| Member Since | 8/28/2006 | | Band Members | Mike Deacon - keyboards
Dick Hanson - horns
Colin Horton-Jennings - vocals, gtr, drums
Tex Philpotts - sax
Ron Prudence - congas, drums
Garth Watt-Roy - vocals, guitar
Norman Watt-Roy - vocals, bass | | Influences | The Greatest Show on Earth were originally formed in 1968 by guitarist
Garth Watt-Roy and his bass-playing brother Norman. Also featured in the
original line-up were organist Mick Deacon, drummer Ron Prudence and three horn
players, Dick Hanson, Tex Phillpotts and Ian Aitcheson. The band's first
vocalist was black American Ozzie Lane but he returned to his native New Orleans
a year later and was replaced by Colin Horton-Jennings, not only a strong
gravel-voiced singer but also quite adept on the guitar, bongos and flute. The
group's mixture of R&B soul, jazz and prog-rock brought them to the attention of
EMI's progressive label Harvest Records, who signed the band and issued, in
February 1970, the single, "Real Cool World"/"Again And Again" (HAR 5012) which,
though not a hit in the UK, gave the band a medium-sized hit across Europe where
they were also an in-demand live attraction. Both tracks featured on their March
1970 debut LP, Horizons (SHVL 769) which was housed in a distinctive
sleeve designed by Hipgnosis and coincided with a Radio One session for Mike
Harding on which they played three new songs: "Border Line", "Mountain Song" and
"Time". A second session for Harding, in November 1970, featured "The Leader"
and "Check Me Into Your Life", the latter of which has never officially been
released. "Tell The Story"/"The Mountain Song" (HAR 5026) had failed to chart
when released in September 1970, and the same fate awaited the band's second
album The Going's Easy (SHVL 783) though one track from the LP, "Magic
Woman Touch" was later released as a single by The Hollies.
The lack of chart success contributed to the band splitting in mid-1971. Ron
Prudence, Ian Aitcheson and Tex Phillpotts quit music altogether, whilst
Horton-Jennings joined Chaser and later turned up in Taggett releasing
one self-titled LP for EMI in 1974. Dick Hanson turned to session work and
recorded with the likes of The Blues Band, Graham Parker, Dave Edmunds, Kirsty
McColl and Shakin' Stevens. Mike Deacon joined Vinegar Joe and then
became a member of both the Suzi Quatro Band and Darts. Norman Watt-Roy formed
Glencoe releasing two albums for Epic, Glencoe and The Spirit
Of Glencoe. He then formed Loving Awareness, releasing one self-titled LP in
1976 for More Love Records, before the band eventually evolved into The
Blockheads, the backing band for Ian Dury. Today he is a member of the Wilko
Johnson Band. Garth Watt-Roy joined Fuzzy Duck before undertaking session
work for the likes of East Of Eden, Limey and Bonnie Tyler as well
as being a member of Marmalade, The Q-Tips and The Barron Knights.
~Mark Brennan | | Sounds Like | Locomotive, If, Colosseum, Keef Hartley Band, Galliard | | Type of Label | Major |
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