at TheWindsor Jazz Festival and began headlining London'sMarquee Club.
This line-up released three singles, none of which charted, although "Emergency 999" later became aNorthern Soul club anthem.[2] The Alan Bown Set andJimmy James and the Vagabonds were both recorded live and released on a joint album,London Swings: Live at the Marquee Club, with one side each.[5]In November 1966 Burgess was replaced by Tony Catchpole and in 1967 the band released "Gonna Fix You Good (Everytime You're Bad)" / "I Really, Really Care" and recorded the soundtrack forJeu de Massacre, a French film featuringJacques Loussier. They recorded for theBBC'sRhythm and Blues programme in 1966 andSaturday Club in 1967.[3]
When the band's Pye Records contract expired in 1967, Bown reformed the band as "The Alan Bown!" a psychedelic band onVerve Records, They finally released their first full albumOutward Bown in 1968 and appeared onTop Gear. The album included a cover ofDylan's "All Along the Watchtower", a stage version which "directly inspiredHendrix's arrangement of the song".[3] In 1968 they performed "We Can Help You" onTop of the Pops; this was at No 26 in the UK chart but the pressing plant went on strike, so they could not capitalise on the exposure.[6]
In 1969 they changed toDeram Records, where they had a minor hit with "Still as Stone". As with many bands at the time, they recorded cover versions for the BBC, appearing on the '’Jimmy Young Show'’, "The David Symonds Show" and others, as restrictedneedle time required "live" performances between the records.[3] Their next album,The Alan Bown!,[7] had been recorded when Roden left the band.Robert Palmer joined and re-recorded the vocals before the album's UK release, although the Roden vocals were issued in the US (and has never been reissued). The band appeared on BBC TV'sDisco Two (which becameThe Old Grey Whistle Test).
In 1970 the band changed labels again, toIsland Records.[8] They recorded the albumListen, but Palmer promptly left, being replaced by Gordon Neville, who re-recorded the vocals before the album was eventually released. The single "Pyramid" was released before Andy Brown replaced Haldane andMel Collins joined on saxophone.[2] They recorded another album,Stretching Out,[9] and re-appeared onDisco Two. Bannister left but was not replaced, thenDougie Thomson replaced Brown and Derek Griffiths, formerly withThe Artwoods, replaced Catchpole. This line-up continued until February 1972. Bown then formed a new band with Dave Lawson (keyboards), Tony Dangerfield (bass) and Frank White (guitar) replaced by Pete Goodall, formerly with Thunderclap Newman, Nick Payn (tenor saxophone and flute) and Alan Coulter (drums), but after a major tour, Bown finally disbanded the group in July 1972.[4]
This discography was compiled from several sources,[3][6][13][14] but there are a number of inconsistencies.
The Alan Bown Set – Before and Beyond by Jeff Bannister, published by Banland Publishing Ltd
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