| Rare Bird |
| Discography |
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| RB stories & links |
| 1969 - Rare Bird (Charisma) 1970 - As your mind flies by (Charisma) 1972 - Epic Forest (Polydor) 1973 - Somebody's watching (Polydor) 1974 - Born Again (Polydor) 1975 - Sympathy (Charisma Compilation) 1977 - Rare Bird (Polydor Special/Comp.) 1998 - 1st + Somebody's watching (CD) |
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| RB I Mark Ashton Graham Field Steve Gould Dave Kaffinetti RB II Steve Gould Davis Kaffinetti Andy Ced Curtis Nic Potter Paul Holland - Paul Karas - Fred Kelly - Kevin Lamb |
| Personnel |
| Rare Bird formed in London in October 1969 and began rehearsing in a room at organist's Graham Field's London apartment. Indeed Field and keyboardist Dave Kaffinetti played a key role in conceiving the group's then novel two keyboard sound. Gould (ex-Fruit Machine) proved to be a powerful vocalist and their drummer was former Turnstyle member Mark Ashton. Within a few weeks the group was offered a residency at London's Marquee and before the end of the year they'd issued a much acclaimed debut album, which got to No 117 in the US Charts. This included the atmospheric Sympathy, which would prove to be a minor hit here in the UK, but it was very popular on the Continent too. The final cut, God Of War, was both atmospheric and innovative in its use of percussion, whilst You Went Away and Beautiful Scarlet featured powerful vocals and good keyboards. As Your Mind Flies By was another fine album of keyboard-driven rock punctuated by Steve Gould's often melodramatic vocals. The whole of Side 2 was taken up by the ambitious four movement track, Flight, but the whole of Side 1 is recommended listening too. The group's line-up was expanded for Epic Forest (which was varied ranging from the heavy riffing of Hey Man to mellower numbers like House In The City and Fears Of The Night) but somehow they failed to maintain any sort of momentum over here, although they remained very popular on the Continent. Their second 45 'A' side, What You Want To Know, later resurfaced on the One More Chance compilation. Fred Kelly had earlier been involved in the Astral Navigations Thundermother project |
| Rare Bird was one of the finest bands to emerge in the late sixties and early seventies. Their brand of keyboard-driven rock helped usher in the age of progessive rock. In later works, they blended in electric guitars while maintaining their keyboard driven leads to forge a unique and soothing progressive sound. Their well crafted songwriting with a penchant for melody & harmonics created music that sounds as good and fresh today as it did in the seventies. Their music is enduring. Rare Bird formed in London, England in late 1969.The original members were Graham Field on organ, Dave Kaffinetti on electric piano, Steve Gould on bass guitar and vocals, and Mark Ashton on drums. They began rehearsing in Graham Field's London apartment. They soon were offered a residency at London's Marquee. Their self-titled debut album was issued before the end of 1969 and reached No. 117 on the U.S. charts. Their second release, AS YOUR MIND FLIES BY, continued their keyboard-driven sound along with Gould's powerful vocals. In 1970, Billboard Magazine listed Rare Bird as one of the top ten best new bands. Rare Bird's third release, EPIC FOREST, saw the departure of Graham Field and Mark Ashton. Fred Kelly took over on drums and Ced Curtis on guitar. Paul Karas and Paul Holland now rounded out the band. Aside from AS YOUR MIND FLIES BY, EPIC FOREST may well be the bands best effort. The band's fourth release, SOMEBODY'S WATCHING, saw a continuance of the Gould/Kaffinetti songwriting work and was highlighted by the 8 1/2 minute progressive tune DOLLARS. Rare Bird's fifth and final release, BORN AGAIN, was another fine album featuring the signature Rare Bird sound. Some singles and a couple of compilations were released to round out the collective work of Rare Bird. An exceptional body of music that is as good and refreshing in today's world of Alternative/Grunge/Rap/Pop music as the day it was written. This website will endeaver to provide as much information as possible on Rare Bird the band, it's music and it's members. Stay tuned for Rare Bird News Updates and Sound Library coming soon!! This site is a work in progress, so please check back often!!! If you have information on the band or it's members, and would like to share your info, contact-rarebird@jupiterspace.com |
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