1947: Brian Parrish was born `Brian Morris´ to Victor and Joyce Morris in Ilford, Essex, England on July 12th 1947. He was one of twins, having a sister, Julie know as Boogie. Brian: “I don’t know why, but I started to call her Boogie and it stuck“

1958: His parents bought him first guitar as a reward for passing a school examination which would earn him his place in High School and further education. Ironically Brian cared less about education from the moment his hands touched the guitar.

1959: was pivotal and musically provided the equivalent of St. Paul´s road to Damascus experience. During this year Brian heard little Richard records which he found thrilling – “like something from another planet!“. During this year his father took him to see a low budget rock`n´ roll film featuring the American stars of the day – Little Richard (wonderful, of course), The Platters and significantly, Gene Vincent. A great tracking shot across a street and into a rehearsal hall window was accompanied by the opening bars of “Be- Bop- Alula“. The tape echo was astonishing for the time, and when the camera focussed on Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps playing the song inside, the effect was electrifying. Brian was 11 years old and he knew what he wanted to do with his life.
“The Girl Cant Help It” was the rock`n` roll film. The `girl` in question, who was played by Jayne Mansfield (memorable for two entirely different reasons), was less than a seminal figure in rock`n´roll history.

1960: Brian made early stage appearances with his father, who was a singer, as his own father has been. Brian was listening to Lonnie Donegan – a popular British singer of the time. Lonnie piqued Brian´s interest in American roots music, which he only knew only as `skiffle`- knowing nothing of Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly and the music´s other originators at this time. Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis -all made his heart race. Buddy Holly also, who was writing his own songs. The world was changing!
Like so many English boys at this time Brian was fascinated with the guitar sounds of the Shadows – who played back up for the very popular Cliff Richard. Brian maintains that Cliff made the best rock`n´roll record ever produced in England –“Move it“.
Brian says “Cliff really let us down, and broke his promise after that, producing nothing of value or interest (musically) ever again. Sir Cliffs bank manager and legions of fans would not agree with me, of course – so what do I know? But `Move It` gets me every time!“

1962: Brian formed his first group with two other boys – Chris Marsh and Ricky Carlowe. They were “The Titans“ and played in pubs where Brian was still too young to legally be inside (minimum age 18 years). He began to write his first “truly awful“ songs. “I like to think that I am a little better at it these days, but others will be the judge of that” says Brian.

1963: Brian met Paul Curtis – as he then was known (real name Paul Gurvitz). The two had a similar passion. Paul`s father, Sam was tour manager with the famous “Shadows“ – an invaluable connection. Paul and Brian formed a band with Mick Palmer (bass) and Stan (?) on drums. They were called The Londoners. Sam Curtis found them their first work in France and Germany, playing U.S. army bases. Brian recalls, “The black guys liked us best. We had no idea why they, in particular, took us to heart – but it could be because we were playing their music – rythm`n`blues – probably quite badly, but with great enthusiasm!” Brian says “We saw nothing incongruous about four white English boys playing `Parchman farm`, a song about a Lousiana jail famous for its harsh treatment of black prisoners. We knew nothing!”
Upon their return to England the Londoners were hired as the backing band for (-of all people!) Gene Vincent.
This contact came via Sam Curtis, now managing the group. Vincent was by now resident in England. Brian says he learned 2 lessons. One: Heroes are human beings Two: Playing rock music is the best job in the world. The Londoners toured England on rock`n`roll package tours, meeting other ´greats´ such as Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. Some years later Brian would also record with Jerry Lee, but this was way ahead in the future. Brian signed his first music publishing contract at this time, and began to get his songs recorded by other artists.

1964: The Londoners were offered work in Germany. The first stop was in Bremen at the Star Club. This was a `spin off` from the Hamburg club of that name. The Bremen club was opened for a brief period only. The Londoners proved very popular. In Bremen Brian met two people who would later come to play important part in his life . They were Jochen Laschinsky and the young and beautiful Angela Panneck.
Angela was learning photography and had gone to the club to take pictures. She quickly befriended the band, and began to help whenever English / German translation was required. So friendly were they that she invited the Londoners to her home to meet her parents. Not wishing to be perceived as rock ´n´ roll bad boys the group were faultlessly polite, and all wore neck ties. We have the pictures to prove it. Of Jochen, more later…
After one month in Bremen the Londoners played for the first time in the Star Club, Hamburg. The Beatles, already famous, and on their way to further phenomenal success, had played the club along with many other young British bands, making the gig something like the Holy Grail of rock ´n´ roll venues in Europe. There was fantastic energy between the young German audiences and the visiting British bands.
The Londoners` constantly developing stage act was very popular with the people, and the group appeared frequently over the next 2 years at the Star Club, returning to play England and Scandinavia in between. At one time they appeared continuously for 7 / 8 months without a break.
This was not due to their undoubted popularity, but because the Star Club boss, Manfred Weisslieder had tax problems which prevented him from paying the band other than “per dium“ subsistence money. This had the benefit not only of extending their success with the fans and further honing their stagecraft (due to the long hours – 3 to 4 hours every night, 7 nights a week) but also delivered a nice pay day when Manfred could finally afford to honour his obligation as his cash flow improved. Angela Panneck regularly travelled to Hamburg to see `her boys`during this time.
The many bands who played the club with The Londoners are too numerous to mention - but three are worthy of note.

