Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera
| Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Velvet Opera |
| Origin | England |
| Genres | Soul blues, rock, psychedelic rock |
| Years active | 1967–1971 |
| Associated acts | Strawbs, Hudson Ford, The Monks, High Society |
| Past members |
Richard Hudson John Ford Dave Terry Colin Forster Jimmy Horrocks Paul Brett Johnny Joyce Colin Bass Dave MacTavish Mike Fincher |
Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, at various times also known as "Velvet Opera", was a British rock band active in the late 1960s. Members of the band would later become members of The Strawbs, Hudson Ford and Stretch.
The group emerged from a soul/blues band called 'The Five Proud Walkers'. After supporting Pink Floyd on tour, they were inspired to change their approach and become a more psychedelic outfit. The band consolidated as Richard Hudson on drums, John Ford on bass, Colin Forster on lead guitar, Jimmy Horrocks (Horovitz) on organ and flute (who left early in the band's history), and Dave Terry on vocals and harmonica. Initially just calling themselves Velvet Opera, they developed their full name when Terry took to wearing a cape and preacher's hat in the style of the title character in the 1960 film adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' novel, Elmer Gantry.
They started to make club appearances in London, using electronic backing sounds, and secured a record deal with the short lived Direction Records subsidiary of CBS Records in the UK. Their first recording was the single "Flames" (November 1967) which also featured on the CBS sampler record "The Rock Machine Turns You On", and was later covered on stage by Led Zeppelin. Further singles and a self-titled album followed, including the track "Mary Jane" which was taken off the BBC playlist after they realised its drug connotations, although the band continued to make regular live appearances on John Peel's Radio 1 programme 'Top Gear', and other BBC radio shows. Around this time, Terry, as lead singer of the band was regularly being approached as "Elmer." The band found this amusing and joined in and the name stuck, Dave Terry became (and remains) Elmer Gantry.
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