Steve Peregrin Took
Encyclopedia
Steve Peregrin Took was an English
musician. He is best known for his membership of the duo Tyrannosaurus Rex
with Marc Bolan
. After breaking with Bolan, he concentrated on his own singer-songwriting
activities, variously as a solo artist or as a frontman for several bands
.
on 28 July 1949. He took his name from the hobbit Peregrin Took
in J. R. R. Tolkien
's The Lord of the Rings
. At the age of 17, having played drum
s for some months with a mod band named The Waterproof Sparrows, he answered an advert in Melody Maker
for the electric band that Marc Bolan
was forming following his departure from John's Children
. Simon Napier-Bell
, manager of John's Children and subsequently Bolan, recalled of Bolan: "He got a gig at the Electric Garden then put an ad in Melody Maker to get the musicians. The paper came out on Wednesday, the day of the gig. At 3 o-clock he was interviewing musicians, at five he was getting ready to go on stage.... It was a disaster. He just got booed off the stage."
Napier-Bell said of Bolan that after the first disastrous electric gig, "He didn't have the courage to try it again; it really had been a blow to his ego.... Later he told everyone he'd been forced into going acoustic because Track
had repossessed all his gear. In fact he'd been forced to go acoustic because he was scared to do anything else."
Bolan and Took reduced the band down to a duo, Tyrannosaurus Rex
, busking
in subway
s on acoustic guitar and bongos
, Took having been obliged to sell his full drum kit to pay the rent until paying gigs started to come in. The flower-power
unit, championed by John Peel
onto the club and stage circuit and thence into the record shops, released three albums and achieved two top 40 hits. Took contributed harmony backing vocals, which are more noticeable in live recordings than on studio recordings, and provided bongos, African drums, kazoo
, pixiphone, and Chinese gong
. Took's arrangements contributed to transforming Bolan's music from the straightforward rock 'n roll it had previously been into an exotic brew of musical styles designed to appeal to Bolan's new audience of hippie
s. Towards the end of his time in the band, as Bolan began returning to the electric guitar
, Took returned to a full drum set and also contributed some bass guitar parts.
Took developed his own songwriting and in early 1969, with recording just complete on Tyrannosaurus Rex's third LP, Unicorn, Took suggested to Bolan that the duo could perform some of his own material; Bolan refused. By this time, the life styles of Bolan and Took were in direct conflict. Bolan was living quietly with wife-to-be June Child, while Took was rapidly forging links with "revolutionary" underground acts, such as The Deviants and The Pretty Things
. The relationship was deteriorating badly—Bolan barely tolerated Took's drug use, and Steve Mann recalled that it was clear they "cordially detested each other".
In addition, Took's friendship with Bolan's idol Syd Barrett
had also developed through their shared interests in both LSD
and "strange musical noises". Mick Farren
, in his memoir Give The Anarchist A Cigarette, recalled that Took would "drag a bemused Syd Barrett along" to events in Ladbroke Grove
in the late 1960s; Took remained friends with Barrett well into the 1970s. Took worked with Syd Barrett on unreleased "Ramadan" tracks. While in Tyrannosaurus Rex, Took also appeared as a backing vocalist on a session for David Bowie
, the results of which can be heard on the BBC sessions album, Bowie at the Beeb
.
Eventually, Took donated two of his songs to former Tomorrow
and The Pretty Things
drummer Twink
's 1969 solo album, Think Pink
. Consequently, before the first Tyrannosaurus Rex tour of America, Bolan and his management sacked Took. Another contributing factor was an incident at the launch party for the UK edition of Rolling Stone
, where jugs of punch
prepared for the event were spiked
with the hallucinogen STP
. Took had already earned himself the nickname "The Phantom Spiker" (in which he rejoiced) through previous similar pranks. Bolan was severely affected by the spiked drink and considered Took to be the prime suspect.
