Wild Horses (British band)
Encyclopedia
Wild Horses were a British
rock
band, active during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
guitarist Brian Robertson
and ex-Rainbow
bassist Jimmy Bain
. At an early stage the line-up featured former Stone The Crows
and Wings
guitarist Jimmy McCulloch
and former Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones
, but eventually stabilised with the addition of drummer Clive Edwards
(ex-Pat Travers
, Uli Roth) and guitarist/keyboardist Neil Carter
(ex-Wilder, Gilbert O'Sullivan
). This line-up recorded the Trevor Rabin
-produced eponymous album in 1980, released by EMI
who signed the band after their 1979 Reading Festival appearance.
Carter left the band in August 1980 after the band's UK tour with Ted Nugent
in order to join UFO
and later Gary Moore
. His replacement was guitarist John Lockton (ex-The Next Band
, Red Alert) whose first appearance was on the band's Japan
ese tour in the autumn of 1980 followed by the release of the Stand Your Ground
album in the spring of 1981.
In June 1981, Robertson and Edwards both left Wild Horses in the wake of the band's Paris Theatre show in London
. Robertson teamed up with Motörhead a year later and recorded Another Perfect Day
in 1983, before moving on to join fellow Scotsman Frankie Miller
on the Dancing in the Rain album in 1986. Edwards continued with a number of different acts, including Bernie Marsden
's S.O.S., Grand Prix, and Lionheart
.
Bain assembled a new Wild Horses line-up featuring Lockton, former Lautrec stepfather and son team, Reuben (vocals) and Laurence Archer
(guitar), and The Def Leppard E.P. credited drummer Frank Noon
. The Archers and Noon left only months later and went on to form their own band, Stampede
, and Wild Horses ceased to exist, with Bain joining his former Rainbow
bandmate Ronnie James Dio
in Dio
, while Lockton became a member of German hard rockers Victory
.
Wild Horses members Laurence Archer and Clive Edwards were part of the UFO line-up that recorded the High Stakes & Dangerous Men and Lights Out in Tokyo albums in the early 1990s, before spending time in Medicine Head
.
Both Wild Horses and Stand Your Ground were re-issued on CD in Japan and Europe in the 1990s; the latest set of re-issues came on 26 May 2009 through UK-based Krescendo Records.
Wild Horses Mk II
- UK tour 1978 line-up:
Wild Horses Mk III
- 'The First Album' line-up (1979/80):
Wild Horses Mk IV
- 'Stand Your Ground' line-up (1980/81):
Wild Horses Mk V
- final live line-up (1981):
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band, active during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
History
Wild Horses was formed in the summer of 1978 by ex-Thin LizzyThin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
guitarist Brian Robertson
Brian Robertson
Brian "Robbo" David Robertson is a Scottish rock guitarist, best known for his work with Thin Lizzy and Motörhead.-Early life:...
and ex-Rainbow
Rainbow (band)
Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with American rock band Elf's members, though over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up...
bassist Jimmy Bain
Jimmy Bain
James Stewart 'Jimmy' Bain is a Scottish bassist most famous for playing in the bands Rainbow and Dio with Ronnie James Dio. He has worked with Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, co-writing on his solo albums....
. At an early stage the line-up featured former Stone The Crows
Stone the Crows
Stone the Crows were a blues band formed in Glasgow in late 1969.-History:The band were formed after Maggie Bell was introduced to Les Harvey by his elder brother, Alex Harvey...
and Wings
Wings (band)
Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....
guitarist Jimmy McCulloch
Jimmy McCulloch
James 'Jimmy' McCulloch was a Scottish musician and songwriter, born in Dumbarton and raised in Clydebank and Cumbernauld, Scotland, who was best known for playing lead guitar in Paul McCartney's Wings from 1974 to 1977...
and former Small Faces drummer Kenney Jones
Kenney Jones
Kenneth Thomas "Kenney" Jones is a veteran English rock drummer best known for his work in Small Faces, Faces, and The Who.-Small Faces to the Faces:...
, but eventually stabilised with the addition of drummer Clive Edwards
Clive Edwards
Clive Edwards is a drummer, who is best known as a former member of the British band, UFO ....
(ex-Pat Travers
Pat Travers
Patrick Henry "Pat" Travers is a Canadian rock guitarist, keyboardist and singer who began his recording career with Polydor Records in the mid-1970s...
, Uli Roth) and guitarist/keyboardist Neil Carter
Neil Carter (musician)
Neil Carter is a musician who has worked in diverse genres throughout his 35 year career. Classically trained, he became a professional rock musician at the age of 17 and initally had his first 'mainstream' experience with singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. He subsequently played guitar and...
