Amazing Blondel
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Amazing Blondel |
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| Amazing Blondel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Origin | England | |
| Genre(s) | Psych folk | |
| Years active | 1969 - 1973 1997 - present |
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| Label(s) | Island Records | |
| Website | http://www.amazingblondel.com/ | |
| Members | ||
| Eddie
Baird Terry Wincott |
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| Former members | ||
| John Gladwin | ||
| Notable instrument(s) | ||
| Lute Recorder |
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Amazing Blondel were an English acoustic band, consisting of Eddie Baird, John Gladwin, and Terry Wincott. They released a number of LPs for Island Records in the early 1970s. They are sometimes categorised as Psych folk, but their music was much more a reinvention of Renaissance music, based around the use of period instruments such as lutes and recorders.
Contents
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John Gladwin and Terry Wincott had both played in a loud "electric" band called Methuselah. However, at some point in Methuselah concerts, the duo would play an acoustic number together: they found that this went down well with the audiences and allowed them to bring out more of the subtlety of their singing and instrumental work. They left Methuselah in 1969 and began working on their own acoustic material.
Initially their material was derived from folk music, in line
with many of the other performers of the time. However, they began to
develop their own musical idiom, influenced, at one extreme, by the
early music revivalists such as David Munrow, and the other extreme, by
their childhood memories of the
The band was named after Blondel, the musician in the court of Richard
I. According to legend, when Richard was held prisoner, Blondel
travelled through central Europe, singing at every castle to locate the
King and assist his escape. This name for the band was suggested by a
chef called
Their first album The Amazing Blondel was
recorded in 1969 and released by Bell Records. It was directed by
legendary session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan. At
about this time, Eddie Baird (who had known the other members at
school) joined the band. Following what Baird described as "a
disastrous 'showbiz' record signing", Amazing Blondel were introduced,
by members of the band Free, to Chris
Blackwell of Island Records and Artists. Blackwell
signed them up to Island, for whom they recorded their 3 defining
albums,
In Baird's words (in a 2003 interview) the band "adored recording". They recorded the Island albums in the company's Basing Street Studios which, at that time, was the source of some of the most innovative independent music in Britain.
They toured widely, both in their own concerts and as a support act for bands such as Genesis, Procol Harum and Steeleye Span. On stage, they aimed at technical precision of the music and versatility of instrumentation (with most concerts involving the use of some forty instruments) interspersed with banter and bawdy humour. However, there was a conflict between their managers' desires to organise ever more demanding tour schedules and the band's own wish to spend more time writing material and working in the studio. In the end, this led to the departure of John Gladwin (who had written most of their material) from the band in 1973, and the remaining two members decided to continue as a duo, although they shortened the band name simply to Blondel. In this new format, they went on to record several more albums with a number of guest musicians, including Steve Winwood and Paul Kossoff.
The original band reformed in 1997 and produced a new album
John David Gladwin and Edward Baird were born and brought up in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire: Terence Alan Wincott was born in Hampshire but moved to Scunthorpe at an early age.
The members of the band were all accomplished musicians. Gladwin sang and played twelve string guitar, lute, double bass, theorbo, cittern, tabor and tubular bells. Wincott sang and played 6 string guitar, harmonium, recorders, flute, ocarina, congas, crumhorn, pipe organ, tabor, harpsichord, piano, mellotron, bongos and assorted percussion. Baird sang and played lute, glockenspiel, cittern, dulcimer, twelve string guitar and percussion.
Eddie Baird said, of their image, "We looked a bit wayward and
rock-ish imagewise. Like a cross between
The style of their music is difficult to categorise. Most of it was composed by themselves, but was based on the form and structure of Renaissance music, featuring, for example, pavanes, galliards and madrigals. It is sometimes categorised as Psych folk but would probably have been disowned by both the psychedelic community and the folk community, whilst being instantly recognisable to students of early music. Terry Wincott described it as "pseudo-Elizabethan/Classical acoustic music sung with British accents". Eddie Baird is quoted as saying "People used to ask us, How would you describe your music? Well, there was no point asking us, we didn't have a clue."
Their music has been compared with that of Gryphon and Pentangle: however, Amazing Blondel did not embrace the rock influences of the former nor the folk and jazz influences of the latter. They have also been likened to Jethro Tull.
The band employed a wide range of instruments (see above) but, central to their sound was their use of the lute and recorders.
When touring, the lutes proved to be quite difficult instruments for stage performance (in terms of amplification and tuning) and, in 1971, the band commissioned the construction of two 7-string guitars, which could be played in lute tuning. The design and construction of these instruments was undertaken by David Rubio who made classical guitars, lutes, and other early instruments for classical players, including Julian Bream and John Williams.
Gladwin's instrument was designed to have slightly more of a bass sound, as it was used mainly as an accompaniment instrument, whereas Baird's had a little bit more treble emphasis, to allow his melodic playing in the higher register to predominate. The two instruments were individually successful and also blended well together. They also proved to be stable (from a tuning point of view) for stage performance. The guitars were fitted with internal microphones to simplify amplification.
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