Took was contractually obliged to go on the US tour, but his heart was not in it and he drowned his sorrows in as much drug-taking as possible. This allowed the management to claim subsequently that it was Took's behaviour on stage which had caused the sacking. Bolan replaced Took with Mickey Finn
, and after one further album renamed the duo T. Rex
, later expanding to a full band again.
and Mick Farren
, recently ousted from his own band, The Deviants. This band was named in honour of a drinking club of the same name the three had formed earlier that year, along with other leading lights of the underground scene. Together with Twink's girlfriend Silva Darling, they performed what Farren would later describe as "less of a gig than a protracted harangue" at the University of Manchester
in October 1969, which rapidly dissolved into chaos. Took appeared prominently on Farren's first solo album Mona – The Carnivorous Circus
(recorded December 1969, released 1970). Twink and the other ex-Deviants then formed a new band called the Pink Fairies
(mark 2), without Took or Farren.
and bassist Tim Taylor from their underground band, the Entire Sioux Nation. A month later, Farren dropped out, leaving Took in the role of bandleader for the first time in his career. With the addition of drummer Phil Lenoir, Shagrat was formed (named after an orc
in The Lord of the Rings
). They recorded three tracks at Strawberry Studios
and played live at the Phun City
festival, before Lenoir and Taylor left the band. Took and Wallis continued with drummer Dave Bidwell, rehearsing with various bass players and eventually forming an acoustic trio of Took on vocals and guitar, Wallis on acoustic bass
and Bidwell on tambourine
. This lineup recorded a set of (at least) four home demos, which in the 1990s would be paired with the earlier electric studio session for limited edition vinyl release and later a CD album release in 2001.
Wallis would later take over the leadership of the Pink Fairies for their Kings Of Oblivion LP, substantially transforming the sound and style of the band. He and Took would work together again at various intervals in 1972, 1975–76 and 1977.
and Savoy Brown
respectively, the acoustic Shagrat was effectively reduced down to just Took himself performing solo on an acoustic guitar, usually sat on a stool interspersing his songs with jokes and other onstage monologues. In this format, Took made some headway as a live performer. "Tookie" appeared in frequent support slots for Hawkwind
and the Pink Fairies, attracting some coverage in the UK music press and even performing a live session on Steve Bradshaw's Breakthrough programme on BBC Radio London. In December 1971, he headlined a three-date mini-tour of southwest England.
He also performed at various benefit events, including the "Nasty Balls" benefits for the Nasty Tales magazine (whose editors, including Farren, were on trial for obscenity) as well as the 1972 Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
festival at Aldermaston
, Steve's account of which was reprinted by Charles Shaar Murray
in his book Shots From The Hip. Writing for the NME
in 1972, Murray described Took and his stage act thus: "Most people know who Steve Peregrine Took is, but few people know what he does. A few more know him as a somewhat bizarre figure who materialises at concerts, armed only with an Epiphone guitar, and performs a freeform set of songs, raps, jokes and anything else that flashes through his mind."
During this time, Took could also often be seen participating in jamming sessions during encores at Hawkwind and Pink Fairies concerts. His contributions to these jams were in the role of third drummer, and he also once played bass guitar for the "Pinks", substituting for Duncan Sanderson.
, recently fired as manager for T. Rex
, with a view to recovering royalties
owed to Took from the Tyrannosaurus Rex years. Emerging from these conversations, Secunda became Took's manager, with a view to leading him to stardom in order to spite Bolan. Initially, Took attempted to rerecord as a single the song "Amanda" from the 1971 acoustic Shagrat session (along with two other tracks) with the assistance of the Pink Fairies rhythm section of Sanderson and Russell Hunter, whose band was temporarily defunct following the departure of Paul Rudolph
. During this session, former Junior's Eyes
/Bowie
guitarist Mick Wayne was recruited as guitarist.
However, none of these tracks were ever completed to Took's satisfaction, due to what Wayne later described as "dope
-induced thinking" and consequently, Wayne, Sanderson and Hunter formed a new incarnation of the Pink Fairies. (Wayne was quickly supplanted by Wallis, leading to the Kings of Oblivion era as detailed above). Took and Secunda, meanwhile, embarked upon a different approach.
Steve moved into a basement flat beneath Secunda's Mayfair offices, which he set up as a live-in recording studio to demo material at his own ease. The flat rapidly became a magnet for the cream of musicians on the underground scene, who would contribute to the recordings while visiting Took. As well as old colleagues from Hawkwind and the Pink Fairies, Secunda reported that Took received visits from Syd Barrett
, who at the time was living in Cambridge, but would shortly relocate back to London. From Secunda's account, it would appear likely that Barrett is on the recordings done in the flat by Took and his friends.
