Press coverage 1966–2012
Press Archive
Contemporary interviews, reviews, features, advertisements and programmes tracing Family and its members from the earliest days through later reunions and retrospectives.
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Family — the British hellraisers that John Lennon loved and Middle America hated
Lee Marlow — Classic Rock, Issue 177 (October 2012); republished on Loudersound 21 September 2025. A long-form retrospective of Family's 1966–1973 run, built on Roger Chapman, Rob Townsend and Poli Palmer interviews. Notable for surfacing John Lennon's 1969 ve…
Forgotten Rockers
(Leicester Mercury, Feb. 20, 1998)When Family finally gave up the ghost in 1973, they marked their demise with a party at the Holiday Inn after a farewell gig at the-then Leicester Poly. It was a mark of the respect they commanded that Radio One DJ John Peel t…
Faulty Towers
Kiss-and-tell convent girls! Disappearing bass-players! A highly-strung leading man called Roger! It was the knockabout farce that ran and ran. John Bungey tells the trouser-dropping tale of Family. [MOJO, August 1996] In the annals of rock’n’roll mayhem, the…
Roger Chapman — 1994 interview
Great interview by Jay Strange, sourced from his site: http://artintodust.blogspot.com/2008/08/family-interview-with-roger-chapman.html How old were you when you decided that music was the thing you wanted to do? I never planned to be in the music business rea…
Family posters and artwork up for Sotheby's auction
by Marc Astley Leicester Mercury, Aug. 6 1991Twenty-two years ago it would have been prized by swinging young pop fans – but not worth the paper it was written on. Today it is worth hundreds of pounds and is the quarry of keen collectors. Later this month Soth…
The Family Story
A translation from Oldie-Markt, German Collectors Magazine, ca. 1990 The story of Family is a succession of “near-hits” and aesthetical successes. No doubt the group from Leicester was one of the most outstanding progressive rock bands in England in the late 6…
Bits and Pieces — Misc Press
from Rock Albums of the 70’s by Robert Christgau (Da Capo Press Inc., New York, 1990) Family: Anyway (United Artists ’71) Back before Rik Grech deserted them for (and on) Blind Faith they were a slightly demented hard rock band that made arty with a violin. No…
Family (Record Collector)
Brian Hogg looks back at one of Britain’s most imaginative bands of the late sixties and early seventies, whose early rarities are now very collectable Record Collector, No. 84 , Aug. 1986Family still remain one of the best and most inventive groups to emerge…
Streetwalkers’ Gröna Lund appearance cancelled
DN’s same-day correction says Streetwalkers will not appear at Gröna Lund because the group is being reorganized.
Streetwalkers Raise the Roof — Starwood, LA
By Eliot Sekuler CLUB REVIEW — US weekly trade paper, c. late May 1976 Streetwalkers Raise the Roof LOS ANGELES — Sprung from the remnants of once-popular U.K. band Family, Streetwalkers (Mercury) have emerged as a formidable full-tilt hard rock band, as was e…
Cockney Rebel / Streetwalkers — Bottom Line, New York
By Toby Goldstein US weekly trade paper, c. mid-December 1975 COCKNEY REBEL / STREETWALKERS — Bottom Line, New York The one-night teaming of Cockney Rebel and Streetwalkers, both favorites of New York's Anglophile community, virtually guaranteed a sell-out. An…
Family (Trouser Press)
(by Karl Seebacher, Trouser Press #8 – 1975)In the history of post-Beatles English rock, Family is one of the few bands to achieve massive British and European success, while remaining virtually unknown to American audiences. Family was formed in 1966 out of s…
Streetwalkers Debuts — US Mercury debut (trade-paper announcement + review)
Cashbox / Billboard trade paper, c. 1975 Streetwalkers Debuts CHICAGO — Streetwalkers will make their American debut through their Mercury album, "Streetwalkers." The English group is made up of Charlie Whitney and Roger Chapman, ex-guitarist and vocalist resp…
Final LP From Family (Billboard announcement)
Billboard — Hollywood bureau, c. January 1974 Final LP From Family HOLLYWOOD — The farewell LP from the British rock group Family, has been set, for a Jan. 21, release by United Artists Records. The collection, entitled "It's Only A Movie," was recorded in mid…
Historical Essay
From the reissue of Music In A Doll’s House, MIDI 24018, 1974The “Farinas” had a good reputation with students and club-goers in Leicester – a high class soul band that played songs from James Brown and Ray Charles. They made really arousing music with two sax…
Family Matters
(John Peel, The Listener 18 October 1973)By the time you read these lines I will have been to Leicester. Not the sort of thing I’m given to doing, but there will have been a good reason for my eccentric behaviour. At something like midnight last Saturday, Roge…
