The Axeman cometh…….
Ian Staples – guitar, vocals.
Jon Seagroatt – bass, vocals.
Chris Hills – drums.
The Psychedelic Raiders was a classic power trio vehicle for Ian Staples’ fabulous and authentic psychedelia-laced, blues-fuelled guitar playing.
I’d tried for ages to get Ian to revisit his own 60’s legacy – something that he was fastidiously circumspect about doing.
But he was really there in underground London in the late ’60s. He was the guitarist for Ginger Johnson’s African Drummers, he played regularly at the Middle Earth Club, he supported Pink Floyd and David Bowie, befriended John Peel, Marc Bolan and Edgar Broughton, and was even on nodding terms with Hendrix. What a pedigree, AND he could do that guitar thing like nobody else living.
Finally, he agreed to give the band idea a try, so we recruited Oxford legend and Nonstop Tango batteurista, Chris Hills to the cause, and off we went.
Here’s a segue of four tracks from the Psychedelic’s sole release, ‘Cosmic Wheels’. The tracks are; ‘Your Mouth’, ‘Hey Hey’, ‘Everybody’ & ‘Billy Pilgrim’.
The segue can be downloaded for free from Soundcloud.
As well as singing publicly for the first time ever (main vocals even on some tracks, including ‘Your Mouth’ & ‘Hey, Hey’), playing bass, saxes, organ and a bit of euphonium (yup, euphonium), I recorded, mixed and produced the album.
And here’s a little video lovingly crafted by good friend, cineaste and lens-ubermeister, Colin Harrison, celebrating the release of ‘Cosmic Wheels’ in glorious Technicolor, (and using a song that’s not even on the album)! As Colin himself noted in the video publishing notes on Youtube – Warning: this video contains hyperbole, distortions and downright fibs…
Jon Seagroatt 