Highlights of the session tapes were eventually released by Cleopatra Records
in 1995, as "The Missing Link To Tyrannosaurus Rex". A new version of the 1971 acoustic Shagrat song "Beautiful Deceiver" is tracklisted on the CD as "Syd's Wine" and a credit for guitar and other noises is given to one Crazy Diamond, an allusion to the 1975 Pink Floyd track "Shine On You Crazy Diamond
", written in tribute to Barrett. Stripped down versions of the track "Syd's Wine" reveal a second guitarist in the room and audible vocal noises.
, Adrian Wagner, and Nik Turner
. Took was scheduled to be the support act for Calvert's cancelled "Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters
" tour. He and Bidwell formed at least two bands with various Japanese
musicians, one of which also featured future Hawkwind bassist Adrian "Ade" Shaw. For some time around 1975, Took lived in the Kent
towns of Canterbury
and Margate
, where he took on local musician Les Dray as his guitarist and manager, and together they formed a new band, "Jolly Roger & The Crimson Gash", with local musicians.
which he habitually wore. By mid 1977, this had solidified into a steady lineup featuring, in what would be the first of several bands together over many years, Trevor Thoms
and Ermanno Ghisio-Erba, later better known to Inner City Unit
(ICU) fans as Judge Trev and Dino Ferari.
This group recorded a session of three studio tracks at Pathway Studios on 29 November 1977, before going on to perform a gig on 18 June 1978 at the The Roundhouse
, as part of "Nik Turner's Bohemian Love-In". Took felt the gig went badly, and decide to split up the band. The Pathway Studios session would be released on CD by Cherry Red
in 2004, as Blow It!!! The All New Adventures Of Steve Took's Horns, with the CD also featuring out-takes, remixes and fresh recordings of two other Took songs, which the Horns had been rehearsing.
.
Took guested with ICU a number of times, reuniting with his old Horns sidemen; the last recorded dates being 16 June 1980 at London's Music Machine and sometime around 21 June 1980 at the Stonehenge Free Festival
in Wiltshire - a festival frequented by other 'Festival Bands', most famously Took's old Ladbroke Grove
cohorts Hawkwind. Bootleg recordings exist of the above mentioned Music Machine show and also an open air performance at Meanwhile Gardens in Notting Hill Gate, on both of which Took can be heard performing lead vocals on a cover of The Beatles
' song "Slow Down"
(Square 103, in the north-west quadrant of the infilled Inner Circle).
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
musician. He is best known for his membership of the duo Tyrannosaurus Rex
T. Rex (band)
T. Rex were a British rock band, formed in 1967 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, releasing four folk albums under the name...
with Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
. After breaking with Bolan, he concentrated on his own singer-songwriting
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
activities, variously as a solo artist or as a frontman for several bands
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
.
Early life and Tyrannosaurus Rex (1967-1969)
Took was born Stephen Ross Porter in Eltham, LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 28 July 1949. He took his name from the hobbit Peregrin Took
Peregrin Took
Peregrin Took, more commonly known as Pippin, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. Pippin is introduced as a Hobbit who plays a major role as one of the companions of Frodo Baggins, in his quest to destroy the One Ring.Peregrin was the only son of...
in J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
. At the age of 17, having played drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s for some months with a mod band named The Waterproof Sparrows, he answered an advert in 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...
for the electric band that Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
was forming following his departure from John's Children
John's Children
John's Children were a 1960s pop art/mod rock band from Leatherhead, England that briefly featured future T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan. John's Children were known for their outrageous live performances and were booted off a tour with The Who in Germany in 1967 when they upstaged the headliners...
. Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell
Simon Napier-Bell has undertaken many jobs in the music industry, including bandboy, manager, producer, songwriter, journalist and author and gourmet...
, manager of John's Children and subsequently Bolan, recalled of Bolan: "He got a gig at the Electric Garden then put an ad in Melody Maker to get the musicians. The paper came out on Wednesday, the day of the gig. At 3 o-clock he was interviewing musicians, at five he was getting ready to go on stage.... It was a disaster. He just got booed off the stage."
Napier-Bell said of Bolan that after the first disastrous electric gig, "He didn't have the courage to try it again; it really had been a blow to his ego.... Later he told everyone he'd been forced into going acoustic because Track
Track Records
Track Records is an English record label founded in London in 1966 by Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then managers of hard rock band The Who. The most successful artists whose work appeared on the Track label were The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, Thunderclap...
had repossessed all his gear. In fact he'd been forced to go acoustic because he was scared to do anything else."
