Stackridge are a British folk, pop and progressive rock group who were at the height of their success during the early 1970s. The band's output is characterized by quirky humour and rhythmic catchy sing-along tunes. Stackridge mixes clever lyrics and tuneful melodies with innovative arrangements. The group has claimed a wide range of influences including The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Frank Zappa, Syd Barrett, Robin Williamson, The Marx Brothers, Flanders and Swann, Bing Crosby, Tom Lehrer, Gilbert & Sullivan, Frederick Delius, J.S. Bach and Igor Stravinsky.

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History

Classic period

Stackridge Lemon was formed from the remains of Griptyght Thynn by Andy Davis and James "Crun" Walter during 1969 in the Bristol/Bath area of the UK. After initial experimentation the word Lemon was dropped from the band's name. The band played its first London gig at The Temple on 6 February 1970.

Stackridge played the first and last notes at the first ever Glastonbury Festival on 19 September and 20 September 1970. During 1971 Stackridge began serious gigging although Crun left to take up bricklaying. The group (Davis,Warren,Bent,Evans,Slater) embarked on a UK tour supporting Wishbone Ash. Later in the year they signed to MCA Records and recorded their first album Stackridge , at De Lane Lea Studios, London. They toured the UK as headliners with Renaissance supporting and played their first John Peel session for the BBC which included a version of The Beatles Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) . Their first single Dora the Female Explorer is thought to have inspired the popular children's television show Dora The Explorer. The group continued on a year of touring, again with Wishbone Ash and Forever More. The second album Friendliness was quickly recorded in August 1972 and released in November. By this time Crun rejoined the band which consisted of Davis,Warren,Slater,Evans,Walter and Billy Sparkle. In February 1973 the band first appeared on "The Old Grey Whistle Test". They then toured during February and March with Camel in support. The third album The Man In The Bowler Hat was recorded during 1973 at AIR Studios, London with producer George Martin. The album was released in February 1974 to excellent reviews, but failed to sell in large quantities. This was their highest charting album in the UK, reaching #23. A different version of the album was released in the U.S. under the title Pinafore Days and became their only U.S. chart entry, peaking at #191. Almost as soon as the album was finished Warren, Walter, Evans, Sparkle and Mutter Slater were replaced by Paul Karas (bass) from the band Rare Bird, Keith Gemmell from the band Audience and Roy Morgan (drums). The group that went on tour to support the album sounded quite different than the one on the record.

The fourth album Extravaganza on Elton John's Rocket Records label was recorded at AIR Studios with Tony Ashton producing and Rod Bowkett joining to contribute to the songwriting.The band now consisted of Davis,Bowkett, Gemmell,Slater (who had rejoined),Karas and Morgan. With more touring and an appearance at Wembley Stadium concert with Elton John and The Beach Boys, 1975 saw the eventful recording of the band's fifth outing in the studio, Mr. Mick which was eventually recorded at Ramport Studios, Putney with the revised line-up of Davis, Slater, Walter, Gemmell plus the addition of Dave Lawson on keyboards (Greenslade) and Peter Van Hooke on drums. On something of a downward slide by this time, the track Mr. Mick suffered at the hands of the record label Rocket Records. They performed a final show in April 1976 and shortly after the band disintegrated. MCA Records released the compilation Do The Stanley late in 1976 which contained songs from the first three albums along with singles and a previously unreleased song.

Stackridge officially announced in 1977 that they had disbanded; James Warren and Andy Cresswell-Davis formed The Korgis a year later, and had some commercial success in the early 1980s.

Revival period

Stackridge Live In Concert was released by Windsong, which raised renewed interest in the band. John Sherry, Roy Morgan and Rod Lynton proposed a reunion tour, which never materialized.

During 1996 talks were held between original members about possible reunion and recording started. And the following year, 1997 Stackridge - The Radio One Sessions was released by Strange Fruit Records.

