Scene Through The Eye Of A Lens

Family's debut single was issued by Liberty (LBF 15031) in October 1967 — most sources date it to 13 October, though some lists read as simply 'October'. The A-side was produced by Jimmy Miller (not, as sometimes claimed, Kim Fowley) with Steve Winwood appearing as a musical guest; the arrangement moves from a pastoral first half to a 'fully fledged faerie storm' instrumental second. The B-side was a Chapman-Whitney original titled 'Gypsy Woman' — unrelated to the Curtis Mayfield song of the same name. Promoted by Tony Hall Enterprises; Liberty's Robert Reisdorf hoped for U.S. interest, but the disc remained UK-only and did not chart. Despite John Lennon reportedly championing the track and heavy BBC play in the weeks that followed, copies have since become among the most collectable UK psych 45s of the period. An associated promotional clipping appeared in an unknown newspaper on 21 October 1967.

Leicester Mercury feature, 12 October 1967 (p.14) — on the eve of the release, Family's home-town paper led with a bullish forward-look: 'Leicester's best known group, the Family, are on the way up at last. Tomorrow sees the release of their first single for Liberty, and should mark the start of a promising career in records.' The Mercury's record column sketched the band's four-year climb in capsule form: a Shadows / Buddy Holly teenage start as James King & the Farinas, a Chuck Berry–Little Richard middle period, a jazz pivot, and a Ray Charles–James Brown R&B phase before arriving at the current line-up's 'style all of their own' — Chapman and King on twin tenor saxes over Whitney's twin-necked guitar, Grech's bass, Townsend's drums and King's soprano and harmonica. The piece confirmed the earlier August 1964 Fontana record, the short-lived Tito Burns management, the failed Pye recording test, and eight months back on day jobs before they could turn pro in April 1967 under the new manager Don Read. Addresses on file for band biographers — Jim King at 1 The Crescent, King Street; Grech at 42 Shipley Road; Chapman at 167 Knighton Road; Townsend at 29 Bassett Street; the out-of-town Whitney at 12 St Cuthbert's Avenue, Great Glen.