Ernie Graham

Ernie Graham (born June 14, 1946 in Belfast , Northern Ireland , † April 27, 2001 in London , England ) was a Northern Irish singer and guitarist of the pub rock scene in the 1970s.

biography

From Belfast to London

Ernie Graham was training as a car mechanic in Belfast in 1965 when he joined Tony & the Tellstars as a rhythm guitarist. Together with two other band members, Ernie decided to leave Belfast and go to England . There he met the (future Wings ) guitarist Henry McCullogh . The two decided to play psychedelic rock music together and formed a band called The People in 1966 .

Éire Apparent

The band made a name for themselves with some excellent gigs in London . Jimi Hendrix ' manager Michael Jeffries heard them and signed them. After changing their name to Éire Apparent in 1968 , the band toured and played as the opening act for Pink Floyd , Soft Machine and Jimi Hendrix , among others . After the US tour with Hendrix, McCullogh left the group to join the Grease Band ( Joe Cocker's band at the time ). In 1969 Éire Apparent recorded their first (and only) LP "Sunrise" - co-produced by master Hendrix himself, who also plucked the strings here and there on the album. The line-up at the time were: Ernie Graham (vocals / guitar), Mike Cox (lead guitar), Chris Stewart (bass) and Dave Lutton (drums). Éire Apparent broke up after the album; the band members were later found in psychedelic rock groups like The Pretty Things or Spooky Tooth .

The solo album

Through the band, Graham had met Dave Robinson , who later became the founder of Stiff Records . He was the tour manager of Hendrix and was building up his down home management in the early 1970s (a predecessor to Stiff, so to speak). Ernie became a member of the "Down Home Rhythm Kings" , a kind of supergroup of management, which included musicians from Brinsley Schwarz and Help Yourself . It was with these bands that Ernie Graham recorded his solo album, which was released on Liberty Records in 1971 . At the time, the critics compared it to Bob Dylan , The Band or Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young . Original editions of this LP now sell for £ 90 or more.

Help Yourself and Clancy

In the early 1970s Graham joined Help Yourself (with Malcolm Morley ) for a short time and played with them at the Glastonbury Festival in 1972. A little later he founded JoJo Glemser von with Martin Belmont (later at Ducks DeLuxe , The Rumor ) Help Yourself and Twink (formerly with the Pink Fairies ) the folk rock formation Clancy . Clancy got a record deal with Warner Brothers in 1974 and released two albums ( "Seriously Speaking" , 1975, and "Everyday" , 1976), which was followed by a single before the band split up.

"Romeo" and death

With the arrival of punk , Ernie Graham also succumbed to this phenomenon. For Stiff he recorded the single "Romeo (and the Lonely Girl)" in 1978 , a cover version of a Thin Lizzy song by Phil Lynott . It was marketed as punk, but it was a rock number produced by Larry Wallis , as was the B-side, Ernie's own song "Only Time Will Tell" . The single was also the last piece of music that Ernie Graham ever released.

Ernie Graham got health problems and, not least, had to fight hard against alcohol. In the last few years of the 20th century his health deteriorated rapidly. He succumbed to his condition in April 2001.

Discography

Ernie Graham

• Ernie Graham (album, 1971)
• Romeo (and the Lonely Girl) / Only Time Will Tell (Single, 1978)

with Éire Apparent

• Sunrise (album, 1969)

with Help Yourself

• Stranger Affair (album, 1972)

with Clancy

• Seriously Speaking (album, 1975)
• Everyday (album, 1976)

Web links

• Ernie Graham at Hux Records
• Ernie Graham on All Music Guide
• Ernie Graham at Vinyl Japan