The first of these deserve credit for both their unwavering loyalty to rock`n`roll (they are still playing!) and for their lasting friendship. Stand Up King Size (Ted) Taylor and the Dominoes.
The second was The Remo 4, who were a great unit , featuring Colin Manley – a lovely guitar player, Tony Ashton – also a lifelong friend of Brian´s , who sadly passed away not so long ago, and Roy Dyke – a superb drummer who later played in the band `Badger` with Brian. “When the Remos turned up we knew we had serious competition” said Brian “ They were just so good!” The third band are the Cherokees, of whom more later…

1965: French singer Johnny Hallyday – a big star somewhat in the `Elvis` style at the time recorded Brian's song `Just my Imagination`(`C`est mon Imagination`). This was an early success for Brian, the songwriter. The Londoners recorded a series of `singles` in England, and released these under the name `The Knack`. Bass player Mick Palmer was now replaced by Geary Kenworthy. The first single was a Ray Davis / Kinks song called `Who`ll be the next in Line?`
This was semi successful – that is, it received radio plays, sold some copies but nothing spectacular. The succeeding singles did less well. There was, however, plenty of work and the band toured continuously throughout Europe.
When the band returned to Germany to play the `Beat Festival` at the Stadthalle in Bremen with the Kinks, it was as `The Londoners` - the name by which they were best known in Germany. Jochen Laschinsky provided back line amplification from his own fledging band (Mushroams), and of course Angela was present. The appearance was a great success.
The Knack returned to England to play and continued to develop their friendship with the Cherokees, visiting them when playing near to Leeds (Cherokees home town) and conversely seeing their Northern friends whenever the other group had work ´down South´. During this time when Cherokees drummer, Jim, departed Topper Clay was offered the job and so left the Knack to replace him. The Knack recruited Louie Farrell on the drum stool. The Knack (once again billed as the Londoners) returned to play the Hamburg Star Club, and during the second month of their tour of duty were joined by the Cherokees. Friendships were still strong, the Londoners ever popular, and Topper looked very happy in his new `family`.

Christmas 1966 found Brian not wanting to play a gig over the holiday “no matter how much money is on offer” as the band had played throughout the previous 3 Christmases. As if on cue, a lot of money was indeed offered for a Christmas day gig. The band accepted the offer, Brian said “No way” . The others said “If you don’t play you´re out” Brian said “OK, I´m out” and subsequently left.
He remained friendly with the Cherokees, now calling themselves `New York Public Library`and recording with 60´s pop producer Mickie Most (Animals, Lulu, Jeff Beck, the dreadful Hermans Hermits etcetera). When their singer John left, Brian was invited to join. He accepted.

NYPL toured extensively, and during one of their gigs Brian's short-scale Rickenbacker guitar was stolen. Having to replace it quickly he was unable to find the same model, and instead acquired a Rickenbacker 12 string guitar. The 12 string `jangle`sound became something of a NYPL trademark for a while. The band recorded singles – some of Brian's songs, but also versions of Doors songs, Lovin´Spoonful and others. Angela Panneck visited Brian in the UK. In this year also at this time Brian played many recording sessions, and was by now getting his songs covered by pop artists and groups from this era. Notable were Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich. Worth a mention just for the silly name. Very `poppy`and very successful in Europe. The very affable Dave Dee was a good friend.

Of the many guitar sessions played by Brian at the time, he was particularly pleased to be recording with Amory Kane. Amory was an American West coast songwriter. A good friend and fellow songwriter whose album (in Brian's opinion), should have sold more than it did. Brian says: “Wherever you are, Amory – Hello! Respect!”.

1967: Brian was offered a solo recording deal and left New York Public Library to sign with United Artistes. He recorded one single for the label,“Love Chant”. The writing credits for the A and B sides were Brian Morris, but the name of the artiste for the first time was Brian Parrish. Soon after this his name was legally changed and has ever since been PARRISH.
There were problems with his manager of that time. “Let us say that he was not the most honest person I have met in my life” says Brian, “However, I must accept the full responsibility of signing with him, even whilst laying some of the blame for what was an imprudent business move on ( shall we say?) rock ’n’ roll excess – something I was definitely guilty of at the time. The 12-step recovery programme(s) which was to save my life was still years in the future”.

1968: Brian met a record producer called Lou Reizner. Lou was very impressed with Brian's new songs and invited Brian to work with him, Brian was given the keys to Lou’s London apartment and access to his recording equipment to routine and “demo” the new songs while Lou was in the USA with Richie Havens and others.
1969: One day whilst in a nearby street to Lou´s apartment, a car pulled up and the driver said “How are you doing?”. It was Paul Curtis. In the intervening period the Knack had disbanded and Paul had formed a 3 piece with brother Adrian Curtis. Known as “Gun”, they scored a significant hit with “Race with the Devil”. Louie Farrell was the drummer. The Gun had meanwhile faded away despite 2 albums of good (for the time) Adrian Curtis penned songs.

