Biography
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Years Active
2013 – present (10 years)
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Members
- Tim Nice
Bronx Cheer were an English jug band whose heyday was in the early 1970s.
In the early 1960s Harlow-based neighbours John Reed and Tony Knight regularly played together on London's burgeoning folk music circuit. Joined in 1964 by Brian Cookman they initially played in the style of The Kingston Trio before branching out into a more old-timey sound under the name of Fruit Jar Drinkers. After hearing a performance the Levee Breakers, a jug band featuring Beverley Martyn, Ralph McTell and Mack McGann it was decided to adopt this style of music under the new name of Jug Trsut. The group recorded a few songs at a studio owned by Ron Geesin and even managed an appearance on Anglia Television but were not successful.
In 1970 keyboardist Chas Johnson was added to the line-up and the Bronx Cheer name adopted. The band would release a number of records on Parlophone and Dawn over the coming years and featured regularly on national radio. Their first album, the cheekily named "Bronx Cheer's Greatest Hits Volume Three", was also recorded around this time. Tony Knight, the jug player, left in 1974 to concentrate on furniture design but a drummer, Pete Radley and a bassist, Rob Hull, were added to beef up their sound following Knight's departure. The new line-up embarked on a tour although Pete Radley left after a few gigs to be replaced by Pete Sullivan. The band began to move away from jug band music to a more eclectic style and recorded the music for a second album, however the band were unable to find a record company to release the record. Their initial recording had not been a big hit and with the oil crisis in full swing record labels were restricting themselves to big names only given the massive cost of producing vinyl. The band split as a consequence and left the music industry, except for Brian Cookman who continued in jug bands until his cancer death in 2005.
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