IAN HARRIS has had a lengthy career as a musician, as a songwriter, and as an album cover artist! In this interview, Ian details his career early on as a musician in a band with Alan Parsons, as well as his lengthy association and some of the album covers he did for WISHBONE ASH. And along the way some interesting stories of those he came in contact with through his art or through his music.
Can you tell me a bit about THE EARTH? What was the time frame of this band, and can you tell me about a few of the other players, whom had some interesting rock connections, as well as big opportunites, opening slots, etc…?
The Earth evolved from my previous band in the mid 1960’s – Conviction – formed in 1964 with 3 mates from school in North West London. We were Mods, loved Blues & Soul music and thought it would be a great idea to play cover versions of our favourite music to fellow Mods. We would check out bands playing at our local clubs and go ‘Up West’ to The Marquee, Flamingo etc. in Soho. The Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton, Graham Bond Organization with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, Zoot Money, Chris Farlowe, even seeing Howling Wolf, Sonnyboy Williamson and many more play live. At that time the band members were Ian Harris vocals, Barry Mitchell Bass guitar, Phil Brockton Drums and Alan Owen Guitar. We were semi pro and played local gigs.
As our music progressed, we needed a more proficient lead guitar player and in 1967 we put an ad in Melody Maker for a lead guitarist, very few answered but along came a guy who knocked us out – Alan Parsons – who at that time was working in the EMI factory in Hayes. His audition piece was Jeff’s Boogie by Jeff Beck; we couldn’t believe our luck!
With Alan Parsons in the band our set list expanded beyond our expectations playing cover versions of Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, Cream and Blues songs. We began getting more gigs, changing our name along the way to The Earth. In 1968 I answered an Ad in Melody Maker for a band to run Ronnie Scott’s Old Place in Soho, we got the gig, played Friday and Saturday nights from 10pm to 4am and changed the name of the club to The Coffin. This was the autumn of 1968 the time of the Blues Boom in the U.K. we became well known and the club was packed out; we even had jam sessions in the small hours attracting jazz and blues musicians. An A&R scout from Mercury Records spotted us one night and offered us a deal to write and record an album, with one proviso, he wanted to expand the band and add an Organ player, we agreed apart from Alan Owen who sadly left the band. So now with new member Roy Quilley on Hammond Organ, we booked a rehearsal studio and wrote 8 or 9 songs in a week.
I had been writing lyrics for a few years and had an exercise book of ideas, the band wrote the bones of the songs, and I sang the top line melodies. It was quite amazing how well Roy fitted in; we had only just met but the guys were all great musicians and gelled immediately. In December 1968 we recorded the album in Studio 2 Regent Sounds Studios. The whole album took only one day, it was a Sunday, I can visualise it now, the band playing the songs live in the studio and me overdubbing my vocals nearly losing my voice in the process, a truly great experience. We were all very pleased with the result and Alan Parsons helped mix it (by this time he was George Martins 2nd engineer at Abbey Road Studios working with The Beatles). I still have the songwriting publishing contracts, one shilling in old money up front!
Did the band name ever come into conflict or overlap with the band ‘Earth’ that went on to become Black Sabbath?
This is where Ozzy Osbourne comes into the picture…just after the recording the band split up, we disagreed about musical policy with Roy, Barry and Phil joined another band and went pro and Alan Parsons was too busy at Abbey Road, so I was left with the only shellac copy of the album. I had a good job as a commercial artist at the time. I do think that Ozzy and co had seen us at the Coffin Club, liked the name and called themselves Earth. They later went on to record ‘Paranoid ‘and the Black Sabbath L.P. at Regent Sounds studios by coincidence and I wonder if they heard the tapes of our album, as one track I wrote ‘Angel of Death’ (I too was a fan of Aleister Crowley) could have given them ideas, I will never know!
Barry Mitchell went on to become the Bass player in Queen for a year. He left just before they had their first hit because they weren’t doing enough gigs. He could never talk about it, now very ill and living in a nursing home. Phil Brockton became a structural engineer, never played the drums again and died at the age of 47. I am still in touch with Alan Parsons who lives in Santa Monica.
