- Chicken Shack
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Chicken Shack Genres Blues Years active 1965–1974, 1976-present Labels Blue Horizon, Deram Records, Nova, Shark, Warner Music Group, Gull, Epic Records, RCA Records, SPV (Germany), Strange Fruit Records, Mystic, Associated acts Fleetwood Mac
Savoy Brown
Broken Glass
Jethro Tull (band)
Ten Years After
SupertrampMembers Stan Webb
Dave Winthrop
Gary Davies
Jim Rudge
Chris WilliamsPast members Former Members Chicken Shack are a British blues band, founded in the mid-1960s by Stan Webb (guitar and vocals), Andy Silvester (bass guitar), and Alan Morley (drums), who were later joined by Christine Perfect (vocals and keyboards) in 1968.
Contents
Career
Stan Webb and Andy Sylvester formed Sounds of Blue in 1964 as a Stourbridge-based r n' b band. The band also included Christine Perfect and Chris Wood (later to join Traffic) amongst others in their line up.[1] With a change of line-up in 1965 they changed their name to Chicken Shack,[2] naming themselves after Jimmy Smith's Back at the Chicken Shack album. 'Chicken shacks' (chicken restaurants) had also by then frequently been mentioned in blues and rhythm and blues songs, as in Amos Milburn's hit, "Chicken Shack Boogie". Over the next few years they a residency at the Star-Club,[1] Hamburg with Morley, then Al Sykes, Hughie Flint and later Dave Bidwell on drums.
They made their first U.K appearance at the 1967 National Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor and signed to Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon record label in the same year;[1] releasing "Forty Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed and Ready to Serve" in early 1968. A mainstay of the British blues boom, and a regular at U.K. festivals (Stan Webb's wandering through the crowd with a 200ft extension to his lead guitar during the band's set was a regular occurrence[citation needed]), Chicken Shack only enjoyed modest commercial success, although Christine Perfect was voted Best Female Vocalist in the Melody Maker polls two years running and they had two minor hits with "I'd Rather Go Blind" and "Tears In The Wind",[1] after which Perfect left the band in 1969 when she married John McVie of Fleetwood Mac. She was replaced by Paul Raymond from Plastic Penny.[1]
After being dropped by Blue Horizon, pianist Paul Raymond, bassist Andy Silvester, and drummer Dave Bidwell all left in 1971 to join Savoy Brown.[1] At this point Webb reformed the band as a trio with John Glascock on bass and Paul Hancox on drums, and they recorded Imagination Lady.[1] The line-up didn't last; Glascock left to join Jethro Tull, while Webb was recruited for Savoy Brown in 1974 and recorded the album Boogie Brothers with them.[1]
From 1977 until the present Webb has revived the Chicken Shack name on a number of occasions, with a rotating membership over the next 30 years of British blues musicians including, at various times, Paul Butler (ex-Jellybread, Keef Hartley Band)(guitar), Keef Hartley, ex-Ten Years After drummer Ric Lee and Miller Anderson, some of whom came and went several times. The band has remained popular as a live attraction in Europe throughout.[1]
Webb remains as their only constant band member.
Discography
Albums
- 40 Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed and Ready to Serve (1968), Blue Horizon - UK Albums Chart No. 12
- O.K. Ken? (1969), Blue Horizon - Number 9
- 100 Ton Chicken (1969), Blue Horizon
- Accept (1970), Blue Horizon
- Imagination Lady (1972), Deram
- Unlucky Boy (1973), Deram
- Goodbye Chicken Shack (Live) (1974), Deram
- Double (1977), Deram
- Stan the Man (1977), Nova
- That's the Way We Were (1978), Shark
- The Creeper (1978), WEA
- Chicken Shack (1979), Gull
- In the Can (1980), Epic Records
- Roadies Concerto (Live) (1981), RCA Records
- Simply Live (Live) (1989), SPV (Germany)
- On Air (BBC sessions) (1998), Strange Fruit Records
- Black Night (1999), (as Stan Webb's Chicken Shack)
- Still Live After All These Years (2004), Mystic
- Webb (2001)
- Stan The Man (2002), compilation album
- Stan Webb (2004)
- Going Up, Going Down-Anthology (2004)
- Poor Boy/the Deram Years (2006), (as Stan Webb's Chicken Shack)
- Strange Situations/The Indigo (2006), (as Stan Webb's Chicken Shack)
Singles
- "I'd Rather Go Blind" (1969), Blue Horizon - UK Singles Chart - Number 14.
