The Quincy Conserve was formed in Wellington in late 1967 by Malcolm Hayman. Malcolm was an extremely talented musician who had already been on the music scene for twelve years by that stage. Hayman was only 15 years old when he arrived in Wellington in 1955 as a member of the Maori Hi Fives showband. The following year the singer-guitarist formed the
Trademarks, long-time residents at the Mexicali, a popular nightspot owned by American expatriate Harry Booth. The Trademarks were very popular, and after four years of constant playing, queues formed to see them every time they played. Over the years, 30-odd musicians passed through the ranks of the Trademarks, before Malcolm disbanded the group in 1961. The Trademarks owed more than a little to the Maori showband tradition, where Hayman had learnt his licks, but the group gave Wellingtonians their first taste of rock'n'roll. One member of the Trademarks was Rodney "Dody" Potter, who was later a member of the
Keil Isles and
Dallas Four.
Following the demise of the Trademarks, Malcolm spent 18 months at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music, followed by two years on the Australian-Pacific cabaret circuit with a variety of bands. Malcolm was a severe diabetic and in 1965, during a residency in New Caledonia, he came down with tuberculosis, spending the next 14 months in a Noumea hospital. He returned to Wellington in the middle of 1966 and formed a new band called the
Soundells.
The
Soundells had a residency at the Downtown Club in Wellington and at the end of 1967 they were enticed to go to Auckland to play there. They accepted the offer, but Malcolm decided not to go. Now without a resident band at the Downtown Club, owner Roy Young had enough faith in Malcolm to give him a budget to recruit, equip and rehearse a new band for his club. Malcolm immediately tried the rhythm section of Sounds Unlimited, who had just dissolved, but at rehearsals found that they were not appropriate. He then started scouring the countryside, looking for the best musicians, with a promise of a regular gig and a steady wage.
Malcolm recruited bass player Dave Orams from the
Underdogs, keyboardist Rufus Rehu from the
Quin Tikis, another previous member of Sounds Unlimited, saxophonist Johnny McCormick, and an inexperienced saxophonist, Dennis Mason. On drums was Bryan Beauchamp, from
Bari and the Breakaways, but he was quickly replaced by another former
Quin Tikis, Earl Anderson.
Rehearsals over, the Quincy Conserve debuted at the Downtown Club in February 1968. They were one of the most talented and professional groups to appear on the New Zealand music scene in the late sixties. They were Wellington's first 'supergroup'. Ria Kerekere returned from the
Soundells to provide some vocals for a little while, and not long after they got going, Earl Anderson came down with hepatitis and was replaced by Raice McLeod.
Malcolm Hayman 1969.
Word spread fast about this group and Roy Young soon recouped his investment. Patrons got their money's worth from the entertainment and the club even featured floorshows from the top soloists in the country. It was a top-class venue , which kept out riff-raff by strictly adhering to stringent dress regulations and an over 18 age restriction. Producer Howard Gable visited the venue and was impressed enough to sign the group to EMI, not only as artists but also as a studio band, to record backing's for the large roster of talent recording for the company, including
Allison Durbin.
Releasing on the HMV label, their first single "I'm So Proud"/"I've Been Loving You Baby" came out in June 1968. This was followed in 1969 with "Hallelujah"/"Here's To The Next Time" and "Lovin' Look"/"Soul Thing". These records got very good revues, but that wasn't reflected in the sales. Unless you were from Wellington, no-one really knew anything about the group. This was rectified slightly when in December 1968, the group backed
Allison Durbin on a national tour. This was the first time they had played outside their Downtown Club residency.
Kevin Furay, who had previously played with Top Shelf, joined the group on both guitar and trumpet in 1970. Two months after Kevin joined, Raice McLeod left and he was replaced by
Bruno Lawrence. Raice actually took the seat Bruno had occupied in Sydney with Electric Heap.
Bruno had an immediate impact on the group. He wrote a song that was included on the group's first album, and the song became their biggest hit. The album released in 1970 was "Listen To The Band" and the single was "Ride The Rain"/"I Feel Good". The single was also released in Australia. Bruno's "Ride The Rain" became a finalist in the 1970 Loxene Golden Disc Awards. The second single from the album was "Everybody Has Their Way"/"Purple Frustration".
A second album "Epitaph" was released in 1971. It contained a number of excellent songs and from it came three singles, "Aire Of Good Feeling"/"Don't Arrange Me", "Alright In The City"/"Somebody Stole My Thunder" and "Going Back To The Garden"/"My Michelle Chan".