During this time, I did many speculative designs for album sleeves for my favourite bands, I was a great fan of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and one night I saw that he was playing the Marquee Club in Soho. I Had designed some sleeves for his next LP to show the band so went to the club and sneaked in through the stage door while the band were bringing their gear in. The manager of the club asked me who I was and I said I had Artwork for Arthur Brown and he let into the dressing room! Arthur arrived, I showed him my designs, and he asked me to see him the next day at Track Records offices in Old Compton Street, he introduced me to Kit Lambert and they liked my Art. I did some more rough ideas for Track Records including the next Jimi Hendrix album, but nothing came of it sadly. Arthur Brown left the label, and the Jimi Hendrix album Electric Lady Land had the notorious nude cover!
The music business back them was very loose, everyone was hustling and winging it but it was an exciting time to be alive! I also pitched an idea for a new Beatles album sleeve. My design featured a Lunar landscape with the Beatles heads carved into a rock formation (like Mount Rushmore) , this was before the first Moon landing! I did get a thanks but no thanks letter from them (now lost) and that LP became The White Album.
How did The Earth (limited) edition LP come about via Record Collector? When were these recordings from? And why/how did they come out in 2015?
In 2015 I noticed an Ad in Record Collector Magazine seeking anyone who had an unreleased album from the 60’s / 70’s for their limited edition ‘Rare Vinyl’ series, that would be me then! I called Ian Shirley, the writer and expert on rare vinyl, told him about The Earth LP and took my precious shellac album to him and he loved it, the clincher being Alan Parsons, it was Alan’s first ever recording, Ian loved it and described it as Underground Blues/Rock – Proto Prog Rock! During our conversation I told Ian I wanted to do the artwork for the sleeve as I had by this time designed quite a few L.P sleeves. I came up with the name Elemental as the four original members of the band Astrological signs were the four elements Earth Wind Fire & Water. The design just appeared once my creative juices got flowing, the lyrics being the inspiration – UFO’s – Magic – the elements – and I begged Ian to get my black pen &ink artwork printed onto Silver reflective card, ala Wheels of Fire by Cream, it cost a fortune apparently but looked amazing. The limited edition of 500 sold out within weeks and had great reviews and I re connected with Alan Parsons after many years. Alan complimented me on the cover and invited me to Abbey Road studios where he was doing a gig talking about the recording of Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd ‘s masterpiece on which he was the engineer. During his talk mentioned the fact that his first band was The Earth and the LP had just been released after 50 years gathering dust, he made me take a bow!
You also had a period as Terry Tonik in the late 70s, which is a fascinating story. Were you surprised the initial single didn’t lead to a bigger deal? You obviously have fond memories of that period.
After the demise of The Earth, I settled in to married life working as an Art editor and illustrator for Hi Fi Sound and Practical Hi Fi magazine although I continued to write and record my own songs and send cassette demo tapes to record companies, I have a pile of rejection letters! 1971, I was introduced to Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash by an old school friend of his who I knew, we hit it off right away having similar working-class backgrounds and music taste. During the 1970’s I met up with Andy backstage at many Wishbone Ash gigs and we became good friends.
In 1979 I wrote and recorded a demo of a song I had written called ‘Just A Little Mod’ about my experiences as a Mod in the 1960’s, the ‘Mod Revival’ was in full swing and I had something to say about being an original Mod! I gave the tape to Andy Powell who played it to his manager John Sherry who was planning on forming a new record company and wanted my song as the first release. (The name Posh Records derived from the first 2letters of both their surnames PO SH). We used a small recording studio I knew called Gooseberry Studios in Gerrard Street Soho which was legendary as a rehearsal room in the 60’s, Led Zeppelin had their first rehearsal there in 1968 (around the time I was playing opposite at the Coffin!). The studio was also used by The Sex Pistols and Gary Newman who recorded Are Friends Electric and Cars there.
I wrote another new song – Smashed & Blocked – for the B side, Andy produced it, played lead guitar and got an amazing drummer and bass player in for the recording session. I now needed a stage name, after a long boozy lunch next day we came up with Terry Tonik, my brothers name was Terry and Tonik was the name of the Tonik mohair suits I wore in the 60’s. I had a photo session dressed in my mohair suit and became Terry Tonik.
