Jackson Heights (band)

Jackson Heights
File:5thAveBusLP.gif Their 1971 album, Fifth Avenue Bus.
Background information
Origin	England
Genres	Rock
Years active	1970–1973
Labels	Vertigo, Charisma
Associated acts	The Nice Patrick Moraz Refugee
Website	http://homepage.ntlworld.com/james.sutherland/JH.HTML
Past members	Lee Jackson Brian Chatton John McBurnie Michael Giles Ian Wallace Charlie Harcourt Tommy Sloane Mario Enrique Covarrubias Tapia Johnny VanDerrick Ian Paice Chris Laurence Bill Bell

Jackson Heights were an English musical group formed by bassist and vocalist Lee Jackson. The group was formed in 1970, when keyboardist Keith Emerson left The Nice to form ELP to 1973, when he teamed up again with The Nice drummer Brian "Blinky" Davison to form Refugee with Patrick Moraz.

History

After the break-up of The Nice in 1969, each of that group's three members formed a group of his own, and those three groups toured together : Emerson formed Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Davison's group was named Every Which Way, and Jackson appeared with Jackson Heights.

Jackson Heights' debut album, King Progress, included a reworking of "The Cry Of Eugene", a song originally recorded by The Nice, and new material including "Doubting Thomas" and "Insomnia". The group, which included Charlie Harcourt on lead guitar, Mario Enrique Covarrubias Tapia on bass and Tommy Sloane on drums, produced a radically different sound from that with which Jackson had become well-known, centred upon songs and led by acoustic guitar played by Lee Jackson mostly.

This group disbanded shortly after the first album's release and reformed as a trio featuring pianist Brian Chatton (born 19 July 1948, Bolton, Lancashire) - who played with Jon Anderson's Warriors and Phil Collins's Flaming Youth - and singer/songwriter/guitarist John McBurnie, with Jackson mainly playing bass as well as acoustic guitars. The group left the Charisma label and signed with Vertigo, for whom they recorded three albums, The Fifth Avenue Bus and Ragamuffins Fool (1972) and Bump 'n' Grind (1973). And then the group disbanded when Jackson teamed up with Patrick Moraz and Brian Davison and formed Refugee in 1973.

Band members

• Lee Jackson - electric bass, acoustic 6 and 12 string guitars, percussion, harp, vocals
• Charlie Harcourt - electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, vocals (first album only)
• Tommy Sloane - drums, percussion (first album only)
• Mario Enrique Covarrubias Tapia - bass, Spanish guitars, vocals (first album only)
• Brian Chatton - keyboards, vocals
• John McBurnie - acoustic 6 and 12 string guitars, Mellotron, keyboards, percussion, vocals
• Chris Laurence - bass on Bump 'n' Grind
• Bill Bell - banjo on Bump 'n' Grind
• Michael Giles - drums, percussions on the last three albums
• Ian Wallace - drums, percussions on Bump 'n' Grind
• Ian Paice - drums on Bump 'n' Grind
• Keith Emerson - Moog programming on Bump 'n' Grind
• Godfrey Salmon, John VanDerrick - violin on Bump 'n' Grind

Discography

Studio albums

• King Progress (Charisma, 1970)
• The Fifth Avenue Bus (Vertigo, 1972)
• Ragamuffins Fool (Vertigo, 1972)
• Bump 'n' Grind (Vertigo, 1973)

Best of

• 1972 : Birds Of A Feather
• 1973 : Caravan And Jackson Heights - Pop Made In England (Pop 1) - Motors Records - MT 44019 Contains two songs of Jackson Heights and four of Caravan
• 1973 : Jackson Heights - Verve records
•  ???? : Attention Jackson Heights Attention - Fontana Special - Date of release unknown

Singles

• "Doubting Thomas"/"Insomnia" (Charisma, 1970)
• "Maureen" / "Long Time Dying" (Vertigo, 1972)

External links

• Jim Sutherland's Jackson Heights web page