Family — Rainbow Theatre farewell review
FAMILY To the stoic strains of The British Grenadiers on came Family for their last live appearance in London. It was a sad occasion, made more so since their set was only occasionally good and too often pretty bad. Roger Chapman was in great voice throughout…
This Article Is Dedicated To Ten Musicians Who Have Given Us Some Marvellous Music And They Shall Be Remembered As Family
ZigZag magazine, No. 34 (Vol 3 No 10), September 1973(Later republished in Trouser Press, 1977) Part I: Music In A Doll’s House ZigZag: What about Dave Mason’s role as a producer? Charlie Whitney: We’d met him when we did our first single, because he played on…
Family grow into a good-time happy band
By Val Mabbs Record Mirror, c. April 1973 ROGER CHAPMAN as I've known him, from the days of Music In A Doll's House up to our last interview around the time of A Song For Me, has always been one of the most rangy and well weathered singers around. The photogra…
The Family That Plays Together
by Mark Plummer “I don’t think people knew quite what was going to happen when we went on stage.” Jim Cregan is sitting in the back of a Range Rover driver by a WEA artist liason man, his arms around his girlfriend Linda Lewis. He’s checking out if there’s a b…
FOR THE RECORD — Grech supergroup (PASSING REMARKS)
Trade-paper news column, c. February 1973 FOR THE RECORD — PASSING REMARKS Ric Grech, former bassist with Family and Blind Faith is reportedly forming a new group. Other band members so far include Jo Jammer, Poli Palmer and Mitch Mitchell … Forthcoming album…
Tony Ashton and Family Feature
by Penny Valentine, Sounds?, late 1972 Harlesden High street on a freezing Thursday night. Up an alleyway, stumbling in the inky blackness, fighting off the biting gales unsuccessfully, muttering things like goddamn the teacher that talked me into journalism.…
Chapman ill, Family cancel
Melody Maker — 13 January 1973, p.6 FAMILY have had to cancel the first three dates on their British tour which was due to resume after a break for Christmas at Leeds University on Saturday (13), because an operation Roger Chapman needed was more serious than…
The Family Way
by Andrew Tyler“It’s like somebody blows a whistle and we all change places,” said Jim Cregan, who’s just inherited “the shoulder crusher” – a double-necked bass and six-string Gibson that John Wetton used to play before joining King Crimson Jim is Family’s ne…
Winning America without the hype
(by Tony Stewart, source unknown, Nov. 1972)THE PHONE WAS lifted six thousand miles away across the Atlantic, and Rob Townsend voiced early morning half-consciousness – wanting to know who’d disturbed him at an hour when the only people with their eyes open sh…
Family at Peace
by Caroline Boucher Disc, c. November 1972 THEIR first American tour for two and a half years has been a pleasant surprise for Family. They tip-toed over there feeling like nonentities and found that pretty well everywhere there was somebody that knew them. “W…
Family Back Home
words: Keith Altham, pics: Robert Ellis (New Musical Express, Oct. 21, 1972) a new series, NME takes FAMILY back to revisit their LEICESTER roots… Just before they left for their current U.S. tour, NME took the three founder members of Family on a nostalgia-ti…
Rob Townsend Phones Penny Valentine From Canada
Saturday night in Philadelphia and down at the local radio station something stirs… what’s this? Roger Chapman reading the weather report, Rob Townsend doing the news, the Coasters “Yakkity Yak” at full volume… mid-America taken by surprise. Family have never…
Beat Instrumental feature — c. September 1972 (pre-US-tour)
You’ve heard it said millions of times, but here it is again . . Isn’t it a drag that so many of our groups don’t play live in England? Isn’t it sad that America sees them and we don’t? All of which is a long way of getting round to saying that Family are one…
Family: A Blissful Tale Of Our Time
(by Nik Logan, Phonograph Record Magazine ca. Fall 1972)The setting is London’s Olympic studio where, on the night in question, we have in one section of the building putting finishing touches to a new Family single-cum-album-track and, in another, mixing mate…
1972 Tour Notepad — United Artists
FAMILY – by Carol Osborn Biography writing is the most thankless of tasks – in an effort to please both those who you are writing about and those who you’re writing for, you generally end up pleasing nobody. Thus, it’s a task I generally manage to avoid, but t…
Chappo Chats
by Penny Valentine [Sounds, 8/26/72] I don’t think we’ve ever had a particular status. I think we’re a band a lot of people underestimate and in many ways I think we underestimate ourselves.” Roger Chapman, five years with Family, reflecting on the state of th…
Family man or caged animal?
