The English band Family emerged in the 1960s rock scene and soon became a household name, which won the hearts of fans and music critics alike. Family’s peculiar style rejects simplification with the group dabbling in many different music genres such as blues, progressive, hard, psychedelic, folk and jazz-rock. The band members managed to mix and match these styles by performing on musical instruments like piano, saxophone, and violin, which were unconventional choices for a rock band, but their usage and brilliant harmony with the more conventional guitar, bass, and drums made Family stand out.
Family’s exciting music and interesting history are worth exploring, which is why we decided to make this blog in order to commemorate this great band and make sure that more people learn about it. Enjoy reading!
Family – Brief History and Band Members
The rock band Family was established in Leicester, England, in 1966 by the bandmates of the then-dismantled group the Farinas. The Farinas performed between 1962 and 1966, during which time they released two singles, “You’d Better Stop” and “I Like It Like That”. The Farinas were characterised by their blues sound. For a brief period, The Farinas changed their name to The Roaring Sixties until they settled on Family. The name ‘Family’ was suggested by producer Kim Fowley who thought the performers’ fashion style resembled that of famous mafiosos. Family’s original band members included John “Charlie” Whitney (guitar, sitar, keyboards), Harry Ovenall (drums, percussion), Ric Grech (bass, cello, violin, vocals), Jim King (saxophone, harmonica, piano) and Roger Chapman (vocals, harmonica, saxophone). Nowadays, there is only one original band member in the line-up, Chapman, who is accompanied by Rob Townsend (drums, percussion), John “Poli” Palmer (keyboards, synthesisers, flute), and Jim Cregan (guitar, bass). There have been numerous band members over the years, and apart from those already mentioned, here the rest of them:
- John Weider (bass, guitar, violin)
- John Wetten (bass, guitar, vocals)
- Tony Ashton (accordion, keyboards, mellotron)
Family – The Early Years
Similar to other rock bands, Family began its career by playing in different clubs in London, such as The Marquee and The 100 Club, while waiting for their breakthrough. Fortunately, they didn’t have to wait too long as only a few months later, Family had secured a single record deal with Liberty Records through producer Jimmy Miller and manager John Gilbert. Ovenall, however, left the band shortly after as he believed that Family was drastically changing its style going from R&B and blues to psychedelic rock; he also disagreed with the way the group was managed. Ovenall was then replaced by Townsend.
Family’s first single was released in 1967 with the title “Scene Through The Eye of a Lens/Gypsy Woman”. Unfortunately, the song was not successful. Nevertheless, soon after, the band signed a deal with the production company Reprise Records, which led to creating their first studio album Music in a Doll’s House. The album quickly became a commercial and critical success. The album, along with the rest of Family’s albums, will be discussed in more detail in the next section. The success of Family’s debut album soon paid off and secured them a spot in the prestigious London venue Royal Albert Hall in July 1968. Royal Albert Hall is still one of the most lucrative concert halls in the world, which has hosted world-renown orchestras for their annual classical music festivals (one even featured Richard Wagner), along with famous singers such as Bob Dylan and bands like The Beatles. To be able to perform there, especially considering that Family had just emerged, is a remarkable achievement. Family was Tim Hardin’s supporting act, and that night they also shared the stage with Pink Floyd, The Nice, Soft Machine and The Move. Family’s immediate success matches the trajectory of Led Zeppelin, which emerged around the same time and became famous almost instantly.
Family didn’t wait long until they started working on their second album Family Entertainment, which came out in 1969 and garnered critical appraise. This was followed by their first tour of the United States in the spring of 1969. The anticipated tour, however, proved to be troublesome from the start. Ric Grech surprisingly left the band mid-tour to join Blind Faith, and he was hastily replaced by John Weider on the recommendation of Family’s tour manager Peter Grant. What’s more, more problems ensued when Chapman’s microphone stand accidentally hit NYC’s Fillmore East’s club promoter, an action he mistook for deliberate. By the end of the tour, Chapman’s voice had deteriorated, and the band had to perform without him in Canada, which struck the final blow in Family’s reputation in North America that sadly never recovered.
