Blodwyn Pig

Blodwyn Pig

Blodwyn Pig were a British blues–rock group founded by guitarist–vocalist–songwriter Mick Abrahams, after he left Jethro Tull in 1968 due to a falling-out with Tull leader Ian Anderson.

Career

Abrahams' falling-out with Anderson was said to have originated in differences between the two on original material—Abrahams wishing to stay close to Jethro Tull's blues and jazz roots, Anderson wishing to develop less overt blues and jazz material—and Abrahams' unwillingness to work seven days a week (the latter according to Circus magazine).

He left Jethro Tull after their debut album, This Was, was released, and formed Blodwyn Pig with Jack Lancaster (saxophone), Andy Pyle (bass guitar), and Ron Berg (drums); future Yes and Flash guitarist Peter Banks became one of several guitarists to succeed Abrahams after he left to form his own band for a time.

With Abrahams and Lancaster in the lead, Blodwyn Pig recorded two albums, Ahead Rings Out in 1969 and Getting To This in 1970. Both reached the Top Ten of the UK Albums Chart and charted in the United States; Ahead Rings Out displayed a jazzier turn on the heavy blues–rock that formed the band's core rooted in the British 1960s rhythm and blues scene from which sprang groups like The Yardbirds, Free and eventually Led Zeppelin. Saxophonist–singer Lancaster (who often played two horns at once, like his idol Rahsaan Roland Kirk) was at least as prominent in the mix as Abrahams; some critics thought this contrast bumped the band toward a freer, more experimental sound on the second album.

The single "Summer Day" from Ahead Rings Out failed to chart, but the quartet became something of a favourite on the underground concert circuit. Largely due to Abrahams's disillusionment with the business side of music, Blodwyn Pig eventually became an on-again, off-again concern; Lancaster at one point became a record producer, and Pyle eventually joined Savoy Brown. Over the years since their original formation, Blodwyn Pig reformed several times, usually with Abrahams and Lancaster leading the group, and recorded two more albums in the 1990s.

Discography

• Ahead Rings Out (Island, August 1969)
• Getting To This (Chrysalis, April 1970)
• Lies (1993)
• All Tore Down: Live (1994)
• Pig-in-the-Middle (1996)
• The modern Alchemist (Indigo Rec. 1999)
• All Said And Done Shakedown Records 2004 two-CD 1 DVD boxed set

External links

• Mick Abrahams - Blodwyn Pig Official Site