Clouds (60s rock band)

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Clouds are a 1960s prog rock group. The band was a three piece featuring Ian Ellis (bass & lead vocals), Harry Hughes (drums) and Billy Ritchie (keyboards). The band disbanded in October 1971.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early Days: The Premiers 1.2 1-2-3 1.3 Clouds 2 Discography 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early Days: The Premiers

In the dawn of 1964, Ian Ellis and Harry Hughes were playing in a band together that was entitled The Premiers. The band itself consisted of Bill Lawrence (bass guitar), ‘Shammy’ Lafferty (rhythm guitar), Derek (Lead guitar), Harry Hughes (drums) and Ian Ellis (vocals). The sound of the band was predominantly soul and motown which was played throughout the Scottish music scene.

The group may have been vaguely popular but they hadn't even gained so much as minimal success. It was then decided that an organist be added to the band to add extra texture to their sound. Archie Colquhoun announced that he had discovered 'the best organist in Britain' who lived in a tiny Scottish village called Forth. An audition was held and Billy Ritchie became the band's newly christened organist. Although the band thought featuring Ritchie would be a welcome change, the chemistry of the group altered more than was intended.

Despite gaining some minimal success when Cyril Stapleton took the band to London so they could do some test recordings, Derek and Bill Lawrence had decided to leave within months of Ritchie joining the group. Derek had almost begun to feel smothered by the organ which he personally believed was taking over the role of lead instrument. Lawrence had decided upon leaving because he had a personality clash with Ian Ellis.

The band seemed to have become a complete failure until Ian Ellis decided that he would take up the position of bass guitarist and also sing at the same time. The group had many discussions about what direction they wanted to take and in the end they decided to go for something completely radical. The group then changed their name from The Premiers to 1-2-3.

[edit] 1-2-3

1-2-3 could almost be classed as a revelation. The sound was unique and hadn't been heard by anyone before. Sadly though audiences in Scotland did not appreciate 1-2-3 's individual sound so the band decided to go down to London where they hoped that their original music would be rewarded. As 'The Illustrated History of Rock' states "Early audiences were confused by the lack of a guitarist."

The move to London had in fact been a good idea. Their sound was recognised, and thanks to Archie Colquhoun they were given a Marquee residency. A Marquee programme in 1967 describes the band as "a unique group...who have created an entirely new sound in pop group music....We hope that Marquee patrons will recognise the truly exciting nature of 1-2-3" . Performances at the club during 1967were the principal reason why they were subsequently signed by NEMS, The Beatles' management company.

Among the Marquee audiences were future superstars such as Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, King Crimson, Yes, and David Bowie, who himself stated a liking for the band when interviewed by Record Mirror in 1967, saying "three thistle and haggis voiced bairns [who] had the audacity to face a mob of self-opinonated hippies with a brand of unique pop music which, because of its intolerance of mediocrity, floated, as would a Hogarth cartoon in Beano."

The death of Brian Epstein, founder of NEMS, left the band in the care of Robert Stigwood, his successor. But Stigwood had just signed The Bee-Gees, fellow Australians, and was preoccupied with making them a success. So without guidance or care, 1-2-3 was left to founder in northern cabaret circuits, almost like a novelty act instead of a rock group. Having parted company from NEMS, the band was left to play in minor venues around London, and seemed to have missed the moment, being left to watch as many of the bands that had been influenced by 1-2-3 rose to prominence. Then one night in a club in Ilford, east London, the band was seen by Terry Ellis, an astute agent, who quickly signed them to his new agency, and re-named the band Clouds.

[edit] Clouds

Originally known as the Ellis-Wright agency,the organisation quickly mushroomed, and became Chrysalis, one of the major agencies and recording labels in the UK. Clouds had also risen in prominence, playing many major tours, and appearing at the Albert hall and many of the headlining concert venues in the world, including the Fillmore east in New York. The recordings of the band were also made mainly during this period, and were generally very well received by the critics, with respectable sales, if not sufficient to allow the band to appear in the album or single charts. Concert reviews were also favourable, and often striking. Reviewing a 1970 concert at the Arragon ballroom,Chicago, Billboard magazine began the review by saying 'This band will be a giant'.

