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It’s The End Of The Road For Family – Leicester’s Finest Calls It A Day After 50 Years

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No, it’s not the new cast for Last Of The Summer Wine but the current and final line-up of one of my favourite bands, Family.

The Leicester prog merchants will play their final concerts at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on December 17 and 18, with support from Edgar Broughton (with or with his Band, I’m not sure).

Any fans of Family on the blog?

Now read on —->

http://i.imgur.com/IJppaYy.jpg

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Comments

  1. Here’s what Family looked like around the time of their 1968 first LP Music in a Doll’s House .

    The two at the front – Jim King and Ric Grech – are no longer with us, but the back row of Charlie Whitney, Rob Townsend and Roger Chapman are still in the line-up shown in the OP (that’s the trio in the centre of the picture.)

    http://i.imgur.com/Rlej1dY.jpg

  3. I’d love to get there. I had a ticket for the “final gig” in Leicester in October 1973, and didn’t get there for various reasons to do with a girlfriend. Always been fond of Family.

  4. I reckon that side one of Family Entertainment is just about perfect. Every track a winner.

    The Weaver’s Answer
    Observations from a Hill
    Hung Up Down
    Summer ’67 (instrumental)
    How-Hi-the-Li

  5. Always wonderful to see on TOTP, from pastoral whimsy to stomping funk. And that extraordinary voice. Most of the records rather overly full of (Poli)filler, witty joke alert, which is why it is such a shame my Best of CD has such godawful sound quality, having seemingly been mastered at a chinese laundry.

  6. Jim Cregan is having quite a 12 months, popping up with all his old bands. Dapper dude now, rather than the annoying ginger he was back in the day. Can still play a bit too, as his rounds with Steve Harley over the winter showed.

  7. What an extraordinary musical mini-epoch the 5 years from 1968 to 1973 were. Particularly in Britain. The bands that reached their peak around that time is a roll call of achievement.

    The tail end of The Beatles and the emergence of The Stones from their shadow. Their contemporaries The Kinks and The Who experimenting and transitioning from Pop to Rock. The bands that became behemoths – The Who, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd. The monumental solo success of Elton John, David Bowie and Rod Stewart.

    And in the slipstream, all those quintessentially English but universally appealing acts like Free, Fairport Convention, Genesis, Traffic, Jethro Tull, The Faces and, of course, Family.

    I cannot claim to be Family’s biggest fan and confess to a slight allergy to Chapman’s voice but when I heard this for the first time, it stuck as me markedly different and new. It still does.

    Family
    Burlesque

  9. I think their recorded output rarely captured what a fine (and extremely popular) band they were. I was there at the Rainbow for their “farewell” concert. There seem to have been a few more goodbyes since then.

    Right now I have to do some cleaning prior to a teenage party this afternoon. But I’ll get back to this thread later.

  10. I’ve loved Family ever since Weaver’s Answer hit the charts, but never got to see them live. Bandstand used to be one of my favourite albums – not a second of filler. Indeed I’d argue Burlesque is the weakest song on the album. Not a bad “low” point to start from.
    I did see Streetwalkers a fair few times though. I will be making the effort for one of these gigs.

  14. There is not a bigger fan of Family on this planet and I went to see them in Glasgow last December… I would say that calling the guys on stage as Family was actually a bit of a misnomer…. what we had was Roger Chapman’s backing band, the Shortlist plus various Family members tacked on with varying impact. Jim Cregan was most excellent, and his influence on the live product was there for all to see. Drummer Rob Townshend was stuck at the back, sharing duties with John Lingwood, and why Rob was not trusted to do the job on his own, I’ve no idea, he still looked capable. Poli Palmer plinked and plonked his was through the set, largely irrelevant. Then there was Chappo…honestly, his energy is astonishing for a man of 73 (he was 74 yesterday) and his patter very earthy. His voice has changed a wee bit, no more the strangled vibrato of old, he sings more from the chest, and his vocals are none the worse for that.
    I haven’t heard that Charlie was returning to the fold…. I would love to see him again.
    After a stodgy start (a jazzed up How-Hi-The-li did not work), but they were soon into their stride, and the songs, oh the songs…Part Of The Load, Processions, Hey Mr Policeman, Between Blue And Me, No Mule’s Fool, Drowned In Wine, Hung Up Down, Holding The Compass and a really raucous Sweet Desiree (all songs I thought I would NEVER hear again) sat well with the “classics”, Weaver’s Answer, In My Own time and a superb, rocky Burlesque.
    I first saw them in 1969, and they were good then, and they were good in 2015