On the other hand, Family received their well-deserved recognition in the United Kingdom, where they performed at The Rolling Stones’ Hyde Park concert. The Stones in the Park took place on 5 July 1969 and attracted an audience of approximately 250,000 to 500,000 people. The event marked Stones returning to the stage after a long hiatus, which explains the number of attendees. Tragically, Stones’ ex-guitarist Brian Jones died two days earlier and Jagger, along with the other performers, honoured Jones at the concert. Even though The Rolling Stones didn’t perform well (Keith Richards called their performance ‘pretty bad until near the end’ due to their long hiatus), the event was wildly successful and spawned a film The Stones In The Park (1969) and another commemorative concert in Hyde Park in 2013. Family also gained popularity from the now iconic event. Following this, Family performed at the Isle of Wight Festival alongside the likes of Bob Dylan and The Who. The festival was attended by approximately 150,000 fans and was likened to its American counterpart Woodstock (1969), albeit being trouble-less in comparison. Despite the two successful gigs, Family continued to experience problems as they had to replace King for Palmer because of the former’s drug addiction.
Family – Later Years
With two new members who brought fresh ideas and inspirations, Family entered another era of its artistic evolution. The band single-handedly produced their next album A Song for Me, which came out on 23 January 1970 and became Family’s most successful feature. The professional milestone was followed by a short tour of the US. In the summer of 1970, Family performed at the ‘European Woodstock’ or Kralingen Music Festival in the Netherlands. Kralingen also brought the bands Jefferson Airplane and Pink Floyd, along with 100,000 attendees. Later the same summer, Family appeared again at the Isle of Wight Festival. The festival (26-31 August 1970) exceeded everyone’s expectations by gathering an audience of 600,000 to 700,000 people that made it the biggest music festival of its time, even eclipsing Woodstock. Apart from Family, the festival featured Leonard Cohen, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and The Doors. Family performed on the third day (28 August), and their set included the song “The Weaver’s Answer”, which became their signature song. Family also took part in the documentary Message to Love which documented the festival but was not released until 1997.
In late 1970, Family released yet another album titled Anyway much to the liking of both the fans and the critics. Not long after, in March 1971, Family’s compilation album called Old Songs New Songs, fittingly containing remixes and rare tracks, came out. Unfortunately, similarly to Grech, Weider left the band to join another one (Stud). He was promptly replaced by John Wetton, who turned down King Crimson’s offer to join Family instead. Despite Family’s ever-changing bandmates, the group somehow managed to stay afloat, and they were asked to perform at the second edition of the still ongoing Glastonbury Festival in 1971. Family, along with other artists who performed at the festival, were featured on Glastonbury Fayre (1972) – a documentary made by renowned British cinematographer and director Nicolas Roeg. 1971 was a productive year for Family with their third album of the year Fearless coming out in September.
Family – The Beginning of The End
Although Wetton previously rejected King Crimson’s offer in favour of Family, he changed his mind in 1972 due to King Crimson’s new line-up and left Family. His place was taken by Jim Cregan. Family resumed touring and became Elton John’s supporting act for his American tour. However, the fans were unenthusiastic about Family’s performances, which brought down the band’s morale. The fans’ reaction likely led to Pali Palmer’s exit from Family; he was replaced by Tony Ashton. Still, Family remained strong-willed and released another album Bandstand, later in 1972. However, Family never truly recovered, and their studio album It’s Only a Movie (1973), which failed to gain recognition, turned out to be their last.
Family officially disbanded after one last concert at the Hawthorn Building of Leicester Polytechnic on 13 October 1973. Most of Family’s members went on to pursue other musical projects:
- Chapman and Whitney formed the band Streetwalkers
- Wetton joined King Crimson, and later Asia
- Townsend joined Medicine Head, then The Blues Band and The Manfreds; he still plays for the latter two
Family has since tragically lost four of its members – Grech in 1990, Ashton in 2001, King in 2012, and Wetton in 2017.
Family – A Reunion
Surprisingly, in 2012 Family announced a reunion concert to be taking place on 2 February 2013 at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire in London. The line-up included Chapman, Palmer, Townsend, and Cregan. Although Family disbanded due to decreased interest, the reunion showed the opposite. The tickets sold so quickly that the band decided to schedule another performance for the previous night, along with extra musicians to support the group. Family also commemorated past members during the show. The setlist included the songs “Top of the Hill”, “Drowned in Wine”, “Holding the Compass”, “Part of the Load”, “Ready to Go”, “Crinkly Grin, Burning Bridges”, “No Mule’s Fool”, “Sat’dy Barfly”, “Between Blue and Me”, “Hung Up Down”, “Burlesque”, “In My Own Time”, “Weaver’s Answer”, “My Friend the Sun”, and “Sweet Desiree”.
Despite being marketed as one-time reunion, Family, likely drawn by the success of their show, performed again at Rockin’ the Park Festival in 2013, among other UK and European shows between 2014 and 2016.
