Christie

Hailing from Leeds, Jeff Christie entered the world in 1946 and first stepped into music through a skiffle outfit that later shifted into rock and roll, adopting the name the Outer Limits. The ensemble issued two singles before dissolving, after which Christie turned his focus toward songwriting. His demo found its way to Alan Blakely, guitarist for the Tremeloes, and soon reached the ears of Blakely’s brother Mike, a former member of both the Epics and the Acid Gallery. Impressed by the material, the brothers organized a London session in which the Tremeloes served as Christie’s backing musicians. Although none of those recordings were released, the encouragement prompted Christie to assemble his own band, recruiting Mike Blakely on drums and Vic Elmes, another veteran of the Epics and the Acid Gallery, on guitar and vocals, with Christie himself handling bass and lead vocals. The new group took Christie’s surname and signed with British CBS, quickly gaining notice as a potential British counterpart to Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Their first single, “Yellow River,” highlighted the voices of Christie and Elmes rather than the full band, since the pair’s vocals were layered over the Tremeloes’ earlier backing track. Despite its patchwork origins, the track remained on the U.K. charts for 22 weeks, topped the listings in multiple countries, and, on its Epic Records release in the United States, climbed to number 23 despite the act’s lack of touring experience there. The follow-up, the band-recorded “San Bernadino,” reached number one in Germany and number seven in England yet barely registered inside the American Top 100. The accompanying album, titled after “Yellow River,” settled into the middle ranks of the Billboard charts and lingered there for two and a half months, even though it contained several additional tracks suited for single release. At the time, Columbia president Clive Davis favored coordinated single-and-album promotion, yet the label instead chose the non-album song “Man of Many Faces” for the third single.

Heading into 1971 the lineup underwent repeated changes, among them the exit of Mike Blakely, who had grown weary of nonstop touring and was replaced by Paul Fenton. A second album did not appear until well into the year. For All Mankind moved away from the bright, commercial approach of its predecessor toward a louder, blues-inflected sound, and neither the LP nor the single “Picture Painter” matched earlier commercial results. The group regrouped once more, adding former Unit 4+2 member Howard Lubin, and recorded the buoyant new track “Iron Horse.” This effort proved to be their final substantial release together, however, as personal and professional tensions between Elmes and Christie led to the original quartet’s breakup in 1972. Elmes later established himself as a leading session guitarist and contributed to film and television scores, most notably for the science-fiction series Space: 1999. Paul Fenton joined T. Rex and has continued performing with Mickey Finn’s T. Rex into the twenty-first century, while Howard Lubin played on Ian Hunter’s 1977 album Overnight Angels. Christie kept the Christie name active into 1973 with substitute musicians and recorded for Mercury in the mid-1970s; he also used the group name as a pseudonym for sides issued on Epic and Wizard before returning to his own name for releases on the RK label during the 1980s. Disputes over the band’s name surfaced in that decade, although Christie has continued to employ it most recently, while Elmes occasionally leads a European outfit billed as Christie Again.