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domingo, 25 de setembro de 2022

Audience (Progressive Psych Folk Jazz Rock {UK})

Audience (photo 01)

Audience foi uma banda cult britânica de folk-jazz-rock progressivo - ou, como alguns denominam, art rock - que existiu de 1969 a 1972 e depois de 2004 a 2013.

A banda original era formada por:
  • Howard Werth (nascido Howard Alexander Werth, 26 de março de 1947, The Mother's Hospital, Clapton, East London) - violão elétrico de nylon e vocais
  • Keith Gemmell (nascido Keith William Gemmell, 15 de fevereiro de 1948, Hackney Hospital, Hackney, East London - morreu em 24 de julho de 2016, Beltinge, Kent) - saxofone soprano e tenor, flauta e clarinete
  • Trevor Williams (nascido Trevor Leslie Williams, 19 de janeiro de 1945, Hereford General Hospital, Hereford, Herefordshire) - baixo e vocais
  • Tony Connor (nascido Anthony John Connor, 6 de abril de 1947, Romford, Havering) - bateria e vocal.

HISTÓRIA
FORMAÇÃO

Audience surgiu das cinzas de uma banda semi-profissional de soul chamada Lloyd Alexander Real Estate, que incluía todos os membros da Audience, exceto Connor, que havia feito um teste sem sucesso para a banda anterior quando John Richardson saiu para formar The Rubettes. No entanto, quando Werth, Williams e Gemmell decidiram formar sua nova banda, eles pensaram em Connor. Lloyd Alexander Real Estate lançou um single de 45 rpm no President PT157 em 1967 "Gonna live again/Watcha' going go (When your baby leave you)", um disco de mod R&B.

Poucas semanas após o início dos ensaios, Audience havia adquirido a gestão, um contrato de publicação, uma residência no Jazz Club de Ronnie Scott e um contrato de gravação com a Polydor, com quem gravaram seu primeiro álbum "Audience", um álbum de guitarra acústica com o saxofone de Gemmell muitas vezes alterado eletricamente para se assemelhar a uma guitarra elétrica e com arranjos de cordas e trompas de Andrew Pryce Jackman. Mas a banda estava insatisfeita com a abordagem promocional da gravadora - um single, "Too late I'm gone" do álbum havia sido planejado e cancelado -, e mudou-se temporariamente para a Suíça para evitar o envolvimento em acrobacias publicitárias propostas.

No final do ano, a banda estava atraindo aclamação do público e do jornalismo por suas músicas, arranjos e atuação no palco. Eles também foram contratados para escrever a trilha sonora de "Bronco Bullfrog", um filme skinhead do East End dirigido por Barney Platts-Mills, que estabeleceu um gênero posteriormente adotado por Mike Leigh.

GRAVAÇÕES

Após o álbum de estréia lançado pela Polydor, Tony Stratton-Smith, diretor da Charisma Records, viu a banda que apoiava a Led Zeppelin e os contratou para sua gravadora imediatamente. Audience gravou três álbuns com Charisma. O primeiro, "Friend's, friend's, friend", foi produzido e desenhado pela banda. Seus lançamentos subsequentes "House on the hill" e "Lunch" foram produzidos por Gus Dudgeon, com arranjos de Robert Kirby e arte de capa dos designers de capas de discos Hipgnosis.

Seus dois primeiros álbuns não foram lançados nos EUA. Elektra os contratou e seus dois últimos álbuns foram lançados nos EUA.

A primeira produção de 45 rpm de Dudgeon para a banda, "Indian summer", levou-os para as posições mais baixas das paradas americanas, mas a essa altura eles estavam exaustos e rebeldes, tendo trabalhado praticamente sem parar por três anos. Uma turnê pelos EUA com Rod Stewart and The Faces e Cactus, embora bem-sucedida, trouxe as coisas à tona, resultando em Gemmell deixando a banda em janeiro de 1972.

O álbum inacabado, "Lunch", foi completado com a ajuda da seção de metais da The Rolling Stones e Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Jim Price e Bobby Keys, após o que eles voltaram direto para a estrada com os novos membros Nick Judd nos teclados e Pat Charles Neuberg nos saxofones alto e soprano.

SEPARAÇÃO

A banda nunca se recuperou da saída de Gemmell - e Williams, o principal letrista da banda, renunciou oito meses depois. Quando Judd recebeu uma oferta para se juntar a Juicy Lucy logo depois, a banda faliu. Judd mais tarde se juntou a Alan Bown, The Andy Fraser Band, Brian Eno, Frankie Miller e Sharks.