  15. It was the early summer of 1969 and I’m 16 years old and I’m staying in the remotest town in Scotland, *the closest town to nowhere, the furthest town from everywhere* (as the locals often say). I bought the Sounds and the NME, and I used to gaze wistfully at the *appearing live* sections and sigh…”The Doors, live next week at The Roundhouse”, “Affinity (with support) at Ronnie Scott’s”, “Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger And The Trinity, Klook’s Kleek.” As far as I was concerned they may well have been appearing on the moon. Then one time my eye caught an advert….. “Family, Chicken Shack & Black Sabbath Scottish Tour: Dundee Caird Hall, Glasgow Green’s Playhouse, Edinburgh Usher Hall”…. fuck it, I’m going. Dundee? Where is Dundee? No idea. Glasgow it is. I sent off my postal order….phone call from ticket agency, Glasgow sold out…. a couple of tickets left for Edinburgh…”Would you be interested?” Damn right I would. Edinburgh, Saturday night, 250 miles away? You try and stop me. One barrier…me Mum… no way would she allow it, so I casually said to her on the days leading up to the concert “Can I go and see Family on Saturday night Mum?” Yes that would be ok sez she thinking that they were playing locally, I mean, she had NO idea. Mums, duh! So Friday School finished, dinner and I’m offski up the A83 (The Long and Winding Road), thumb out, hoping for the best. Luckily I got a lift from a lorry driver right to Glasgow, arriving about 10.30pm, and I’m bricking it. It is a well known fact that Glaswegians eat babies for breakfast.
    Safety in numbers I thought, so I head for George Square, maybe kip there for the night and to my astonishment, who do I spy sitting on a bench in the square? A post gig Roger Chapman and Poli Palmer…… more of that later.
    I got moved on by the Polis several times during the night, eventually seeking sanctuary and warmth in Queen Street Station where I caught the first train through to Edinburgh and went to Princess Street gardens where I slept for hours.
    I bought two albums, Black Sabbath’s self titled first, and Deep Purple In Rock then went to see the matinee of some play or other -hey, I’m a fucking City Boy now- which had Terry Scott, Nicholas Parsons Amanda Barrie and Aimi MacDonald (in a silver bikini). No idea what it was called.
    Then to the concert. “Black Sabbath a no show” *boooooooooo* but the other two bands will play extended sets”. Chicken Shack were very very good. They were promoting their “Accept Chicken Shack” album, their first rock based elpee and they did a long and stonking “Telling Your Fortune” with Stan Webb and his 100 foot lead walking deep into the audience. Then Family. I was awe struck…life was never as good, ever, as the moment they walked on that fucking stage. And they were good, very good.
    Last train back through to Glasgow, another night wandering The Mean City then went to the BRS depot and blagged a lift back home, arriving at 11sh on the Sunday morning. My Mum went absolutelyfuckingmadmentalballistic, and I was grounded for about 25 years.
    Back to Chappo… I blagged a pen and paper from somewhere. “Autograph please Roger”…duly signed by him and Poli. “Any chance you could get the rest of the band to sign it for me too, Roger?”
    “Oh do fuck off son”

  16. I saw their farewell last ever concert at the Shepherds Bush Empire a couple of years ago. Whitney wasn’t there. Chappo said he couldn’t be persuaded to leave Spain. Odd that they are doing more last ever gigs. I should ask for my money back!

  17. Is this the right thread for saying I’d swap their whole back catalogue for the 45 on Liberty?

    Not their fault, I know, but never quite forgave them for prompting the L.P. name change from ‘A Doll’s House’ (great!!!) to…..erm…..’The Beatles’.

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