Colin Gibson (musician)

Colin Gibson (born 21 September 1949, Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland) is an English bass player and composer.

Gibson and guitarist John Turnbull were childhood friends and played together in a band called The Primitive Sect, with Bob Sergeant on organ. In summer 1966, Gibson and Turnbull joined unsigned Newcastle band The Chosen Few, who had released two singles the previous year written by their then vocalist and guitarist Alan Hull, later of Lindisfarne. With Graham Bell joining on vocals, the band changed its name to Skip Bifferty and secured gigs in London. The band then secured a deal with RCA Records in summer 1967 under manager Don Arden and went on to release three singles: "On Love" which made a minor chart appearance, "Happy Land" and "Man in Black" produced by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. Despite being championed by John Peel, with a handful of "Top Gear" appearances, RCA seemed oblivious to their popularity. An album, Skip Bifferty, was recorded at Decca Studios West Hampstead, but withheld by RCA for almost a year before its release in 1968 and later as a double set The Story of Skip Bifferty (Castle Music, 2003), by Sanctuary Records, along with Top Gear sessions and unreleased material.

The band began work on a follow-up album, to be called Skipzophrenia, with Gibson doing artwork for the album, but their contract was not extended. Unhappy with manager Arden, the band announced they were disbanding in November 1968, while they were actually still working together in the Isle of Wight and trying to find a new record deal. This they did with Chris Blackwell of Island Records and they released a 45 under the name Heavy Jelly, keeping their identities secret. Issued in a picture sleeve, "I Keep Singing That Same Old Song"/"Blue", written by Gibson, was released in June 1969. Arden worked out who Heavy Jelly were and Blackwell backed out. The band broke up for real.

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