Family man or caged animal? A man who, the press release about him says, will help to write a new chapter in Nottingham late-night entertainment is Roger Chapman. For those like me who have never heard of him, he is the vocalist with the "Family" stage group.…
Down At Poli’s Workshop
by Martin HaymanFamily’s Poli Palmer lives in a Fulham basement, and a notice by the bell reads threateningly “Don’t ring before midday unless you have an appointment”, which is a bit like “Abandon hope all ye…” even though I had an appointment and it was afte…
Family Fan Club Newsletter — May/June 1972
FAMILY FAN CLUB · Lee Whiting, 88 Queens Walk, Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 0NSNewsletter, May / June 1972 Dear All, Firstly my humble apologies for the delay in this newsletter but I have been on holiday for a few weeks. Nevertheless as the saying goes "better late…
All In the Family
by Henry Edwards Crawdaddy, Apr. 2, 1972 “When Roger Chapman’s body and voice vibrate he is not putting it on. He does not put his arms in the air for any theatrical reason. It’s more like his limbs are being snatched at by some power outside him. The concert…
Family Fan Club Newsletter — March/April 1972
FAMILY FAN CLUB · Lee Whiting, 88 Queens Walk, Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 0NSNewsletter, March / April 1972 Dear All, Hope you are all well and surviving during the power cuts. We all coping fairly well. The group have just come back from a highly successful tour…
In The Talk-In: Charlie Whitney
by Jerry Gilbert Family guitarist Charlie Whitney had just returned to his Notting Hill home after a stint in the north of England. The following day he was going back as far as his home town of Leicester for the big match. Sammels, he thought, was well worth…
Family Fan Club Newsletter — January/February 1972
FAMILY FAN CLUB · Lee Whiting, 88 Queens Walk, Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 0NSNewsletter, January / February 1972 Dear All, Hope you had a great Christmas and a very Happy New Year. We all had a fabulous time. Among the presents the group had were:- a Scaletrix for…
Family Fan Club Newsletter — November/December 1971
FAMILY FAN CLUB · Lee Whiting, 88 Queens Walk, Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 0NSNewsletter, November / December 1971 Dear All, Firstly many apologies for the newsletter being so late and secondly it will be a short newsletter as there will be another in late December…
Family at Croydon, Fairfield Halls
Croydon, Fairfield Halls 7 November, 1971 by Dick Meadows (SOUNDS, Nov. 13, 1971) Family were bedeviled by amplification problems at Fairfield Hall on Sunday. ‘Is this P.A. ever going to work tonight then,’ singer Roger Chapman asked in despair midway through…
In Their Own Time — An Outline of the Band
By Michael Watts Phonograph Record Magazine, November 1971, pp. 7-8 AN OUTLINE OF THE BAND — In Their Own Time There's an old British maxim that occasionally finds its way into autograph books. It's called, for want of a better title, the Seven P's, and it goe…
How fearless Family found a new lease of life
by Roy Hollingworth Melody Maker, c. 30 October 1971 HOW much do you like your Family? Found it all somewhat inevitable during the last year? It’s not that Family have churned out any duffers. It’s all been quite nice, thank you. Maybe a duffer would have help…
Family Are A Man’s Band
Keith Altham, Record Mirror, 16 October 1971THEIR MUSIC is both uncompromising and aggressive but like most musical hard men they have their other side and their latest album Fearless is likely to stand a few Family fanatics on their heads when it is released…
Family Fan Club Newsletter — September/October 1971
FAMILY FAN CLUB · Lee Whiting, 88 Queens Walk, Ruislip, Middlesex HA4 0NSNewsletter, September / October 1971 Dear All, The first news I have for you is about the single and the great success of "In My Own Time". As you all must know, it went up to number 5 in…
The Truth About ‘Wild’ Roger
A contemporary press cutting on Roger Chapman, preserved here as an original scan.
