Jerusalem (British band)

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Jerusalem
Origin Britain
Genre(s) Rock music
Years active 1970s
Label(s) Deram
Associated acts Deep Purple
Former members
Lynden Williams
Bob Cook
Bill Hinde
Paul Dean
Ray Sparrow

Jerusalem was an early 1970s British raunchy heavy rock five piece outfit. The band released one self-titled album worldwide in 1972 on Deram (UK catalogue number: SLD 6), produced by Ian Gillan of Deep Purple. Jerusalem’s only other release was a 45 rpm 7 inch single, the non-album ‘Kamikaze Moth’ backed with ‘Frustration’ from the LP.

The band's raunchy, unpolished and brutal rock was "way ahead of its time" and therefore the band never "made it" in a true commercial sense at the time. They were very much a "live" band and whilst many other rock bands were into getting their audiences to sit down and listen, Jerusalem were all about making their audiences stand up, move and join in. They gigged throughout Europe and shared the same stage as bands such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and Status Quo. They also played at some of the major Festivals in Europe to audiences of 50,000+ and usually went down a storm, because they were different, raw and uninhibited. It has often been stated within the music business that Jerusalem were a substantial influence on many of the 2nd generation Rock "metal" bands and Punk bands of the 80's. Although Jerusalem signed with Deram, Nick Mobbs head of the EMI Harvest label also wanted them; he later became head of A&R for EMI and was the first person to sign the Sex Pistols. Founders of the band Paul Dean and Ray Sparrow eventually split the band and formed a 3 piece with Bob Cooke called Pussy who released a single on Deram called 'Feline Woman' (there is an un-released album), also produced and managed by Ian Gillan. In recent years Jerusalem's only album has been re-issued by Universal as a Japanese CD (2004) and has also become available through many Rock music websites. It would appear that Jerusalem is still continuing to grow as a cult band throughout the World. The latest news (2007) is that Paul Dean has revealed that he has the original 2" multi-track masters of the album and has been asked by a number of record companies whether there is a possibility of doing a re-mixed version of the album.

Ian Gillan's thoughts about the band & working with the album:

This is the first album by Jerusalem, a band which excites me very much; they are rough, raw and doomy with their own strong identity. As they are young and a bit green, they don't follow many rules, so their material is almost crude - but still immensely powerful in content.

I believe that, whenever possible, the work of writers and players in their formative stages should be recorded; before inhibition and self-consciousness set in, before fire and aggression die down, and while they are still absorbing influences and doing things which others might consider 'uncool'. Most important though, before they might develop that self-imposed rigidity which afflicts so many. I hope none of these things happen to Jerusalem, we'll have to wait and see, this album is just in case. I hope you like it as much as I do."

[edit] Members

  • Lynden Williams: Vocals
  • Bob Cook: Guitar
  • Bill Hinde: Guitar
  • Paul Dean: Bass
  • Ray Sparrow: Drums
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