Chicken Shack are a British blues band, founded in the mid-1960s by Stan Webb (guitar and vocals), Andy Silvester (bass guitar), and Alan Morley (drums), who were later joined by Christine Perfect (vocals and keyboards) in 1968.The band were formed in April 1965 , naming themselves after Jimmy Smith's Back at the Chicken Shack album. Chicken shacks (chicken restaurants) had also by then frequently been mentioned in blues and rhythm and blues songs, as in Amos Milburn's hit, "Chicken Shack Boogie". Their first concert was at the 1967 National Blues and Jazz Festival at Windsor and they were signed by the Blue Horizon record label in the same year.
Chicken Shack enjoyed modest commercial success, with Christine Perfect being voted Best Female Vocalist in the Melody Maker polls, two years running.
Perfect left the band in 1969 when she married John McVie of Fleetwood Mac. Pianist Paul Raymond, bassist Andy Silvester, and drummer Dave Bidwell all left in 1971 to join Savoy Brown. In 1977 Silvester joined Los Angeles based ensemble, Wha-Koo. Webb was also recruited for Savoy Brown in the mid-1970s, and recorded the album Boogie Brothers with them.
John Glascock, later of Jethro Tull, played on Chicken Shack's Imagination Lady (1972) album.
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The group became the second major signing of the Blue Horizon record label (co-founded by Mike Veron), the first being Fleetwood Mac. Chicken Shack's first two albums,Forty Blue Fingers Freshly Packed and Ready to Serve and OK Ken?, were quite successful, with much of the credit due to the fact that they had a beautiful, talented, female keyboardist and vocalist-- something that most definitely added individuality to the group in the male-dominated late 60's music scene. Christine's version of Etta James' 'I'd Rather Go Blind' was a massive hit, and she was voted Best Female Vocalist in the Melody Maker polls two years running. After Christine married John McVie and left the band, Stan Webb did carry on with the band in various incarnations, but Chicken Shack never quite matched their earlier success. The 'irrepressible' Stan Webb still lives in Kidderminster in a house that is filled with twenty-nine years of Chicken Shack memoribilia. The talented, yet relatively unrecognized, guitarist has this to say about the way major success has eluded him: "Some people say, 'You should be on stage at the Albert Hall, not Eric Clapton.' And I think, well, I don't agree with that, but I should certainly be able to go on there as well. But I'm happy with what's happening now. I've done the years and I'm getting more respect than I ever did then. It's worked for me."
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Tracks:
1. "Baby's Got Ma Crying" (Stan Webb) – 2:25
2. "The Right Way Is My Way" (Webb) – 2:00
3. "Get Like You Used to Be" (Christine Perfect) – 3:05
4. "Pony and Trap" (Webb) – 3:00
5. "Tell Me" (Webb) - 4:40
6. "A Woman Is the Blues" (Webb, Perfect) - 2:50
7. "I Wanna See My Baby" (Perfect) – 3:30
8. "Remington Ride" (Webb) – 2:50
9. "Fishing in Your River" (Webb) – 4:30
10. "Mean Old World" (Perfect) – 3:15
11. "Sweet Sixteen" (Webb) - 6:20
Personnel:
* Stan Webb – guitar, vocals
* Christine Perfect – keyboards, vocals
* Andy Sylvester – bass guitar
* Dave Bidwell – drums
Additional Personnel
* Roderick Lee – trumpet
* Terry Noonan - trumpet
* Steve Gregory - tenor saxophone
* Buddy Beadle - alto and baritone saxophones
* Johnny Almond - tenor saxophone
* Don Fey - tenor saxophone
* Walter Horton - harmonica
Production
* Producer - Mike Vernon
>Chicken Shack - O.K. Ken (1969)<
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First published on Mar 19, 2011 by Val
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