White spirit

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White spirit
General information
Genre (s) Heavy Metal , NWoBHM
founding 1975
Current occupation
singing
 Bruce Ruff
guitar
 Janick Gers
Phil Brady
Drums
 Graeme Crallan
Keyboard
 Malcolm Pearson
former members
guitar
 Mick Tucker
bass
 Toby Sadler
singing
 Brian Howe

White Spirit was a British band considered one of the pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWoBHM).

Band history

White Spirit was founded in Hartlepool in 1975 . The founding line-up included the later Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers, Graeme Crallan (drums), singer Bruce Ruff, bassist Phil Brady and Malcolm Pearson (keyboards). In 1980, in the wake of the NWoBHM boom, the group signed a record deal with Neat Records and released the singles Backs to the Grind there . The single reached number 3 on the independent charts. The B-side Cheetah was also released on the sampler Metal for Muthas Volume II . Thanks to a cooperation deal between Neat Records and the major label MCA , the self-titled debut album by White Spirit was released on the label in addition to the debut of the Tygers of Pan Tang . The album was produced by John McCoy and recorded July 19-24, 1980 at Kingsway Recorders Studios. Then another single called Midnight Chaser was released .

The group played at the 1980 Reading Festival and toured with Gillan , the band of former Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan . Subsequently, the singer recruited Janick Gers. The band structure of White Spirit broke shortly afterwards. The single Watch Out was recorded with the later Bad Company singers Brian Howe and Mick Tucker (later with Tank ) , after which White Spirit broke up for good.

After the split

Janick Gers became a guitarist for Iron Maiden in 1990 and later in Bruce Dickinson's band . Graeme Crallan, who would later play for Tank, died on July 27, 2008 as a result of a fall injury. The seriously alcoholic Crallan had tried to become a rock star all his life.

The debut album was released in 2005 by Castle Music as a double CD, which contained further demo recordings and B-sides.

Music genre

White Spirits Heavy Metal was very much oriented towards the progressive hard rock of the 1970s. Musically, the group was therefore less influenced by bands like Motörhead and Judas Priest , but more by Deep Purple. Although the group was counted as part of the NWoBHM due to their creation and publication time, their debut album therefore has a special position.

Discography

  • 1980: Backs to the Grind (single)
  • 1980: White Spirit (album)
  • 1981: High Upon High (Single)
  • 1981: Midnight Chaser (single)
  • 1982: Watch Out (single)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lazell, Barry (1997) Indie Hits 1980-1989, Cherry Red Books, ISBN 0-9517206-9-4
  2. ↑ White Spirit on Allmusic
  3. ↑ Charlotte Chambers: Drummer who dreamed of rock fame killed in street fall. Islington Post, October 10, 2008, accessed December 8, 2009 .
  4. ↑ Matthias Mader: Musician profiles & solo careers: Janick Gers . In: Burning Ambition. The Iron Maiden Fan Book. IP Verlag, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-931624-17-X , p. 120 ff .
  5. ↑ Review of the debut album on Allmusic