McGuinness Flint
| McGuinness Flint | |
|---|---|
| Origin | England |
| Genres | Folk rock, blues rock, country rock |
| Years active | 1970–1975 |
| Labels | Capitol, DJM, Bronze |
| Associated acts | Manfred Mann, Gallagher and Lyle, The Blues Band, Stonebridge McGuinness, Lyle McGuinness Band |
| Past members |
Tom McGuinness Hughie Flint Dennis Coulson Benny Gallagher Graham Lyle Dixie Dean Lou Stonebridge Jim Evans |
McGuinness Flint was a rock band formed in 1970 by Tom McGuinness, former bassist and guitarist with Manfred Mann, and Hughie Flint, former drummer with John Mayall; plus vocalist and keyboard player Dennis Coulson, and multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle.
Their first single "When I'm Dead and Gone" reached No.2 on the UK Singles Chart at the end of 1970 and No.47 on the Billboard pop chart and No.35 on the Cashbox pop chart in the U.S., No. 5 in Ireland and No. 31 in Canada.) The debut album McGuinness Flint also made the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart. In 1999, it received another outing, in the soundtrack of the film, East is East.
A follow-up single, "Malt and Barley Blues", was a UK No.5 hit in 1971, but the group floundered under the pressures of instant success, being required to record a second album and reproduce their recorded sound adequately on stage, which resulted in disappointing concerts, then a series of illnesses among the band members cancelled most of the concerts on their first tour. According to McGuinness, at this time the band consisted of two groups of close-knit friends, the first being Flint, McGuinness, and Coulson, and the other being Gallagher and Lyle. Though these two units generally got along well, a key disagreement between them was that the first group felt the band should focus on touring and performing, while the Gallagher/Lyle camp felt they should focus on songwriting and recording.
The second album Happy Birthday Ruthy Baby failed to chart, as did the title track when released as a single, but contained some Gallagher and Lyle songs, notably "Sparrow", which attracted cover versions.
Gallagher and Lyle left towards the end of 1971 to record as a duo, and would enjoy major success in 1976 with their hit-laden fifth album Breakaway. McGuinness Flint would continue to play some of their compositions in live performances. After several temporary members came and went, including comedian Neil Innes on piano, the group then recruited bassist Dixie Dean on a permanent basis, and recorded Lo and Behold, an album of Bob Dylan songs (which had not yet been officially recorded and released by the writer himself). This album was credited to Coulson, Dean, McGuinness, Flint, and issued in 1972. A single "Let The People Go" was banned by the BBC as it related to the Ulster crisis, a fate which also befell a contemporary single by Wings, "Give Ireland Back to the Irish".
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