At Home With The Family
Beat Instrumental – August 1971 There was a time, not so very long ago, when the word Underground had some real meaning when used to describe a rock band. Back in the richer years (excuse my nostalgia) of ’67 and ’68, musicians who were unknown to the masses w…
The Thug That Turned Into A Family Man
Disc and Music Echo – July 17, 1971 by Roy Shipston Close up on Family’s Roger Chapman A FEW YEARS ago Roger Chapman was one of the d tough guys in Leicester. When he sang in talent contests at the local palais his “heavy” friends used to go round the audience…
What to Do About Family?
BY ANDREW BAILEY (Rolling Stone, April 1, 1971) LONDON- Family’s American press clippings book is nearly empty. And What is in there is the flotsam of Family’s bad times in the States. The group’s British press clippings stuff two books and spill over into a t…
Glimtar av Family — Stockholm concert review
Salander’s mixed review confirms the 2 March concert and singles out Weider and Palmer’s violin/flute interplay and Palmer’s flute on Drowned in Wine.
Roger Chapman — finally Family come together
INTERVIEW: Jerry Gilbert Sounds, 27 February 1971, p.3 FAMILY HAVE always sought to be a band within a band, with five compatible members and a solid unit of powerhouse excitement. It is eighteen months since Poli Palmer was welcomed into the Family, but it is…
Konserthuset listing: Family advertised for 20:00
The Tuesday Nöjesguiden listing advertises Roger Chapman and Family at Konserthuset at 20:00.
Family’s return to Stockholm announced for 2 March
DN explicitly announces Family at Stockholms konserthus on 2 March and names Chapman, Townsend, Whitney, Weider and Palmer.
Family at Birmingham Town Hall
Birmingham Town Hall – Dec 5th 1970 Tony Stewart (Sounds, December 27, 1970) Family have several sides to their musical abilities, on one hand the soft intricate acoustic melodies and on the other hand, pounding music. They demonstrated both to 2,000 very rece…
'Like Being Locked in Q.E.2'
by Alan CookmanEvening Sentinel — 22 December 1970'Like being locked in Q.E.2' — Pop Spot with Alan Cookman. HEARING Family in concert must be like being locked in the engine room of the Q.E.2 for a week. You come out dazed, ears buzzing, light-headed. Their s…
Family at Royal Albert Hall
London, Royal Albert Hall, Dec. 12, 1970 review by Jerry Gilbert (Sounds, Dec. 30. 1970) Family’s performance at the Albert Hall last week was introduced with a preamble about Golden Cookie awards for the year, and also the promise of a first set acoustic and…
The Family's home again!