- "Tears in the Wind" (1969), Blue Horizon - Number 29.[3]
Members
Founding members listed in bold. (†) denotes member is deceased.
Current members
- Stan Webb - vocals, guitar (1965–present)
- Dave Winthrop - saxophone (1976–1978, 1986–1987, 2008–present)
- Gary Davis - guitar (1988–present)
- Jim Rudge - bass guitar (1998–present)
- Chris Williams - drums (2010–present)
Former members
Guitarists
- Robbie Blunt (1976–1978)
- Paul Butler (1979–1982)
- Miller Anderson (1982–1986)
- Roger Saunders (1983–1986)
Bassists
- Andy Silvester (1965–1971)
- John Glascock (1971–1972) (†)
- Bob Daisley (1972, 1979)
- Rob Hull (1972–1974)
- Paul Martinez (1976–1977)
- Steve York (1977–1978)
- Alan Scott (1980–1981)
- Andy Pyle (1981–1986)
- Andy Scott (1983–1986)
- Jan Connolly (1986–1987)
- Wayne Terry (1987)
- David Wintour (1987–1991)
- James Morgan (1991–1998)
Drummers
- Alan Morley (1965–1968)
- Al Sykes - drums (1968)
- Hughie Flint (1968)
- Dave Bidwell (1968–1971)
- Pip Pyle (1971) (†)
- Paul Hancox (1972)
- Alan Powell (1972–1974)
- Ed Spivock (1976–1978)
- Keef Hartley (1979)
- Ric Lee (1980–1982)
- Russ Alder (1982–1983)
- John Gunzell (1983–1987)
- Bev Smith (1987–2002)
- Mick Jones (2002–2010)
Keyboardists
- Christine Perfect (1968–1969) - also a vocalist
- Paul Raymond (1969–1971)
- David Wilkinson (1972–1974, 1986–1993)
- Tony Ashton (1981–1983) (†)
Membership timeline
Year Lead Vocals 1st Guitar 2nd Guitar Keyboards Bass Drums Saxophone 1965–68 Stan Webb Stan Webb Andy Silvester Alan Morley 1968 Stan Webb, Christine Perfect Christine Perfect 1968 Al Sykes 1968 Hughie Flint 1968-69 Dave Bidwell 1969-71 Stan Webb Paul Raymond 1971 John Glascock Pip Pyle 1971 Bob Daisley 1972 Paul Hancox 1972-74 David Wilkinson Rob Hull Alan Powell 1976-77 Robbie Blunt Paul Martinez Ed Spivock Dave Winthrop 1977-78 Stevie York 1979 Paul Butler Bob Daisley Keef Hartley 1980 Alan Scott Ric Lee 1981 Tony Ashton 1981-1982 Andy Pyle 1982-1983 Miller Anderson Russ Alder 1983-1986 Miller Anderson, Roger Saunders Andy Pyle, Andy Scott John Gunzell 1986-1987 David Wilkinson Jan Connolly Dave Winthrop 1987 Wayne Terry 1987-1988 David Wintour Bev Smith 1988-1991 Gary Davis 1991-1993 James Morgan 1993-1998 1998-2002 Jim Rudge 2002-2008 Mick Jones 2008-2010 Dave Winthrop 2010–present Chris Williams References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Larkin C 'Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997) ISBN 0-7535-0149-X p110
- ^ a b http://www.stanwebb.co.uk/index.php?view=article&catid=10%3Ahistory&id=35%3Abeginnings&option=com_content&Itemid=46
- ^ Roberts, David (2007). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 104. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ http://www.stanwebb.co.uk/index.php?view=article&catid=10%3Ahistory&id=36%3A1970s&option=com_content&Itemid=46
- ^ http://www.stanwebb.co.uk/index.php?view=article&catid=10%3Ahistory&id=37%3A1980s&option=com_content&Itemid=46
- ^ http://www.stanwebb.co.uk/index.php?view=article&catid=10%3Ahistory&id=38%3A1990s&option=com_content&Itemid=46
- ^ http://www.stanwebb.co.uk/index.php?view=article&catid=10%3Ahistory&id=39%3A2000s&option=com_content&Itemid=46
- ^ http://www.stanwebb.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=12&Itemid=48
Further reading
- The New Musical Express Book of Rock, 1975, Star Books, ISBN 0 352 300744
External links
Categories:- British blues music groups
- Music from Birmingham, West Midlands
- Musical groups established in 1967
- British rhythm and blues boom musicians
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