Steamhammer
| Steamhammer | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Blues rock |
| founding | 1968 |
| resolution | 1973 |
| Founding members | |
| Kieran White († 1995) | |
| Steve Davy | |
guitar |
Martin Quittenton (until 1969) |
guitar |
Martin Pugh |
| Michael Rushton (until 1969) | |
| Last occupation | |
bass |
Louis Cennamo (from 1971) |
guitar |
Martin Pugh |
guitar |
Martin Quince Sound |
Drums |
John Lingwood |
Steamhammer ( English : Dampfhammer ) was a British blues rock band .
Musical career
The group was founded in 1968 by Martin Quittenton (guitar) and Kieran White († 1995, vocals, guitar, harmonica). The other band members were Martin Pugh (guitar), Steve Davy (bass), Michael Rushton (drums), Mick Bradley (drums) and John Lingwood (drums).
Freddie King got Steamhammer as a backing band for his England tour. In 1969 the first album appeared with blues classics by BB King and Eddie Boyd , but also own titles by White, Quittenton and Pugh.
Even if the record sales did not live up to expectations, Steamhammer was even more successful as a live band. In the summer of 1969, Quittenton and Rushton left the band and were replaced by Steve Jollife and Mick Bradley.
With Jollife the music style of the band changed, the sound became more jazzy , the jazz flutist Harold McNair was a guest musician on the album Reflection . Steamhammer was thus more successful on the European mainland than in England. There were intoxicating performances as a warm-up band at the Pop and Blues Festival at Easter 1970 in the Ernst-Merck-Halle in Hamburg, where The Nice and Alexis Korner also performed. After Jollife's departure, the band became bluesier and rockier again. In mid-1971, Kieran White left the band due to musical differences after completing the first tour of Britain, as he preferred a simpler, folk-based style. Martin Quittenton returns, replacing White in what is being viewed as temporary while seeking a new permanent member. Drummer Mick Bradley dies of leukemia in February 1972. The album Speech was released posthumously in 1972 . The band is initially continued with the new member John Lingwood (drums). In June 1973, however, it is announced that the group in the formation Pugh, Quittenton, Cennamo and Lingwood has now renamed itself to Axis in order to shed old bonds. In the same month the first appearances under the new name take place, while some appearances previously booked under Steamhammer are still under this name later in July / August 1973.
Discography
(in square brackets the country in which the sound carrier was released and the record label with the corresponding article numbers)
Singles
- Junior's Wailing (Single Version) / Windmill (1969) [UK-CBS 4141]
- Autumn Song / Blues for Passing People (1969) [UK-CBS 4496]
- Mountains / I Wouldn't Have Thought (1971)
Albums
- Reflection (Junior's Wailing) (1969) [D-CBS 63611]
- MK II (1969) [D-CBS 63694]
- Mountains (1970) [D-Metronome 15376]
- Speech (1971) [D-Brain 1009]
Re-releases of the original albums
- Steamhammer (1970) corresponds to the album Reflection [D-Bellaphon BLPS 19030]
- MK II (1970) [D-Bellaphon BLPS 19049]
- Steamhammer (1970) corresponds to the album MK II [D-Bellaphon BPU 14012]
- This Is Steamhammer (1972) → corresponds to the album Speech [D-2001 Brain 201042]
- This Is Steamhammer, double LP (1974) → corresponds to the albums Speech & Mountains [D-Brain 2/1043]
- MK II (1976) [D-Bellaphon 14012 Pickup]
- Speech (1978) [D-Metronome 0040.054]
- Mountains - Remastered Version (1990) [Repertoire Records 4066-WZ]