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Mr
Quimby's Beard's
(A
not so brief )
Band
History
Founding
band members Kidd, Ray, and Hardy have worked together in many
musical guises off and on since 1983. In '91 they started what was
initially a "recording only" project using the new name of
"Mr. Quimby's Beard", producing 4 albums worth of material
during the next two years.
In 1993, Kidd joined the spacerock band "Afresco
Mantis" as a flute player. At the time Afresco Mantis were
looking for a supporting act and it was suggested that MQB play a
gig with them. So Hardy, Ray and Kidd decided to take the project to
the next logical step and, taking them up on the offer, they became
an actual live band.
Asking
fellow Sunderland musicians Gaz and Eddy Barrow to join them in
their new venture, MQB's first line up was in place by 1993. With
Ray on Guitar/Vocals, Kidd on Bass/Vocals, Hardy on Keyboards/Synths/Vocals/FX,
with Eddie Barrow on Guitars and Gaz on Drums they performed live as
MQB for the first time 6 weeks later. The line up stayed this way
until 1994, when Eddie Barrow decided to leave the band amicably for
various personal reasons. MQB spent the next three months as a 4
piece outfit.
(Kidd,
Ray, Hardy & Gaz 1994)
It was around this time that MQB and Stone
Premonitions linked up when Tim Jones and Terri B. put an
advertisement in a local music news letter in '94 looking for
space/psych bands to promote. MQB sent a demo to them, but never
really expected a reply. Fortunately for MQB, Tim & Terri loved
it for what it was and had the foresight to see that the band had a
lot of potential if they could only be allowed an opportunity to
record in a proper studio.
It was as a four piece and during this time that they recorded their
self titled first album subsequently released as a cassette by Stone
Premonitions. Shortly after this release Dave (Thrash Bastard)
Thorburn joined them on guitar, playing a few live gigs with MQB and
appearing on the CD "Out There". Davey "Bongos"
Johnson also guested during the summer of '94 at Gaz's request to
add extra percussion. He too played a few live gigs with MQB and you
can hear his recorded bongo tracks on the song "Snake
Dance" from the CD "Out There".
In November of '94, after several labels showed some interest, Mr.
Quimby's Beard signed to Demi-Monde
who released their album "Out There" on CD in 1997. MQB's
track "Travelling", taken from the "Out There"
album, was also featured alongside the likes of Amon Duul II,
The Groundhogs, and Mother Gong on the Demi-Monde compilation CD
release "Welcome to the World of...".
After not showing up for a gig in December of '94, Dave Thorburn was
asked to more fully commit to the band or leave and MQB had to make
the difficult decision for him in January of '95 when he didn't show
up once again. Spencer Arkley (guitar) replaced Dave and played live
with MQB from spring '95 until the summer '96. Spencer was a great
guitarist and entertainer, but the intense non-musical differences
between Spencer and Gaz in the summer of '96 proved to be just too
much for Ray and Hardy They decided to call the present incarnation
of MQB quits, but with the idea of starting it up again in the
future.
Hardy went back into the studio near the end of 1997 and started
working on a follow up to his solo album "The Light" which
was recorded after the completion of "Out There". As Ray
& Kidd became more and more involved in the project, it was
decided to reunite with Gaz to make this the 3rd MQB release and to
also have Tim Jones (guitar/narration) & Terri B. (backing
vocals) as guests on this album.
Mr Quimby’s Beard had actually recorded their first two albums
with Tim as engineer before anyone even knew he played lead guitar!
On finding this out MQB persuaded Tim to play on the album and he
really did a great job! That's also Tim's voice that you hear
on "A Glimmer Of Hope". Unfortunately, Tim & Terri
have never played live with MQB because their involvement in other
projects like "The Rabbits Hat", "A Body Full Of
Stars", and "Census Of Hallucinations" were already
taking up all their time.
Then, after almost 3 years in the making, the year 2000 saw the
release of MQB's 3rd album "The Definitive Unsolved Mysteries
of....". The album received much critical acclaim from both the
music press and the public and the first pressing was completely
sold out within 6 months of its debut.
After having moved away a few years earlier to become a school
teacher, Jim Walton (guitarist and a founding member of Afresco
Mantis) returned to the NE area of England in 1999. MQB were looking
for a guitarist at the time so they asked Jim to join MQB,
which he did.
Soon after, Gaz left the band in mid rehearsal because of musical
differences and then dropped out of sight. It was Gaz's leaving that
paved the way for Jim's brother Chris Walton (drums) to join MQB.
Chris was also a founding member of Afresco Mantis, but unlike
brother Jim, he is still with them today. He soon became a valued member of both bands and a very talented artist who's
responsible for the "Out There" inner sleeve and the
artwork on "The Light".
(Jim
& Chris 2000)
2001 saw MQB successfully complete their 1st
USA tour, aided by Strange-Trips
and the amazing “Solar Fire Lightshow” and supported by amongst
others, Ex Hawkwind members Harvey
Bainbridge and Nik Turner.
The year ended with MQB being invited to open for Hawkwind
at their 2001 Xmas party at “The Forum” London UK, an invitation
they duly accepted.
(The
Forum, London 2001)
Spring
2002 saw MQB gigging throughout the UK & Europe, starting in
March when they played in their home town (Sunderland) with The
Ozric Tentacles. This was followed up with a small
European tour. Once again aided by the "Solar Fire
Lightshow" MQB played gigs in Denmark, Holland, Germany & Belgium. In
the Summer of 2002 MQB played a few one off gigs
including The Sonic Rock Solstice Festival, a gig at Hastings Pier
(supporting Hawkwind), and Hawkfest 2002 in Devon, England.
(Hawkfest 2002) 2003
proved to be a quiet year for Mr Quimby's Beard, only playing a
couple of shows. Hawkfest 2003 where they played twice and a 10th anniversary
show in Sunderland, supported by Harvey Bainbridge and old friends
Afresco Mantis. On this occasion the visual FXs were provided by the
Chaos Illumination Lightshow. 
(The
Manor Quay, Sunderland, with Harvey Bainbridge) To
Be Continued...................
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