The Quincy Conserve was always Malcolm Hayman's band and he was a perfectionist and a strong disciplinarian. His rigid control of the group always went down well with venue owners, but didn't always sit too well with band members. It caused the unit to be unhappy at times and the band members resentment eventually tore the group apart. Bruno was always a hard person to manage and he treated Malcolm with casual disdain. Even though Bruno was good value to the group, his irreverence caused him to be fired by Malcolm. In February 1971, a new drummer Richard Burgess was acquired. Bruno was undeterred and moved on to form
Blerta.
Not long after Richard joined, Kevin Furay left to form Tanglefoot, and he was replaced by a new trumpet player Barry Brown-Sharpe.
Pressure within the group exploded towards the end of 1971 when Malcolm fired Dave Orams during a rehearsal session. Dennis Mason took exception to this and an argument took place, basically with everybody being sick of being in a band where they had absolutely no say. Dennis said if Dave goes, so do I, and Barry Brown-Sharpe and Johnny McCormick both agreed. The result of the argument was the group was four members less. Hayman decided that there was no point continuing with the group, so he officially disbanded it. Putting their grievances aside, they did get together to do a farewell performance at the Downtown Club on October 30, 1971. Dennis Mason went on to become a member of
Arkastra.
Malcolm then joined Furay at Tanglefoot, but before the end of 1971, Roy Young was concerned at the drop of patronage at the Downtown Club, and started putting pressure on Malcolm to form a new band.
Malcolm swallowed his pride and put together a new Quincy Conserve, promising that it would be a more democratic outfit. From the first version remained Malcolm and Rufus Rehu. Malcolm convinced Johnny McCormick and Dave Orams to return and they added Mike Conway on drums and two temporary members, Australian Peter Cross on trumpet and Harry Leki on guitar.
1972 L to R: Mike Conway, Dave Orams, Kevin Furay, Johnny McCormick,Barry Brown-Sharpe, Malcolm Hayman and Rufus Rehu.
At the beginning of 1972 they were back at the Downtown Club, just as popular as before and as if they had never left. After just a month, Peter Cross and Harry Leki had gone and back from the original version were Barry Brown-Sharpe and Kevin Furay. Dave Orams also went and was replaced by Frits Stigter on bass guitar. Now with the band members having more say, they musical direction moved towards a more jazz-rock style.
Two new singles were released in 1972, "Somebody Somewhere Help Me"/"Tango Boo Gonk" and "Roundhouse"/"You Can Take Your Love".
In November 1972, EMI promoted a concert at the James Hay Theatre in Christchurch. Quincy Conserve performed there along with
Blerta,
Lutha and Desna Sisarich. The event was recorded and released early in 1973 as an album called "Live". They contributed three tracks to the album.
By the end of 1972, Quincy Conserve were no longer resident at the Downtown Club. In 1973 the breweries had begun to recognise the value of live music in their taverns. Lion Breweries opened a rock venue in the Spectrum Room at the Lion Tavern. Their second venue was at the Cornhill Tavern and Quincy Conserve were installed as residents. They also held a residency at the Speakeasy Bar in Manners Street.
In 1973 their third album was released. It was called "Tasteful" and came with a 7" EP called "Extra Tasteful". Two singles were released from the album, "Keep On Pushing"/"Lady Listen" and "Slut"/"Keep On Playing That Rock'n'Roll".
A deal with Lion Breweries was signed in 1974, and the group spent most of the next year constantly touring the country. They spent on average a week in each town and during that time musicians came and went. By 1975 the group found that their most appreciative audiences were found at jazz festivals. By this stage the line-up consisted of Hayman, Paul Clayton on lead guitar, Peter Blake on keyboards, Rodger Fox on trombone, Geoff Culverwell on trumpet, Murray Loveridge on bass and Billy Brown on drums. Geoff Culverwell had previously been with the Wedge. This combination recorded the group's last album called "The Quincy Conserve" in 1975 for the Ode label and also released two singles, "Song For The Man"/"Epistolary" and "Rockin' Chair"/"Super Strut".
In September 1975, Jack Cooper, manager of Wellington's newly opened 1860 Tavern, invited Rodger Fox to form a jazz band for Saturday afternoon entertainment. He created the 1860 Band, and it comprised Fox, Blake, Brown and Culverwell from Quincy Conserve, plus bassist Dave Pearson. By the end of 1975, the 1860 Band had greater pulling power than Quincy Conserve themselves, so it became a full-time venture in the new year, officially putting an end to Quincy Conserve for good. Hayman and Loveridge went on to form a pub band called Captain Custard.