A essa altura, Keith Gemmell havia se juntado a Stackridge, mais tarde formou a Sammy, cujo único álbum foi produzido por Ian Gillan da Deep Purple, depois foi para The Roy Young Band. Durante esse tempo, ele também estava fazendo trabalhos de sessão e arranjos, muitas vezes junto com o escritor de trilhas sonoras de filmes John Altman, antes de ingressar na Pasadena Roof Orchestra por quatorze anos.

Howard Werth estava trabalhando em seu primeiro álbum solo nessa época, ainda com Charisma e produzido por Dudgeon. Chamada King Brilliant, sua banda, contendo membros da Hookfoot e com Mike Moran nos teclados, foi apelidada de Howard Werth and The Moonbeams, e chegou perto de ter um sucesso nas paradas com "Lucinda".

No entanto, não era para ser, e quando ele foi caçado pela The Doors (companheira de estúdio da Audience na gravadora Elektra dos EUA) para substituir Jim Morrison, Werth partiu para os EUA. A The Doors não se reformou, e Werth se viu envolvido em vários projetos de curto prazo com o tecladista da The Doors, Ray Manzarek, e músicos da Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band antes de retornar ao Reino Unido no início dos anos 80. Embora aparecendo ao vivo apenas ocasionalmente, Werth mais tarde gravou mais dois álbuns solo, "6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other" na Demon Records e "The evolution myth explodes" para sua própria gravadora Luminous Music.

Trevor Williams juntou-se aos hitmakers dos anos 1960 The Nashville Teens, uma versão dirigida por Len Tuckey, que saiu pouco depois para ajudar sua namorada Suzi Quatro a lançar uma carreira com Mickie Most. Williams mudou-se para Outside, de Jonathan Kelly, gravando um single, "Outside", e um álbum "Waiting on you" com uma banda liderada pelas guitarras gêmeas de Snowy White e Chaz Jankel, além do ex-baterista da Graham Bond Dave Sheen e do percussionista Jeff Whittaker, anteriormente com Peter Green e Crosby, Stills & Nash. Depois disso, ele voltou para The Nashville Teens, desta vez com o amigo Rob Hendry - ex-guitarrista da Renaissance, e mais tarde com The Motors e Alan Price - em um projeto mal concebido para revitalizar a imagem e a fortuna da banda. Quando isso naufragou, Williams deixou o negócio inteiramente.

Tony Connor também acabou com Mickie Most. Depois de uma passagem pela Jackson Heights, ele se juntou a Hot Chocolate, com quem permaneceu.

REUNIÕES

Apesar de alguns projetos menores juntos, os membros originais da banda Audience não deveriam ressurgir como uma entidade de trabalho até 32 anos após sua dissolução. Em 2004, Howard Werth, Keith Gemmell e Trevor Williams se apresentaram na Alemanha, Itália, Canadá e Reino Unido, substituindo Tony Connor (que permaneceu comprometido com Hot Chocolate) pelo baterista/vocalista John Fisher (nascido em 8 de dezembro de 1960, Buxton, Derbyshire - morreu 27 de setembro de 2008) e gravaram um álbum ao vivo, "alive&kickin'&screamin'&shoutin'", para a Eclectic Records. Durante este período, Gemmell lançou dois álbuns solo, "The windhover", inspirado em um poema de Gerard Manley Hopkins, e "Unsafe sax", uma homenagem às suas raízes soul do início dos anos 60.

Após a morte de John Fisher de câncer no pâncreas em 27 de setembro de 2008, Audience recrutou o baterista Simon Jeffrey, que também trabalhou com Bernie Torme, banda tributo ao Led Zeppelin, Letz Zep, e Blue Pulse, que Trevor Williams se juntou em 2009.

Audience fez seu último show no London's 100 Club em 2013, logo após o qual Keith Gemmell, que já lutava contra o câncer, ficou doente demais para tocar. Williams posteriormente anunciou que não desejava continuar sem Gemmell, mas continua a trabalhar com Blue Pulse, com quem lançou um álbum intitulado "Trams" em 2012, com Howard Werth também atuando em várias faixas.

Keith Gemmell morreu de câncer na língua em 24 de julho de 2016.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Audience was a cult British progressive folk-jazz-rock band - or, as some call it, art rock - that existed from 1969 to 1972 and then from 2004 to 2013.

