If

[chromium]

I'm sure some of you have heard of a UK jazz/rock band called "If", but it was a new one for me.  Great bassist with some cool tones, and some of their horn/flute (can you ever get enough rock flute I ask?!) arrangements are killer. 

Thought I'd post this, as I figured everyone would get into it (...and by everyone, I mean John  )


Up-tempo, smokin bassline.  Cool track even if the bridge kinda smacks of a 70s musical
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuwytPkljTE&feature=related


Slinky odd-meter instrumental, great bass and horns on this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o301OyzvlPk&feature=related


Interesting fuzz bass tone.  Almost sounds like a blown speaker.  Kind of unsettling, actually.  I like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN5_zXNlUVU&feature=related

[Barklessdog]

That was cool thanks Joe. They really covered a lot of 70's style Genre from Funk to soft machine like prog in those clips, yet still sound like themselves.


I never heard of them before. Thanks!

Such different music than you hear today, so loose & funky.

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Yeah~ Coool shizzle, Joe! Thanks

[uwe]

If were reasonably well-known in Europe - sort the UK Blood, Sweat & Tears, minus David Clayton Thomas drive for commercial accessability. They did have a cult following.

[Freuds_Cat]

That second one sounds a lot like Traffic. I've never heard these guys before. Thanks for that, another branch in the tree for me to follow. 

[Highlander]

They were pretty good, had a number of their LP's - Cliff Davies (drummer) joined Nugent for some years going from a small kit to something quite enormous... Without going digging, wasn't Geoff Whithorn the guitarist, too...?

[Freuds_Cat]

Really? Geoff Whitehorn is one of THE most underrated guitarists IMHO.  Always the Bridesmaid to Kossoff it seems.  Beautiful soulful and skillful player.

I didnt know he was in IF, mostly because I'd never heard of them.  I know him originally from Crawler and his bits with  Bad Company, Paul Rogers, The Who and Roger Waters.

I think he is now with Procol Harum?

[Highlander]

Agreed re Mr Whithorns playing... I think I still have a Crawler white-label or tape somewhere that had him playing Kossof stuff exceptionally well... There was a pick-up band I've mentioned elsewhere called Chuck Farley, which had GW on guitar, along with Boz Burrell on bass, the last time I saw them they had Chris Slade on drums... the next time I saw CS was with "The Firm"... a link below...

http://www.chuckfarley.co.uk/

I think I still have an LP of privately released material, resplendant with autographs for it's plain white cover... 

Another semi linked band I liked were called Zzebra, which contained a couple of guys from If and a chap called John McCoy, who, of course, went on to Gillan - Zzebra were a jazz-rock outfit that also fused African rhythms (psst, Bret... don't let Uwe know I used the "F" word...)

Trying to remember another pickup band he played and recorded with, maybe with Rory Galagher's bass and drums (Rod De'Ath), in the 70's... one lp was called "Live, a week at the Bridge" (LP + 12") a bunch of people playing at an East London pub - some of it was exceptionally good - the bars main claim to fame was that Iron Maiden played there a lot in their early days...

http://www.thebridgehousee16.com/albums/bhlp1.html

No, not that one, but he was on it in a band called "Filthy McNasty"... - link above...

[Freuds_Cat]

Thx Ken 

[uwe]

Cliff Davies was a Brit AND with If?  I didn't know, but it explains a lot. I always thought he had a jazzy feel on those first Ted Nugent albums, quite unlike what one would expect, but then Nugent was never as heavy as he claimed, especially on the early albums it's just pleasantly melodic, but not yet AORish hard rock. Didn't he die some months ago? (Davies, not Nugent!)

[Highlander]

'fraid so... suicide, last year, reputedly due to meds bills...

Nugent was/is a showman... saw him loads of times from '76 thru to mid 80's... he changed his style after having an accident with his favourite Byrdland, the really nasty one he did his feedback pyrotechnics with... never seen anyone ever control feedback so well... 4 Fender stacks and a worn to hell Gibson...