Brian asked Paul to sing harmonies with him on his solo project, and the vocal blend was “so good that it seemed ridiculous not to make it a duo, if Paul was free”. He was.

When Lou Reizner returned he was surprised - but very happy with the results. Brian persuaded Paul that he should use his original family name of Gurvitz. After initial misgivings Paul agreed, acknowledging that it was ethnically (culturally?) more interesting than the bland “Curtis”. So Parrish & Gurvitz was born. Recording began at London's Island Studios and by now Paul Gurvitz’ songs were included. This album, which included songs such as “On the way home” was destined to be unreleased. This Brian Parrish song would later resurface on the “One Live Badger” album. (It was credited on the Atlantic album as a “Badger” composition, as were two other Brian written titles)

Parrish & Gurvitz signed with Canadian Management AHED music, under Barry Authors. Their new managers took a copy of the Lou Reitzner produced master tape to Beatles producer George Martin. Martin wanted to sign the act to his new A.I.R. London Company and not surprisingly insisted on producing the record personally. Money changed hands, the original recordings “shelved” and Lou Reizner gracefully retired. Lou – a lovely guy – went on to produce (among other things) an all star concert and album of Pete Townshends “Tommy”.

Lou also passed away it seemed, long before his time. But that’s really God’s business. We miss you, Lou.

1970: George Martin revamped the P & G project. It was he who chose the final selection, running order and so on. “You don’t argue with success and musicality of this order” Brian said. Some of the earlier songs were discarded, as others were favoured by George. The producer also graced the recordings with the kind of orchestral arrangements which had been integral to the Beatles ever more adventurous recordings.

September 1971 saw the publication of a centre - spread editorial piece in English national newspaper the Sunday Mirror, hailing George Martins´ new act as “ The New Beatles”. The timing was terrible, as the album had yet to be released, and the article was full of inaccuracies and misquotes, but the damage was done. The bag was empty, the cat was out. From then on Parrish and Gurvitz became the subject of increasingly hysterical press articles worldwide with the Beatles name hanging like a lead weight over the whole project. For the “New Beatles” themselves these projections, expectations and inevetable comparisons did nothing to assist the development of their career. Months followed during which they mimed ( lip-synched ) to various tracks from the album on TV shows, and attempted to field questions from the press which were always along the lines of “How does it feel to be the new Beatles ?”, “Have the Beatles influenced you?” And so on, ad infinitum. As yet Parrish and Gurvitz had never played a live gig – but had been publicised world wide via press and television. Brian and Paul, who had “earned their spurs” as live players were now all but consumed by a machine that would prevent them playing and proving their worth. The album was released in the U.S.A. and tour dates were set (unwisely, not to coincide with the album release, but months later). Oblivious to the strategic stupidity of the timing, or of the investment that would subsequently not be recouped, Parrish and Gurvitz began to select musicians and rehearse the road band with excitement. Musicians love to play. It´s that simple.

1972: The band was somewhat “heavier” than the acoustic / electric blend suggested by the P+G album. It marked a return to the rock band format from which Brian and Paul had come. Their choice of musicians was indicative of this. Drummer Mike Kellie, formerly of Spooky Tooth, had played on the acoustic driven Parrish + Gurvitz debut album. On bass was Rick Wills previously with Cochise and later to play with Roxy Music, and Foreigner.

Mickey Gallagher was on keyboards. Mickey came up through Skip Bifferty and other Newcastle bands. In years to come his work with lan Dury and the Blockheads would seal his already good reputation. Mickey can currently be seen with the latest incarnation of the Animals. The band began to rehearse material from the first album, albeit now sounding much heavier – and new songs for a projected album – Parrish + Gurvitz “ TWO”. In May 1972 the band played 2 weeks of open public rehearsals in the Nickelodeon – a bar in Toronto – as a warm up to their US tour starting in June. These performances were not intended for press attention., but as ´dry run´ gigs to test audiences.
The Canadian press got on board, and were favourable. Soon there were reporters from the USA and, tellingly from their U.S. label, MCA. With the album already old news, having been released several month before, this tour would do little to enhance sales. Of great concern to MCA was the fact that the softer music of the P+G album was barely in evidence now.
The label had not signed a rock bank, however good …. This outfit had more in common with the electric line- ups being used by the likes of Niel Young ( think Crazy Horse …) The band had evolved, the label had not. The US tour kicked off in New York. From a performance perspective the tour was a success, but received little or no label support. There was no one with the clear vision to harness the impetus of the press attention of the previous months and capitalize on what the band was actually doing. To quote Brian Parrish “ We just had our heads down and were playing, while our managers ran the marketing with the precision and sense of purpose of a headless chicken”
“ One highlight of the tour was when in New York we got tickets to see Elvis Presley at Madison Square Garden, via his manager Tom Parker. This was not a man known for his generosity, so I suppose this was a coup. Led Zeppelin – at the time the biggest band on the planet- also went along and they were like star struck fans. “We are going to see Elvis!!” Bonham wore full Edwardian ( Teddy Boy ) regalia, I recall. Elvis was in his pre-Michelin man period, before he became the Burger King, and was great.” Parting with their management, the band returned to England to install themselves in AIR studios and record P+G “Two” The album was not released. Since Brian and Paul were unable to pay the musicians other than for the recording, the band joined Peter Frampton , formerly with Humble Pie who had befriended the P and G band in the USA. This new band became Framptons Camel, enjoying significant success with “Frampton Comes Alive”. Paul and Brian looked at each other, shrugged and said “OK, Next ?” Paul took up once again with brother Adrian who was now also happy to use the name Gurvitz. Together with Ginger Baker they formed Baker Gurvitz Army.

