Brock, Dave

David Anthony Brock was born on August 20, 1941 in Ailworth , County Middlesex in the family of a military man who served as a driver of a fuel truck in the British 7th Division ^[2] , which became famous for its active operations in northern Africa during the Second World War . Brock's childhood passed in Feltham, Middlesex, where he attended Longfield Secondary Modern School .

At the age of twelve, thanks to Uncle Morris (father's brother), Brock learned to play the banjo ; at that time he listened mainly to traditional jazz. A painting teacher at the school encouraged the boy in his musical activity: it was he who introduced the fifteen-year-old schoolboy to the blues classics and even persuaded his parents to buy his son his first acoustic guitar ^[2] . Among his first influences, Brock called Fats Domino and Humphrey Littleton. ^[3]

After graduating from school in 1959, Brock worked as a handyman for some time (he was a potato picker, capstan installer, and an advertisement sticker). In the evenings, he spent time in fashionable London clubs such as Crawdaddy and Eel Pie Island. There (according to his own recollections) he smoked his first “cant” and first went on stage with a guitar. ^[2]

In 1959-1960, Brock and the banjo spent five months in the band The Gravnier Street Stompers, who played New Orleans jazz . At times, he played jazz in the Ken Collyer's Jazz Band, one of the leading orchestras of the time. These jazz lessons (as biographer B. Town later noted) became for Brock the basis of the improvisations in free jazz that he began to study at Hawkwind many years later. ^[4] Brock then switched to the guitar, still playing mostly New Orleans jazz and blues - particularly as part of the Ken Collier's Jazz Band. ^[5] .

Even then, Brock was interested in experimenting with guitar sound. Jeff Watson, his constant companion in those days, recalled:

Dave had a Michigan ... Spanish style guitar with a steel cavity in the underbelly. There was a twelve-string, in which in the second pair of strings he added the first string of the banjo. He taught me a very convenient way, clohammer picking - using the thumb and forefinger ... ^[4]

Original text

Dave had a Michigan guitar .... that is a Spanish style with a steel resonator in its belly. He also had a twelve-string on which he used to use a top banjo string on the second pair of strings. He taught me a very good way of clawhammer picking, using thumb and first finger instead of thumb and first three fingers.

Increasingly, Brock began to hold street concerts - with fellow musicians, among whom were Eric Clapton , Kate Relf , Jeff Watson, Mick Slatteri. ^[3] At the same time, he could be found at any political events, in particular, in the ranks of Easter Aldermaston March, the main demonstration of the movement for nuclear disarmament (CND), which he still supports ^[4] .

Beginning of a music career

In 1964, along with pianist Mike King and Luke Francis (harmonica), Brock organized the Dharma Blues Band trio, with which he recorded versions of "Dealing with the Devil" ( Sonny Boy Williamson ) and "Roll 'Em Pete' by Pete Johnson, included in Blues Anytime I: An Anthology of British Blues Vol. 2 , released by Immediate Records in 1966. ^{[4] [5]} . Among the visiting American blues players that Brock accompanied in those days were Memphis Slim and Champion Jack Dupree. The group continued to exist after Brock left, recording an album in 1967. ^[3] Brock played regularly with Eric Clapton, a continued collaboration with which subsequently led to the Famous Cure poster erroneously indicating that Brock was a former member of the Yardbirds. The Dharma Blues Band did not release records; in 1967, Mike King, John Hillary and Gary Compton released Dharma Blues (Major Minor SMCP 5017) - an album that had only an indirect relationship with the group ^[4] .

Having quit his main job (in an animation company), Brock went on a trip to Europe, earning money with street concerts, sometimes accompanied by Pete Judd, who played along with him on the harmonica. In 1966, they formed a permanent duet that regularly played in jazz, folk and blues clubs, and also performed twice on the radio - at the John Peel Show and in the concert program of Claude Rogers ^[4] .

In 1967, John Illingworth joined them: the trio went to Holland already under the name The Famous Cure. The group conducted a series of tours here, recorded the track "Dealing With The Devil" and gained fame: several articles about it appeared in the local press. In the spring of 1967, the trio returned to England. The departed Pete Judd was replaced by Mick Slatteri: on September 16, the group signed a contract with the new management and returned to Holland. This second Famous Cure roster recorded the single, “Sweet Mary,” which reached # 5 on the Dutch charts. Several live tracks were included on the Harlem Blues Festival album. According to Brian Town, author of the Hawkwind biography, it is possible that other Dutch blues collections of the time contained Famous Cure material. ^[four]

In 1967, the band joined the combined touring line-up of Rock and Roll Circus, Tent '67 , where Nick Turner , the third future Hawkwind member, met with its members. Together they returned to London; at this point, a "psychedelic" scene had already blossomed here. The band members began to take LSD , and under the influence of the drug, their music began to change.

In 1968, following the success of Don Partridge’s single “Rosie,” in which he participated, Brock joined a group of baskers who performed at the Royal Albert Hall . The band toured the UK in a double decker and recorded the track "Bring It on Home" for The Buskers' album, released by Columbia Records (SX6356). ^[3]

Hawkwind

In 1969, Slateri and Brock joined - first the bass player John Harrison, then (found by announcement) drummer Terry Ollis, finally saxophonist Nick Turner and electronic musician Dick Mick (the latter two originally worked on the band's touring staff). ^[6]

From the very beginning, Brock’s goal was to combine simple hard rock with experimental electronic music. Among the main influences of the time, he called The Moody Blues , Steve Miller Band , as well as Kraut Rock: Kraftwerk , Neu! and Can . ^[7]

Brock remained the leader and lead author of Hawkwind throughout the band's career. However, he almost did not write texts; the main authors were Robert Calvert and Michael Moorcock . On stage, Brock remained in the shadows, inviting his colleagues to step forward; often this function was performed by dancers and mime actors. ^[one]

In recent years, Hawkwind has been operating as a “home business” and is based in Devon , in the house where Brock lives with his wife, Chris Tate. The line-up rehearses and records in one of the barns called Earth Studios.

Tools

Dave Brock used various models of guitars, but constantly - only one, Westone (Westone Spectum LX, painted by Alan Arthurs on the cover of Space Ritual , Westone Paduak-1 with a picture by Guy Thomas and others)

Solo Releases

• 1982 - Zones / Processed one sided 7 " (Hawkfan Records)
• 1983 - Social Alliance / Raping Robots in the Street 7 " (Flicknife Records)
• 1984 - Earthed to the Ground (Flicknife Records)
• 1987 - The Agents of Chaos (Flicknife Records)
• 1995 - Strange Trips & Pipe Dreams (Emergency Broadcast System Records)
• 2001 - Memos and Demos (Voiceprint Records)
• 2002 - Spacebrock (Voiceprint Records)
• 2003 - Earthed to the Ground and The Agents of Chaos (Voiceprint Records)
• 2007 - Centigrade 232 - Robert Calvert and Dave Brock (Voiceprint Records)
• 2012 - Looking For Love In The Lost Land Of Dreams (Esoteric Recordings)
• 2015 - Brockworld (Hawkward Records)