Leicester Mercury — 2 December 1970The Family's home again! 2,000 fans join in the fantasy. ROGER CHAPMAN is father of The Family. Formidable in vocal power and dynamic in his movement, he is the captain that transforms magic into mania. He hurls himself at im…
Family have them screaming
by J.M.J.Birmingham Evening Mail — 28 November 1970Family have them screaming — Family, Birmingham Town Hall. AFTER a good two hours of vibrant pulsating sounds, Family's followers were still screaming for more as the stage was cleared. Fluent vocalist, Roger…
Family's concert best of the year
by James BelseyEvening Post (Bristol) — 21 November 1970Family's concert best of the year — Colston Hall, Bristol. Family gave the best pop concert Bristol has seen in 1970 last night. The evening began quietly enough with gentle songs and muted music, but it…
1970 Tour Programme
Chrysalis in cooperation with Bradgate Bush presents… FAMILY and their guests Emily Muff Family… There is a lot of people who can’t cope with Family. They are mostly people who like things cooled out, who want to be assured that everything is alright really. B…
Talking It Over With The Family
Disc and Music Echo – October 31, 1970 by Gavin Petrie Latest and greatest – that’s the Family’s new album! Gavin Petrie heard an advance copy in the company of Roger Chapman and Rob Townsend – and recorded their comments. “ANYWAY” is FAMILY’s latest and proba…
Getting in the Family way
We live to play live! We couldn't live without gigging because we need that thing with an audience.
Family best so far at Boston
by Steve GoodwinLincolnshire Echo — 20 October 1970Family best so far at Boston. USUALLY, when writing reviews, an appropriate adjective to describe a performance springs readily to mind, but it is not easy to find one adequate for Family's appearance at Bosto…
A rare kind of Family
by Kevin HenryManchester Evening News — 16 October 1970WITH A SONG called "Strange Band" striking a firm note in the hit parade, the Family group seem a strange bunch to many. But there is more to the name than is usual in the hurly burly of pop, for the group…
Family Re-Recorded ‘Weaver’ For Hit!
says Nick Logan New Musical Express, week of Sept. 19, 1970 SUCH are the tribulations of creative folk that the occasions when a completed piece of work meets all demand of it are few and far between. There must be a great many musicians who listen to their ol…
Family LP at budget price
(New Musical Express, week of Sept. 19, 1970) AN album by Family is to be released on Warner-Reprise’s 19s. lld. budget label Valiant in mid-December. Titled “Old Songs, New Songs,” it was originally compiled for the American market only, to tie in with the gr…
Family at Gröna Lund — Eva Geijerstam’s review
Geijerstam praises Family’s imaginative, strongly swinging music, while describing listeners gradually leaving despite the quality of the performance.
Gröna Lund programme: Family’s advertised Saturday slots
The same-day programme advertises Family at 23:00 on Stora Scenen and separately at 20:15 at Revolution; both slots are not independently confirmed as played.
Family previewed for Gröna Lund’s pop festival
Henrik Salander presents Family among the festival’s overseas attractions and praises their musical quality and Chapman’s distinctive voice.
Family Progressing On Two Fronts
from Melody Maker, August 1970 Two factors were particularly evident from Family’s appearance at Croydon’s Fairfield Hall on Sunday. One is that the group is now operating in two definite areas of development , and the other is that bassist violinist John Weid…
A Family Outing
…or the ‘hassles’ side of festivals by Nick Logan New Musical Express, June 1970 FOR groups, particularly the newer ones, the advantages of festivals are that they can be short cuts to the top. The disadvantages re: the backstage hassles, not so acute at the b…
Family closer to progressive jazz
by J.M.Leicester Mercury — 29 May 1970KEEPING ahead of pop trends can be a hazardous road for bands. Choose the wrong track and end up lost: choose the right and run the risk of having ideas hijacked. So can someone explain how Family manage to keep on survivi…
Hollywood Music Festival review
