Badger (band)

Badger was a British rock band from the early 1970s.

One Live Badger

The band was co-founded by keyboardist Tony Kaye after he left Yes, with David Foster. Foster had been in The Warriors with Jon Anderson before Anderson co-founded Yes. Foster later worked with the band on Time and a Word. Kaye had worked on a solo project by Foster that was never released.

The pair found drummer Roy Dyke, formerly of Ashton, Gardner & Dyke, and Dyke suggested Brian Parrish formerly of Parrish & Gurvitz which later became Frampton's Camel (after Parrish left P&G) on guitar. The new band began rehearsing in September 1972 and signed to Atlantic Records.

Badger's first release was the live album, One Live Badger, co-produced by Jon Anderson and Geoffrey Haslam, and was taken from a show opening for Yes at London's Rainbow Theatre. In the progressive rock genre, five of the songs were co-written by the whole band, with a sixth by Parrish (initially written for Parrish & Gurvitz). The cover art was done by Roger Dean, the artist responsible for many of Yes's album covers, although Kaye left Yes before their partnership with Roger Dean.

• 1. "Wheel of Fortune" (lead vocals : Parrish) - 7:50
• 2. "Fountain" (lead vocals : Foster) - 7:22
• 3. "Wind of Change" (lead vocals : Foster) - 7:15
• 4. "River" (lead vocals : Parrish) - 6:50
• 5. "The Preacher" (lead vocals : Parrish) - 3:59
• 6. "On the Way Home" (lead vocals : Parrish) - 7:39

White Lady

By 1974, the band had been reduced to Kaye and Dyke. They recruited bassist, Kim Gardner, who had worked with Dyke in Ashton, Gardner & Dyke. Paul Pilnick, formerly of Stealers Wheel, joined on guitar, as did singer Jackie Lomax.

Lomax proceeded to turn them into the type of R&B/soul band he had used on his solo albums. The band became a vehicle for Lomax's songs and singing. During this period, they released one LP, White Lady, on Epic Records, produced by Allen Toussaint. All ten songs were written or co-written by Lomax. Guests on the album included Jeff Beck (contributing a guitar solo to the title track).

• 1. "Dream of You"
• 2. "Everybody, Nobody"
• 3. "Listen to Me"
• 4. "Don't Pull the Trigger"
• 5. "Just the Way It Goes"
• 6. "White Lady"
• 7. "Be With You"
• 8. "Lord Who Give Me Life"
• 9. "One More Dream to Hold"
• 10. "Hole Thing"

However, before the album's release, the band had split into two factions, with Lomax and Gardner leading a short-lived band called White Lady, before Lomax returned to a solo career.

"White Lady" b/w "Don't Pull the Trigger" was released as a single in May 1974.

External links

• Yescography entry for One Live Badger
• emusic biography