Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra
| Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra | |
|---|---|
| Origin | England |
| Genres | Jazz, folk, humour |
| Years active | 1968–1979, 1988–1992 |
| Labels | The Village Thing |
The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra (or PHLO) were an eccentric band of British musicians, who joined together in early 1968 to play a fusion of comedy, jazz, and folk music, in a unique style which has been compared with the Temperance Seven and the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. Many of the songs performed dated from the 1920s or 1930s. Other influences included music-hall, blues and jug band music. Their eccentricity was not due to their characters and choice of music alone, but to an eclectic mix of instruments, some of them home-made, such as the 'egg-cupaphone' and the 'ballcockaphone', which was a wind instrument in which the supply of air to the reed was controlled by toilet cistern chain connected to a ballcock.
The "Piggies" (as they were affectionally known), derived their unusual name from a location in Bristol; the section of Gloucester Road between the old Bristol North swimming baths and the Horfield Prison turning. They are now considered to be an example of the so-called scrumpy and western musical genre.
Based in the Bristol area, the band originally comprised Barry Back (born 10 April 1944, Bristol, died 2 April 1992), Dave 'The Crutch' Creech (born David Creech, 4 March 1938, Bristol), Andy Leggett (born Andrew Leggett, 31 March 1942, Much Wenlock, Shropshire) and John Turner (born 2 January 1947, Bristol). They are reputed to have got together after meeting at a new year's eve party organised by Fred Wedlock at the Troubadour Club in Clifton, Bristol. They later provided backing for Wedlock on his album, The Folker. Turner was previously in a group called The Downsiders Folk Group, Back and Leggett in The Alligator Jug Thumpers, and Creech in The Elastic Band. They quickly built up a strong local following and were soon playing gigs around the country. Their first album, The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra Presents (abbreviated as PHLOP!) was the first release on The Village Thing label in 1970. They were joined on this album by Julie Bridson and Ian Hunt.
...
Wikipedia