THE FAIRIES ![]()
In about 1970, Mick Farren formed the Pink Fairies with Steve Peregrin Took – formerly the other half of Tyrannosaurus Rex with Marc Bolan, who then shortened the name to T. Rex – and Twink, the drummer for a terrific R&B band in 1964-1965 called the Fairies; he was also in Tomorrow and drummed for the Pretty Things for a while. The Pink Fairies had the same great sound as the Deviants sans the politics, though Farren dropped out almost immediately and kept his earlier band alive instead. (August 2011) * * * The band’s drummer Twink (real name: John Alder) was originally in a tough rhythm and blues band called the Fairies – it won’t be much longer before that band joins the ranks of the UARB’s – and is perhaps best known as the drummer for the Pretty Things on their ground-breaking 1968 concept album called S.F. Sorrow.
(July 2013) * * * Whatever else might be said of the Pink Fairies, the name and the “pinkness” clearly come from Twink; besides suggesting the name, he had been a member of a hard-rocking R&B band called the Fairies that formed in 1964. I first encountered this band on the Pebbles, Volume 6 LP – evidently the only LP in the entire Pebbles series to feature British music – that was subtitled “The Roots of Mod”. Three of the tracks on the LP and also the later CD, English Freakbeat, Volume 6 were by the Fairies; this was the first time in the series that a band got that many songs on an album. One of these songs, “Get Yourself Home” was later included in the second box set in the Nuggets series, Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, 1964–1969. (March 2014/1) * * * The plan was always to move directly from the Mick Farren tribute to a description of the Fairies as the Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month; Twink was in that band in 1964-1965.
Unfortunately, in November 2013, someone wrote a Wikipedia article on the Fairies, so I can’t do that now. Fortunately, it is a really good article, so check it out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairies_(British_band) .
With its fierce vocals and fine organ solo, “Sweet Love” is my favorite song by the Sons of Fred; despite its early recording date, it is probably also closest to the psychedelic-tinged freakbeat sound. “I’ll Be There” reminds me of the band that was originally slotted as the UARB for this month, the Fairies.
(March 2014/2) |