The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra (or PHLO) were an eccentric band of British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 musicians, who joined together in early 1968 to play a fusion of comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

, jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, and folk music

Folk music

Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, in a unique style which has been compared with the Temperance Seven and the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. Many of the songs performed dated from the 1920s or 1930s. Other influences included music-hall, blues and jug band

Jug band

A Jug band is a band employing a jug player and a mix of traditional and home-made instruments. These home-made instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making of sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, stovepipe and comb & tissue paper...

 music. Their eccentricity was not due to their characters and choice of music alone, but to an eclectic mix of instruments, some of them home-made, such as the 'egg-cupaphone' and the 'ballcockaphone', which was a wind instrument in which the supply of air to the reed

Reed (instrument)

A reed is a thin strip of material which vibrates to produce a sound on a musical instrument. The reeds of most Woodwind instruments are made from Arundo donax or synthetic material; tuned reeds are made of metal or synthetics.-Single reeds:Single reeds are used on the mouthpieces of clarinets...

 was controlled by toilet cistern

Cistern

A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...

 chain connected to a ballcock

Ballcock

A ballcock is a mechanism or machine for filling water tanks, such as those found in flush toilets, while avoiding overflow and backflow. The modern ballcock was invented by Joseph Bramah and Thomas Twyford..The diagrams and description ONLY apply to the USA...

.

History

The "Piggies" (as they were affectionally known), derived their unusual name from a location in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

; the section of Gloucester Road

Gloucester Road, Bristol

Gloucester Road, is a part of the A38 in north Bristol that runs through the suburbs of St. Andrews, Bishopston and Horfield. It was originally called Horfield Road....

 between the old Bristol North swimming baths and the Horfield Prison

Bristol (HM Prison)

HMP Bristol is a Category B men's prison, located in the Horfield area of Bristol. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.-History:...

 turning. They are now considered to be an example of the so-called scrumpy and western

Scrumpy and Western

Scrumpy and Western refers humorously to music from England's West Country that fuses comical folk-style songs, often full of double entendre, with affectionate parodies of more mainstream musical genres, all delivered in the local accent/dialect...

 musical genre.

Based in the Bristol area, the band originally comprised Barry Back, Dave 'The Crutch' Creech, Andy Leggett and John Turner. They are reputed to have got together after meeting at a new year's eve

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...

 party organised by Fred Wedlock

Fred Wedlock

Fred Wedlock was a folk singer best known for his UK hit single "The Oldest Swinger In Town". Wedlock performed at many venues in Britain and Europe, presented programmes for West Country TV and acted with the Bristol Old Vic and the Ministry of Entertainment, as well as undertaking after-dinner...

 at the Troubadour Club

Bristol Troubadour Club

In the late 1960s and early '70s, a thriving contemporary folk music scene in Bristol was centred on the short lived but influential Bristol Troubadour Club in Clifton village, the student quarter above the city centre...

 in Clifton, Bristol

Clifton, Bristol

Clifton is a suburb of the City of Bristol in England, and the name of both one of the city's thirty-five council wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells...

. They later provided backing for Wedlock on his album, The Folker. Turner was previously in a group called The Downsiders, Back and Leggett in the Alligator Jug Thumpers, and Creech in the Elastic Band. They quickly built up a strong local following and were soon playing gig

Gig (musical performance)

Gig is slang for a musical engagement in which musicians are hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance...

s around the country. Their first album, The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra Presents (abbreviated as PHLOP!) was the first release on The Village Thing

The Village Thing

The Village Thing was an independent record label in the United Kingdom which published folk music, blues and acoustic music between 1970 and 1973, under the tag of "The Alternative Folk Label".-History:...

 label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 in 1970. They were joined on this album by Julie Bridson and Ian Hunt.

Turner left the band after this album, and Bill Cole took his place as the fourth member of the band for their second album, Piggery Jokery, also on The Village Thing, in 1971. This album featured an early Rodney Matthews

Rodney Matthews

Rodney Matthews is a fantasy artist and illustrator.In 1978, he published Yendor: The Journey of a Junior Adventurer, a hard-back picture book featuring his distinctive paintings of "The Wild Country", a fantasy world seen through the eyes of young Yendor, named after his son...

 cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

, and was recorded in front of an audience in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, resulting in an authentic recreation of their stage act. Back then left, being replaced by Jon 'Wash' Hays; Leggett left soon afterwards, leaving Creech the only survivor of the original line-up. Various personnel came and went; Dave Paskett, Richie Gould, Pat Small and Henry Davies, plus guitarists Chris Newman and Robert Greenfield came on board plus, occasionally, the guitarist Diz Disley

Diz Disley

Diz Disley was an Anglo-Canadian jazz guitarist and graphic designer. He is best known for his jazz guitar playing, strongly influenced by Django Reinhardt, and for his collaborations with the violinist Stéphane Grappelli....

