Cressida were a British progressive rock band, best known for their mellow, symphonic sound. Originally known as Charge, they were active from 1968 and 1970, and made two albums for Vertigo in the label's classic 'swirl' period.
The roots of Cressida were sown in March 1968, when guitarist John Heyworth answered an ad in Melody Maker, and a couple of weeks later travelled to London by overnight bus to join The Dominators, a band whose situation he later described as "hopeless - until Angus Cullen applied for the lead singer spot". He and Heyworth hit it off immediately,
and Heyworth was invited to stay at Cullen's family flat in Barkstone Gardens near Earl's Court. The pair settled down to some serious writing, eventually welcoming bassist Kevin McCarthy and drummer Iain Clark to the fold and now calling themselves Charge.
The band's early setlists included covers by the likes of The Doors ("Spanish Caravan"), The Drifters ("Save The Last Dance For Me") and Spirit ("Fresh Garbage"), alongside original compositions by Cullen and Heyworth. In the Summer of 1969, shortly after returning from a German tour, the band's organist Lol Coker decided to leave, and moved back to Liverpool to marry his Swiss girlfriend and take over his father's business. He had stayed just long enough to play on the band's first demo, which soon got them a deal with the leading "progressive" label Vertigo.
01. Asylum