(ex-Wilder, Gilbert O'Sullivan
Gilbert O'Sullivan
Gilbert O'Sullivan is an Irish-English singer-songwriter, best known for his early 1970s hits "Alone Again ", "Clair" and "Get Down". The music magazine, Record Mirror, voted him the No...
). This line-up recorded the Trevor Rabin
Trevor Rabin
Trevor Charles Rabin is a South African born musician, best known as a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the British progressive rock band Yes from 1983–1994, and since then, as a film composer.- Early years :...
-produced eponymous album in 1980, released by EMI
EMI Records
EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...
who signed the band after their 1979 Reading Festival appearance.
Carter left the band in August 1980 after the band's UK tour with Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
in order to join UFO
UFO (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 later Gary Moore
Gary Moore
Robert William Gary Moore , better known simply as Gary Moore, was a Northern Irish musician from Belfast, best recognised as a blues rock guitarist and singer....
. His replacement was guitarist John Lockton (ex-The Next Band
The Next Band
The Next Band were a British rock trio featuring vocalist/bassist Rocky Newton, guitarist John Lockton and drummer Frank Noon, who is credited with playing drums on Def Leppard's 1979 EP The Def Leppard E.P....
, Red Alert) whose first appearance was on the band's Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese tour in the autumn of 1980 followed by the release of the Stand Your Ground
Stand Your Ground (Wild Horses album)
Stand Your Ground is the second album by British rock band Wild Horses, co-produced with Kit Woolven at Good Earth and Maison Rouge Studios in London and released in May 1981 on EMI Records....
album in the spring of 1981.
In June 1981, Robertson and Edwards both left Wild Horses in the wake of the band's Paris Theatre show in London
London
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...
. Robertson teamed up with Motörhead a year later and recorded Another Perfect Day
Another Perfect Day
- Deluxe Edition :In 2006, the album was re-issued with a bonus CD, featuring a live performance, recorded in Manchester on June 10, 1983. The writing credits for the songs on the deluxe edition differed from those on the original, credited all the original songs to Robertson, Lemmy, and...
in 1983, before moving on to join fellow Scotsman Frankie Miller
Frankie Miller
Frankie Miller is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter, who had his biggest success in the 1970s. Miller was raised at Colvend Street, Glasgow with his parents, Cathy and Frank, and elder sisters Letty and Anne. Miller attended Sacred Heart Primary school. He was an altar boy in Sacred Heart Chapel...
on the Dancing in the Rain album in 1986. Edwards continued with a number of different acts, including Bernie Marsden
Bernie Marsden
-External links:*...
's S.O.S., Grand Prix, and Lionheart
Lionheart (band)
-History:Lionheart was a British hard rock band formed in late 1980, originally featuring singer Jess Cox , guitarist Dennis Stratton , guitarist Steve Mann , bassist/vocalist Rocky Newton , and drummer Frank Noon .They made their debut one Saturday night at the Marquee Club in...
.
Bain assembled a new Wild Horses line-up featuring Lockton, former Lautrec stepfather and son team, Reuben (vocals) and Laurence Archer
Laurence Archer
Laurence Archer is a guitarist. He is notable for his work with British rock bands, UFO and Phil Lynott's Grand Slam. He was also a member of Wild Horses, Medicine Head and Rhode Island Red with Gary Leiderman Bass , Manolo Antonana Drums and frontman/actor/writer Mike Dyer before temporarily...
(guitar), and The Def Leppard E.P. credited drummer Frank Noon
Frank Noon
Frank Noon is a drummer who played in the bands Def Leppard and Roadhouse with guitarist Pete Willis.He was preceded in Def Leppard by original Def Leppard drummer Tony Kenning and succeeded in Def Leppard by current Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen....
. The Archers and Noon left only months later and went on to form their own band, Stampede
Stampede (band)
Stampede are a British melodic hard rock band formed in 1981 by songwriting partnership Reuben Archer and Laurence Archer. The band signed to Polydor Records, emerging as part of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal scene. Stampede disbanded in 1983, and guitarist Laurence Archer went on to play...
, and Wild Horses ceased to exist, with Bain joining his former Rainbow
Rainbow (band)
Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with American rock band Elf's members, though over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up...
bandmate Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Dio
Ronald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
in Dio
Dio (band)
Dio was an American heavy metal band from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, after he left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member, drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial...
, while Lockton became a member of German hard rockers Victory
Victory (band)
Victory was a German Heavy Metal and hard rock band from Hanover, most successful in the 1980s. With extensive tours and radio airplay, the band also made a breakthrough in North America.-Emergence:...