, all of whom appeared on the next album, The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra, in 1976. The album received good reviews, including this one from the Melody Maker

Melody Maker

Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...

: "The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra must be one of the most popular acts on the folk scene. Their spontaneous humour and good time songs have held many an audience anchored to the floor in wonder."

Despite continuing popularity, the band split up in 1979 but, in 1988, reformed for the Trowbridge

Trowbridge

Trowbridge is the county town of Wiltshire, England, situated on the River Biss in the west of the county, approximately 12 miles southeast of Bath, Somerset....

 "Village Pump" Folk Festival

Folk festival

A Folk festival celebrates traditional folk crafts and folk music.-Canada:Alberta*Calgary Folk Music Festival*Canmore Folk Music Festival*Edmonton Folk Music Festival*Jasper Folk Festival*Wild Mountain Music FestOntario*Barriefolk...

, after which Pat Small and singer Hannah Wedlock (Fred's daughter) joined the line-up and they began touring again. In 1991 they produced another album, Back on the Road Again and, in the same year, Jim Reynolds and Dave Griffiths joined the band. The following year, Musical History, a compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 consisting of a selection of tracks taken from 1968 to 1992, was released. Back, who had been the driving force behind the "Piggies" reunion, died in 1992 and, shortly after, the band decided to pack up for good.

Founder member Dave Creech died of cancer on 4 May 2011. Little more than a month earlier he was still performing regularly with various local bands.

Discography

• The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra Presents (PHLOP!) (12" vinyl album) The Village Thing VTS 1 (1970)
  1. "Cushion Foot Stomp"
  2. "Funny Side of the Street"
  3. "Silk Pyjamas"
  4. "Company Policy"
  5. "On Sunday"
  6. "Second Fiddle"
  7. "T'aint No Sin"
  8. "Sleepy Time Blues"
  9. "My Pet"
  10. "Nothing Else Will Do Babe"
  11. "Sporting Life Blues"
  12. "Men of Harlech"

• Piggery Jokery (12" vinyl album) The Village Thing VTS 8 (1971)
  1. "Sadie Green"
  2. "Motorway Song"
  3. "High Society"
  4. "The Wiltshire Plumbers Saga"
  5. "Sweet Miss Emmaline"
  6. "Let Your Linen Hang Low"
  7. "Basin Street Blues"
  8. "Meet Me Where They Play the Blues"
  9. "Desperate Dan"
  10. "The Silly Organ Story"
  11. "Shim Sham Shimmy"
  12. "Royal Garden Blues
      Royal Garden Blues
      "Royal Garden Blues" is a blues song composed by Clarence and Spencer Williams in 1919. Popularized in jazz by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, it has since been recorded by numerous artists and has become a jazz standard...
      
      "

• Us (12" vinyl album, various artists) The Village Thing VT-SAM 15 (1972)
  1. "Sweet Miss Emmaline" (from Piggery Jokery)
• Also included tracks by Dave Evans, Tight Like That, Wizz Jones, Fred Wedlock
  Fred Wedlock
  Fred Wedlock was a folk singer best known for his UK hit single "The Oldest Swinger In Town". Wedlock performed at many venues in Britain and Europe, presented programmes for West Country TV and acted with the Bristol Old Vic and the Ministry of Entertainment, as well as undertaking after-dinner...
  
  , Steve Tilston, Ian A. Anderson, Tucker Zimmerman, Sun Also Rises and Hunt and Turner

• The Pigsty Hill Light Orchestra (12" vinyl album) UK private pressing PHLO-001 (1976)
  1. "High Society"
  2. "Buddy Not A Sweetheart"
  3. "Coney Island"
  4. "Jazzbo Green"
  5. "Everybody's Making It Big"
  6. "Motorway"
  7. "You're Always Welcome"
  8. "Five Foot Two"
  9. "Short Of The Line"
  10. "D.I.V.O.R.C.E."
  11. "Taking My Oyster For Walkies"
  12. "Roland The Roadie"

• Back on the Road Again (12" vinyl album) (1991)
• Musical History (12" vinyl album) (1992)

External links

• The Changing Face of Bristol & its People - The Sounds of the Sixties
• Scrumpy & Western website
• Vinyl Attic
• Andy Leggett discography