1973: Brian was considering his options when he received a phone call from Roy Dyke, his old friend from the Star Club Hamburg time (Remo 4) . The two had regularly met as Roy was, like Brian, a habitué of the Speakeasy, Marquee, Revolution and the other London night clubs where musicians would meet.
Roy was working with Tony Kaye who had left YES ( to be replaced by Rick Wakeman ) and bass player / songwriter David Foster. Roy asked “What are you doing? Have you got any songs? How would you like to play with us?”Brian replied “Not much” “Yes, some” and “Maybe” to these questions. A meeting was arranged and Brian arrived to an empty rehearsal room, to ask a weary roadie “Is this the right place ?” and, “Where are the band ?”“In the pub, of course” was the reply, and Brian knew that they would get along well from that moment. And so it proved to be, when some hours later they played their first drunken notes together.
Never a fan of “progressive rock” as it was known, Brian was pleased that the band was edgier than he would have guessed from Tony Kayes previous efforts . Solos were still reassuringly long for lovers of guitar and organ “widdly bits”. Six songs were rehearsed. Four of Brian's-”Preacher”, “Wheel of Fortune”, "The River" and the aforementioned “ On the way home” , together with 2 David Foster Songs, “Fountain” and “Wind of Change”.
The band was signed to the company, “Worldwide Management” who had both Yes, and Black Sabbath ( with Ozzie still on board ) in their stable. Badger was chosen as the name of this new band. Worldwide Management added the new band to the bill for some forthcoming Yes concerts, and a short time later Badger would play a European tour with Black Sabbath. The intention was to record Yes´s performance for a live album ( subsequently released as “Yessongs”)

Someone suggested recording the Badger performances, reasoning that with no additional cost aside from a reel or two of recording tape, the results might produce something useful. So it was that in November two consecutive nights of Badger were recorded at the Rainbow Theatre. It may be that these were their first ever performances. Memories differ, but it seems likely that there was one appearance prior to this at a “university somewhere” together with the Groundhogs, (another “Worldwide” band) This is the consensus of opinion between Brian Parrish and David Foster. The resulting album “One Live Badger” received overwhelmingly good reviews. The album sold well in the US, entering the US ‘Billboard` charts shortly after its release.

Before the band was due to tour the United States, Badger undertook a tour of Europe with stable-mates Black Sabbath. Brian remembers, “We got on with Sabbath immediately – with Ozzie taking a particular shine to us. The gigs went well, and with such an assortment of lunatics in both bands, much fun was had also. I suspect that most people who have spent time the man have a number of Ozzie Osbourne stories. So do I! This is not the place for them. The point is he is a lovely guy and I want to be able to look him in the face should we meet.

I do remember things like the stage catching fire as we played an arena in Italy. Huge flames rose up from the boards and a wall of black smoke completely obliterated the audience. This was not the whispy white smoke of special effects, we were choking up there, but it was a dramatic way to close our act, and was followed by the best efforts of the Italian fire brigade to deal with the problem. Another time in Italy the promoters were trying to get us to use Italian amplification, we said “Thank you but definitely no, we have our own”. Upon our arrival that evening our crew told us that our trucks had mysteriously disappeared. We did, however have amplifiers- shiny new Italian ones. The promoters had said “No problem, you are in luck as our people have brought Italian amps to help you out!”. The following day our tracks re-appeared. Hmm… This was the time of free concerts, and at another gig a few thousand people who did not want to buy tickets rioted outside and finally broke into the venue. They were still jumping up and down on our limos as we were trying to drive away after the gig. We did everything in Europe, other than sleep. Suffice to say that I returned to England exhausted”.

Brian elected to leave shortly before the all important US tour. “Very inconsiderate to the others” he concedes. “I am pleased that they are still talking to me!”

“To leave on the eve of a U.S. tour with a buzz in the air about the first album was professional Hari Kiri, I suppose – but my personal life was problematic, and well, that’s how it was - that´s what I did”.

