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Splinter was an English two-man vocal group fromSouth Shields, England, consisting of Bill Elliott (William Elliott) and Bobby Purvis (Robert J Purvis), who formed in the early 1970s.
They were connected with ex-BeatleGeorge Harrison, and had groups of instrumentalists to back them on each album. Splinter was the first act signed to Harrison'sDark Horse Records label, when it was partnered withA&M Records. The band's sound has often been likened to that of The Beatles (particularlyGeorge Harrison andJohn Lennon) andBadfinger. The duo's biggest success came with their debut album, the critically admiredThe Place I Love (1974), which contained the hit single "Costafine Town". All of their albums have been remastered and reissued on compact disc on the Big Pink Music label from South Korea and Britain’s Grey Scale label.
Elliott died on 7 June 2021 following a sudden illness. According to the Legacy Project website: "He was always 100% supportive of the Legacy Project and we will continue to move this forward as planned. The next album Splinter Live In England will be released in the near future, and it displays Billy and Bobby as they were never intended to be heard on record."
Splinter, who had worked together at various times in the Newcastle and London music scenes, first came to the attention of Harrison throughMal Evans, a longtime assistant to The Beatles and latterly a scout forApple Records.[1][2] Harrison was impressed with one of their songs, "Lonely Man", which he felt would be ideal for a film he was producing, based on the stage playLittle Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs. Harrison and his then bride of two weeks Patti Boyd attended the play's opening in 1966.[2][3]
Harrison initially intended to sign Splinter to Apple Records and held sessions atApple Studio in central London to work on the song;[4] Harrison associatePete Ham (of Badfinger) also participated in these sessions, held in mid-1973.[5] Plans were made for "Lonely Man" to be released as an Apple single and Splinter were shown performing the piece in the Apple film. In 1971, Bill Elliot was featured on an Apple single (#1835) "God Save Us" b/w "Do the Oz" both written by Lennon/Ono and under the moniker of "Bill Elliot and The Plastic Oz Band" on the A side. The B side was credited to the "Elastic Oz Band". Elliot was also featured on the 45rpm picture sleeve.
But, as Apple fell apart, Harrison decided to establish his own record label, setting up offices in London on Royal Avenue and in Los Angeles. Once Harrison heard more Splinter material, he invited them to record an album.[1][6] Work on this spanned 17 months, with the majority of the sessions taking place at Harrison'sFriar Park studio, FPSHOT.[4] Also during this period, Purvis and Elliot co-wrote the song "Kyle" withGary Wright, another friend of Harrison's who contributed to the lengthy sessions for Splinter's album.[7] ("Kyle" appeared on the 1974Spooky Tooth albumThe Mirror.)
On their Dark Horse Records debut album,The Place I Love, Harrison produced all the songs and played a variety of instruments, including electric and acoustic guitars,dobro, bass guitar andharmonium.[8][9] As well as Wright, other musicians includedAlvin Lee,Billy Preston,Jim Keltner,Klaus Voormann,Willie Weeks andMel Collins.[8] The album was so heavy with George Harrison's participation that it was rumoured that this was secretly Harrison's new band.
Most of the songs were written by Purvis, with Elliott co-writing lyrics on "China Light" and "Costafine Town".[10] "Costafine Town" was an internationalhit single, reaching the top ten in Australia[8] and South Africa, and the top 20 in the United Kingdom.[11] Both this single and the album also charted on theBillboard charts in the United States.[12] The follow-up single, "Drink All Day", was banned in the UK by theBBC for the inclusion of the word "bloody".[3]
In preparing for Splinter's second album,Harder to Live, Harrison arranged for them to record atA&M Studios in Los Angeles during the late spring and early summer of 1975.[13] The band were unable to use the studio time, however, due to Purvis suffering fromhay fever, apparently brought on by the LA smog.[13] Since Harrison was in town working with fellow Dark Horse acts such as Keltner's bandAttitudes, he instead used the pre-booked studio time to record his own album,Extra Texture.[14][15] This would be Harrison's last Apple album.
Harrison only participated on one track onHarder to Live – a new version of "Lonely Man".[16] The original recording from 1973 remains unreleased, apart from its appearance in theLittle Malcolm movie. The song was co-produced by Harrison andTom Scott, and featured Harrison on guitar.[16][17] "Lonely Man" was a hit in Japan,[17] and, in recording a version of the song in Japanese, Splinter became the first western artists to sing in that language. They were helped to achieve this by Japanese actor and singerMasatoshi Nakamura. The Japanese single credited the song as written by B Pervis/M Evans. Another set of musicians provided backing:Chris Spedding,Waddy Wachtel and John Taylor. Recently the film "Little Malcolm" has been released on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK.
Also during this period, Splinter won the Outstanding Song Award at the 1976 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival, held at theBudokan in Tokyo, with their song "Love Is Not Enough". This performance was released on an album that documented this annual song festival. As a result of this success, "Love Is Not Enough" was released as a single in Japan. This first version was produced by Tom Scott, and is a different arrangement from the one that subsequently appeared onTwo Man Band.
AfterTwo Man Band, Splinter recorded two more albums that were each released in just two countries. The first of these,Streets at Night, was issued only in Japan, in 1979. Purvis and Elliott produced and arranged this album themselves.Streets at Night featuredAlan Clark, who played keyboards, synthesizers andclavinet.
During this period, Splinter were associated with the Japanese music TV station NTVM, and worked with the Japanese rock bandGodiego. A single of Splinter singing the Godiego song "Ghandara" (associated with the TV showMonkey) was released, and they also appeared on a compilation album,Our Favourite Songs, a set led by members of Godiego. A single "Danger Zone" b/w "Swear to God" was released in the UK in 1979 onBarn Records.
Splinter toured America briefly as an opening act forDuran Duran and other 80s British bands touring at the time.
Although the duo of Purvis and Elliott continued to perform together until 1984,Two Man Band was the last Splinter album released in most countries and their final album on Dark Horse Records.[9] Harrison is credited as co-executive producer, and played some of the guitar.[18] The main production duties were entrusted toNorbert Putnam. This album had two singles released "Round & Round" b/w "I'll Bend for You" (the latter was a non-LP track) and "Motions of Love", a double-sided promo single in 1977. "Motions" did get released in 1978 with a B side of "I Need Your Love".
The final Splinter album wasSplinter, which was released in the UK in 1980 on theBellaphon label. The album was also issued in Japan the following year under the titleSail Away, with a song called "Pigalle" used in place of "All That Love".
Splinter finally split up in 1984. In recent years, Purvis has re-emerged as a performer and composer, working for a British cancer research charity.[9]
In 2019, both members of Splinter, realising their recordings were not on the market and had not been for some considerable time (except on unofficial Korean and British reissues), decided to commence a Legacy Project, thus ensuring that unreleased material will be made available to fans. In October 2020, they releasedNever Went Back, an album consisting of recordings of rehearsals for their 1981 tour.[19]
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