COLIN GIBSON




A superb, prolific bassist, he has been playing in many great bands and albums along several decades. He was born on September 21, 1949.
THE CHOSEN FEW
This band from Newcastle included the great, late Alan Hull (Lindisfarne), although he had left by the time Colin Gibson joined, in 1965:

Ernie Bell (vocals)
John Turnbull (guitar, vocals)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Mickey Gallagher (keyboards)
Mickie the Veg (sax)
Tommy Jackman (drums)
 They toured a lot, and when their singer Ernie Bell left, they changed their name to Skip Bifferty.

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Ernie Bell
John Turnbull
Mickie the Veg
Tommy Jackman
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Mickey Gallagher
SKIP BIFFERTY
It was early 1966, when The Chosen Few get a new singer, Graham Bell, and change their band name:

Graham Bell (vocals)
John Turnbull (guitar, vocals)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Mickey Gallagher (keyboards)
Tommy Jackman (drums)
 New times, new places... They established themselves in London. After several years as a tight unit, they released a self-titled album, Skip Bifferty, in 1968. Some of their songs were produced by Ronnie Lane, and arranged by Steve Marriott.

In 1969, due to legal problems with their manager Don Arden, they changed their name (again), this time to Heavy Jelly, releasing a single, 'I keep singing that same old song / Blue' (1968, Island). The A-side was written by Colin.

There were some later lineup changes. Dave Potts joined the band:

Graham Bell (vocals)
John Turnbull (guitar, vocals)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Mickey Gallagher (keyboards)
Dave Potts (drums)
 But Potts' stay was short, being replaced by Alan White:

Graham Bell (vocals)
John Turnbull (guitar, vocals)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Mickey Gallagher (keyboards)
Alan White (drums)
 But they parted ways that same year. White and Gibson stayed together in next band.

NOTE: there was another band under the same name, Heavy Jelly, but I'll speak about them in some of my future pages (about John Moorshead and Alex Dmochovski).


Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Graham Bell
John Turnbull
Tommy Jackman
Dave Potts
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Mickey Gallagher
Alan White
HAPPY MAGAZINE
After the Skip Bifferty/Heavy Jelly separation, Gibson and White formed this new band, still in 1969:

Alan Marshall (vocals)
Pete Kirtley (guitar)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Kenny Craddock (keyboards)
Alan White (drums)
 They made two singles for Polydor, 'Satisfied street' and 'Do right woman do right man' before replacing Alan Marshall with old mate Graham Bell. Then, they changed their name to Griffin.

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Alan Marshall
Pete Kirtley
Kenny Craddock
Alan White
GRIFFIN
This was the brand new lineup for Griffin:

Graham Bell (vocals)
Pete Kirtley (guitar)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Kenny Craddock (keyboards)
Alan White (drums)
 A terrific lineup. But they only released two singles, being 'I am the dark noise in your head / Don't you know' (1969) the first one.

Colin Gibson and Craddock joined Ginger Baker's Airforce, and Alan White joined Balls (with Denny Laine) for a while, also going to Ginger Baker's Airforce.

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Graham Bell
Pete Kirtley
Kenny Craddock
Alan White
GINGER BAKER'S AIRFORCE
A megaband, formed after Blind Faith demise. Originally conceived as a one-off association, it finally went through almost two years, with changing lineups. Colin joined around 1970, replacing Ric Grech. I don't know if there were different lineups with Colin, but the one I have in a BeatClub appearance is:

Aliki Ashman (vocals)
Diane Stewart (vocals)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Kenny Craddock (keyboards, guitar, vocals)
Steve Gregory (sax, flute)
Bud Beadle (sax)
Graham Bond (sax, keyboards)
Neemoi 'Speedy' Acquaye (percussion)
Ginger Baker (drums)
 They recorded a new album, Ginger Baker's Air Force 2, although 3 songs still feature musicians from previous lineup (Denny Laine, Harold McNair, and Ric Grech).

In 1998, it has been released a 2CD, Do what you like, comprising the whole two Airforce albums, plus an outtake from 2nd album (also featuring Colin), plus several songs from Ginger Baker's album Stratavarious (featuring Bobby Tench under the pseudonym Bobby Gass).

