John Gladwin (guitar and vocals) and Terrance (Terry) Wincott (guitar and vocals) formed a band called The Dimples along with Stuart Smith (drums) and Johnny Jackson (bass guitar). Signed to the Decca label they recorded a single, the “A” side “Love of a Lifetime” and the “B” side written by John Gladwin titled “My Heart is Tied to You”. The record did not chart, although more recently the B-side has become popular on the Northern Soul scene. Following the break up of The Dimples John and Terry formed a loud “electric” band called Methuselah. However, at some point in Methuselah concerts, the duo would play an acoustic number together: they found that this went down well with the audiences and allowed them to bring out more of the subtlety of their singing and instrumental work. They left Methuselah in 1969 and began working on their own acoustic material.
Initially their material was derived from folk music, in line with many of the other performers of the time. However, they began to develop their own musical idiom, influenced, at one extreme, by the early music revivalists and the other extreme, by their childhood memories of the Robin Hood TV series, with its pseudo-mediaeval soundtrack. The band was named after Blondel de Nesle, the musician in the court of Richard I. According to legend, when Richard was held prisoner, Blondel travelled through central Europe, singing at every castle to locate the King and assist his escape. This name for the band was suggested by a chef, Eugene McCoy, who listened to some of their songs and commented: “Oh, very Blondel!” and they began to use that name. They were then advised to add an adjective (in line, for example, with The Incredible String Band) and so they became “Amazing Blondel”.
Their first album The Amazing Blondel (also called “Amazing Blondel and a Few Faces,”) was recorded in 1969 and released by Bell Records. It was directed by session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan. At about this time, Eddie Baird (who had known the other members at school) joined the band. On 19 September 1970 they were one of the bands to play at the first Glastonbury Festival. Following what Baird described as “a disastrous ‘showbiz’ record signing”, Amazing Blondel were introduced, by members of the band Free, to Chris Blackwell of Island Records. Blackwell signed them up to Island, for whom they recorded their albums Evensong Fantasia Lindum and England. In Baird’s words (in a 2003 interview) the band “adored recording”. They recorded the Island albums in the company’s studios which, at that time, was the source of some of the most innovative independent music in Britain.
They toured widely, both in their own concerts and as a support act for bands such as Genesis, and Steeleye Span. On stage, they aimed at technical precision of the music and versatility of instrumentation (with most concerts involving the use of some forty instruments) interspersed with banter and bawdy humour. However, there was a conflict between their managers’ desires to organise ever more demanding tour schedules and the band’s own wish to spend more time writing material and working in the studio. In the end, this led to the departure of John Gladwin (who had written most of their material) from the band in 1973, and the remaining two members decided to continue as a duo. In this new format, they went on to record several more albums, with Baird now writing the bulk of the material. The first of these, Blondel, was their final release for Island.
They were next signed to Dick James’ DJM label, where they recorded three albums, Mulgrave Street, Inspiration and Bad Dreams. They gradually modernized and electrified their sound. These albums featured a number of guest musicians, including Steve Winwood and Paul Kossoff. There is a mistaken belief that, during this period, they shortened the band name to Blondel. This is probably caused by the title of the final Island album, and the front cover of Mulgrave Street, which gives the short version of the name. But the full name is given on the back and on the front of the next two albums. The final release in the 1970s was a live album.
