Heads Hands & Feet

Heads Hands & Feet were a British country rock band, and part of the Harris/Colton/Smith production company. In 1970 members performed at the Royal Albert Hall with Johnny Harris Orchestra for his Movements concert, opening for Dionne Warwick. Ray Smith and Tony Colton also co-wrote and co-produced Richard Harris and Shirley Bassey with Johnny Harris. They also co-wrote and performed the soundtrack for The World Of Georgie Best BBC documentary from 1970 with Johnny Harris, who was a band member, arranger and producer. Their agent in Daniel Secunda.

The group formed after the breakup of Poet and the One Man Band in 1969, (who released an album on UK Verve and US Paramount with nearly the same musicians as HH&F). In 1970, Heads Hands & Feet recorded their debut album, Home From Home, which was shelved by the label and did not see release until 1996.

In 1971, they released their proper debut on Capitol Records as a double album in the United States, but as a single disc in Europe (on UK Island). While still relatively unknown, they served as the supporting act for Deep Purple's series of concerts from 5 to 8 March in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, and Aberdeen, Scotland.^[1] They were the opening act at the free Hyde Park, London concert on 3 July. They opened for Humble Pie & Grand Funk Railroad.

Their second album, Tracks, followed the next year, but with critical acclaim, internal tensions in the band resulted in a breakup in 1973 before the group's third release, Old Soldiers Never Die. (Their unreleased 1970 album was released in 1996 as Home from Home.)

The members of Heads Hands & Feet provided the core backing for Jerry Lee Lewis's album The Session, recorded in London from 7 to 11 January 1973, and also for Shirley Bassey's album Something (1970), Richard Harris' single "A Ballad Of A Man Called Horse" (1970), a still unissued Carl Wayne album (1970) and Don Everly's Sunset Towers (1974).

Members

• Tony Colton* (born Anthony George Chalk, 11 February 1942, Tunbridge Wells, Kent) - vocals
• Ray Smith* (born Raymond Barry Smith, 9 July 1943, London) - rhythm guitar, vocals, bass
• Mike O'Neill* (born Michael O'Neill, 8 July 1938, Lowton, Lancashire died 10 October 2013, Stevenage, Hertfordshire). - keyboards (1970-1971)
• Albert Lee (born Albert William Lee, 21 December 1943, Willey, Herefordshire) - lead guitar
• Chas Hodges (born Charles Nicholas Hodges, 28 December 1943, Edmonton, North London) - bass, vocals, violin
• Pete Gavin (born Peter Leslie Rowney, 8 September 1946, Lewisham, South East London) - drums

(*core members who were also in Poet and the One Man Band)

Discography

• Heads Hands & Feet (US Capitol Records - 2-LP set, 1971) -issued before the UK (see below)
• Heads Hands & Feet (UK Island - only half of the US album), 1971
• Tracks (UK Island, US Capitol, 1972)
• Bloomfield (aka The Hero) (UK Pye, US Capitol, 1972) movie soundtrack, contributed three tracks
• Old Soldiers Never Die (UK Atlantic, US Atlantic, 1973) US #221
• Home From Home (UK See For Miles (1996) (recorded in 1970)

References

• Heads Hands & Feet at Allmusic.com