Druid.....

[henry5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2D58DyR0Jbk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW0I7H1Nwvg

I don't know how many people remember this band. I have a story attached to these too; when I was looking for a backup for my Fireglo '72 4001 back in '96, I found an ad in the back of a guitar magazine listing a Mapleglo '72 for sale. I rang the seller, explained that I was after something as close as possible to mine and agreed to go and try it, no strings attached. It was located a long way down the country from me, towards London.

I went down on the train with my girlfriend and when we got there we were greeted by a lovely man who introduced himself as Neil. He took us into the front room to see the bass, which was a skunk-striped 4001 with full-width crushed pearl in a lovely honeyed amber colour. I'd taken my bass along for direct comparison. The first thing I noticed was that the bass was a lot heavier than mine, and the second that the action (with what appeared to be 45-105 Rotos; I used 40-95) was much higher. The treble pickup, IIRC, also had a plastic baseplate rather than the aluminium one that mine had.

I played it for a while, we chatted and he tried mine; he explained he'd been in a band in the 70s called Druid, who were kind of like Yes/early Genesis, "but not as good" (his words). As I played it became evident that the bass wasn't quite speaking to me in the way mine did, so Neil advised me - you know what it's like with a lovely 'For Sale' Ric in your hands! - to let it go and continue my search elsewhere, which, with a modicum of regret, I did. He was, as I say, a lovely man.

Several months later I was rifling through albums in a second-hand record shop and I came across "Druid - Toward the Sun". "Wow", thought I, "that's that Neil bloke's band!" So I bought it, took it home (not expecting very much if I'm honest), and was completely blown away. For anyone into early Yes / Genesis, I'd definitely check it out. I have two regrets; one that I wish I'd heard the album first so I could have told Neil how much I loved it (there is a second album too - Fluid - which I also now have but which to my mind isn't quite as a successful), and secondly, I wish I'd bought the bass, which was an absolute pittance compared to what you'd pay today and despite being different to mine and therefore not really what I was after at the time, would in hindsight been a lovely bass to own for all sorts of reasons, not least that it's on an album I love. Having said that, I sincerely hope Neil kept it and still has it to this day.

So if you're out there Neil, I hope you're well, I love the band, I love the playing and I hope to bump into you again some day!

[woodyng]

I remember their albums,from the days i worked at Peaches Records,myself and the few other progheads really liked them.

[Lefty4003S8]

I remember them, but sadly, never bought any of their albums.

[Ashgray]

That would be Neil Brewer, an excellent bass player who got more "clank" than most out of his Rick. Thankfully, both the "Towards The Sun" and "Fluid Druid" albums are available on CD. The other similarity with Yes was the fact that the singer/guitarist, Dane, had a similar vocal range to Jon Anderson. I loved them (and still do!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QccOTQNqzp4

The drummer, Cedric Sharpley, surfaced a few years later with Gary Numan's Tubeway Army, whilst the keyboard player, Andrew McCrorie-Shand, was involved in the Teletubbies!

Ash

[jps]

Richard Simmons was their drummer?

[jps]

I feel for you Shawn, that was a lost opportunity. With the knowledge we all have now that bass probably could have become a great playing instrument.

[henry5]

I feel for you Shawn, that was a lost opportunity. With the knowledge we all have now that bass probably could have become a great playing instrument.

I think for most people that was a great playing instrument Jeff. Because of chronic back problems I require relatively light basses; my F/glo (and my Azure for that matter) is about 8.5lbs, whereas that was probably a pound or more heavier, which makes a big difference. Also I like my action super low (although it's actually gone up a bit these days); back in the day if it was higher than 2mm at the 12th E (lower on the 12th G) it was too high for me. However it wasn't really either of those that put me off; I was just looking for as near identical a bass to mine as I could get and unfortunately that wasn't it. Although the neck was similar the feel and tone of the bass was very different, even allowing for the higher action and heavier strings.

[henry5]

That would be Neil Brewer, an excellent bass player who got more "clank" than most out of his Rick. Thankfully, both the "Towards The Sun" and "Fluid Druid" albums are available on CD. The other similarity with Yes was the fact that the singer/guitarist, Dane, had a similar vocal range to Jon Anderson. I loved them (and still do!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QccOTQNqzp4

The drummer, Cedric Sharpley, surfaced a few years later with Gary Numan's Tubeway Army, whilst the keyboard player, Andrew McCrorie-Shand, was involved in the Teletubbies!

Ash

Neil (and indeed Brewer it was, as I found out when I bought the album) was also in Rosie and Jim, which I'm sure will mean nothing to all those over the pond! He was telling us about it while I was trying the bass.

[spongebob]

More about them (and a link about Neil) here -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid_(band)

Mentions that sadly, drummer Cedric died a couple of years back.

Thanks to my Google play subscription, I've just started to stream their debut. +1 on the Jon Anderson-like vocals!

[stevebasshead]

I would never have heard of Druid if it hadn't been for this thread...I've since bought both of their albums and love them! And what a great bass tone too. Thanks for sharing your story

[Captain Bob]

Oh yeah, I remember listening to these guys. Oh god, I'm old!

There was also another mostly unknown band of similar ilk...Magma. I think some of the issue at the time was, that one might listen to these lesser prog groups for ideas, but also at the same time bands like Be Bop Deluxe and Roxy Music were proving more interesting. The tunes were more accessable pop formats. At least that's how I recall it as a gigging musician of the era.

[iiipopes]

They are a true progressive rock band as that was defined at the time: a cross between Yes and early Genesis, but with their own flavor. I may have to seek out some more.

[henry5]

I would never have heard of Druid if it hadn't been for this thread...I've since bought both of their albums and love them! And what a great bass tone too. Thanks for sharing your story

Happy to spread the word.

[pekka]

Oh yeah, I remember listening to these guys. Oh god, I'm old!

There was also another mostly unknown band of similar ilk...Magma. I think some of the issue at the time was, that one might listen to these lesser prog groups for ideas, but also at the same time bands like Be Bop Deluxe and Roxy Music were proving more interesting. The tunes were more accessable pop formats. At least that's how I recall it as a gigging musician of the era.

I'm not sure if you mean Magma was similar to Druid as being a very Yes -influenced band 'cause they definitely were not! Still going strong, they created a whole new style of progressive jazz rock people call "Zeuhl" and also created a language of their own. None of the bassists ever used a Rick AFAIK, but anybody interested in something different in bass department should check them out. Jannick Top who was their first monster player used a cello tuning (but one octave lower) and that distorted throb was the backbone of the band along with the marching rhythms of drummer/leaded Christian Vander.

I used to own the BGO 2-in-1 CD which had both Druid albums and indeed Mr. Brewer had a very top heavy Rick sound.