The album is highly rated. It was recently re-released for the umpteenth time. The following is the “blurb” from the label website and independent reviews :

In the history of British (or U.S.) rock music it is rare, if not unique to issue a live recording as a first release. This is traditionally a step taken by the brave few following the issue of numerous carefully crafted and successful studio recordings. For Badger this was more a case of happy accident than courageous strategy. A series of concerts take place in 1971 with the recently formed Badger appearing as special guests with stable-mates, Yes. These concerts were to be recorded for a live Yes album. Someone recording Badger also as they were road testing songs for what was to be a studio recording. The result is (a recording of) the bands first public performance and it crackles with energy. The review in Rolling Stone said “after hearing this album I hope Badger never go into a studio – if the always sound this good live they have absolutely no need to do so ( RS 142: see www.rollingstone.com/ reviews). There was a subsequent studio album, but with a changed line up. “ One Live Badger” is regarded as the best Badger album, entering the lower reaches of the U.S. album chart soon after it was issued, without the benefit of tour support there. Quite an achievement for a first release.

An excerpt from an accompanying and longer review says: ……the band made their debut at the Rainbow theatre in December 1972 supporting Yes at the infamous concerts that spawned the Yessongs live album. Atlantic records to whom both groups were signed, decided that as the equipment was in place, they should make the most of their financial outlay and record the support groups set as well. In a bold move that seems extraordinary by today´s standards, it was this recording that formed the basis of One Live Badger. And what a great album is, the material is strong and the group sound as if they have been playing and writing together for years. The production by the group, Jon Anderson and Geoffrey Haslam is crisp although somewhat more raw an aggressive than the resulting YES recordings from the same concerts. As expected Kayes signature Hammond organ sound is to the fore on most of the tracks (and) in particular on the album closer “ On the Way Home” although he does use other keyboards to add different textures. The chorus of “Wind of Change” features the mellotron ”, “The River” utilises the electric piano to great effect, and a Moog synthesizer is evident on other tracks.

Guitarist, Brian Parrish, plays some great solos, although nothing too flash (excuse the pun!) or overburdened with technical virtuosity. The solid and efficient rhythm section are quite prominent in the mix as one would expect from a live recording – Fosters bass in particular being particularly clear – the dynamic mix of driving bass, riffing guitar and wailing Hammond during “ On the Way Home” is superb and probably something that could only be got away with on a live recording. The closest comparison would be akin to a rockier Traffic. Overall a wonderful live album and worthy of inclusion in the collection of any fan of 1970´s rock music…..

Also during 1973 Brian got a call from old acquaintance Steve Rowland – a pop producer who had used him on many records including those by Dave Dee + Co. The result was Brian´s appearance on the Jerry Lee Lewis London sessions. “I had met Jerry Lee when working with Gene Vincent, of course” remembers Brian, “but it was a great pleasure to do these sessions” Sadly Brian cut his finger badly on the day and had to withdraw from guitar playing duties. “They asked me to stay and play harmonica – one of the few times I ever did that in a studio, together with percussion and stuff ”. Was he disappointed about the guitar playing? “Well yes of course, but it probably saved me from embarrassing myself, as Albert Lee and all sorts of really wonderful guitar players were on board. The main thing is I was there!”

1974 “Love on my mind”

1974 found Brian Parrish at a crossroads following his departure from Badger. He signed with Warner Brothers Music (publishing) as a songwriter and set about writing new songs. He was not performing and missed playing with other musicians – and was impatient to secure a record deal.

Hearing the new songs, Chas Chandler offered a deal with his newly forming “BARN” Records, which was to be distributed by Polydor . It would be some time before Barn would be ready to release a record, but work began in earnest to assemble the musicians and begin recording soon after the deal was signed. `Barn `was an unknown quantity – a new venture, but Brian had every reason to have confidence in Chas, whose track record was impressive. He had managed the phenomenal Jimi Hendrix from the time of Jimi´s arrival in the UK and throughout his career,until the time of the guitarist´s death. More recently Chas had overseen the career of pop band, Slade, then at the crest of their wave. In addition Chas´s pedigree as bass-man with the Animals and his likeable straight forward manner seemed to bode well for the future. A deal was struck to extricate Brian from his Warner Brothers song writing contract, one condition of which was that some Warner Brothers published titles would be used on the first album released.

Within the framework of Brian´s previous work with Badger, his songs with R+B leanings had emerged as rock songs. This was hardly surprising, given the Badger rhythm section of Dyke and Foster, and certainly did Badger nothing but good. Brian was now free to re-think (although “free” is hardly the right adjective, as much of his thinking was chemically altered at this time) He was certainly keen to explore a more funky neighbourhood. A superlative group of musicians was selected. Pete Wingfield and Brian Chatton would share keyboards, Pete van Hooke was on drums, Jerome Rimson on bass, and for the first time in a while a second guitar would be used. Vic Linton was a good choice. The horns included Brian´s friend Mick Eve and Howie Casey – another “face” from the Hamburg time. When recording was finished it became apparent that Barn was, indeed, far from ready to release any product (It was to be 1976 before the album – “Love on my mind “ would be issued!)