Evening Sentinel — 26 May 1970Following Sutch were the magnificent Family, a band with a tremendous number of ardent fans. It is not hard to understand why. From their first brilliant number "The Weaver's Answer" Family displayed great musical talent far beyon…
Meet the top teeny pop group
by Steve HarrisNorthern Echo Teesside — 23 May 1970Meet the top teeny pop group — Steve Harris probes the enigma of the Family on the eve of their Newcastle performance. UNDERGROUND is as nebulous as any expression spawned by the frenetic world of pop. Someone…
Dancing in the Aisles
by J.M.J.Birmingham Evening Mail — 21 May 1970"Family," Birmingham Town Hall. THE raw, insistent sounds created by "Family" entranced the audience last night. Some sat hypnotised in their seats while others, spurred on by the primitive, pounding beat, danced i…
It’s not all ‘Family’ fun in America-says Roger
Disc and Music Echo – May 9, 1970 FAMILY did their first British date for some time this weekend at the Camden Rock Festival, held in London’s Roundhouse after being in America for two months. And they were glad to be back. Said warbling singer Roger Chapman…
We Want To Sell Family Honestly
by Nick Logan New Music Express, March 28, 1970 Singer Roger Chapman got laryngitis in Boston; had his passport stolen in New York so the band had to play Canadian dates without him; Rick Grech quit mid-tour to join Blind Faith; they had kit pinched; “little b…
Family – Cinderella group making good
by Nick Logan, New Musical Express, circa Spring 1970 “WHAT’S happening to Family?” is a plea that’s had frequent airings over the past year or so among those a little baffled that a group with such talent could apparently get stuck on the same rung for so lon…
Tony Norman hears ‘A Song For Me’
Top Pops – January 24, 1970 by Tony Norman Some weeks before Christmas I sat in on a Family recording session at the Olympic studios just south of the river. At that time new man John ‘Polly’ Palmer was dubbing on vibes to a track that had already been recorde…
The Family Way Of Life
Disc and Music Echo – January 24, 1970 Listen-in A series in which pop people answer some awkward questions This week Family’s Roger Chapman Interviewer: Roy Shipston THIS IS Family, “the least known group in the world,” according to their record company. But…
Leicester 'Family' Forecast Top Pop Sound Of The 70's
Full-page year-end retrospective by Pete Barraclough predicting Family's 1970s prospects: "WITH ONLY A FEW DAYS to go before a change of decade there have been several 'round up' attempts at predicting the top British groups of the 70s… Family really are the…
FAMILY AT TIMES TOO INVENTIVE
Day-after review of the 4 December 1969 De Montfort Hall homecoming — rich Chapman-stage-gymnastics detail and a surprise Ric Grech final-number appearance: "THE prophets came home last night. And they were honoured. Family (Roger Chapman, John Whitney, John P…
The Family come home (Leicester Chronicle, 28 Nov 1969)
Preview of the 4 December 1969 De Montfort Hall homecoming concert, with a key dating note on the Jim King departure: "LEICESTER'S leading group, Family, make one of their rare 'home' appearances next Thursday when they give a concert at the De Montfort Hall.…
We’d Be Delighted To Hit The Charts
Top Pops – November 8, 1969 by Tony Norman WE’D BE DELIGHTED TO HIT THE CHARTS – SO SAY FAMILY! and ‘No Mule’s Fool ‘ could do just that! AND so another change takes place and Family – move on. Jim King has departed with his saxophone. He will be remembered by…
New Lease Of Life For Family
Beat Instrumental – October 1969 “It’s hard to say whether Family have been going for two years or four months,” says Roger Chapman, the group’s lead singer. Family faced something of a mini-crisis when bassist Ric Grech left to join Blind Faith, for they were…
ROGER CHAPMAN of Family on the latest sounds in Blind Date
(Melody Maker, September 27, 1969)COUNTRY JOE AND THE FISH: “Here I Go Again” (Vanguard) What’s this? It really reminds me of someone. It has a very American sound but nowadays lots of English groups have that sound. In fact they could be English. Whoever it i…
Top Pops Exclusive
Top Pops – July 19, 1969 by Tony Norman LIKE A LOT of people, it took me a long time to appreciate Family. I remember interviewing them last Summer and paying little attention to an album “Music In A Doll’s House” which I was given to help me write the feature…
