Jack The Lad

In 1973 the Newcastle-spawned folk-rock outfit Lindisfarne, fresh from two successful albums and several British singles, abruptly disbanded. Alan Hull and Ray Jackson retained the original name, leaving bassist and violinist Rod Clements, drummer Ray Laidlaw, and guitarist Simon Cowe to start over. Their first move was to summon guitarist and singer Billy Mitchell, an alumnus of Lindisfarne’s earliest lineup, back from Canada. Laidlaw later recalled that the players briefly considered the Corvettes before rejecting it as too reminiscent of a rock-revival act; further suggestions such as Larry the Lamb and Atilla the Hun were also discarded until a casual remark overheard from Status Quo during a shared tour supplied the eventual handle Jack the Lad. The resulting four-piece favored a markedly earthier blend of blues and jazz than the progressive-leaning Lindisfarne, and Charisma Records, still hoping the split would produce two viable acts, kept the musicians on its roster. Three albums followed, yet these studio efforts captured little of the band’s actual identity. Beginning in tiny pubs and gradually advancing to bigger halls and festivals, Jack the Lad became celebrated for an unrestrained stage presence that mixed comically extended spoken introductions with deliberately absurd instrumental antics bordering on theatrical chaos. Appearances on The Old Grey Whistle Test magnified this approach, delivering even more intricate and seemingly disordered performances whose underlying intelligence matched the players’ technical command. Clements exited in 1974 to pursue session opportunities created by demand for his violin work and was succeeded by Phil Murray on bass and vocals together with Walter Fairbairn on guitar and vocals, both formerly of Hedgehog Pie. After issuing four albums and several non-charting singles the group dissolved in 1976. Laidlaw subsequently rejoined Alan Hull, first in Radiator and later in a reconstituted Lindisfarne that also welcomed Clements and Cowe. Murray moved to the Doonan Family Band, Mitchell formed the comedy duo Maxie and Mitch, and Fairbairn settled into steady work on the English folk circuit. Lindisfarne itself continued drawing crowds across England, especially in Newcastle, for three decades despite the sudden loss of Hull in 1996. Eventually Virgin, having absorbed the Charisma catalogue and later becoming part of EMI, reissued the three Jack the Lad albums on CD.