With songs to spare it was decided that tracks would be laid while fresh, and these could be used for the next album. Six songs were recorded, at which point this project was halted in order to rehearse a band for touring. Eric Burdon (ex. Animals ) was to return to England to play some concerts, and tentative plans were made to include Brian on the bill. Many of the musicians in the studio band had forward commitments, and so a process of forming a Barn “house band” commenced. These musicians would form the rhythm section for Barn projects, including the Eric Burdon dates, and for Brian´s gigs.

Over a time a very effective unit evolved, still including Brian Chatton on Keyboards from the studio band. When Eric Burdon arrived to play his tour the House Band accompanied him and Brian Parrish played guest guitar. Mostly, these were shared dates where the ´Brian Parrish Band´ would play a set and return to the stage with Eric, being announced as the ´Eric Burdon Band´. Confusing? You bet…

Also found Brian busy on the recording front with other artistes. Among these were ´Medicine Head´ who were being produced by Tony Ashton – once again a Hamburg friendship underpinned this activity. Also that year, still with Tony, was the Jon Lord (Deep Purple) and Tony Ashton album “ First of the Big Bands”. “ I was excited to do this “says Brian “ As it was so over the top – horns and everything going down live in the studio. Jon Lord´s arrangement skills and musicality were so good, all the musicians involved were great – Ian Paice on drums was magic of course, and working with Ashton was always fun. I loved it.”

1976 “Love on my mind” was finally released with scant promotion from either Barn or it´s parent, Polydor. Brian hated to packaging, finding it too light-weight and ´frothy´, altogether drawing more from the ´pop´ marketing style of Slade, rather than the ´rock-friendly´ design he had hoped for under Chas, as Jimi´s ex-manager. An earlier design featuring a sepia photograph which Brian liked was rejected as being too ´sombre´.

Be that as it may, sales of “Love On my Mind” were disappointing. Brian still has fondness for some of the songs, but less so the production for which he was also responsible (!).

The projected second album had stalled and would never resurface. As a footnote to the above, Paul Gurvitz appeared briefly towards the end of the year and wrote a song “Rolling Home” with Brian. They had performed and recorded together over many years, but had always written songs separately. This was a “first”. The song was released as a single with a Brian song, “Rock ´n ´Roll Man” on the flipside. It bombed. Brian and Barn parted company.

1977 Once again `retired` from performing Brian was, nevertheless writing songs as always. Some songs came to the attention of an old friend, Charlie Crane – long a champion of Brian`s work. Charlie had signed Brian to the Warner Brothers publishing deal, prior to the Chas Chandler/ Barn relationship. He (Charlie) was now Professional manager at A.T.V. MUSIC (now part of Sony…). Brian was signed to ATV and was introduced to a new concept. The writing `pool` . Brian says: “There were all kinds of songwriters in a stable. Pop guys like Allan Tarney who wrote “ We don´t talk anymore" for Cliff Richard, advertising jingle writers, my friend Viola Wills who sang some back up on my "Love on my Mind" album. She wrote some good things and had a disco hit at this time. I didn’t like disco, but I made an exception for Vi!!"

"This was a new environment for me. Every week we would have writers meetings. Everyone would play their new songs, and all the others would listen tight - lipped. Imagine twenty songwriters in a room listening to each others work – everyone thinking “ I wouldn`t have put that chord there!” or “The chorus is all wrong”. We would try to develop writing partnerships – but I was never a great collaborator, I think. Then we had `casting` sessions. That is, we would be told who was looking for songs, and the following week we would play what we had written and `cast `them for the projects and artistes by consensus. It was mad. We would be told that Ray Charles was going in to the studio and looking for songs. The following week it would be, “They need a song for Miss Piggy in next weeks Muppet Show”! All experience of course, and they were paying me, but it kept me from my first love of performing. I had no record deal, and I did not realise at the time that this emphasis on writing was to represent something of a withdrawal from playing for an extended period. I won´t let that happen again”.

1978: Not in any way central to this story, but merely as a matter of record, Brian had begun to practice Buddhism from around 1975, and was still doing so in 1978. Of more interest, perhaps, is that through someone in Buddhist circles he had become interested in horse riding. He frequently went away for riding / trekking weekends.On one such trip during this year he suffered a terrible fall from a horse at full gallop resulting in back injuries which left him bedridden and in severe pain for many weeks. Prescription drugs were consumed in vast quantities.In a stranger than fiction parallel (he later found out that) Angela Panneck , now married and far away in Bremen, Germany, was also laid up in bed with four broken vertebrae as a consequence of a horse riding accident.“The similarities end there, though” Brian points out, “Angela had become a superb horse woman and sustained her injuries when she fell in a horse race. She was one of Germany´s first lady jockeys. I was just a crazy musician crashing around on horseback with, as I recall, more than a little alcohol in my system.”Brian did play some low – key gigs at this time with his own preferred musicians before devoting his attention almost exclusively to songwriting. Occasionally other musicians would “sit in”. On one memorable occasion Herbie Hancock turned up and played a few songs. “A great honour” says Brian, “I am glad someone was around to take one or two pictures, but the reality was not so much that Mr. Hancock played with my band. It would be more accurate to say that he gave us a music lesson. Hats off, no question.”