'In the wrong job' says father of son who can earn more than the Prime Minister
Full-page profile of Ric Grech and his father Mykola Grech at the time of the Blind Faith Hyde Park debut. Mykola (Ukrainian-born, Leicester-based) speaks about his son's choice of career, the £6,000 fees and $20,000 American earnings, the family's Leicester h…
Gold and dross at the Pop Proms
Geoffrey Cannon's Arts Guardian column on the Royal Albert Hall Pop Proms week (Roy Guest promoting; Incredible String Band, Chuck Berry, The Who, plus the Rolling Stones' forthcoming Hyde Park free concert). Family get a tangential mention at the close, on di…
Blind Faith
[excerpts from MOJO, July 1996]On Ric Grech joining the band (p. 48): “…As he had done in Traffic, Winwood was playing bass lines on his organ but it was obvious that, to have complete freedom to play at his best, a bass player was required. Clapton had admire…
Family (Beat Instrumental, April 1969)
Beat Instrumental, April 1969 It started off with a piece of wistful violin with penny whistle coming in after that with a touch of drums. All very melancholic. And then it began to build up and up until it wa all there, wild rocky and the fuzz box working ove…
Keeping It In The Family…
Disc and Music Echo – March 29, 1969 by Hugh Nolan ON THE EVE of their first (and doubtless triumphant) trip to the States the Family find themselves in the somewhat peculiar position of being one of our very best groups with a huge following without ever havi…
The original Family way
Major Arts Guardian feature on Family at the time of Family Entertainment release and the eve of the debut US tour. Key passages: "FAMILY is the most original and ambitious of the British bands that have not fully emerged from the club circuit. I first heard t…
Underground sound (Newcastle City Hall preview)
Same-day preview of Family's Newcastle City Hall concert: "FAMILY are a group whose amazing versatility has thrust them into the forefront of the musical business in no time at all. Between them the group play at least 16 different instruments and four of the…
Family's Changed Ideas
By Ian Middleton Record Mirror, c. December 1968 THESE days pop groups contain more and more multi-instrumentalists, take Family for example. The five members can perform on ten different instruments thereby obtaining some very interesting sounds. Pop musician…
Cash Box ad — Music In A Doll's House
(CashBox, Nov. 30, 1968) Family is new. They are recognized not so much as just another pop sound, but as a valid art form in much the same way as artists admired by Family – Traffic, Dylan and Joe Cocker. You think of Family and it’s introverted, it’s knowing…
Family in London: Ludvig Rasmusson’s 1968 assessment
Ludvig Rasmusson places Family among the most interesting bands he heard in London, praising their versatility and distinctive sound.
Family Emerge From Underground
Top Pops – October 26, 1968 by Tony Norman FAMILY are a group who started Underground and now are moving steadily overground and appealing to many more than the select elite of Middle Earth. In fact their latest single, “Second Generation Woman”, is being tipp…
Family blues / Away with the mysticism
Preview of the Saturday 21 September 1968 'Blues — old and new' concert at Manchester Free Trade Hall, sponsored by the Manchester Sports Guild. Full Family paragraph: "'Blues — old and new' is the name of a concert sponsored by Manchester Sports Guild to be s…
It’s All In The Family
Beat Instrumental – September 1968 by Rick Sanders ONE of the most powerful launches for a new group was recently laid on for the Family. Only they aren’t a new group. Says lead singer Roger Chapman: “We’ve been playing together for years, with varying degrees…
Beat Instrumental — Family feature (1968)
An original 1968 Beat Instrumental feature scan preserved in the Family Bandstand archive.
The Family Way…
Disc and Music Echo – August 3, 1968 author unknown TO CALL the Family unusual is about an adequate a description as calling the Atlantic Ocean wet; but they are and it is. For many, many months pop’s legendary in-world have been talking about this group from…
Leicester's 'Family' Makes First L.P.
