Chillum

Chillum took their name from a traditional Indian pipe commonly associated with marijuana use. The British progressive rock outfit was founded by keyboardist Ken Elliott and drummer Kieran O'Connor, both of whom had previously played together in Second Hand. That earlier ensemble blended psychedelia with the nascent stirrings of prog rock and issued a pair of albums in 1968 and 1971 while developing songs intended for a follow-up. Guitarist Moggy Mead and singer Rob Elliott departed during those sessions; Mead himself had joined after Bob Gibbons exited, just as bassist George Hart had replaced Nick South. When Elliott and O'Connor sought fresh guitarists, an audition with Tony McGill proved so fruitful that excerpts from their ensuing jam appeared on the forthcoming record. Retaining Hart on bass, the musicians decided to pursue purely instrumental music and adopted a new moniker to mark both the addition of McGill and their altered direction. Mushroom Records released the resulting Chillum album toward the end of 1971. Like their prior project, the band failed to register any notable chart impact and disbanded before completing a second LP. Elliott and O'Connor later reunited in the synthesizer-driven Seventh Wave, and Sunbeam Records issued an expanded version of Chillum’s lone album in 2010.