Bolan and Took reduced the band down to a duo, Tyrannosaurus Rex
T. Rex (band)
T. Rex were a British rock band, formed in 1967 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, releasing four folk albums under the name...
, busking
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
in subway
Subway (underpass)
In England and Wales, the Republic of Ireland, Hong Kong and some Commonwealth countries , the term subway normally refers to a specially constructed underpass for pedestrians and/or cyclists beneath a road or railway, allowing them to reach the other side in safety.The term is also used in the...
s on acoustic guitar and bongos
Bongo drum
Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
, Took having been obliged to sell his full drum kit to pay the rent until paying gigs started to come in. The flower-power
Flower power
Flower power is a slogan used by the American counterculture movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s as a symbol of passive resistance and non-violence ideology. It is rooted in the opposition movement to the Vietnam War. The expression was coined by the American Beat poet Allen Ginsberg in...
unit, championed by John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
onto the club and stage circuit and thence into the record shops, released three albums and achieved two top 40 hits. Took contributed harmony backing vocals, which are more noticeable in live recordings than on studio recordings, and provided bongos, African drums, kazoo
Kazoo
The kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranophone, a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane."Kazoo" was the name given by...
, pixiphone, and Chinese gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
. Took's arrangements contributed to transforming Bolan's music from the straightforward rock 'n roll it had previously been into an exotic brew of musical styles designed to appeal to Bolan's new audience of hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
s. Towards the end of his time in the band, as Bolan began returning to the electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, Took returned to a full drum set and also contributed some bass guitar parts.
Took developed his own songwriting and in early 1969, with recording just complete on Tyrannosaurus Rex's third LP, Unicorn, Took suggested to Bolan that the duo could perform some of his own material; Bolan refused. By this time, the life styles of Bolan and Took were in direct conflict. Bolan was living quietly with wife-to-be June Child, while Took was rapidly forging links with "revolutionary" underground acts, such as The Deviants and The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...
. The relationship was deteriorating badly—Bolan barely tolerated Took's drug use, and Steve Mann recalled that it was clear they "cordially detested each other".
In addition, Took's friendship with Bolan's idol Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
had also developed through their shared interests in both LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
and "strange musical noises". Mick Farren
Mick Farren
Michael Anthony 'Mick' Farren is an English journalist, author and singer associated with counterculture and the UK Underground.-Music:...
, in his memoir Give The Anarchist A Cigarette, recalled that Took would "drag a bemused Syd Barrett along" to events in Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove is a road in west London, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is also sometimes the name given informally to the immediate area surrounding the road. Running from Notting Hill in the south to Kensal Green in the north, it is located in North Kensington and straddles...
in the late 1960s; Took remained friends with Barrett well into the 1970s. Took worked with Syd Barrett on unreleased "Ramadan" tracks. While in Tyrannosaurus Rex, Took also appeared as a backing vocalist on a session for David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, the results of which can be heard on the BBC sessions album, Bowie at the Beeb
Bowie at the Beeb
Bowie at the Beeb is a compilation album by David Bowie, first released in 2000. Originally, it came in a three CD set, the third, bonus CD being a recording on at the Portland BBC Radio Theatre...
.
Eventually, Took donated two of his songs to former Tomorrow
Tomorrow (band)
Tomorrow were a 1960s psychedelic rock band. Despite critical acclaim and support from DJ John Peel who featured them on his "Perfumed Garden" radio show, the band was not a great success in commercial terms. They were among the first psychedelic bands in England along with Pink Floyd and Soft...
and The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things
The Pretty Things are an English rock and roll band from London, who originally formed in 1963. They took their name from Bo Diddley's 1955 song "Pretty Thing" and, in their early days, were dubbed by the British press the "uglier cousins of the Rolling Stones". Their most commercially successful...
drummer Twink
Twink (musician)
John Charles Alder , better known as Twink, is an English drummer, singer and songwriter who was a central figure in the English psychedelic movement, and an actor.-Early life and career:...
's 1969 solo album, Think Pink
Think Pink
Think Pink is the 1970 debut album by English psychedelic musician Twink.It was produced by Mick Farren and featured members of The Pretty Things, The Deviants, plus Steve Peregrin Took of Tyrannosaurus Rex...
