| Alex Harvey | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 February 1935 Glasgow, Scotland |
| Died | 4 February 1982 (aged 46) Zeebrugge, Belgium |
| Genres | Rock, blues |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1954–1982 |
| Labels | Vertigo, Polygram |
| Associated acts | The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, The Alex Harvey Soul Band, Rock Workshop, New Band, Giant Moth |
| The Sensational Alex Harvey Band | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | SAHB |
| Genres | Rock |
| Years active | 1972–1978 |
| Labels | Vertigo, Universal International |
| Associated acts | Tear Gas, SAHB ... without Alex |
| Website | sahbofficial.co.uk |
| Past members | |
| Alex Harvey Zal Cleminson Chris Glen Hugh McKenna Ted McKenna |
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Alex Harvey (5 February 1935 – 4 February 1982) was a Scottish rock musician. With The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, he built a reputation as an exciting live performer during the 1970s glam rock era.[1]
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Harvey was born in 1935 in the Kinning park district of Glasgow, Scotland, a working-class neighborhood, where he spent his childhood and youth.[2] By his own account, he worked in a number of jobs, from carpentry to waiting on tables at a restaurant to carving tombstones [3] before finding success in music. He first began performing in skiffle groups in 1954 [2]
His musical roots were in Dixieland jazz and skiffle music, which enjoyed considerable popularity in England and Scotland during the late 1950s. From 1958-1965, he was the leader of Alex Harvey's Big Soul Band, playing blues and rock and roll songs and spent considerable time touring in the United Kingdom and Germany.[3] He also won a competition that sought "Scotland's answer to Tommy Steele." Harvey became strongly identified with British rhythm and blues music, although he was equally able to play rock songs.
After leaving the Big Soul Band, he briefly tried for a solo career, but with little success (Denselow, 8). By 1967, he found a positive direction for his career when he became a member of the pit band in the London stage production of the musical Hair. This band recorded the live album Hair Rave Up, which contained Harvey originals and other songs not from the stage show. In 1970 Harvey formed Rock Workshop with Ray Russell; their first, self-titled album contained an early version of "Hole In Her Stocking",[4] later to appear on Framed. Harvey remained with "Hair" for five years.
Harvey was also instrumental in the formation of the band Stone the Crows by introducing his younger brother, Leslie Harvey, to singer Maggie Bell.[5] Tragically, Les Harvey was electrocuted in a freak accident while performing with the band in 1972.
In 1972, Harvey formed The Sensational Alex Harvey Band with guitarist Zal Cleminson, bassist Chris Glen, and cousins Hugh and Ted McKenna on keyboards and drums respectively, all previous members of progressive rock act "Tear Gas". The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (often shortened to SAHB) produced a succession of highly regarded albums and tours throughout the 1970s. The band never achieved acclaim in the United States the way it did in Great Britain, but it had a cult following in certain U.S. cities, especially Cleveland. SAHB made their debut in Cleveland at the Agora Ballroom in December 1974. Thanks to airplay from WMMS, songs like "Next" and "The Impossible Dream" became very popular. Cleveland music critics observed that the Sensational Alex Harvey Band could headline in that city, while in other cities, few people came to see them (Pantsios, 3).
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band had top-40 hits in Britain with the single "Delilah", a re-make of the Tom Jones hit, which reached No 7 in 1975, and also with "The Boston Tea Party" (June 1976). After Harvey left the group later that year, the other members continued as 'SAHB… without Alex'. Harvey re-joined the group for 1978's Rock Drill, but they disbanded shortly afterwards.
On 4 February 1982 while waiting to take a ferry back to shore after performing his last concert with his new band, the Electric Cowboys, Harvey suffered a massive heart attack. In an ambulance on the way to the hospital, he suffered a second heart attack, this one fatal. It occurred on the day before his 47th birthday, in Zeebrugge, Belgium. When he died, he left his second wife, Trudy, and two sons (Alex, by his first wife, Mary Martin, and Tyro).[6]
In 2002, a biography of Harvey by John Neil Munro was published: The Sensational Alex Harvey. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band were voted the fifth greatest Scottish band of all time in a 2005 survey.[7] In 2004, SAHB reformed and, two-years later, released a live album featuring many classic SAHB songs.
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