Frank Farrell (musician)
| Frank Farrell | |
|---|---|
Farrell outside Hotel Hirschen, Zurich in 1969
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Francis Anthony Farrell |
| Born |
31 March 1947 Birmingham, England |
| Died | 19 July 1997 (aged 50) London, England |
| Genres | Pop, pop rock, disco |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Bass guitar, guitar, piano, Accordion, Harmonica, backing vocals |
| Years active | 1963–1997 |
| Labels |
Mercury Records (UK) A&M Chrysalis Records (UK) |
| Associated acts | Silverlinks, Ray King Soul Band, Breakthru, Supertramp, Joe Jammer, Leo Sayer, Tim Buckley, Renaissance |
Francis Anthony "Frank" Farrell (31 March 1947 – 19 July 1997) was a British rock bassist, vocalist and songwriter born in Birmingham, England. He attended St. Philip's Grammar School in Hagley Road, Edgbaston from 1959 to 1963. Over a professional career that spanned thirty years he is best known as the bassist of British rock band Supertramp and for his musical association with Leo Sayer. Farrell co-wrote the song "Rosie Had Everything Planned" with Roger Hodgson while with Supertramp and a number of songs with Sayer including the worldwide chart hit "Moonlighting".
His first public appearances were with the Birmingham-based 1960s beat band "The Silverlinks" that he joined with his best friend and school mate Robert Shorter, who played drums, in 1964. He then went on to play bass and provide backing vocals in the Ray King Soul Band that toured widely in the West Midlands.
In 1968 he was recruited by Birmingham psychedelic rock band "Breakthru" at the same time as drummer Richard "Plug" Thomas. Breakthru went on to become one of the more successful Birmingham-based rock bands of the period, playing several high-profile festivals including the "Festival of Flower Children" at Woburn Abbey on a bill with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Bee Gees, Eric Burdon and the Small Faces. Breakthru also featured at the National Jazz and Blues Festivals in 1967 and 1968.
The band was signed to Mercury Records in early 1968 and released an unsuccessful single "Ice Cream Tree" b/w "Julius Caesar". The follow-up single, a rock adaption written by Farrell and loosely based on the Peer Gynt "Hall of the Mountain King Overture", was never released but the twenty-minute-long stage version of the number would become a centrepiece of the band's show.
Breakthru then undertook an extensive tour of Germany and Switzerland in the second half of 1969, only returning to the UK in December of that year. The band split on their return with Farrell and vocalist, Gary Aflalo, moving to London. Aflalo joined the original London cast of Hair and Farrell became head road manager for American singing act Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon during their seven-month tour of the UK.
When the Bandwagon tour came to an end in early 1970 Farrell returned to bass playing. In April 1971, he started rehearsing with the then largely unknown Supertramp. Having released their first album on the A&M (UK division)'s label to little success the band was preparing material for their forthcoming Indelibly Stamped.
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