. Consequently, before the first Tyrannosaurus Rex tour of America, Bolan and his management sacked Took. Another contributing factor was an incident at the launch party for the UK edition of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, where jugs of punch
Punch (drink)
Punch is the term for a wide assortment of drinks, both non-alcoholic and alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice. The drink was introduced from India to England in the early seventeenth century; from there its use spread to other countries...
prepared for the event were spiked
Mickey Finn (drugs)
A Mickey Finn, is a slang term for a drink laced with a drug given to someone without his knowledge in order to incapacitate him...
with the hallucinogen STP
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine
2,5-Dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine is a psychedelic and a substituted amphetamine...
. Took had already earned himself the nickname "The Phantom Spiker" (in which he rejoiced) through previous similar pranks. Bolan was severely affected by the spiked drink and considered Took to be the prime suspect.
Took was contractually obliged to go on the US tour, but his heart was not in it and he drowned his sorrows in as much drug-taking as possible. This allowed the management to claim subsequently that it was Took's behaviour on stage which had caused the sacking. Bolan replaced Took with Mickey Finn
Mickey Finn (musician)
Mickey Finn or occasionally Micky Finn , was the percussionist and sideman to Marc Bolan in his band Tyrannosaurus Rex , and later, the 1970s glam rock group, T.Rex...
, and after one further album renamed the duo T. Rex
T. Rex (band)
T. Rex were a British rock band, formed in 1967 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, releasing four folk albums under the name...
, later expanding to a full band again.
The Pink Fairies (1969-1970)
After being sacked by Bolan, Took formed a prototype version of the Pink Fairies with TwinkTwink (musician)
John Charles Alder , better known as Twink, is an English drummer, singer and songwriter who was a central figure in the English psychedelic movement, and an actor.-Early life and career:...
and Mick Farren
Mick Farren
Michael Anthony 'Mick' Farren is an English journalist, author and singer associated with counterculture and the UK Underground.-Music:...
, recently ousted from his own band, The Deviants. This band was named in honour of a drinking club of the same name the three had formed earlier that year, along with other leading lights of the underground scene. Together with Twink's girlfriend Silva Darling, they performed what Farren would later describe as "less of a gig than a protracted harangue" at the University of Manchester
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
in October 1969, which rapidly dissolved into chaos. Took appeared prominently on Farren's first solo album Mona – The Carnivorous Circus
Mona – The Carnivorous Circus
Mona—The Carnivorous Circus is a 1970 album by the UK underground artist Mick Farren.The album was recorded to fulfill contractual obligations. Farren had recently returned from a tour of the west coast of North America with his band The Deviants, who had relieved the singer of his duties.Farren...
(recorded December 1969, released 1970). Twink and the other ex-Deviants then formed a new band called the Pink Fairies
Pink Fairies
Pink Fairies were an English rock band active in the London underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s. They promoted free music, drug taking and anarchy and often performed impromptu gigs and other agitprop stunts, such as playing for free outside the gates at the Bath and Isle of Wight...
(mark 2), without Took or Farren.
Shagrat (1970-1971)
In February 1970, Farren and Took headhunted guitarist Larry (or "Lazza") WallisLarry Wallis
Larry Wallis is a guitarist, songwriter and producer. He is best known as a member of the Pink Fairies and an early member of Motörhead.-Early bands:...
and bassist Tim Taylor from their underground band, the Entire Sioux Nation. A month later, Farren dropped out, leaving Took in the role of bandleader for the first time in his career. With the addition of drummer Phil Lenoir, Shagrat was formed (named after an orc
Orc (Middle-earth)
In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings, Orcs or Orks are a race of creatures who are used as soldiers and henchmen by both the greater and lesser villains of The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings — Morgoth, Sauron and Saruman...
in The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
). They recorded three tracks at Strawberry Studios
Strawberry Studios
-Formation:The facility was originally called Inner City Studios and located above a music store in the town centre. In early 1968 it was bought by Peter Tattersall, a former road manager for Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas. Tattersall invited Eric Stewart – then lead guitarist and singer of...
and played live at the Phun City
Phun City
Phun City was a rock festival held at Ecclesden Common near Worthing, England from July 24 to July 26, 1970. Excluding the one-day free concerts in London's Hyde Park, Phun City became the first large-scale free festival in the UK....
festival, before Lenoir and Taylor left the band. Took and Wallis continued with drummer Dave Bidwell, rehearsing with various bass players and eventually forming an acoustic trio of Took on vocals and guitar, Wallis on acoustic bass
Acoustic bass guitar
The acoustic bass guitar is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually somewhat larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar...
and Bidwell on tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
. This lineup recorded a set of (at least) four home demos, which in the 1990s would be paired with the earlier electric studio session for limited edition vinyl release and later a CD album release in 2001.