I designed the logo for Posh records and the 7” vinyl single sleeve, I also wrote a one-off fanzine called Talkin’ ‘bout My Generation which was all about my favourite bands in the 1960’s which we sold separately. Safe to say the charts were untroubled by the release of Just A Little Mod so Andy decided to have another crack and I recorded 3 more songs – a cover version of the 60’s protest song Eve of Destruction and 2 more of mine, Lost In A World of My Own & Wishing Your Life Away, recorded at De Lane Lea studios in Wembley with my old friend Terry Murray on guitar and the drummer from Big Country. In 1994 Record Collector mag published an article about Mod Revival and included my single as one of the rarest 7”vinyls worth £25 (now changing hands @ £70)! They didn’t have a clue who Terry Tonik was, even saying they thought it might have been Ian Dury! …. I wrote to them and they published my letter. Since then Just A Little Mod along with the other Terry Tonik tracks has been released on C.D. by Detour Records ‘A Tonik For The Nation’ available on Spotify etc., also last year Mod writer Eddie Pillar included Just A Little Mod on his Mod Revival C.D. Box set, gratifying!
Had you been around much for the Wishbone Ash album Number The Brave, with John Wetton? Any recall on John with the band?
In 1980 I did more design work for Wishbone Ash and pitched some designs for what was to become the ‘Number The Brave’ Album all of which were rejected! I found out that the design company they used – Cream – copied a WW1 poster exactly and were paid thousands for it! I was introduced to John Wetton at one of their rehearsals in London, there was a lot of tension around the band at that time, bit of a transition period after Martin Turner left, John Wetton was only bought in for the recording of that album as far as I remember, he didn’t want to tour as I recall. I do know they paid a lot of money for the design of Number the Brave and many years later I found out that the design company they used – Cream – copied a WW1 poster exactly!
Were you around for the making of the album? (Any co-writes?) As it was an interesting period with Trevor Bolder on bass (ex Bowie, Uriah Heep) and producer Ashley Howe. Any stories?
I persevered offering ideas and finally got a commission for the new WA album sleeve. I met Andy at ‘The Sol’ studios in Cookham Berkshire (owned by Jimmy Page) during the Twin Barrels Burning recording sessions and showed him some rough sketches. The band decided on an image of twin exhausts on an American Hot Rod style car and arranged a photo session of the band posing with a Hot Rod car and with further research in magazines etc I managed to capture. I painted the designs (front and back covers) with gouache on art board. The whole thing took about 2 weeks including the lettering and artwork for the actual record label. They also used the artwork for the vinyl single ‘Engine Overheat’ and a cassette release. The band were delighted with the result and I got paid £800. I was pleased with that in 1982! The album was released on AVM Records Ltd, John Sherry’s new label and peaked at No.22 on the charts in the U.K. their last showing on the charts I believe.
I do remember going to Surrey Sound when they were recording the track “My Guitar” where I was introduced to Trevor Bolder who was very reserved, nice guy. I was a bit in awe as I was a huge Bowie fan! Stuart Copeland was around then; The Police recorded at Surrey Sound and Stuart was a good friend of Andy. I wasn’t involved with any songwriting on that album and the remix and new cover was probably because of a licensing deal later on?
You did a couple of other Wishbone Ash covers, such as Strange Affair and The Power of Eternity. Both kinda old comic book / sci-fi (?) Love the Strange Affair cover, kinda like an old Dick Tracy comic. Can you tell me a wee bit about these 2, such as where ideas came from, suggestions, techniques, antidotes….?
‘Strange Affair’ was recorded at Andy Powell’s house in Buckinghamshire. He had a barn in the garden and built a modest studio there. It was all a bit weird in that place, he was trying to sell the house and move to America where his wife and kids had already moved to. Ted Turner was back in the band and Martin was the recording engineer but things were difficult. They got a deal with IRS Records (Miles Copeland’s label) and Andy got me to design the sleeve, he gave me a free hand on this one and I only liaised with the record label people. Martin Turner tried to get me to use one of his ideas, it was very hippy dippy with angels wings and not my style at all. I didn’t know what to say as Martin was a friend too so it was a bit awkward, I just did something more in keeping with the title. I love comic book art and had a ‘Strange Tales’ comic from which I adapted the lettering. I came up with a kind of Spy image, two guys in a film noir style. I thought Miles Copeland would like it ( his father was in the CIA )! Again I painted it with Gouache on art board, the record company loved the design and said it was one of the best they had seen.