By June 1999, the Come Back To Front Uk tour was under way and June that year saw Something For The Weekend released, featuring the line-up; James Warren, Jim "Crun" Walter, Mike Evans, Richard Stubbings, John Miller, and Tim Robinson. Then in 2001 Pick Of The Crop and The Original Mr Mick were released on Stackridge's own DAP Records.

2005 saw the release of the album Sex and Flags on Angel Air Records, a collection comprising many songs from 'Something For The Weekend', all six songs from the fan release only limited edition 'Lemon' CD in 2002, and two Andy Davis demo recordings. The album was the first since 1973 (apart from the 'Lemon' mini CD) to feature the core foursome of Warren, Davis, Walter and Slater.

A Spring 2007 tour was announced featuring this line-up, along with additional musicians. A show at The Rondo Theatre, Bath, on April 1 2007 was filmed for a DVD, released under the title Forbidden City (also available as a CD release). The band has continued to perform during 2008.

Stackridge signed up with reissue experts Angel Air in 2005 and all the albums listed in the discography below have the latest Angel Air CD/DVD catalogue numbers ascribed to them. All the CDs have extensive sleevenotes, pictures of memorabilia and bonus tracks and two, 'Mr Mick' and 'Forbidden City' are double CD sets.

In 2008 they returned to the Glastonbury Festival to play the acoustic stage on the Sunday afternoon. ^[1] They also appeared at the 2008 Rhythm Festival in Bedford, England and Fairport's Cropredy Convention.

A new album ("A Victory For Common Sense" - including a rework of the Korgi's "Boots and Shoes") was released 13th July 2009 on Helium Records.

Band members

Classic lineup

that is - Stackridge II (1971 - 1973)

• Andy Cresswell-Davis - guitar/keyboards/vocals
• James Warren - guitar/vocals
• Mike Evans - violin/vocals
• Mike "Mutter" Slater - flute/vocals
• Jim "Crun" Walter - bass
• Billy Bent aka Billy Sparkle - drums

Reunion line-ups

These were:-

Stackridge 1999

• James Warren - guitar/vocals
• Mike Evans - violin/vocals
• Jim "Crun" Walter - bass/mobile telephone
• Richard Stubbings - flute/accordion/keyboards/guitar/pennywhistle/vocals/whistling
• Tim Robinson - drums
• John Miller - keyboards/vocals

Stackridge 2000

• James Warren - guitar/vocals
• Mike Evans - violin/vocals
• Jim "Crun" Walter - bass
• Richard Stubbings - flute/accordion/keyboards/guitar/pennywhistle/vocals/whistling
• Tim Robinson - drums
• Ian Towers - keyboards/vocals/guitar

(both 1999 and 2000 line-ups occasionally augmented by: The Stackettes

• Ruth Evans - violin/backing vocals
• Nina Smith - violin/backing vocals

Stackridge 2007-8: In Stackridge 2007-08 up to and including Rhythm Festival gig on 31 August 2008:-

• Andy 'Codge' Marsden - drums.

Also formerly in Stackridge 2007 (one gig only each):

• Katy Salvidge - violin.
• Eddie John - drums.

Stackridge 2007 also included (but for final three '07 gigs)

• Nigel Newton - lead guitar

Stackridge 2008:

• James Warren - guitar/vocals.
• Jim "Crun" Walter - bass/spoken word.
• Andy Davis (aka Andrew Cresswell-Davis) - lead guitar/keyboards/vocals.
• Mike "Mutter" Slater - flute/vocals/harmonica/tambourine/castanets.