The original band was formed by:
  • Howard Werth (born Howard Alexander Werth, 26 March 1947, The Mother's Hospital, Clapton, East London) - nylon-string electric acoustic guitar and vocal
  • Keith Gemmell (born Keith William Gemmell, 15 February 1948, Hackney Hospital, Hackney, East London - died 24 July 2016, Beltinge, Kent) - soprano and tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet
  • Trevor Williams (born Trevor Leslie Williams, 19 January 1945, Hereford General Hospital, Hereford, Herefordshire) - bass guitar and vocals
  • Tony Connor (born Anthony John Connor, 6 April 1947, Romford, Havering) - drums and vocal

HISTORY
FORMATION

Audience rose from the ashes of a semi-professional soul band named Lloyd Alexander Real Estate, which had included all the Audience members except Connor, who had unsuccessfully auditioned for the earlier band when John Richardson left to form The Rubettes. However, when Werth, Williams, and Gemmell decided to form their new band, they thought of Connor. The Lloyd Alexander Real Estate issued one 45rpm single on President PT157 in 1967 "Gonna live again/Watcha' gonna go (When your baby leaves you)", a mod R&B record.

Within weeks of starting rehearsals, Audience had acquired management, a publishing contract, a residency at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, and a recording contract with Polydor, with whom they recorded their first album "Audience", an acoustic guitar-driven album featuring Gemmell's saxophone often electrically altered to resemble an electric lead guitar and with string and horn arrangements by Andrew Pryce Jackman. But the band was dissatisfied with the record company's promotional approach - a single, "Too late I'm gone" from the album had been planned and was cancelled -, and temporarily moved to Switzerland to avoid involvement in proposed publicity stunts.

By the end of the year, the band was drawing public and journalistic acclaim for their songs, arrangements, and stage act. They had also been commissioned to write the score for "Bronco Bullfrog", an East End skinhead film directed by Barney Platts-Mills, which established a genre subsequently taken up by Mike Leigh.

RECORDINGS

After the debut album issued on Polydor, Tony Stratton-Smith, director of Charisma Records, spotted the band supporting Led Zeppelin and signed them up to his label immediately. Audience recorded three albums with Charisma. The first, "Friend's, friend's, friend", was produced and designed by the band. Their subsequent releases "House on the hill" and "Lunch" were produced by Gus Dudgeon, with arrangements by Robert Kirby and cover art by record sleeve designers Hipgnosis.

Their first two albums were not issued in the U.S.. Elektra signed them up and their final two albums were issued in the U.S..

Dudgeon's first 45 rpm production for the band, "Indian summer", took them into the lower reaches of the U.S. charts, but by this time they were exhausted and fractious, having worked virtually non-stop for three years. A U.S. tour with Rod Stewart and The Faces and Cactus, although successful, brought things to a head, resulting in Gemmell leaving the band in January 1972.

The unfinished "Lunch" album was completed with the help of The Rolling Stones and Mad Dogs and Englishmen brass section, Jim Price and Bobby Keys, following which they went straight back on the road with new members Nick Judd on keyboards and Pat Charles Neuberg on alto and soprano saxophone.

BREAK-UP

The band never recovered from Gemmell's departure - and Williams, the band's main lyricist, resigned eight months later. When Judd received an offer to join Juicy Lucy shortly thereafter, the band folded. Judd later went on to join Alan Bown, The Andy Fraser Band, Brian Eno, Frankie Miller and Sharks.

By this time, Keith Gemmell had joined Stackridge, later to form Sammy, whose sole album was produced by Ian Gillan of Deep Purple, then on to The Roy Young Band. During this time he was also doing session work and arranging, often together with film soundtrack writer John Altman, before joining the Pasadena Roof Orchestra for fourteen years.

Howard Werth was working on his first solo album at this time, still with Charisma and produced by Dudgeon. Called King Brilliant, his band, containing members of Hookfoot and with Mike Moran on keyboards, was dubbed Howard Werth and The Moonbeams, and came close to having a chart hit with "Lucinda".

However, it wasn't to be, and when he was headhunted by The Doors (Audience stable-mates on the U.S. Elektra record label) to replace Jim Morrison, Werth left for the USA. The Doors did not reform, and Werth found himself engaged in various short term projects with The Doors' keyboard man Ray Manzarek and musicians from Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band before returning to the UK in the early 1980s. Although appearing live only occasionally, Werth later recorded two more solo albums, "6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other" on Demon Records and "The evolution myth explodes" for his own Luminous Music label.