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Aliki Ashman
Diane Stewart
Kenny Craddock
Steve Gregory
Bud Beadle
Neeomi Acquaye
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Graham Bond
Someday, these musicians will have a short tribute here:
Ginger Baker
SIMPSON'S PURE OXYGEN
After Airforce separation, Colin and Kenny Craddock stayed together in this new project. I don't know the exact lineup, but it could something like:

Colin Gibson (bass)
Kenny Craddock (keyboards)
Alan White (drums)
+ others unknown to me. Help!!

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Kenny Craddock
Alan White
MARK-ALMOND BAND
Around 1972, Colin Gibson and Kenny Craddock join Mark-Almond (replacing Roger Sutton and Tommy Eyre):

Jon Mark (guitar)
Johnny Almond (sax, flute)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Kenny Craddock (keyboards)
Danny Richmond (drums)
 They released an album with this lineup, Rising.

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Jon Mark
Kenny Craddock
Danny Richmond
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Johnny Almond
PALADIN
This band was formed by Pete Solley around 1971. Micky Moody (guitar) and Colin Gibson (bass) were part of an early lineup, although they didn't stay in the band for their albums.

MORE INFO NEEDED, PLEASE!

Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Micky Moody
Pete Solley
GLOBAL VILLAGE TRUCKING COMPANY
This was a band without a stable lineup that played gigs during several years, up to 1976. Their leader was Jon Owen. Colin Gibson and Pete Kirtley were members of the band for a while.

Jon Owen (guitar, vocals)
Pete Kirtley (guitar)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Jimmy Lascelles (keyboards)
Simon Stewart (drums)
+ probably others unknown to me. Help! I don't have more info about them.

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Jon Owen
Pete Kirtley
Jimmy Lascelles
Simon Stewart
SNAFU
A superb band, it was formed in October 1972 by singer Bobby Harrison and guitarist Micky Moody (they had played together in several bands yet):

Bobby Harrison (vocals, percussion)
Micky Moody (guitar)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Pete Solley (keyboards, violin)
Terry Popple (drums)
 Their fist album, Snafu, was released in 1973. It contains some great songs, I love it.

They toured Europe with The Doobie Brothers, followed by an American tour supporting The Eagles.

Their second album was called Situation normal. It was released in 1974, and it contains contributions by Mel Collins (sax), and from Gonzalez: Steve Gregory (sax) and Bud Beadle (sax). The album has a strong country-rock influence, mainly due to Pete Solley.

The album was followed by a tour supporting Emerson Lake & Palmer.

Anyway, after the album was released, Pete Solley left the band to join Procol Harum. He's replaced by Brian Chatton:

Bobby Harrison (vocals, percussion)
Micky Moody (guitar)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Brian Chatton (keyboards)
Terry Popple (drums)
 But Chatton leaves very soon, and a great musician joins, the prolific Tim Hinkley.

Bobby Harrison (vocals, percussion)
Micky Moody (guitar)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Tim Hinkley (keyboards)
Terry Popple (drums)
 Their third album is All funked up, with help from Mel Collins (sax), backing vocals by Liza Strike and Viola Wills, as well as some contributions by Brian Chatton on keyboards.

During a German tour, next to leave was Micky Moody, who joined David Coverdale. He was replaced by a great guitarist, Clem Clempson.

Bobby Harrison (vocals, percussion)
Clem Clempson (guitar)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Tim Hinkley (keyboards)
Terry Popple (drums)
 But they sadly split very soon.

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Bobby Harrison
Brian Chatton
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Micky Moody
Pete Solley
Terry Popple
Tim Hinkley
RADIATOR
This was a band formed by Alan Hull (from Lindisfarne) around 1977. He reunited some of his friends to form the lineup:

Alan Hull (vocals, guitar)
Pete Kirtley (guitar)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Kenny Craddock (keyboards)
Terry Popple (drums)
 They released an album, Isn't it strange, also featuring old mate Ray Laidlaw on drums. But in early 1978, Hull and Laidlaw reform (again) Lindisfarne, so Radiator breaks.

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Alan Hull
Pete Kirtley
Kenny Craddock
Terry Popple
TREVOR WATTS MOIRÉ MUSIC DRUM ORCHESTRA
In 1988, Colin and Liam Genockey are part of the band for this sax player:

Trevor Watts (sax)
Liane Carroll (vocals, keyboards)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Veryan Weston (keyboards)
Richard Granville-Smith (keyboards, accordion)
Simon Pickard (sax)
Liam Genockey (drums)
Nana Tsiboe (African percussion)
Kofi Adu (African percussion)
 They released a live album, With one voice, recorded at Rye Festival in September 1988, and comprising 3 lenghty tracks.

