Steve Gibbons (musician)

Steve Gibbons (born 13 July 1941) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and bandleader.

His music career spans more than 50 years.

Steve Gibbons started his professional life as a plumber's apprentice in Harborne.

Former Brumbeats guitarist Roger Hill (1 January 1945, Erdington, Birmingham – 8 November 2011, Good Hope Hospital, Sutton Coldfield) joined the Ugly's and stayed for almost a year, before leaving to join previously departed Dave Pegg in forming a new band called The Exception.

Roger Hill was replaced by Will Hammond (from The Yamps) who stayed in the Ugly's line-up until the end.

Jim Holden was replaced by drummer Keith Smart from Danny King's Mayfair Set.

He joined the Dominettes in 1958, to replace Colin Smith, who had left to join Jimmy Powell's backing group.

Colin Smith later changed his name to Carl Barron and became the singer with The Cheetahs.

An Elvis Presley fan, Gibbons' first performance with The Dominettes was at The California public house near Weoley Castle.

Regular music venues for The Dominettes in the early 1960s were the Grotto Club on Bromsgrove Street, and The Sicilia Coffee Bar in Edgbaston.

The group by this time included many R&B numbers into their set and this style of music suited Gibbons' gritty vocals.

Although the Dominettes had a rougher image than most groups at that time, and were sometimes hired to back strippers at some of the more seedy establishments, they attracted quite a following.

Another regular venue for the Dominettes was the Firebird Jazz Club on Carrs Lane in central Birmingham and the group posted advertisements which read "anything considered".

By 1963, The Dominettes were renamed The Ugly's. Eventually, the Ugly's were able to secure a recording contract with Pye Records and the first release from the group in 1965 was an original song entitled "Wake Up My Mind", composed by Burnet, Holden and Gibbons.

The single was advanced for its time and featured some socially conscious lyrics – very unlike the kind of material produced by most other pop groups of the period.

The record did not sell well in the United Kingdom, but was a big hit on the national Australian chart, reaching No. 14.

John Gordon left in 1965, and was replaced by Jimmy O'Neill from a local band called The Yamps (he had also spent some time with The Walker Brothers).

A second Ugly's single released the same year was "It's Alright".

This one featured prominent use of a harpsichord, as played by O'Neill.

The record fell short of the UK Singles Chart, despite the group's appearance on the television program, Ready Steady Go! to promote it.

Other Ugly's singles were released between 1965 and 1967 including a cover version of "End of the Season", a song composed by Ray Davies.

This represented a departure from the Ugly's' previous records, as they had all been group compositions up to that point.

During this period, there were many personnel changes in the Ugly's line-up which included the departure of Bob Burnett and John Hustwayte.

Bass guitarist Dave Pegg joined for a year before leaving to join the Ian Campbell Group.

He was replaced by Dave Morgan from a local band called Blaises, and had also been a former member of Danny King's Mayfair Set.

Dave Pegg was later in a local group called The Exception and from there, he joined Fairport Convention.

Dave Morgan also composed the song "Something" which ended up as the b-side of the Move's chart-topping "Blackberry Way" single.

Jimmy O'Neill left the Ugly's in 1968 to join The Mindbenders and founding member Jim Holden also departed later that year.

Keyboard player Richard Tandy, who also played on the Move's "Blackberry Way", joined in 1968 and eventually joined the Electric Light Orchestra.

By the end of 1968, Gibbons was the only remaining original member of The Ugly's. This final line-up also included Will Hammond, Dave Morgan, Keith Smart, and Richard Tandy.

They recorded a projected single "I've Seen The Light" which was never released.

Gibbons teamed up with guitarist Trevor Burton from The Move in 1969 and, by April of that year, they had formed a new group called Balls, along with singer/guitarist Denny Laine (formerly of the Moody Blues), and Ugly's' drummer Keith Smart.

The project was relatively short lived and after recording a solo album, Gibbons left the band in February 1971.

After the breakup of Balls, Gibbons returned to Birmingham from London to join The Idle Race for three months in 1971.

This band rapidly evolved into the Steve Gibbons Band.

The first line-up comprised Gibbons together with Dave Carroll and Bob Wilson on guitars, Bob Griffin on bass who was replaced in 1972 by Trevor Burton and Bob Lamb on drums.

The new band worked the pub and club circuits until 1975 when they were spotted by Peter Meaden, former manager of The Who.

This led to the Steve Gibbons Band joining The Who's management stable and recording their first Polydor album Any Road Up in 1975 (With John Entwistle of The Who playing on a few tracks).

This was followed in 1976 by a tour with The Who in the UK, Europe and the United States.

Playing the concert arenas, they shared the stage with Little Feat, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Electric Light Orchestra, The J. Geils Band, Rufus, and Nils Lofgren.