Steve Peregrin Took

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Steve Peregrin Took (left)

Steve Peregrin Took (July 28, 1949–October 27, 1980) was an English musician.

1 Early life and Tyrannosaurus Rex
2 The Pink Fairies
3 Shagrat
4 Steve Took's Horns
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early life and Tyrannosaurus Rex

Took was born Stephen Ross Porter in Eltham, South London. He took his name from the hobbit Peregrin Took in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. At the age of 17 he was recruited as drummer for the electric band that Marc Bolan was forming in response to his departure from John's Children. Took outlived a gig disaster, the departure of other sidemen, and the repossession of the band's equipment. Marc and Steve formed an economy version of the band, busking in subways on acoustic guitar and bongos. As an ersatz flower-power unit, Tyrannosaurus Rex proceeded onto the club and stage circuit and thence into the record shops, where they clocked up three albums and two top 40 hits.

It was Took’s arrangements which were instrumental in transforming Bolan’s music from the straightforward rock ‘n roll it had once been (and would again be one day) into an 'exotic' brew of musical influences. Took was Bolan’s translator, turning his words into audio signals to trigger off mental pictures in a tripped-out audience.

In Tyrannosaurus Rex, Steve Took contributed backing vocals, drums, bongos, African drums, kazoo, pixiephone; Chinese gong and in later stages some bass guitar.

While still in Tyrannosaurus Rex, Bolan refused to let the duo perform any of Took's songs, so he took two of them to Twink. Subsequently, the songs were included on his seminal album Think Pink. He also worked with David Bowie and appears on a BBC Bowie album.

[edit] The Pink Fairies

After being sacked by Bolan, Took formed the Pink Fairies (mark 1) with newly ex-Deviant Mick Farren and Twink. They evolved out of the drinking club of the same name by Took, Syd Barrett, the Pretty Things, the Deviants etc in 1969. However, this didn’t last that long as Twink and the other Deviants formed a new band called the Pink Fairies (mark 2) which were greeted with applause before they even played a note due to the reputation of the name gained by the Took/Farren/Twink incarnation. Took appears prominently on Mick Farren's first solo album Mona the Carnivorous Circus (1970).

[edit] Shagrat

Further information: Shagrat (band)

Larry (or "Lazza") Wallis and Tim Taylor, guitarist and bassist with 60s underground band the Entire Sioux Nation, were headhunted by Farren and Took in February 1970. A month later, Farren dropped out, leaving Took an outright bandleader for the first time in his career. With the addition of drummer Phil Lenoir, Shagrat was formed; they recorded three tracks at Strawberry Studios and played live at Phun City before the rhythm section dropped out. Took and Wallis continued with drummer Dave Bidwell, rehearsing with various bass players and eventually forming an acoustic trio. Wallis would later join the Pinks, transforming the band, leading them on the Kings Of Oblivion LP. Later in 1975/6 Wallis and Took again worked together.

Took played support slots for Hawkwind and the Pink Fairies, as well as jamming as third drummer, and once even playing bass guitar for the Pinks. He worked with a number of Hawkwind members during his lifetime, most notably Robert Calvert and Nik Turner. While still with Bolan, Took recorded a session with Syd Barrett; it appears likely that Barrett is on the recordings done in Mayfair by Took and friends in 1972. Farren recalls that Took would "drag a bemused Syd Barrett along" to events in Ladbroke Grove in the late 1960s.

[edit] Steve Took's Horns

Steve Took's Horns — which featured the first pairing of guitarist Trevor Thoms and drummer Ermanno Ghisio-Erba, later of Inner City Unit (ICU) — recorded three studio tracks in November 1977. The band performed on 18 June 1978 at The Roundhouse as part of "Nik Turner's Bohemian Love-In." But Took felt the gig went badly, and pulled the plug on the band shortly after they came offstage.

Turner subsequently drafted Thoms and Ghisio-Erba into Sphynx for a live festival LP recorded that August; in 1979 they joined Turner's new Inner City Unit. Took guested with ICU a number of times; the last recorded date is June 16, 1980.

Took died on October 27, 1980, aged 31, when he choked on a cocktail cherry at his home in Ladbroke Grove, allegedly as a direct result of being 'high' on drugs purchased with a long awaited Tyrannosaurus Rex royalty cheque.^[1]^[2]