Wallis would later take over the leadership of the Pink Fairies for their Kings Of Oblivion LP, substantially transforming the sound and style of the band. He and Took would work together again at various intervals in 1972, 1975–76 and 1977.
Solo acoustic performer (1971-1972)
With Wallis and Bidwell otherwise committed to UFOUFO (band)
UFO are an English heavy metal and hard rock band, who were formed in 1969. UFO became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal...
and Savoy Brown
Savoy Brown
Savoy Brown, originally known as the Savoy Brown Blues Band, are a British blues rock band, formed in 1965, in Battersea, South West London...
respectively, the acoustic Shagrat was effectively reduced down to just Took himself performing solo on an acoustic guitar, usually sat on a stool interspersing his songs with jokes and other onstage monologues. In this format, Took made some headway as a live performer. "Tookie" appeared in frequent support slots for Hawkwind
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
and the Pink Fairies, attracting some coverage in the UK music press and even performing a live session on Steve Bradshaw's Breakthrough programme on BBC Radio London. In December 1971, he headlined a three-date mini-tour of southwest England.
He also performed at various benefit events, including the "Nasty Balls" benefits for the Nasty Tales magazine (whose editors, including Farren, were on trial for obscenity) as well as the 1972 Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
festival at Aldermaston
Aldermaston
Aldermaston is a rural village, civil parish and electoral ward in Berkshire, South-East England. In the 2001 United Kingdom Census, the parish had a population of 927. The village is on the southern edge of the River Kennet flood plain, near the Hampshire county boundary...
, Steve's account of which was reprinted by Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray is an English music journalist. His first experience in journalism came 1970 when he was asked to contribute to the satirical magazine Oz...
in his book Shots From The Hip. Writing for the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
in 1972, Murray described Took and his stage act thus: "Most people know who Steve Peregrine Took is, but few people know what he does. A few more know him as a somewhat bizarre figure who materialises at concerts, armed only with an Epiphone guitar, and performs a freeform set of songs, raps, jokes and anything else that flashes through his mind."
During this time, Took could also often be seen participating in jamming sessions during encores at Hawkwind and Pink Fairies concerts. His contributions to these jams were in the role of third drummer, and he also once played bass guitar for the "Pinks", substituting for Duncan Sanderson.
Management of Tony Secunda
During 1972, Took was approached by Tony SecundaTony Secunda
Anthony Michael "Tony" Secunda was a British manager of rock groups in the 1960s and 1970s, including The Moody Blues, Procol Harum, The Move, and T...
, recently fired as manager for T. Rex
T. Rex (band)
T. Rex were a British rock band, formed in 1967 by singer/songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan. The band formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, releasing four folk albums under the name...
, with a view to recovering royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
owed to Took from the Tyrannosaurus Rex years. Emerging from these conversations, Secunda became Took's manager, with a view to leading him to stardom in order to spite Bolan. Initially, Took attempted to rerecord as a single the song "Amanda" from the 1971 acoustic Shagrat session (along with two other tracks) with the assistance of the Pink Fairies rhythm section of Sanderson and Russell Hunter, whose band was temporarily defunct following the departure of Paul Rudolph
Paul Rudolph (musician)
Paul Fraser Rudolph is a guitarist,bassist, singer, and cyclist. He made his mark in the UK underground music scene, and then as a session musician, before returning to Canada to indulge his passion for cycling...
. During this session, former Junior's Eyes
Junior's Eyes (band)
Junior's Eyes was a British group led by guitarist Mick Wayne , which recorded one album and is notable for acting as David Bowie's backing band during 1969.-Beginnings:...
/Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
guitarist Mick Wayne was recruited as guitarist.
However, none of these tracks were ever completed to Took's satisfaction, due to what Wayne later described as "dope
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
-induced thinking" and consequently, Wayne, Sanderson and Hunter formed a new incarnation of the Pink Fairies. (Wayne was quickly supplanted by Wallis, leading to the Kings of Oblivion era as detailed above). Took and Secunda, meanwhile, embarked upon a different approach.