Rodger Fox went on to form the Rodger Fox Big Band in the late seventies. They recorded a number of albums and included quite a few respected musicians within their ranks over the years. They included Geoff Culverwell from Quincy Conserve and David Feehan from
Lost Souls and
Tapestry.
Malcolm continued playing for a number of years, but finally his diabetes caught up with him and he died as a result of complications on the 5th November 1988.
Quincy Conserve were never a true pop group, they were more of a musicians band, with Malcolm Hayman possessing one of the most distinctive voices in Kiwi Rock.
In 2001 EMI released a CD called "The Very Best Of Quincy Conserve", which contained most of their singles and some good album tracks.
More info
here
Rate Your Music
Link
This French group, adept at first of a revolutionnary rock in the style of KOMINTERN, turned then to burlesque, humoristic rock full of parody and mixing pop tunes and rock themes with a truly provocative spirit evoking GONG. The instrumental developments, the dialogues between the violin, Jean-Pierre THIRAULT's saxophone and the guitar remind of the delirium and audacious music of GONG, MOVING GELATINE PLATES, EAST OF EDEN, Kevin AYERS...
Swedish organ/drums duo. They released three albums - Monument, Rex and Man at the Moon - before they split. Jimi Hendrix recorded their song "Tax Free". Bo Hansson became solo artist, most well known for Music inspired by The Lord Of The Rings. Jan Carlsson played drums on a lot of Swedish releases, among others Pugh Rogefeldt's first two albums, before he became Janne "Loffe" Carlsson - actor & TV show host.
Arguably the most valuable UK album in record collecting history, with copies known to have sold for £2,000! The LP was manufactured by Decca in 1969 but never issued. This is the first-ever official CD of their recordings. Adds numerous bonus tracks from singles and also from pre-Tinkerbells acts The Rush and Tommy Bishop’s Ricochets. Sleeve-notes finally tells their story – these will also be appearing as a feature in Record Collector mag. Tinkerbell’s Fairydust were inspired by American Sunshine/ harmony pop, with shades of psychedelia on certain tracks (e.g. ‘In My Magic Garden’). ‘Twenty Ten’ (as in the year 2010) was a huge hit at the time in Japan and is likely to enjoy a renewed profile next year…
One of the first and best Quebecois(French-Canadian) prog/folk/jazz album. More info here
"There was such a blasting of bands that one of the biggest national newspapers called Hürriyet decided to organise a big contest that would help the young amateur bands have their names heard throughout the country. What the contest organisers wanted was interesting: the musicians who wanted to attend the contest had to either compose songs in Turkish or arrange a traditional tune. Also they had to perform this in a western style with electric western instruments! The ones who ware finalists ware to perform live In many cities that the newspapers arranged a tour for them. If Altin Mikrofon had not been assembled, we wouldn't likely to be talking about 60's & 70's Turkish rock scene." G.Aya
The solo album by KRAAN Sax master with other members participating plus vocalist of Tomorrow's Gift.
Combines the feel-good groovy instrumental organ rock of Eden Rose with the more measured introspective UK scene like Cressida or Still Life. Sounds a bit dated for 1971, more like 1969 – probably due to the "carnival" sound of the organ, which is the dominant instrument. From an old ebay auction: "4 UK guys recorded this album in Belgium and only released in Italy". ashratom
One of the major discoveries in the world of collectable underground rock records and is the only LP by demonic French fuzzers After Life. Released only in Spain by Discophon in 1975, it remained virtually unknown until some copies started to surface in the late 90s on the lists of some of the worlds most reputable record dealers. To make things more exciting, this was produced by Jean-Pierre Massiera (of Visitors, Horrific Child, Les Maledictus Sound fame) and includes nine tracks of heavy psych guitar action, screaming vocals and organ interludes. The reissue uses the effective original psych artwork and will include 2 bonus tracks which were previously only on a 7", "Rolling Down" and "Things Of The Life". A must for lovers of loud & screaming hard rock as well as anyone interested in the european hard progressive genre. Freak Emporium