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Trevor Watts
Simon Pickard
Liane Carroll
Veryan Weston
Richard Granville-Smith
Nana Tsiboe
Kofi Adu
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Liam Genockey
BUICK 6
In 1989, Colin formed this trio with Liam and a great musician, guitarist Roger Hubbard:

Roger Hubbard (guitar, vocals)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Liam Genockey (drums)
 The band name is taken from a Bob Dylan song ('From a Buick 6' from Dylan's album Highway 61 revisited), featured in their first album, Cypress grove. The album also contains some blues covers (Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell, Leroy Carr, etc.)

Their second album, Juice machine, contains mostly original material, plus two covers. Featuring guest appearances by Kenny Craddock (keyboards), Lewis Gibson (violin) and Jon Cleary (keyboards, from Taj Mahal band).

Foolin' with this heart is a 5-track mini CD, comprising a reworked song from Juice machine plus a 2nd, acoustic rendition of that same tune, and 3 live tracks.

Through the years, Buick 6 have been playing in lots of blues festivals. But, through their long career (11 years now), Colin has also played with other bands, as we're going to read.

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Roger Hubbard
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Liam Genockey
TREVOR WATTS MOIRÉ MUSIC DRUM ORCHESTRA (again)
In 1992, we find Colin and Liam Genockey playing again with Trevor Watts:

Trevor Watts (sax)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Liam Genockey (drums)
Nana Tsiboe (African percussion)
Nee-Daku Patato (African percussion)
Jojo Yates (percussion, vocals)
Nanah Appiah (percussion, vocals)

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Trevor Watts
Nana Tsiboe
Nee-Daku Patato
Jojo Yates
Nanah Appiah
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Liam Genockey
THE TURPIN BROTHERS
This is a band formed in 1991, and fronted by brothers Louis and Jem Turpin. Their lineup in 1997 featured Colin for some gigs:

Louis Turpin (guitar, vocals)
Jem Turpin (harmonica, vocals)
Derek Heffernan (guitar)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Jack Peach (drums)

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Louis Turpin
Jem Turpin
Derek Heffernan
Jack Peach
PASS THE CAT
This is a band led by Steve Riv. Also in 1997, some festivals featured this lineup:

Steve Rivington (guitar, vocals)
Richard Blascoe (guitar)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Jack Peach (drums)
Nana Tsiboe (percussion)
 There's a later album, Peach, dedicated to the memory of their drummer, Jack Peach, and recorded by that same lineup.

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Steve Rivington
Richard Blascoe
Jack Peach
Nana Tsiboe
PETE KIRTLEY BAND
Pete Kirtley and Colin Gibson have been friends and colleagues for many years. When Kirtley decided upon composing and releasing a special song for a benefit cause, he called some of his friends, assembled as The Pete Kirtley Band:

Pete Kirtley (guitar, vocals)
Liane Carroll (vocals, keyboards)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Kenny Craddock (keyboards, accordion)
Liam Genockey (drums)
Nana Tsiboe (percussion) They recorded a CD single, with the song 'Little children', and all the royalties were donated to Jubilee Action, for the children of Brazil. The CD was supported by Paul McCartney, who lent his own studios for the song being recorded.

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Pete Kirtley
Liane Carroll
Kenny Craddock
Nana Tsiboe
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Liam Genockey
Time for more?
Yes, he has!

Apart from playing with so many bands, he also founded Invisible Studios with mate Kenny Craddock. They also specialize in composing musics for movies and TV programs.
MICK GREENWOOD BAND
Year 2000 sees the comeback of great artist Mick Greenwood. He chooses a great rhythm section for his brand new band:

Mick Greenwood (guitar, vocals)
Colin Gibson (bass)
Liam Genockey (drums)

Click for short, additional info on bandmates:
Mick Greenwood
Someday, these musicians will be fully covered here:
Liam Genockey
NOTES JUST FOR ME
I still need to check some facts...

1. He has played in TV concerts with Van Morrison. As a clue, Craddock has also played with Morrison. But I can't find the exact period!

2. It seems he has toured with Joe Cocker, Kevin Coyne and Zoot Money. I need details! He also played with Lee 'Scratch' Perry.

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