Steve moved into a basement flat beneath Secunda's Mayfair offices, which he set up as a live-in recording studio to demo material at his own ease. The flat rapidly became a magnet for the cream of musicians on the underground scene, who would contribute to the recordings while visiting Took. As well as old colleagues from Hawkwind and the Pink Fairies, Secunda reported that Took received visits from Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
, who at the time was living in Cambridge, but would shortly relocate back to London. From Secunda's account, it would appear likely that Barrett is on the recordings done in the flat by Took and his friends.
Highlights of the session tapes were eventually released by Cleopatra Records
Cleopatra Records
Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label.- History :Founded in 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in gothic rock, hard rock, heavy metal and reissues of out-of-print music...
in 1995, as "The Missing Link To Tyrannosaurus Rex". A new version of the 1971 acoustic Shagrat song "Beautiful Deceiver" is tracklisted on the CD as "Syd's Wine" and a credit for guitar and other noises is given to one Crazy Diamond, an allusion to the 1975 Pink Floyd track "Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Shine On You Crazy Diamond
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a nine-part Pink Floyd composition written by Roger Waters, Richard Wright, and David Gilmour. The song is a tribute to former band member Syd Barrett, although it was not originally explicitly written with him in mind. It was first performed on their 1974 French...
", written in tribute to Barrett. Stripped down versions of the track "Syd's Wine" reveal a second guitarist in the room and audible vocal noises.
Various projects (1973-1976)
After splitting with Secunda, Took worked with a number of Hawkwind members, most notably Robert CalvertRobert Calvert
Robert Calvert was a writer, poet, and musician.-Biography:Born Robert Newton Calvert in Pretoria, South Africa, Calvert's parents moved to England when he was two years of age and later attended school in London and Margate. He began his career by writing poetry and in 1967 formed a Street...
, Adrian Wagner, and Nik Turner
Nik Turner
Nik Turner is a British musician, best known as a founding member of space rock pioneers Hawkwind. Turner plays saxophones, flute, sings and is a composer...
. Took was scheduled to be the support act for Calvert's cancelled "Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters
Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters
Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters was a 1974 satirical concept album by Robert Calvert, the former frontman of British space-rock band Hawkwind. It consists of a mixture of songs and comic spoken interludes....
" tour. He and Bidwell formed at least two bands with various Japanese
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
musicians, one of which also featured future Hawkwind bassist Adrian "Ade" Shaw. For some time around 1975, Took lived in the Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
towns of Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
and Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....
, where he took on local musician Les Dray as his guitarist and manager, and together they formed a new band, "Jolly Roger & The Crimson Gash", with local musicians.
Steve Took's Horns (1976-1978)
By 1976, Took was back in London and using the bandname Steve Took's Horns, so called after a horned pendantPendant
A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, when the ensemble may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. In modern French "pendant" is the gerund form of “hanging”...
which he habitually wore. By mid 1977, this had solidified into a steady lineup featuring, in what would be the first of several bands together over many years, Trevor Thoms
Trev Thoms
Trev Thoms also known as Judge Trev Thoms and Judge Trev was a British guitarist.In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he played in a blues-rock group with hints of progressive rock and heavy rock called Iron Maiden - not the famous group of the same name - along with Barry Skeels, who later played...
and Ermanno Ghisio-Erba, later better known to Inner City Unit
Inner City Unit
Inner City Unit is a British punk/space rock band fronted by ex-Hawkwind founder Nik Turner on saxophone with Judge Trev Thoms or Steve Pond , Dead Fred , Baz Magneto, Dave Anderson or Nazar Ali Khan , and Mick Stupp or Dino Ferari on drums.-History:Thoms and Ferrari were both key members of...
(ICU) fans as Judge Trev and Dino Ferari.
This group recorded a session of three studio tracks at Pathway Studios on 29 November 1977, before going on to perform a gig on 18 June 1978 at the The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse
The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...
, as part of "Nik Turner's Bohemian Love-In". Took felt the gig went badly, and decide to split up the band. The Pathway Studios session would be released on CD by Cherry Red
Cherry Red
Cherry Red is a London-based independent record label formed in 1978.-History:Cherry Red grew from the rock promotion company founded in 1971 to promote rock concerts at the Malvern Winter Gardens...
in 2004, as Blow It!!! The All New Adventures Of Steve Took's Horns, with the CD also featuring out-takes, remixes and fresh recordings of two other Took songs, which the Horns had been rehearsing.