But history was repeating itself - just as The Bee-Gees had overshadowed 1-2-3 at NEMS, now it was Jethro Tull who were consuming all of Terry Ellis' time. Without proper management care being allocated to the band, the relative success of Clouds was allowed to slip away, and yet another opportunity was lost. The resilience of the band dissipated, and it was disbanded in 1971.

Only in hindsight was much of the pioneering role of the band unearthed. In truth, it was 1-2-3 who had carried the torch, but unfortunately, no recordings were made at that time, and though the later incarnation, Clouds, was still interesting, it did not sufficiently rise to the challenge of shining through in a somewhat overcrowded progressive rock music scene.

[edit] Discography

Year of release	Title	Record label
1969	Make No Bones About It/Heritage	Island RecordsWIP6055 March69
1969	You Can All Join In	Island RecordsIWPS2 1969
1969	Scrapbook	Island RecordsILPS9100 Aug69
1969	Scrapbook/Carpenter	Island RecordsWIP6067Sept69
1969	Scrapbook/Old Man	Island Records
1969	Bumpers	Island RecordsIDP1
1970	Take Me To Your Leader/Old Man	Island Records (European continent only)
1970	Up Above Our Heads	Deram Records DES18044 Aug69(USA/CANADA only)
1971	Watercolour Days	Island Records/Chrysalis RecordsILPS9151 Jan71 Deram Records
1996	Scrapbook/Watercolour Days	BGO RecordsBGOCD317 Jun96
1999	Coda	Sunrise Records
2007	Strangely Strange but Oddly Normal	Island-Universal Records 9822950 Box set

[edit] References

1. The History of Scottish Rock & Pop by Brian Hogg. quote 'there was nothing remotely like it around'. 'these latter pieces were studiously reshaped, to become, in essence, new. It anticipated the techniques later used by America's Vanilla Fudge.....but rather than use these pieces as a means by themselves, 1-2-3 used them as stepping stones to self-expression. Yet there was a conspicuous focus on melody'.
2. Mojo Magazine Nov 1994 Headline article - '1-2-3 and the Birth of Prog'Nov 1994 . 'The forgotten forerunners of Progressive Rock'
3. Interview with David Bowie, Mojo Magazine Nov 1994 quote 'Billy was yet another unrecognised genius'. 'The song was radically altered, but retained its heart and soul'. 'The audience reaction was interesting, they didn't know what to make of it'.
4. Letter by David Bowie to Record Mirror June 1967 . 'To cap it all, these three thistle and haggis-voiced bairns had the audacity to face a mob of self-opinionated hippies with a brand of unique pop music which, because of its intolerance of mediocrity, floated as would a Hogarth cartoon in Beano'.
5. Interview with Terry Ellis (founder of Chrysalis, manager of Clouds) Mojo Magazine Nov 1994 'all three were extremely talented musicians and very skilled'; 'Billy Ritchie was extremely disillusioned and probably self-destructive'.
6. Interview with Ed Bicknell (manager of Dire Straits, former booker of Clouds) Mojo Magazine Nov 1994 quote'they were excellent musicians, all three of them; the organist, Billy Ritchie, was especially brilliant'.
7. Q Magazine 1996 review of Scrapbook/Watercolour Days by Martin Aston, 'a definite influence on the following Nice and ELP'; 'the virtuoso keyboards of Billy Ritchie, pre-empting Emerson & Wakeman, but with half the insufferable grandeur'.
8. Feature article The Illustrated History of Rock - Clouds by Ed Ward 'without whose influence, the 70's could not have happened as it did' 'Billy was a writer of exceptional ability' 'a tantalising glance at brilliance'.
9. Record Collector - Key to names on cover of 'You Can All Join In'; review of 'Scrapbook'; 'A dour preoccupation with mortality' ; review of 'Scrapbook/Watercolour Days' 'the album opens with two progressive rock gems'.
10. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music edited by Colin Larkin 'They made two interesting albums before they disintegrated, unable to find a niche amongst an overcrowded progressive music scene'.
11. Billboard Magazine 1970; review of concert in Arragon Ballroom, Chicago 'This band will be a giant'; 'drew a standing ovation'.
12. Clouds website contains copies of many of these articles, reviews, concert programmes etc.

[edit] External links

• www.cloudsmusic.com