Trevor Williams joined 1960s hitmakers The Nashville Teens, a version driven by Len Tuckey, who left shortly after to help his girlfriend Suzi Quatro launch a career with Mickie Most. Williams moved on to Jonathan Kelly's Outside, recording one single, "Outside", and an album "Waiting on you" with a band fronted by the twin guitars of Snowy White and Chaz Jankel plus ex-Graham Bond drummer Dave Sheen and percussionist Jeff Whittaker, formerly with Peter Green and Crosby, Stills and Nash. After this, he drifted back to The Nashville Teens, this time with friend Rob Hendry - ex-Renaissance guitarist, and later with The Motors and Alan Price - in a misconceived project to revitalise the band's image and fortunes. When this foundered, Williams left the business entirely.

Tony Connor also ended up with Mickie Most. After a stint with Jackson Heights, he joined Hot Chocolate, with whom he has remained.

REUNIONS

Despite a few minor projects together, the original Audience band members were not to re-emerge as a working entity until 32 years after their dissolution. In 2004, Howard Werth, Keith Gemmell and Trevor Williams performed in Germany, Italy, Canada and the UK, replacing Tony Connor (who remained committed to Hot Chocolate) with drummer/vocalist John Fisher (born 8 December 1960, Buxton, Derbyshire - died 27 September 2008) and recorded a live album "alive&kickin'&screamin'&shoutin'" for Eclectic Records. During this period, Gemmell released two solo albums, "The windhover", inspired by a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, and "Unsafe sax", a tribute to his early '60s soul roots.

Following the death of John Fisher from pancreatic cancer on 27 September 2008, Audience recruited drummer Simon Jeffrey, who also worked with Bernie Torme, Led Zeppelin tribute band Letz Zep, and Blue Pulse, which Trevor Williams joined in 2009.

Audience played its final gig at London's 100 Club in 2013 shortly after which Keith Gemmell, already fighting cancer, became too unwell to play. Williams subsequently announced he did not wish to continue without Gemmell but continues to work with Blue Pulse, with whom he released an album entitled "Trams" in 2012, with Howard Werth also performing on several tracks.

Keith Gemmell died from tongue cancer on 24 July 2016.


Membros
Howard Werth - guitarra,
vocal (1969-1972, 2004-2013)
Trevor Williams - baixo, vocal
(1969-1972, 2004-2013)
Tony Connor - bateria,
vocal (1969-1972)
Keith Gemmell - sax,
flauta, clarinete
(1969-1972, 2004-2013
- falecido em 2016)
Pat Charles Neuberg - sax (1972)
Nick Judd - teclados (1972)
John Fisher - bateria, vocal
(2004-2008 - ano de falecimento)
Simon Jeffrey - bateria,
vocal (2008-2013)

Audience (photo 02)
Audience (photo 03)

ALBUMS
(FLAC44 kHz/16 bit)
(MP344kHz/320kbps)

Audience (1969)
[2002, Progressive Line]
Audience - Audience - 1969 (2002, Progressive Line [front])
01. Banquet
02. Poet
03. Waverley
stage coach
04. River
boat queen
05. Harlequin
06. Heaven
was an island
07. Too late I'm gone
08. Maidens cry
09. Pleasant
convalescence
10. Leave it unsaid
11. Man on box
12. House
on the hill
13. Paper
round (bonus)
14. The going
song (bonus)
15. Troubles
(bonus)

Mp3 320kbps and
full artworks: enjoy!
FLAC files + full
artworks: enjoy!

Friend's, friend's,
friend (1970)
[2015, Esoteric Recordings]
Audience - Friend's, friend's, friend - 1970 (2015, Esoteric Recordings [front])
01. Nothing you do
02. Belladonna
moonshine
03. It brings a tear
04. The raid
05. Right on
their side
06. Ebony
variations
07. Priestess
08. Friend's,
friend's, friend
09. The big
spell (bonus)
10. Nothing
you do (bonus)
11. Belladonna
moonshine
(bonus)
12. It brings a
tear (bonus)
13. The raid (bonus)
14. Ebony varia-
tions (bonus)
15. Priestess
(bonus)

Mp3 320kbps and
full artworks: enjoy!
FLAC files + full
artworks: enjoy!