Involvement with Inner City Unit (1979-1980)
Despite the breakup, Steve Took's Horns had made a considerable impression on Took's circle of acquaintances. Consequently Nik Turner, having first drafted Ermanno/Dino into his band Sphynx for a live festival LP recorded that August, went on in 1979 to incorporate the Thoms/Ghisio-Erba partnership into his new Inner City UnitInner City Unit
Inner City Unit is a British punk/space rock band fronted by ex-Hawkwind founder Nik Turner on saxophone with Judge Trev Thoms or Steve Pond , Dead Fred , Baz Magneto, Dave Anderson or Nazar Ali Khan , and Mick Stupp or Dino Ferari on drums.-History:Thoms and Ferrari were both key members of...
.
Took guested with ICU a number of times, reuniting with his old Horns sidemen; the last recorded dates being 16 June 1980 at London's Music Machine and sometime around 21 June 1980 at the Stonehenge Free Festival
Stonehenge Free Festival
The Stonehenge Free Festival was a British free festival from 1972 to 1984 held at Stonehenge in England during the month of June, and culminating on the summer solstice on June 21. The festival was a celebration of various alternative cultures...
in Wiltshire - a festival frequented by other 'Festival Bands', most famously Took's old Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove
Ladbroke Grove is a road in west London, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is also sometimes the name given informally to the immediate area surrounding the road. Running from Notting Hill in the south to Kensal Green in the north, it is located in North Kensington and straddles...
cohorts Hawkwind. Bootleg recordings exist of the above mentioned Music Machine show and also an open air performance at Meanwhile Gardens in Notting Hill Gate, on both of which Took can be heard performing lead vocals on a cover of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' song "Slow Down"
Death
Steve Took's life ended on Monday 27 October 1980 at the age of 31. At the time, Took was sharing a flat with one Valerie Billet at 100 Cambridge Gardens, North Kensington. As a consequence to Tony Secunda's financial activities in 1972, royalty cheques for Tyrannosaurus Rex had been arriving more frequently, and Took had received one that week. The day prior to his death, Took had purchased morphine and hallucinogenic mushrooms for himself and Billet. Billet subsequently recalled that the evening before Took died, they had both injected themselves with the morphine. Took's death certificate records the cause of death as being due to asphyxiation after inhaling a cocktail cherry. Drugs were not listed as a contributing factor, even though Took's death is often listed as a "drugs misadventure". He is buried in Kensal Green CemeteryKensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in Kensal Green, in the west of London, England. It was immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton's poem The Rolling English Road from his book The Flying Inn: "For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of...
(Square 103, in the north-west quadrant of the infilled Inner Circle).
Legacy
The English eclectic rock band Pocketful O'Nowt perform a song "Steve Peregrin Took" which contains a (somewhat muddled) biography of Took, and features the use of the pixiphone.Discography
- 1970 – Mick Farren – Mona – The Carnivorous CircusMona – The Carnivorous CircusMona—The Carnivorous Circus is a 1970 album by the UK underground artist Mick Farren.The album was recorded to fulfill contractual obligations. Farren had recently returned from a tour of the west coast of North America with his band The Deviants, who had relieved the singer of his duties.Farren...
featuring Steve Took as 'Shagrat the Vagrant'(Transatlantic Records) - 1971 - Twink: Think Pink (LP feat. two Took songs, recorded summer 1969) (Sire RecordsSire RecordsSire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
) - 1990 - Shagrat: Amanda (b/w Peppermint Flickstick) 7" single (Shagrat Records, distributed by Pyg Track)
- 1992 - Steve Took's Shagrat: Nothing Exceeds Like Excess 12" EP, sleeve by Edward BarkerEdward Barker (cartoonist)John Edward Barker was an English cartoonist, best known for his work in International Times and The Observer in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the comic strip "The Largactilites" . He was described as "the wittiest and most idiosyncratic cartoonist to emerge from the British...
(Shagrat Records, distributed by Pyg Track) - 1995 - Steve Peregrine Took: The Missing Link to Tyrannosaurus Rex CD (Cleopatra) re-released 2002 as Crazy Diamond CD (Voiceprint)
- 2001 - Steve Peregrine Took's Shagrat: Lone Star CD (Captain Trip)
- 2001 - Shagrat: Pink Jackets Required CD (Get Back)
- 2004 - Steve Took's Horns: Blow It!!! The All New Adventures Of Steve Took's Horns CD (Cherry Red Records)