Beggar & Co
| Beggar and Co | |
|---|---|
| Origin | United Kingdom |
| Genres | Pop, jazz-funk, soul |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Ensign, RCA |
| Associated acts | Light of the World |
| Website | http://www.myspace.com/beggarandco |
| Members | Kenny Wellington (trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals) David Baptiste (saxophones, flute, vocals) Breeze McKrieth (guitar, vocals) Additional musicians: Toby Baker (keyboards) Peter Hinds (keyboards) Billy Osborne (drums) Camelle Hinds (Bass) Orphy Robinson (vibraphone) Harry Brown (trombone) Noel McKoy (lead vocals) Otto Williams (bass) Robert 'Skins' Anderson (percussion) Jerome Harper (Trombone) Howard Francis (Keyboards) Emil Ogul (Vocals) James McKay (Trumpet)David Lee Anderson (alto saxophone, vocals) Ernie McKone (bass) |
Beggar and Co (also written Beggar & Co) are a British pop/jazz-funk group, composed of core members Kenny Wellington, David Baptiste, Neville 'Breeze' McKrieth and other guest musicians, specialising in jazz, funk and dance music. Baptiste, Wellington and McKrieth were the founder members of the group, Light Of The World, who were originally formed to play jazz funk and dance music, but also enjoyed some success in the UK Albums Chart with their Round Trip album. As members of Light of the World they enjoyed some chart success when the singles, including "London Town", "I Shot the Sheriff" and "Time" all entered the UK Single Chart. Each of these songs were featured on various compilation albums.
At this juncture various members began to record in offshoot bands, the most popular being Incognito led by Jean Paul Maunick. Gee Bello formed a short lived group, The Team, and recorded a dance floor hit "Wicky Wacky/House Party", originally recorded by The Fatback Band and Fred Wesley respectively. Wellington, Baptiste and McKrieth formed Beggar and Co and experienced chart success, outselling the previous biggest Light of the World hit "Time", which they had also written.
Beggar and Co's first single was "(Somebody) Help Me Out", which entered the chart on 7 February 1981. It reached number 13 and was in the chart for ten weeks. The second was called "Mule (Chant No.2)", which entered the UK Singles Chart on 12 September 1981, and reached 37, remaining in the chart for five weeks.
Beggar and Co was also the featured brass section on a number of chart records for other artists, including Spandau Ballet's hit single, "Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)". Other artists included Ultravox, Wham!, George Michael, Gabrielle and Billy Ocean.
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