Darryl Read, Stan Aldous, Jesse Hector, Alan Butler, Barry Mitchell
Influences
There isn't much prescedent for this kind of working class, rock and roll intensity. I dunno, Sherman Tanks, Knights Templar grave soil, THOR...THIS IS JUST A FANSITE. Thank You!
Sounds Like
Bedlam, Big Bertha, Truth And Janey, Edgar Broughton Band, Flower Travellin' Band, The Who, Small Faces, early UFO, early Uriah Heep, hints of all of those contemporaries but crucial PROTO-PUNK SLUDGE!
The band arrived for its demo session in a Rolls Royce, but came home on the subway -- because they'd insisted on recording "Factory Grime," the song that excited them far more than EMI's preference, "Love Is All Around Me." Drummer Darryl Read's recollection of that misbegotten 1970 effort is an apt epitaph for Crushed Butler -- a charter member of "The Bands That Time Forgot" club.
Long before the Sex Pistols put the boot into what remained of the hippie dream, Read, guitarist Jesse Hector and bassist Alan Butler were living out those fantasies with a fury that gave other bands good reason for pause. Formed in 1969, the trio soon moved away from covering the day's more happening fare (including Small Faces' "Song Of A Baker") for an implosive urgency that won an underground following, but utterly baffled the labels that they courted.
Uncrushed rounds up the six tracks honed at places like Regent Sound (1969), EMI House, Decca Studios (1970), and even the Marquee Club (1971) with a succession of bassists (including Barry Wyles of the pre-Queen link Smile). They even got a rave from Sounds following an impressive gig opening for heavy rock mavens UFO. But companies wouldn't bite, and manager/cohort Graham Breslau left in the summer of 1970, after nearly a year of fruitless effort. (Former Pink Floyd overseer Peter Jenner also declined to get involved.)
By February 1971, the band had changed its name to Tiger, but found no takers for "High School Dropout"'s more restrained boogie-pop; former Crusaders guitarist Neil Christian bailed out, while orders by Black Sabbath/ELO overseer Don Arden to "sort out some gigs" never materialized. Crushed Butler split up in the spring of 1971 after Read approached Track Records -- who'd rejected them before -- and wound up being hired there as a songwriter.
Read has pursued an active solo career, recording with former Door Ray Manzarek and T. Rex stalwart Mickey Finn. Read's latest album, Shaved, appeared in 2002 with help from former Sex Pistols soundman/producer Dave Goodman. Hector finally secured a deal in 1974 for his equally punked-out Hammersmith Gorillas. Listeners finally got the chance to judge Crushed Butler's lost output for themselves when Dig The Fuzz issued Uncrushed in 1998.
Okay, finally there is a HARD GOSPEL WITH CHILD cd-r available for purchase. To steal a line from Walter Becker, ELEVEN TRACKS OF WHACK.
> 1) China O'Brien > 2) Color Of Night > 3) Wings Hauser (Ass Mango) > 4) Bedroom Eyes II > 5) Young Guns II > 6) Robot Jox > 7) Deadtime Stories > 8) Codename:Vengeance > 9) Expressway To Hell (Gimme Drugs) > 10) Making Mr. Right > 11) Spaceships Of Ezekiel
The cd is only $6 postage paid and is sure to get your lease on the bachelor bad broken and/or jibblets defiled by yr local bag lady. If yr interested, we accept PAYPAL or money order. Heal us.
Thanks for including me on your friends list...I heard Jesse is touring The UK again. Hope so. There's a CD of Stack Waddy's first two LPs out , now...The idea of THAT band on a CD! New Pretty Things CD is damn fine , BTW. jOHN.
Hey Dusty Thought I drop in and let everyone know that Anthology Records (Keith Abrahamsson) have just put out CB UNCRUSHED on their label for downloads check this link: http://www.anthologyrecordings.com/release.asp?album=TpCi3aNG3SF or just go to Anthologyrecordings.com Best from Darryl
