Not to be confused with the American Pop-Psych band of the same name, the British band Holy Mackerel evolved out of the '60s Psychedelic outfit Jason Crest. This band recorded some very uninteresting material before the excellent final single 'Black Mass/A Place In The Sun', a single that showed a move from their earlier pop ambitions towards heavier psych with the A side a freaky slice of Arthur Brown meets Proto Metal.
Lead vocalist Terry Clarke (after a short spell in Orang-Utan), lead guitarist Derek Smallcombe (after a stint in the hard/blues band Samuel Prody), and drummer Roger Siggery from the original Jason Crest put Holy Mackerel together in 1971 adding second lead guitarist Chris Ware and bass player Tony Wood to fill out the lineup.
Where Jason Crest had been hit and miss with their material this hard rocking new band called Holy Mackerel got it down to a science right away.
After spending quite a bit of time in the Lancashire countryside honing their rural/melodic/hard rock sound they started to play live getting a reputation as an excellent live act.
Surprisingly, Terry 'Nobby' Clark, whose powerful and versatile vocals were a big part of the band's appeal, only had one lung.
CBS Records signed the group, and in 1972 they released their brilliant self titled album.
To promote the record the band recorded a four song session at Langham 1 Studios for BBC Radio 1's John Peel Show.
This was followed in 1973 by a test press/acetate only second album "Closer To Heaven", but Holy Mackerel were then dropped by CBS before it saw a full release.
The band sadly split up soon after losing their record deal.
Post Holy Mackerel, Clark spent some time in a band called Vendetta, alongside ex-members of T2.
The "Closer To Heaven" album was eventually released on vinyl only by Tenth Planet Records in 1993. Only 500 copies were issued.
Credits
Bass – Tony Wood
Drums – Roger Siggery
Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Chris Ware
Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals – Derek Smallcombe
Lead Vocals – Terry Clark
http://heavymetalrarities.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=134&t=13219
Lead vocalist Terry Clarke (after a short spell in Orang-Utan), lead guitarist Derek Smallcombe (after a stint in the hard/blues band Samuel Prody), and drummer Roger Siggery from the original Jason Crest put Holy Mackerel together in 1971 adding second lead guitarist Chris Ware and bass player Tony Wood to fill out the lineup.
Where Jason Crest had been hit and miss with their material this hard rocking new band called Holy Mackerel got it down to a science right away.
After spending quite a bit of time in the Lancashire countryside honing their rural/melodic/hard rock sound they started to play live getting a reputation as an excellent live act.
Surprisingly, Terry 'Nobby' Clark, whose powerful and versatile vocals were a big part of the band's appeal, only had one lung.
CBS Records signed the group, and in 1972 they released their brilliant self titled album.
To promote the record the band recorded a four song session at Langham 1 Studios for BBC Radio 1's John Peel Show.
This was followed in 1973 by a test press/acetate only second album "Closer To Heaven", but Holy Mackerel were then dropped by CBS before it saw a full release.
The band sadly split up soon after losing their record deal.
Post Holy Mackerel, Clark spent some time in a band called Vendetta, alongside ex-members of T2.
The "Closer To Heaven" album was eventually released on vinyl only by Tenth Planet Records in 1993. Only 500 copies were issued.
Credits
Bass – Tony Wood
Drums – Roger Siggery
Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar – Chris Ware
Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Harmonica, Vocals – Derek Smallcombe
Lead Vocals – Terry Clark
http://heavymetalrarities.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=134&t=13219
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