The ‘Power of Eternity’ name came about when Andy was speaking to his brother Len about having the power of attorney of his affairs, Len apparently said power of eternity by mistake! I had by coincidence written a song called The Power with new guitarist Muddy Manninen who had just joined the band after his friend Ben Granfeldt left WA ( both from Finland ). The green man idea was an image I had already painted, I have been writing songs and making paintings about the environment since 1989, showed Andy the painting and he liked the idea. I added the title to the painting in a simple tattoo style of lettering and it worked out well. That album was recorded in Finland, Muddy is a great guitarist and was a perfect fit bringing a bit of heft to the sound. The Power is the opening track on the album, Muddy and I wrote many songs for Wishbone over the next few years and continue our collaboration on his and my solo projects to this day.
The other cover you did of interest, was the Indian Summer release for Record Collector. This was quite a package, along with the cover, which was obviously inspired by the original LP cover, but also all the photos, and things inside. Do you recall how you created this one? Did you get any help or feedback from bandmembers?
The Indian Summer cover came about after The Earth was released. Ian Shirley liked my work and I designed covers for 3 more releases in the Rare Vinyl series – Flare – Small Town Scenery and Indian Summer. The only clue Ian gave me about Indian Summer were the words Cactus and Fox……. That’s all he said. I had never heard of the band, knew nothing about them and he didn’t play the original album to me, all I had was the original band logo, so I had to come up with something original for a triple gate fold sleeve. I decided on a desert theme and painted slightly surreal images in neon fluorescent acrylic paint; I later found out that the original album was released by Neon Records! I played with the images of foxes and cactus and particularly like the cactus as record deck, made me smile along with the fox urinating against the cactus! I never met the band and got no feedback or input, Ian got all the ephemera and photos together, a big project.
What else have you been up to in recent years? Any new art, music, or songwriting projects?
I never stopped writing songs and in 1988 began worrying about the environment, my daughter had just been born and I wondered what kind of world I was bringing her into. I knew a couple of musicians in Brighton where I was living and we got together and wrote some songs with an environmental theme which we recorded at Martin Turners home studio. I named the band Global FX but the world wasn’t ready for us! We did get an interview on Radio 1’s News Beat at Broadcasting House and an article in the Brighton Evening Argus as “the words first environmental band” – no one cared. Not to be out done I teamed up with a musician and computer geek and we recorded some house music with an environmental theme which I released in 2017 on Spotify along with a video.I was a huge Beatle fan in my youth and actually shook hands with all four at the first Beatles convention in December 1963 at Wimbledon Palais. In 1992 I wrote a tribute song for John Lennon called The Dakota which was recorded in Connecticut with Andy Powell on guitar which you can hear on Spotify. In 2005 I was invited was invited by the BBC to add to the 25th Anniversary tribute of John’s slaying on Radio 4. They played my song The Dakota.
I have written more songs with Muddy including one for his original band in Finland Gringos Locos who made a brief comeback with an album called Second Coming. Gringos Locos toured here in 1988 and supported Status Quo at Wembley Arena, made a few albums but same old story…..! Muddy has released 2 solo albums for which I wrote a song on each and got to sing on one track. He is living in the U.K. and still gigging.
I have worked in the creative arts since leaving school at 15 in 1963. I started out as a Commercial Artist in London, followed by a period in publishing as an art editor on magazines and then in the1970’s becoming a freelance artist, painting murals for quite a few musicians including in 1979 a mural for George Harrison at his mansion Friar Park Henley on Thames where I met George and told him we last met in 1963 at the fan club convention, he thought that was great! A lovely man.
In the 80’s I dabbled in the fashion world and had a successful company designing and manufacturing high end knitwear which caught the eye of the likes of Boy George, Spandau Ballet, Howard Jones and many more musicians here and in America.
In 1995 I gave it all up and got a place at Chelsea School of Art which was a wonderful experience and changed my perspective on art. I have been painting ever since and will continue until I drop.
*Go to http://www.ianharris.me.uk and http://www.terrytonik.com for links to most of my music.
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