1979–80 Having found the ATV experience interesting but not his ideal professional home Brian was now anxious to move on. “I had been playing less and less, although frequently appearing on guitar for recording sessions with the other writers. Lots of demos, advertising jingles… Things like that. Not exactly cutting edge! I mean, people were throwing money at me to work with them- doing vocal sessions too, but I was dying inside. Drinking and drugging too much to be really honest. It had to change, and eventually it did – but not just yet”

1981 Brian continued to write good songs but none “clicked”. Parting company with ATV, he was offered a contract with Chrysalis Music. Brian was more interested in the Chrysalis record label as a possible home for his work as a performer, but was nevertheless encouraged by the enthusiasm of the publishing division for the bluesy funky songs he was now writing. He was still playing with his band, albeit infrequently, but no record deal was concluded. The focus was consequently once more on his songs, and he accepted the Chrysalis offer. If he thought that this might naturally “morph” into a contract with the Chrysalis Record company, he was wrong.

As for the publishers, they failed to secure any significant “covers” for his songs. Ironically, as if the “scattergun” methods of ATV were still wielding an influence over his career, it was in the pure “pop” field that this was to happen. Alvin Stardust recorded two “BP” songs, for the Stiff Record label. These were “Got My Money on You” and “Give it a Little Time”. Both were produced by Brian.

1982 Brian left the Chrysalis company, and feeling disillusioned with the business, began to work on a project dealing with alienation, and based on George Orwell´s “1984”. It was a strange project which was ultimately not completed, and so did not ´see the light of day´, but yielded some good songs nevertheless. Reflecting on this time Brian says “I was really on the look for spiritual solutions, which I was not finding. I had yet to learn of the Grace of God, His unconditional love. I had no idea that He had His hand on my life. All this was waiting for me on the other side of a door that I had closed myself. I did not remember closing it – I did not even remember that there was such a door. I was lost for a while there!!” Numerous songs were written dealing with social injustices – people sleeping in the street, the apparent heartlessness of the establishment- in retrospect much of this was a reaction to the blinkered arrogance of the Thatcher government in the U.K. at this time. “This is certainly true” says Brian, “But it also has to do with the fact that I had a tendency to see negatives. I hope that the reverse is true of me these days. Some of those songs were good, I think, and some of them could even be reworked now…if I wasn´t writing stuff today that I like better!” His career was effectively on hold. These days when he did play gigs (such performances were sporadic) it was with a group of musicians who had played with him on various studio projects, including his own demo sessions whilst with Chrysalis, also the Alvin Stardust records .This Brian Parrish Band as they were billed consisted of Les Binks on drums (ex Judas Priest),John Currie on bass (Drifters, later working with Slash) and Alan Lisk on keyboards (an excellent composer in his own right who has done great work for films and TV). Drugs and alcohol, for years a problem, albeit in the background at least professionally speaking, now escalated to unmanageable levels.

1984 “Despite all the self abuse I was still writing” Brian remembers, “This is quite amazing to me now. I would frequently work until 4.00 am in my home studio – with the inevitable bottle at one end of the mixing console, and other substances too. I was obsessive, and I was productive! But I could not seem to activate anything ´in the world´ - that is, outside of my working environment at home. That could so easily have been the end of the story- but thank God, it wasn´t.”The “1984” project had stalled and with a film of the Orwell book already out, as the months of that year passed by the whole idea was deemed past it´s “Sell By” date

1985 SHELTER: Once again spawned by the idea of an uncaring government and the prevailing threat of nuclear conflict. (the arms build up had not begun to slow and the press, as ever, continued to focus on the threat of what might happen if ………they have to sell papers). Brian wrote a song called “ Shelter”. This was a somewhat anthemic tune, with words written from the point of view of an uncomprehending and angry nuclear holocaust survivor leading a group of ragged fellow survivors through an unrecognisable wasteland, searching for shelter, and finding none. The anger was directed at those who had decreed who was worthy of saving and those who must fend for themselves. Part of the lyric read “´They´ll all be safe and sound, the others under the ground we know – but dare not say out loud there’ll be no shelter“. The song was recorded with the aforementioned musicians, and a short film planned. In the end a six minute video was to emerge to support the record, which once again would not see the light of day. Brian: “I saw the Shelter video the other day, and it´s not bad….I just ´got´ the whole thing again for a few minutes – the angst – the feeling of the time. I think many people would like it if they saw it now and might think it is deep and meaningful or something like that. I just see a man in trouble with his life. This is just not work I would do anymore. I am 1000% happier today and completely re-energised! What can I say? For the sake of the website, and anybody who may be interested in what I was doing in 1985, this is it”.