.
Wild Horses members Laurence Archer and Clive Edwards were part of the UFO line-up that recorded the High Stakes & Dangerous Men and Lights Out in Tokyo albums in the early 1990s, before spending time in Medicine Head
Medicine Head
Medicine Head were a British blues rock band, active in the 1970s. Their biggest single success was in 1973, with "One and One is One", a Number 3 hit in the UK Singles Chart.-Main personnel:The group worked as a duo for most of its career, consisting of...
.
Both Wild Horses and Stand Your Ground were re-issued on CD in Japan and Europe in the 1990s; the latest set of re-issues came on 26 May 2009 through UK-based Krescendo Records.
Members
Wild Horses Mk I- Jimmy BainJimmy BainJames Stewart 'Jimmy' Bain is a Scottish bassist most famous for playing in the bands Rainbow and Dio with Ronnie James Dio. He has worked with Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, co-writing on his solo albums....
- bass/vocals - Brian RobertsonBrian RobertsonBrian "Robbo" David Robertson is a Scottish rock guitarist, best known for his work with Thin Lizzy and Motörhead.-Early life:...
- guitar - Jimmy McCullochJimmy McCullochJames 'Jimmy' McCulloch was a Scottish musician and songwriter, born in Dumbarton and raised in Clydebank and Cumbernauld, Scotland, who was best known for playing lead guitar in Paul McCartney's Wings from 1974 to 1977...
- guitar - Kenney JonesKenney JonesKenneth Thomas "Kenney" Jones is a veteran English rock drummer best known for his work in Small Faces, Faces, and The Who.-Small Faces to the Faces:...
- drums
Wild Horses Mk II
- UK tour 1978 line-up:
- Jimmy Bain - bass/vocals
- Brian Robertson - guitar
- Neil CarterNeil Carter (musician)Neil Carter is a musician who has worked in diverse genres throughout his 35 year career. Classically trained, he became a professional rock musician at the age of 17 and initally had his first 'mainstream' experience with singer-songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan. He subsequently played guitar and...
- guitar/keyboards - Dixie Lee - drums
Wild Horses Mk III
- 'The First Album' line-up (1979/80):
- Jimmy Bain - bass/vocals
- Brian Robertson - guitar/vocals
- Neil Carter -guitar/keyboards
- Clive EdwardsClive EdwardsClive Edwards is a drummer, who is best known as a former member of the British band, UFO ....
- drums
Wild Horses Mk IV
- 'Stand Your Ground' line-up (1980/81):
- Jimmy Bain - bass/vocals
- Brian Robertson - guitar
- John Lockton -guitar
- Clive Edwards - drums
Wild Horses Mk V
- final live line-up (1981):
- Reuben Archer - vocals
- Jimmy Bain - bass/vocals
- John Lockton - guitar
- Laurence ArcherLaurence ArcherLaurence Archer is a guitarist. He is notable for his work with British rock bands, UFO and Phil Lynott's Grand Slam. He was also a member of Wild Horses, Medicine Head and Rhode Island Red with Gary Leiderman Bass , Manolo Antonana Drums and frontman/actor/writer Mike Dyer before temporarily...
- guitar - Frank NoonFrank NoonFrank Noon is a drummer who played in the bands Def Leppard and Roadhouse with guitarist Pete Willis.He was preceded in Def Leppard by original Def Leppard drummer Tony Kenning and succeeded in Def Leppard by current Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen....
- drums
Studio albums
- Wild Horses (EMI, 1980 / Toshiba-EMI/Insideout, 1993 / Zoom Club 1999 / Krescendo 2009)
- Stand Your GroundStand Your Ground (Wild Horses album)Stand Your Ground is the second album by British rock band Wild Horses, co-produced with Kit Woolven at Good Earth and Maison Rouge Studios in London and released in May 1981 on EMI Records....
(EMI, 1981 / Toshiba-EMI/Insideout, 1993 / Zoom Club 1999 / Krescendo, 2009)
UK singles
- "Criminal Tendencies" / "The Rapist" (EMI, 1979)
- "Face Down" / "Dealer" (EMI, 1980)
- "Flyaway" / "Blackmail" (EMI, 1980)
- "I'll Give You Love" / "Rocky Mountain Way" (live) (EMI, 1981)
- "I'll Give You Love" / "Rocky Mountain Way" (live) / "The Kid" / "Saturday Night" (live) (EMI, 1981 - double single pack)
- "Everlasting Love" / "The Axe" (EMI, 1981)
External links
- Wild Horses MySpace
- Wild Horses @ MusicMight.com
- [ Wild Horses bio @ Allmusic.com]