Heavily influenced by San Francisco bands (Big Brother and the Trucking Company and The Jefferson Airplane quickly come to mind), the Santa Rosa, California-based A Euphonious Wail was roughly five years behind creative and popular tastes. Not that it seemed to matter given a financially struggling Kapp Records went ahead and signed the quintet to a recording contract. Built around the talents of drummer Doug Hoffman, keyboardist Bart Libby, singer Suzanne Rey, singer/guitarist Steve Tracy and bassist Gary Violetti, the band's self-titled 1973 debut teamed them with producer Brian Ingoldsby (Lowell Levinger of Youngbloods fame reportedly also helped out). While "A Euphonious Wail" had a couple of nice moments, for the most part the LP was surprisingly lame and uninspired. As lead vocalists Rey and Tracy had decent, if unexceptional voices (though Rey tended to screech in the higher registers). The same type of limitations were true of the band as songwriters (all but Hoffman contributing material). Taken individually guitar and keyboard propelled rockers such as 'Pony', 'We've Got the Chance', 'When I Start To Live' and 'F#' weren't bad, but stretched over an entire album, there simply wasn't much that really stood out. The band were even less successful when they tried slowing things down - check out the lame ballads 'Did You Ever' and 'I Want To Be a Star'. (The Michael Hawes cover drawing was interesting. Depending on how you looked at it you saw something completely abstract, or possibly obscene.) Needless to say, the album vanished without a trace, followed in short order by the band. [SB] http://www.lysergia.com/
Extremely rare progressive rock from Island. 2 albums
Epic Welsh progressive rock rarity from 1976. Powerful electric progressive rock with hammond, electric guitars and synths. The vocals are all in Welsh but musically this is a great album with rippling wah-wah guitar and male/female vocals.It's a beauty... (Freak Emporium)
This Sweden group, with their melodic/heavy rock strongly influenced of "Deep Purple" and "Alex Harvey Band"
At last a re-issue of this 1973 album originally released on CBS.This Swedish progressive album had bass virtuoso from,John Gustafson (Roxy Music, Quatermass, Ian Gillan Band, Hard Stuff) is now one of the ultimate collectors items for most Deep Purple, Atomic Rooster fans. It starts off quite heavy, then the pace is slowed down with a female vocal/gospel-flavoured ballad , which sets the mood for a few tracks then the disc reverts to quirky, interesting prog rock, which takes a little bit of getting used to - especially if it doesn't grab you from the first listen; give it another chance.Freak Emporium
Vince Maloney, Johnny Dick, Teddy Toi and Doug Parkinson were veterans of some of Australia and New Zealand's top bands of the 1960s:
In 1969 Roger, Piero and Benno formed the band SPIDER. In 1973 drummer Kenta "Krull" was replaced by Stanley Larsson and Neon Rose was born. Their first gig was to open for Dr.Hook.
A sixties Hollywood outfit whose album is one of those strange late sixties barrier-breaking experimental efforts trying to fuse different musical genres. Orient Express, Autosalvage and John Berberian are othersimilar projects which spring to mind. This particular one is an attempt to fuse jazz with folk, rock and acid.
The Quincy Conserve was formed in Wellington in late 1967 by Malcolm Hayman. Malcolm was an extremely talented musician who had already been on the music scene for twelve years by that stage. Hayman was only 15 years old when he arrived in Wellington in 1955 as a member of the Maori Hi Fives showband. The following year the singer-guitarist formed the Trademarks, long-time residents at the Mexicali, a popular nightspot owned by American expatriate Harry Booth. The Trademarks were very popular, and after four years of constant playing, queues formed to see them every time they played. Over the years, 30-odd musicians passed through the ranks of the Trademarks, before Malcolm disbanded the group in 1961. The Trademarks owed more than a little to the Maori showband tradition, where Hayman had learnt his licks, but the group gave Wellingtonians their first taste of rock'n'roll. One member of the Trademarks was Rodney "Dody" Potter, who was later a member of the Keil Isles and Dallas Four.
Releasing on the HMV label, their first single "I'm So Proud"/"I've Been Loving You Baby" came out in June 1968. This was followed in 1969 with "Hallelujah"/"Here's To The Next Time" and "Lovin' Look"/"Soul Thing". These records got very good revues, but that wasn't reflected in the sales. Unless you were from Wellington, no-one really knew anything about the group. This was rectified slightly when in December 1968, the group backed Allison Durbin on a national tour. This was the first time they had played outside their Downtown Club residency.
Malcolm swallowed his pride and put together a new Quincy Conserve, promising that it would be a more democratic outfit. From the first version remained Malcolm and Rufus Rehu. Malcolm convinced Johnny McCormick and Dave Orams to return and they added Mike Conway on drums and two temporary members, Australian Peter Cross on trumpet and Harry Leki on guitar.
French folk. Pierre’s first recording at the age of 17. Près de Paris was awardedthe Grand Prix du Disque for Folk Music at the Montreux Festival in 1976. Very folk orientated with an already distinctive, mature guitar style and musicality. All of Pierre trademarks are here. A classic, historical work, paving the way for many guitarists - even today.Doc Watson’s favourite.
