Dinosaurdays - Greenslade

Greenslade - Greenslade was formed by ex-Colosseum keyboard player Dave Greenslade and ex-Colosseum bassist Tony Reeves in 1972. They were joined by ex-Episode Six/Alan Bown/Samurai/Web keyboard player/vocalist Dave Lawson and drummer Andrew McCulloch (King Crimson/Crazy World of Arthur Brown/Fields). They released their debut, self-titled album in 1973 and their guitar-less, twin keyboard sound actually went down quite well and the album was well received, as was the second album, ''Bedside Manners are Extra", released the same year. Apart from their k eyboards, Greenslade were also known for their album covers, illustrated and calligraphed by none other than the great Roger Dean, famous for his work with Uriah Heep, Budgie and a host of others. Colosseum/Humble Pie guitarist Clem Clempson and String Driven Thing violinist Graham Smith joined the band in time for "Spyglass Guest", their third album, released in 1974. Tony Reeves left after this album and was replaced by Martin Briley (Reeves later joined Curved Air). The 4th Greenslade effort, our featured album, contained the track "Gangsters", theme for BBC 1 Play for Today, January 9th, 1975. Dave Greenslade disbanded the band barely six months after the release of "Spyglass Guest" as managerial and legal problems persisted. He followed a very successful career writing television scores, but still had time to release a few albums under his own name. Albums such as "Cactus Choir"(1976) and " The Pentateuch of the Cosmogany"(1979), an elaborate and stunningly put together double album with art work by Patrick Woodroffe, were moderately well received (the latter needs to be seen to be b elieved - Woodroffe's artwork is unbelievable). The emerging punk scene basically put paid to any idea that Greenslade could be revived, and a brief reformation in 1977 with Colosseum drummer Jon Hiseman, lasted only one tour. Greenslade, the man, also released Terry Pratchett's" From the Discworld" in 1994. Colosseum reformed in the late nineties and Dave Greenslade still occupies his place behind the keyboards, and he's still involved in solo work - his new solo album, "Going South", was released in 1999, as was a great "Greenslade - Live" album, recorded in 1973 and 1975. Greenslade the band, have apparently reformed, and a new album is on the cards. Colosseum will be playing live in England in the next few weeks. One would assume that this very pleasant, down to earth and musically excellent keyboard player will be there.

(If you have more info on this band, please e-mail us)

Biography by Gary Hill
Dave Greenslade (keys) and Tony Reeves (bass) formed Greenslade in 1972. The two had previously played together in Colosseum and they recruited Dave Lawson (Episode Six) as vocalist. For a drummer the group added Andrew McCulloch (King Crimson, Crazy World of Arthur Brown) and their self-titled album was released the following year. A considerably prolific band, they released two more albums in 1973, the first of which was Bedside Manners Are Extra. By the time they recorded a third album, Spyglass Guest, they had added Dave Clempson (Humble Pie) on guitar and Graham Smith on fiddle. The next year Reeves left the band, being replaced by Martin Briley. After releasing Time And Tide in 1975, they broke up in early 1976. A different lineup of the band made a brief attempt at it in 1977, but it just didn't work, however 23 years later in the year 2000, the group re-formed to begin another journey through their style of progressive rock. They released Large Afternoon that year and an album of live recordings from the classic days of the band was also released in 2000.

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Sunday All over the World
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