The house
on a hill (1971)
[2015, Esoteric Recordings]
Audience - The house on the hill - 1971 (2015, Esoteric Recordings [front])
01. Jackdaw
02. You're
not smiling
03. I had
a dream
04. Raviole
05. Nancy
06. Eye to eye
07. I put a spell on you
08. The house on the hill
09. You're not smiling
(single mix, bonus)
10. Indian summer
(single edition, bonus)
11. You're not smiling
(promotional radio
version, bonus)

Mp3 320kbps and
full artworks: enjoy!
FLAC files + full
artworks: enjoy!

Lunch (1972)
[2015, Esoteric Recordings]
Audience - Lunch - 1972 (2015, Esoteric Recordings [front])
01. Stand
by the door
02. Seven
sore bruises
03. Hula girl
04. Ain't the
man you need
05. In accord
06. Barracuda dan
07. Thunder
and lightnin'
08. Party games
09. Trombone gulch
10. Buy me
an island

Mp3 320kbps and
full artworks: enjoy!
FLAC files + full
artworks: enjoy!

alive&
kickin'&
screamin'&
shoutin' (2005)
[2005, Luminous Records]
Audience - alive&kickin'&screamin'&shoutin' - 2005 (2005, Luminous Records [front])
01. You are not smilin'
02. Zig-zag & swirl
03. Leave it unsaid
04. Nothin' you do
05. I wanna
be your man
06. Call me
responsible
07. The bells
08. I had
a dream
09. The house
on the hill
10. Morning
dew

Mp3 320kbps and
full artworks: enjoy!
FLAC files + full
artworks: enjoy!

DIFFERENT
REISSUES

Audience (1969)
[2002, Disconforme Records]
Audience - Audience - 1969 (2002, Disconforme Records [front])
01. Banquet
02. Poet
03. Waverley
stage coach
04. River
boat queen
05. Harlequin
06. Heaven
was an island
07. Too late I'm gone
08. Maidens cry
09. Pleasant
convalescence
10. Leave it unsaid
11. Man on box
12. House
on the hill
13. Paper
round (bonus)
14. The going
song (bonus)
15. Troubles
(bonus)

Mp3 320kbps and
full artworks: enjoy!

The house
on a hill (1971)
[1991, Virgin Records]
Audience - The house on the hill - 1971 (1991, Virgin Records [front])
01. Jackdaw
02. You're
not smiling
03. I had
a dream
04. Raviole
05. Nancy
06. Eye to eye
07. I put a spell on you
08. The house on the hill
09. Indian summer
(bonus)

Mp3 320kbps and
full artworks: enjoy!

Lunch (1972)
[1990, Virgin Records]
Audience - Lunch - 1972 (1990, Virgin Records [front])
01. Stand
by the door
02. Seven
sore bruises
03. Hula girl
04. Ain't the
man you need
05. In accord
06. Barracuda dan
07. Thunder
and lightnin'
08. Party games
09. Trombone gulch
10. Buy me
an island

Mp3 320kbps and
full artworks: enjoy!

HOWARD WERTH &
THE MOONBEAMS

King brilliant (1975)
[1999, Luminous Records]
Howard Werth & The Moonbeams - King brilliant - 1975 (1999, Luminous Records {front})
01. Cocktail shake
02. Got to unwind
03. The embezzler
04. A human note
05. Ugly water
06. Midnight flyer
07. Fading star
08. Dear Joan
09. Roulette
12. Mechanical
dream (bonus)

Mp3 320kbps and
full artworks: enjoy!
FLAC files + full
artworks: enjoy!
Audience [FLAC]: enjoy!
Audience [MP3]: enjoy!

Audience - It brings a tear1970
Audience - Priestess 1970
Audience - In accord1972
Audience - Buy me an island1972
Audience - Thunder and lightnin' - 1972

4 comentários:

  1. I like finding out about bands I never heard of before. Thank you.

    ResponderExcluir
    Respostas
    1. Hi! Thank you very much for your visit and participation. Always feel free to leave your comment, be it a suggestion, compliment or complaint. A big hug!

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  2. Hi. I like your blog and I need read about more progressive rock bands.

    ResponderExcluir
    Respostas
    1. Hi Scott! Thank you very much for your visit and participation. Always feel free to leave your comment, be it a suggestion, compliment or complaint. Here you'll find jazz, folk, blues, psychedelic and progressive. We focus on less well-known bands. I'm glad you're enjoying the blog. We strive to present the best to our visitors. Thank you very much and a big hug!

      Excluir

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