{"id":7511,"date":"2026-03-05T10:28:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T10:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=7511"},"modified":"2026-03-05T10:28:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T10:28:02","slug":"issue-173-still-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=7511","title":{"rendered":"Issue #173 – Still Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Despite signing a six-album deal with Vertigo in 1970, STILL LIFE\u2019s eponymous slab of organ-heavy prog was a one-off, sparking intrigue in the record and its players, who comprised a network of musicians hailing from Coventry. <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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SE\u00c1N CASEY explores the city\u2019s musical lineage and unravels the mystery behind a band, formed from the ashes of beat group The Peeps, that pivoted to progressive rock in search of success<\/b><\/p>\n

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Throughout 1970, the Still Life wrote and refined new material, but just a week before the sessions were due to start, drummer Reed quit, leaving the trio in a bind. Cure later told Pearls Of Rock,<\/i> \u201cWe played some Still Life songs with Gordon Reed on drums at the end of the Rainbows era (as a four-piece minus Roy Albrighton), but when he left, we used Alan Savage to record the album Still Life<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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With Savage spending his first days with the group learning the tracks, in October \u201970, they arrived at Recorded Sound Studios in Marble Arch. Determined to replace their beat personas with something more experimental, the sessions resulted in a lurid blend of gothic prog and artistic melancholy, mostly penned by Howells who performed organ, piano and guitar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s the sort of potent prog you steer clear of in your 20s but inquiringly gravitate towards with age, and, while an uneven affair with locked-in grooves sometimes interrupted, their outstanding musicianship is on display throughout, most notably on the brilliant \u2018October Witches\u2019, representative of Howell\u2019s imposing command of Hammond akin to that of Keith Emerson or Brian Auger, the theatrically lysergic \u2018Dreams\u2019, and Traffic-esque \u2018Love Song No 6\u2019, which begs the question, how the hell did Savage learn those drum parts in a week?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A folkish flute performed by Dick Patrick on \u2018People In Black\u2019, the most openly progressive track and one which pulses with bursts of stark falsetto harmonies and climactic organ, was the sole contribution outside of the four members. Musically and lyrically, it was a far cry from The Peeps and Rainbows. Gone was the youthful optimism, replaced with an overriding sense of barren cynicism, and despite universal applicability, there\u2019s a sense \u2018Don\u2019t Go\u2019 and \u2018Love Song No 6\u2019 point to something deeply personal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Though Howells wasn\u2019t drawn on questions relating to lyrical inspiration, he recalls the process being rushed. \u201cIt was rather hurried recording session, I remember. We were all very aware that time is money.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Clad in the iconic Vertigo swirl and contained within a striking gatefold displaying pink petals on the front cover, contrasting an almost rusted human skull on the back, the record was issued in March \u201971, but largely fell on deaf ears. Given the scarcity of original copies, it\u2019s plausible only a few hundred were pressed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Though there is evidence to suggest they performed the album live \u2013 including a show in Coventry \u2013 when asked, Cure couldn\u2019t remember. He did, however, quash rumours that they supported the Warwick-formed Edgar Broughton Band, and that they had issued an earlier single on Columbia as Still Life entitled \u2018What Did We Miss\u2019. \u201cWe never played with or collaborated with The Edgar Broughton Band. Second problem: the songs on the album was the only material we ever recorded, so any other song titles attributed to a band called Still Life would not be us!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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With Vertigo\u2019s promotional spotlight dominated by the likes of Black Sabbath and Manfred Mann Chapter Three, though signed for six albums, Still Life drifted apart. \u201cIt just didn\u2019t make an impact due to the fact we had little publicity and no real management,\u201d Howell admits. \u201cThe competition was immense and we had no one pushing the album, so we just fizzled out.\u201d<\/p>\n