Accompanied by:

• Glenn Tommey - keyboards/trombone/vocals/sticks.
• Eddie John - drums.
• Sarah Mitchell - violin/vocals/whistle/tambourine/enthusiasm/dancing.
• Rachel Hall - Violin

Present lineup

Stackridge 2009:

• James Warren - guitar/vocals. Also been in The Korgis, The Blue Meanies, The Beat Brothers, The Next Best Thing, and James Warren & Friends
• Jim "Crun" Walter - bass/spoken word. Formerly in Sunken Rake, The Mike Gray Quartet, The Next Best Thing, James Warren & Friends.
• Andy Davis (aka Andrew Cresswell-Davis) - lead guitar/keyboards/vocals. Used to be in The Korgis as well.
• Mike "Mutter" Slater - flute/vocals/harmonica/tambourine/castanets. Until recently, was touring/recording concurrently with his two R&B bands, Little Dixie and The Scrotes. Now also gigging with The Mutter Slater Band.

Their accompanying musicians are:

• Glenn Tommey - keyboards/trombone/vocals/sticks. Engineer/Producer for many Bath-based acts, including The Korgis, Peter Gabriel, XTC, and Graduate. Member of Blue Meanies, The Next Best Thing, and James Warren & Friends.
• Eddie John - drums. Replaced Andy Marsden after latter's entirely amicable departure after 31 August 2008 and had already deputised on a one-off basis at a Sutton gig in 2007 (see below).
• Sarah Mitchell - violin/vocals/keyboards/tambourine/enthusiasm/dancing. Sarah was also in K-Passa and the 2005-6 aggregations, The Next Best Thing and James Warren & Friends. Sarah also plays bass guitar and other instruments and has been in the Pink Floyd tribute band, Pink Flawed and in The Fabulous Mitchells - both with her husband Chris.
• Clare Lindley - violin/vocals, replaced Rachel Hall when she returned to full-time education in Spring 2009.

Album Discography

Chronological releases

• Stackridge (1971) Angel Air SJPCD 230
• Friendliness (1972) Angel Air SJPCD 231
• The Man In The Bowler Hat (1974) Angel Air SJPCD 232
• Pinafore Days (1974) US version of Man in the Bowler Hat, with two tracks dropped, replaced by two from Extravaganza
• Extravaganza (1975) Angel Air SJPCD 233
• Mr. Mick (1976)
• Do the Stanley (1976, compilation, one previously unreleased track "Let There Be Lids")
• BBC Radio 1 In Concert (1996, originally Windsong WINCD 019) Strange Fruit SFRSCD 032
• The Radio 1 Sessions (1996) Strange Fruit SFRSCD 40
• More (4 alternative 'Something For The Weekend' mixes) (1998, fan club only CD)
• Something For The Weekend (1999) Angel Air SJPCD 235
• Pick of the Crop : Official Bootleg No. 1 (2000, live at Cropredy Festival, 12 August 2000) Dap 104CD
• CD-Romp: The Official Stackridge Bootleg No. 2 (2001) Dap 105CD
• The Original Mr Mick (2001, with Rocket Records official 'butchered' version and extra CD with album as intended by band) Angel Air SJPCD 234
• Lemon 2002 (2002, fan club only)(no label)
• Sex And Flags (2005, compilation of most of 'Weekend', all of 'Lemon' plus 2 Andy Davis demos) Angel Air SJPCD 205
• Purple Spaceships Over Yatton: The Best Of [2006, 19 track compilation, with new recording of title track, October 2006] Angel Air SJPCD 228
• The Forbidden City (2008, live at Rondo Theatre, Bath, 1 April 2007) Angel Air SJPCD 251
• Anyone For Tennis (CD and DVD set, combining 'Purple Spaceships Over Yatton: Best of' CD and 'Forbidden City' DVD with new photos and new, extensive sleevenotes, September 2008) Angel Air SJPCD 271
• A Victory For Common Sense new studio CD, released July 13 2009, Helium B002C6K7UI http://www.heliumrecords.co.uk

DVD

• The Forbidden City (July 2007 - live at Rondo Theatre, Bath - 1 April 2007) Angel Air NJPDVD 630

See also

• The Korgis - another band for James Warren and Andy Cresswell-Davis

References

1. T. Rex, the Kinks ... Stackridge? Return of unsung band that started it all off