Family – Music and Style
This section will aim to describe each of Family’s albums and their varying styles. Let’s begin with Music in a Doll’s House (1968). Family’s debut contains 16 tracks with a total duration of 37 minutes. The album rose to #35 in the UK charts and became the critics’ favourite. The album is characterised by its originality – Chapman brought in his blues and R&B vocals, while Grech and King performed on violin, cello, saxophone and harmonica. Little did they know that their original sound would become the staple of psychedelic rock, with the song “See Through Windows” exhibiting experimental psychedelic techniques like long solos, echoing vocals and interesting sound effects. Music in a Doll’s House is also one of the first scores to be characterised as progressive rock. The folk undertones can also not be ignored either with the rural “Mellowing Grey”.
Family Entertainment (1969) contains 11 songs and spans over 39 minutes. The album reached #6 in UK charts that year, which led to Family’s US tour. Interestingly, the album was released without Family’s consent by their manager John Gilbert who hastily mixed the songs. This led to Family firing Gilbert and even going as far as re-recording some of the songs and releasing them in the remix album Old Songs New Songs (1971). Family Entertainment (1969) slightly turned away from the previous album’s psychedelic sound in favour of more acoustic sound as they heavily relied on acoustic guitars and added the dreamy sitar to songs like “Face in the Cloud” and “Summer ’67”. The lyrics, however, retained the surrealistic and folksy feeling of the previous album. The main songwriters were Chapman, Whitney, and Grech (the usual songwriters); when the latter left during the US tour, the tour flopped, and Family lost one of its main creative forces. Some claim that Grech’s and later King’s exit was the reason why Family never rose to the very top.
A Song for Me debuted in 1970 with 12 songs and a duration of 38 minutes; it became Family’s highest-charting album scoring #4 in UK charts. While the album was a success in the UK, it sold almost no copies in the US (likely because of their unsuccessful and trouble-ridden tour there). Family’s continuous exploration of sound can be heard in this album. Songs like “Drowned in Wine” experiment with folk motives underlined by hard rock beat and rhythm, while “Some Poor Soul” is a classic example of blues rock. A Song for Me shows the multifaceted character of Family’s music with its various styles, intertwined and harmonic, amplified by Chapman’s impressive singing abilities.
Anyway (1970) also entered the top 10 in the UK charts (#7) with its 8 songs spanning over 38 minutes. The album is the cornerstone of Family’s career. It sounds significantly different from the previous three, and songs like “Good News-Bad News” showcase the change. “Good News-Bad News” firmly enters the hard rock scene inhabited by Led Zeppelin, while the long solo reminds of the Doors. Family was gradually becoming more mainstream, likely to appeal to more people. Nevertheless, the band didn’t forget its roots and used their unconventional musical instruments with the song “Strange Band” featuring a brilliant violin solo.
Fearless (1971), containing 10 songs (38 minutes), rose to #14 in UK charts and became the first Family album to enter US charts (Billboard #177). It was well received in the US with reviewers praising it as a staple for British rock. Fearless exhibits Family’s evolution with yet new direction, which some fans loved, and others didn’t. The tracklist is rather odd as it combines even more styles than usual for Family, varying from blues to folk, psychedelia, funk, and even proto-disco (“Larf and Sing”). Still, despite the stylistic mismatch, the songs work on their own, while the bandmembers deserve recognition for their ability to successfully experiment with music.
Bandstand (1972), exhibiting 9 tracks (37 minutes) and reaching #15 in the UK and #183 in the US, marked the last stage of Family’s evolution. Chapman and Whitney admit that Family was steering heavily into the mainstream as their songwriting had become more conventional by abiding to certain set structures (chorus+verses). This is not necessarily a bad thing as Bandstand’s songs are exciting and well-received. “Glove”, a romantic rock ballad, is often cited by fans as their best song. “Burlesque”, despite being about a bar in Leicester, shows the growing American influence in their music. Overall, the hard rock sound takes precedence over previous experimentation and arguably shows the identity Family chose to embody.
Family’s last studio album It’s Only a Movie (1973) unfortunately didn’t receive any critical or fan attention, fittingly of Family’s ending career that became apparent as they supported Elton John’s American tour. However, the album’s 9 songs don’t match the grim reality of the band as they are funky and upbeat. The style mixes progressive with a psychedelic rock resulting in an oddly satisfying combination, while the lyrics are funny and engaging. In “It’s Only a Movie” Chapman sings about the making of a western in a meta cinematic and ironic way, which, however, might have to sit with the listeners until they can fully appreciate its artistry.