Brian´s mother died in June of this year, an event which seemed to add to his feelings of alienation. His work rate accelerated – more hours in the home studio and still more alcohol. Bizarrely he began to write country style songs, and even made tentative plans for a country ( rock ) band to be called ´Parrish-Texas´ “There has long been an association between country music and alcohol. Maybe I thought I was George Jones or Steve Earle or somebody. I was a 38 year old man from Ilford, Essex who had been all over the would playing music, and now my world was reduced to a small room of recording equipment and a whiskey glass that was never empty. I was in an empty marriage too. I thought I could raise myself up – simply work my way out of it - write “the magic song” or something. I needed to do the opposite – accept my powerlessness and acknowledge the love and power of the Great One, and I was nearly ready, though I didn’t know it” Christmas came in a blur.

"On January -1^st – 1986 I had a clear thought .It was something like ´wake up- this has to change-it’s now or never´. Somehow on January 2^nd I drank nothing. Then the next day, and the one after were all alcohol and drug free. Somehow I did three weeks like this and I still did not know where the power was coming from. I began to fear that I couldn’t keep this up. I would slide right back to the way I had been. I had stopped, but to stay that way I would need help. I attended my first meeting of a 12 step programme - and here’s the important part….I got on my knees in my bedroom one night and said the words that would save my life. I said ´Please God help me´, I may have said ´if you’re there…… I still did not absolutely know if He was. I would like to say that there was a bolt of lightning, or some ethereal vision, but there wasn’t. I got up off my knees feeling al little embarrassed – my ego trying to reassert itself, I suppose. But the job was done, I had asked Him for help, and He was in the room, no question”.

At this time Brian put his music ´career´ on the back burner, to focus on his recovery. He was still writing songs, but accepted that he was ´morally and spiritually bankrupt´ and that this must be addressed if there was to be any possibility of life starting again. He was praying everyday – but still no “blinding flashes”

In the 12 step recovery programme he met many fellow musicians – some of them very successful public figures – and draws much encouragement from their experiences, and those of people from all walks of life. Says Brian “Alcoholism and addiction is indiscriminate. It can get anybody and destroy them. Anyone who walks away is so very lucky and in the minority. The terrible things that addicts (including me) have done whilst in the throes of the disease can be devastating. Even a casual look at drug / drink related crimes or motor accidents reveal as much. Also spousal abuse – you name it, the horror stories are just awful. Once in recovery you have to acknowledge responsibility. None of this ´I didn’t know what I was doing` stuff".

"Its a long journey that begins with your self esteem in the toilet, and a glimmer of hope that you cling to for all you are worth. But God is endlessly loving. Unimaginably loving. If you call with your heart He is there. I am no evangelist – I am a musician – It’s another road, but the only reason I am alive to walk my road is by the Grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ. That’s simply the truth"!

So passed 1986 with Brian finally able to find the courage to deal with his marriage crisis. “We had to part. I knew that. Life had siezed up for both of us. The end was as inevitable as it was painful, but my avoidance mechanisms began to stop working as my head became clear”.This also marked an up-turn in his creativity, producing songs, some of which would emerge many years later on Brian’s CDs “Home Alone” and “Songwriter plus Band”. Many singer songwriters have concluded that there is nothing like a relationship break up to inspire new songs. So it proved to be. Some were for more for personal consumption, cathartic in some way, others seemed to have a wider appeal and relevance.Brian´s old friend, Charlie Crane, who had been behind Brian's ATV contract, and Warner Brothers Music before that, got to hear some of the songs and wanted to get Brian in the studio once again.

1987 Charlie Crane had formed a company with John Fishlock, called Crane/ Fishlock Music. Wanting to sign Brian for publishing, they conceded that a record deal for Brian would be the way to go, ensuring that the songs would be recorded. Brian, by now wary of signing a publishing contract in isolation, was also keen to record. A deal was struck for Crane/ Fishlock to finance the recording of two country flavoured songs (Tethered Hearts” and “Standing in my Shoes”). The master recordings would then be sold / leased to a record label, at which point the company would inherit the publishing. A time limit was agreed by which Crane / Fishlock must secure a record deal. Failing this ownership of all song titles would revert to Brian.

1988 With such interest in these particular titles, which were country flavoured, Brian began to consider his “Parrish-Texas” idea once again. With no immediate dated set for the Crane/ Fishlock recordings, he set about writing and recording more country edged songs with Dobro (resonator guitar) in his home studio. He had by now become adept at multi tracking, playing bass and also keyboards (the latter laboriously-“it is not my instrument” says Brian) and various guitars and percussion instruments himself. Occasionally someone like Brian (B.J.) Cole – England's famous steel guitar player – would drop by and overdub something. “Mainly it was just me, though” says Brian.

By the end of 1988 the promised recording dates for the projected single “Tethered Hearts” were confirmed for 1989. Brian says “I was working hard at the musical “coal face” and really keen to do it, but still my main concern was keeping clean and sober and getting spiritually well. This particular “lost sheep” had strayed far from the fold, and rock’n’roll living had damn near killed me”.

1989 Brian went into the studio to record “Tethered Hearts” and “Standing in my shoes”. All his favourite guys played (Binks, Currie, Lisk) and BJ Cole played some tasty pedal steel guitar. The results were pleasing but despite the growing popularity of “new country” in America (Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett etcetera) there were no takers among the English record labels.