Dark ultra rare and totally stoned acid folk private pressing from '71. RED TELEVISION trip out with twisted vocals of subversive nature combined with drowsy guitars creating an overcast atmosphere of melancholy, especially all their unique aspects culminates in the mournfull 15 minute long elegy "Ghost Of Emile Zola" a tense display of haunting voices and shivering guitar bursts.
Personnel:
Alia Musica was formed in 1985 in order to perform early music, particularly that from the Middle Ages, giving a special emphasis to the study and interpretation of the Spanish-Jewish repertoire. In its concerts and programmes devoted to these two chosen fields, the group makes use of its own research as well as the latest musicological findings, whether they come from theoretical studies of the sources or from practical experience in the living oral traditions found in Western music. Alia Musica has given many concerts participating in festivals and series throughout Spain and the rest of Europe, as well as in the United States of America, meeting wide-ranging applause and approval from audience and from critics alike. The group records exclusively for harmonia mundi.
Excellent german folk-rock 6-piece band. Mixing puristic folk, progressive, medieval and psychedelic influnces. Male/female vocals. Mainly, acoustic instrumentation (guitars, flute, oboe, okarina, bass, glocknspiel, mandoline, krummhorn, autoharp, plenty of percussion). This is their great debut from 1978.
Elster Silberflug´s artistry skillfully marries many stilistic genres without abandoning the medieval musical tradition. Medieval ideals are not lost in history, but are being rediscovered in our own times of similar enlightenment. Years of pessimistic idealism are being abandoned, the vision to free oneself from the narrowminded perspective that the world offers, and from the conception that one is an isolated struggler in a world of foes, has initiated a renaissance in the realisation of man being a unifying element with all creation. The great medieval symbol, the Wheel of Fortune, is once again turning, rekindling in the hearts of the minstrels the desire to inform all, of the eternal games that life playfully beholds. Elster Silberflug is a consort for medieval and renaissance music, and also for german folk music. Since many years, we have been playing on beautiful castles and marketplaces and in the concerthalls of Germany and the surounding countries, Music of the medieval wayfarer and vagabond. Music which rang in the streets, markets and taverns of times gone by. Music of the minstrel and the troubadour. The essence of this epoch has been captured by the "Elsters" since 1973, when we began our venture into the land of our musical fore-fathers and the pursuiance, in their footsteps, of the minstrel lore.
Our quest is to spread across Europe, through our music, tales of the secrets of nature, of human aspiration and destination, the vanity and fraility of human nature, the desires of the young and the sceptisicism of the old, -always in mind, the imperishable quality of love-. Our extensive repertoire includes songs written by the famous minstrels of the time, - Walther v.d. Vogelweide and Neidhardt v. Reuenthal, Saltarellos from early-medieval Italy, wild dance-tunes danced to, by the countless peasants in the villages and towns in central europe and many texts and melodies out of the great historical song-book called "Carmina Burana".( A collection of worldly songs about love, drink, life, authorities, money and all... )Elster Silberflug sing in German, mittel-hoch-deutsch. Italian, Spanish, French, Latin and English. This year we will be travelling to many renaissance-fairs (Mittelalter Märkte) around Germany. If you are in Europe, visit Elster Silberflug on one of the markets and experience the real thing - a band of troubadours in colourfull costumes, singing and entertaining the scores of visitors who come to see, feel and hear the medieval-times......today! If you want to order any of our CDs or have questions regarding medieval-music in Europe, please contact us!
AVARIC is a Progressive rock group led by multi-instrumentalist Lionel BAILLEMONT. One thinks of MALICORNE because of their magnificant combinasions between traditional and electric instruments. The beautiful melodies exploit the talents of the groupe and illuminate the purity of the vocals.
FANTASTIC French FOLK PROG ROCK. One of the best & most highly sought after French LPs.
Faubourg’s Music is traditional French from central France but anybody would be forgiven if they thought it had heavy traditions] African touch and at the same time was a cross between soft rock and jazz.One of the seven members of the band, Didier Gris, explained backstage
France. Excellent progressive folk with medieval & GENTLE GIANT touches, private press.
Quebec, Canada. Breche is one of the folky bands on the Le Tamanoir label, which released their only album "Carapace Et Chair Tendre", in 1979. a quartet of Marc Bolduc (piano/woodwinds), Daniel Roussell (guitar/plectra), Jaques Joubert (violin) and Paul Bolduc (bass/trombone).
Fairly gentle chamber progressive with occasionally some sharper edges bringing them soundwise closer to Carpe Diem or Shylock. Altogether melancholic, but good chamber progressive. Gnosis 2000
