Born Calvin Batchelor, he is a fantastic Canadian guitarist (also a skilled keyboardist). Prior to Quiver, he was in several bands, such as Take Four or Forge Band.
He went to England in 1969, and he helped form Quiver. This was around 1970. The band was formed in Ladbroke Grove, London. After some initial tries, Cal Batchelor joined, thus forming the first complete lineup of the band:
Their first album, Quiver, was completed with help from great sax player Dick Parry. A superb album, it contains killer guitar duels (as in the great 'Killer man'), outstanding bass playing, and tight ryhthm on drums. Another great song is 'Reason for staying'. I wonder why this album is not released on CD!!
Their 2nd album is Gone in the morning, as magnificent as the 1st one. The self titled track, 'Gone in the morning' is a masterpiece, and I also like 'I might stumble' a lot.
But soon later, the whole band decided merging in late 1973 with Sutherland Brothers, forming Sutherland Brothers & Quiver, but Cal Batchelor decided to leave.
After leaving Quiver, Cal formed a band called 747:
In April 73, they joined Kevin Ayers (as "Kevin Ayers & 747") until September 73, with this extended lineup:Cal Batchelor (guitar, vocals)
Archie Leggett (bass)
Henry Crallan (keyboards)
Freddie Smith (drums)
They toured promoting Kevin's previous album, Bananamour (but Cal doesn't appear there). Cal's recorded contribution to Kevin Ayers discography is the album The confessions of Dr. Dream and other stories, May 74, also appearing John Gustafson, Ollie Halsall, Mike Moran, John G. Perry, Mark Warner, Mike Oldfield, Mike Giles, . Cal plays in one song, 'Everybody's sometime and some people's all the time blues', with a 4 guitar lineup: Kevin Ayers, Cal Batchelor, Mike Oldfield and Sam Mitchell, plus Henry Crallan on piano.Kevin Ayers (vocals, guitar)
Cal Batchelor (guitar)
Gerry Fitzgerald (guitar)
Archie Leggett (bass)
Henry Crallan (keyboards)
Freddie Smith (drums)
He then joined Long John Baldry for a while (as supporters for Faces). There, he met Ronnie Lane, joining his band later (one album: See me, 1980, also with Mel Collins, Bruce Rowland, Steve Simpson, Eric Clapton, Henry McCullough. Cal plays on 3 tracks: 'One step', 'Good ol' boys boogie' and 'Don't tell me now').
In February 1977, Cal formed another band called Kicks, with two members of Hawkwind (Alan Powell and Paul Rudolph) and an ex-member of Vinegar Joe (Steve York):
They played their first gig at Rock Garden in April 1977. But after a short tour, they sadly split in July 1977.Cal Batchelor (guitar, vocals)
Paul Rudolph (guitar, vocals)
Steve York (bass)
Alan Powell (drums)
In the 80s, Cal returned to Canada, where he still is. He has been fronting his own Cal Batchelor Band for the last 4 years. This is the lineup:
Cal has recently released a solo album. Discography:Cal Batchelor (guitar, vocals)
Trevor Newman (bass)
Robbie King (keyboards)
Jimmy Ferguson (drums)
His last album, Now playing, is a masterpiece. Cal is superb singing and playing guitar, and the band is also great. Superb Hammond work, and some tracks have a guest horn section. The album can be obtained at Cal Batchelor's website at http://members.xoom.com/calbatchelor/
Sessions:
Cal appears in albums by:
Very special thanks to: Yvonne Batchelor, for her kindness, and her help.
Thanks to: Alex Gitlin, for giving me some of the albums I still was missing.
If you can contribute (with additions, corrections, opinions, etc.), please, send me an e-mail message at mterol@myrealbox.com
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