Taste (band)

Taste
Origin Cork, Ireland
Genres Blues rock[1]
Years active 1966–1970
2000–present
Labels Verve, Polydor, Major Minor
Associated acts Rory Gallagher
Members John Wilson
Sam Davidson
Albert Mills
Past members Rory Gallagher
Eric Kitteringham
Norman Damery
Richard McCracken

Taste is an Irish rock and blues band formed in 1966. Its founder was songwriter and musician Rory Gallagher.

History

Taste (originally "The Taste") was formed in Cork, Ireland, in August 1966 as a trio consisting of Rory Gallagher on guitars and vocals, Eric Kitteringham on bass, and Norman Damery on drums.[2] In their early years Taste toured in Hamburg and Ireland before becoming regulars at Maritime Hotel, an R&B club in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

In 1968 Taste began performing in the UK where the original lineup split up. The new lineup formed with Richard McCracken on bass and John Wilson on drums.[2] The new Taste moved permanently to London where they signed with the record label Polydor. In November 1968, the band, along with Yes, opened for Cream at Cream's farewell concerts. While with Polydor, Taste began touring the United States and Canada with the British supergroup Blind Faith. In April 1969, Taste released the first of their two studio albums, the self-titled Taste, with On the Boards following in early 1970,[2] the latter showing the band's jazz influences with Gallagher playing saxophone on numerous tracks.

One performance came in 1970 as part of the Isle of Wight Festival, alongside Jimi Hendrix and The Who. According to Donal Gallagher (Rory's brother who managed the band) film maker Murray Lerner had given instructions to his crew to shoot just two numbers from the new bands and to save the main film stock for Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Leonard Cohen and the other headliners but Taste’s performance prompted him to change his instructions:

"Murray didn’t know who Taste were but when he saw the spontaneity of the band and the audience and their interaction, he just told his guys keep filming and they just kept going and captured over an hour of the performance which was quite incredible."

Later the same year Taste toured Europe but were disbanded due to numerous reasons, the details of which are still unclear; but are generally acknowledged as having been due to managerial disputes and also tensions between Gallagher and the rest of the band, who wanted to be recognised as equals with him (Gallagher having been the sole songwriter in the band). They performed their last show on New Year's Eve in Belfast.[3] Wilson and McCracken immediately formed 'Stud' in early 1971, with Jim Cregan and John Weider, while Gallagher went on to pursue a solo career.

Some years after the band's break up, earlier recordings featuring the original line-up emerged.

A musical homage to Taste and Gallagher was made by Black 47 in their song "Rory", released on 1998's Green Suede Shoes album.

Personnel

Members

Current members
  • John Wilson – drums (1968–1970, 2000–present)
  • Sam Davidson – guitars, vocals (2000–present)
  • Albert Mills – bass (2000–present)
Former members
  • Rory Gallagher – guitars, vocals, saxophone, harmonica (1966–1970; died 1995)
  • Eric Kitteringham – bass (1966–1968; died 2013)
  • Norman Damery – drums (1966–1968)
  • Richard McCracken – bass (1968–1970)

Line-ups

Years Lineup
August 1966–August 1968
  • Rory Gallagher – guitars, vocals, saxophone, harmonica
  • Eric Kitteringham – bass
  • Norman Damery – drums
August 1968–December 1970
  • Rory Gallagher – guitars, vocals, saxophone, harmonica
  • Richard McCracken – bass
  • John Wilson – drums
December 1970–February 2000

Disbanded

February 2000–present
  • John Wilson – drums
  • Sam Davidson – guitars, vocals
  • Albert Mills – bass

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Year Album UK Label
1971 Live Taste 14 Polydor
Live at the Isle of Wight 41
1978 In Concert — Ariola
2010 Live in San Francisco — M Bop / Disonic

Boxset

Year Album UK Label
2015 I'll Remember — Polydor

Singles

Compilations

DVDs

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ Taste. AllMusic
  2. 1 2 3 Roberts, David (1998). Guinness Rockopedia (1st ed.). London: Guinness Publishing Ltd. pp. 168–169. ISBN 0-85112-072-5.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 369–370. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/9/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.