Family

Family 1968 – Music In A Doll’s House insert photo by Julian Cottrell – l-r John Whitney (guitars), Jim King (sax, vocals, harmonica), Rob Townsend (drums), Ric Grech (bass, vocals, violin), Roger Chapman (vocals)

Family playlist

Contributors: Merric Davidson & Peter Viney

Out of the ashes of The Farinas (named initially after Richard & Mimi Farina and later to become The Roaring Sixties) rose the cataclysmic … Family. From their first single, Scene Through The Eye Of A Lens, to the last album, It’s Only A Movie, here’s ten of the best from Leicester’s finest – one of the top live bands of the late sixties, and that’s selling them short. The Family sound was certainly distinctive. Like no other. Gifted musicians, tight like a drumskin. Original, stunning songs. Forever on the road; famously, some of these experiences were (allegedly) captured by Jenny Fabian for her 60s pulp shocker, Groupie.

Ahead of its time that first LP – the instant classic – Music In A Doll’s House (1968), mostly produced by Traffic’s Dave Mason and represented here by See Through Windows. But it could have been any one of several, so complete is the album that it still sounds to me like one long, psychedelic soundtrack. This was the unbeatable line-up: John Whitney (lead guitar), Ric Grech (bass & violin), Jim King (sax), Rob Townsend (drums) and Roger Chapman (vocals); to call Chappo a vocalist is to seriously undervalue his remarkable, glass-shattering voice. It was this extraordinary range that appealed but, in equal measure, drove people away. I couldn’t understand that then and I don’t get it now. There are many distinctive voices in rock but none quite like the distorted sounds that emerged from the throat of the crazy-limbed, wild-eyed, Roger Chapman. It was the group’s calling card for good or bad, and it was alright with me.

With The Weaver’s Answer from the all-round excellent second album, Family Entertainment, Chapman’s voice reached new heights in a towering performance of a concert favourite. Another classic. Family Entertainment was a hard act to follow. I’ve controlled myself by picking only three tracks from it but Emotions, Hung Up Down, From Past Archives and Dim could all fit the bill.

Over the previous three years or so, Family had become firm rock festival regulars playing at all the major events. Things were on the up and looking good. Then Ric Grech famously left the “Strange Band” during a first American tour to join the super-short-lived-group, Blind Faith. It was, in the vernacular of the time, a bit of a bummer.

Grech was replaced on bass by John Weider (ex-Animals). The third album, A Song For Me, didn’t quite rise above the previous album, although the first track, Drowned In Wine, was Family at its peak with Chapman on top form (see 1971 Glastonbury clip above). It was the group’s second Top Ten album and still sounds fine, often experimental, and you’ll find reward therein.

I’ll let my co-contributor take up the Family story from here.

Merric Davidson

When I was at university, I bought only around a dozen LPs in three years, and two were Music In A Doll’s House and Family Entertainment. I saw them live three or four times then, including a memorable one where they arrived in Hull without equipment after a van breakdown and had to borrow the support’s gear. I’ll never forget the support band’s terrified faces as Chappo swung their precious microphone in wide arcs inches above the audience.

To me, their two outstanding achievements are Music In A Doll’s House and Fearless. Fearless is quite a different band. Poli Palmer had replaced Jim King for A Song For Me in late 1969, adding keyboards, synth, vibes and flute rather than the sax which was a hangover from their soul band days. Then John Wetton replaced Jim Weider, and it was a conscious choice to add a strong vocalist behind Chapman. This Fearless / Bandstand line up, who again I saw twice, had a much more muscular sound, and with Chapman, Wetton and Palmer singing, they now had three vocalists, with Palmer singing lead on Larf And Sing. When you have a hugely distinctive lead voice, it’s framed by other singers, as with Chapman and Wetton on Spanish Tide and Save Some For Thee. I’d want to take the first four tracks from Fearless in a row, as presented: Between Blue And Me, Sat’d’y Barfly, Larf And Sing, Spanish Tide plus Save Some For Thee. The remastered CD has detailed notes, where Poli Palmer reveals that Sat’d’y Barfly has himself and John Wetton on pianos and Chapman on bass. Then they added tuba over the bass line.

Then to Bandstand, same line-up, amazing album cover too. You’d want to take Broken Nose and My Friend The Sun in addition to Burlesque. According to the sleeve notes, Pete Townshend and Keith Moon heard Burlesque in the studio and persuaded them it was a single.

It’s Only A Movie comes after Wetton had moved to King Crimson, replaced by guitarist Jim Cregan, formerly Blossom Toes, later the centre of Rod Stewart’s touring band, but unusually playing bass with Family. Tony Ashton replaced Palmer.

Reprise Records had huge faith in Family. I believe they were the first band to get their own company paper 45 sleeve, a sleeve which persists into their last work on their own Reprise sub-label, Raft. They couldn’t break in America, inexplicably I think, though conspiracy theorists put it down to an incident in 1969 where Chapman’s trade mark swinging mic just missed taking off promoter Bill Graham’s face. It’s very hard to see why they didn’t achieve Led Zeppelin/Jethro Tull levels of acclaim and sales in the USA. They were a more original and interesting band than either.

Only ten? That’s the trouble. I agree with most of MD’s selection, but I’d have to find room for the later stuff. I also love everything on Music From A Doll’s House, and Dave Mason adds a psych Traffic feel on production and it has Me My Friend, Mellowing Grey, The Breeze, The Chase … they’re all fighting for a place. Old Songs or New Songs? Play straight R&B, then turn it right on its head? Family always has a sense of humour.

Peter Viney

A 14-CD limited edition box set of Family’s back catalogue was released earlier this year. Once Upon A Time comes at a hefty price and is for committed fans only. The packaging has had mixed reviews but it does contain a 72 page book. Shop around.

A Family Affair

Roger Chapman Appreciation Society

Family biography (Apple Music)

Following the break-up of Family, and the subsequent Streetwalkers, Roger Chapman embarked on a long solo career and if there’s someone out there who can distil that output for Toppermost, we’d be delighted to hear from you.

Merric Davidson is a retired publisher who started this site in 2013. He tweets toppermost @AgeingRaver.

Peter Viney has been an educational author and video scriptwriter since 1980. He has written articles on The Band, Van Morrison and Bob Dylan. He also writes novels under the name Dart Travis and writes on popular music, theatre and film at his

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