Same-day feature announcing the LP release and the 25 July De Montfort Hall appearance on the Tim Hardin tour: "'The Family' will be at the De Montfort Hall this Thursday, on the Tim Hardin tour. These five young men from Leicester have so impressed Reprise Re…
Family Finding Their Feet
Mid-1968 career-arc feature six days before the Me My Friend / Hey Mr Policeman single release. Key excerpts: "To be a group like the Family rise to such good levels of commercial success gives not only the artists a pleasant sense of achievement, but those wh…
Dave Mason to Produce Family
(unknown newspaper clipping, circa early 1968 )Dave Mason, who quit the Traffic last week to go into record production, will produce the first single and LP by new British rave group, the Family. The Family – a five-strong outfit from Leicester consisting of R…
Dave Mason to look after Family
Early announcement of Dave Mason's new role producing Family — placed in the music column after notes on Mason's departure from Traffic. Text (tail of column): "Mason is leaving and this bright bubble may burst. The future of Traffic should look bright, but fu…
Family — publicity leaflet (Liberty)
publicity leaflet circa Nov. 1967 On November 1st, after six months preparatory work, FAMILY arrived. The place – Sibylla’s, the audience – 150 of the most critical music men in the business: John and Cynthia Lennon, Graham Nash and Toriy Hicks (Hollies), Geor…
First provinces [album] to be cut in Leicester (Family career feature)
Published page 14 of the Leicester Mercury, Thursday 12 October 1967 — a Records-page double feature by Mike Stretton (headline 'First provinces [album] to be cut in Leicester') covering both O'Hara's Playboys' upcoming Nite Owl Fontana LP session (the 'first…
Liberty Presents THE FAMILY (press release)
(Liberty Records promotion for 1st Family single, 1967)LIBERTY’S SECOND BRITISH PRODUCED SINGLE ‘SCENE THROUGH THE EYE OF A LENS’ ‘Gypsy Woman’ THE FAMILY LBF 15031 Release Date – 13th October ‘SCENE THROUGH THE EYE OF A LENS’ is a most original opus, which in…
One of the groups did not exist!
Report on the Monday 21 November 1966 Quaintways / Wall City Jazz Club gig in Chester. Promoter Gordon Vickers of 31 Cambrian-avenue, Chester, had booked 'The Roarin' Sixties beat group four months ago with an agent in Manchester' — then two months later booke…
Stand By For Ike And Tina Plus The Family!
Preview of the 21 October 1966 Ike & Tina Turner Revue at Granby Halls. Earliest documented print use of the 'Family' billing: 'Also appearing with the Turners, who are bringing their entire revue with them (including The Kings of Rhythm and The Ikettes), will…
For The 'Roaring Sixties', Fashion Turns Full Circle (They Also Deserve A Change Of Fortune)
Sandison's 12–21 Page feature — the main trade-press treatment of the Farinas → Roaring Sixties rebrand. New five-member group photograph in sharp suits. Quotes: 'No longer the Farinas, these five gentlemen with the sharp suits and sharper sound have undergone…
Classified: Farinas → 'Roaring 60's' name change announcement
Classified advert placed by the band's then-management. Full text: 'THE FARINAS WISH IT TO BE KNOWN THAT AS FROM TODAY THEY WILL APPEAR AS "ROARING 60's". ALL INQUIRIES: Great Glen 393'. The primary source for the Farinas → Roaring 60's rename date. (See 18 Au…
Another club to brighten up Leicester's night life (Burlesque opening retrospective)
Sandison's '12–21 Page' column retrospective on the Burlesque Club's 10 April opening-night: George Neal 'claims he is the youngest club owner in the world' — probably an exaggeration, but 'he were to claim being the owner of one of the brightest clubs in Leic…
Quite a 'beat' package!
Feature on the 27 May De Montfort Hall Farinas / Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers support bill, tongue-in-cheek wish that Tony Esquire, Mozzletoff, Farinas and Broodly-Hoo 'get together as a package'. Notes the same-night Who booking at Granby Halls would spl…
Comments (3)
Nice reviews of the ‘No Mule’s Fool’ and ‘Today’ singles, but does anyone know which music papers they came from?
Hi Roger,
Just wondered if you rec’d my email and any comments you might have. Also, have you come across this Roger Chapman quote on ‘The Weaver’s Answer’? Would love to know where it’s from.
“I know exactly where I was when I wrote ‘The Weavers Answer.’ We had a gig up north and I finished it overnight, in the van on the way. I was dozing, I woke up and just started writing it. What state I was in is another story! It was back in the days when people used to stay up for five nights on the trot. We didn’t really let a day go by without some form of stimulation, a bit of dope or this and that and the other. I started writing and it all came tumbling out. I had no sense of the music when I wrote it, and I don’t think there was much editing or revising. That was it, and it never changed it was normal for me to write quickly. I was quite prolific.”
Many thanks,
Mick White
Hi I have the ticket to the de Montfort concert in May 1970, if yo would like to add image to you wonderful site.