Third Ear Band
Alchemy, WWII and Keith Chegwin. The crazy story of prog’s most mythical band.
When the legend becomes fact, print the legend. So goes the saying. In the case of the Third Ear Band, this is very much the case: surely there are few other prog bands with such a miasma of myths circulating them. Is it true they took their name from an obsessed fan who carried around Van Gogh’s severed ear in a bag? Is it true that the bandmembers were heavily involved in alchemy practices and were pagan worshippers? Is it true they became an acoustic-oriented band because all their equipment got stolen? And is it true that Glen Sweeney, regarded as the band’s main wellspring of creativity, fought in the Second World War?
“That last one wouldn’t surprise me,” laughs Peter Jenner,
who produced Alchemy, the band’s debut album in 1969. Jenner was one of the principles in Blackhill Enterprises, who took on the Third Ear Band for management in the late 60s.
“I was a hippy and so were they,” he explains. “They were a groovy underground band, and not at all pop. That was enough for me! Although I get a credit for producing Alchemy, all I really did was sit there and let them get on with it. They improvised a lot, which I loved. I never interfered.”
The Third Ear band had their roots in the famed UFO club in Central London. There were freeform musical sessions developed every night in the mid-60s, and from these came The Giant Sun Trolley, before they released music as the National-Balkan Ensemble in 1968. A further name change to the Hydrogen Jukebox led to the recording of a somewhat avant-garde live album, with Sweeney using a pair of amplified scissors not only for percussive effect, but also to clip the dress from his girlfriend onstage. It was during this brief period that the band’s equipment got stolen, and they morphed into the Third Ear Band, an acoustic collective who took inspiration from all parts of the global musical village.
At the core of the Third Ear Band were Sweeney (tablas),
Paul Minns (oboe), Richard Coff (viola) and Mel Davis (cello) – sadly, all are now dead. One of the first signings to Harvest, their aforementioned first album was a remarkably uninhibited artistic melange.
“The guys never stuck to any rules,” recalls Jenner. “They took risks in a way that was highly progressive. I loved them for it. In some ways, what they were doing was pioneering what we’d call world music today.”
Celtic, raga, Chinese, Indian and Native American daubs abound throughout Alchemy.
And there were rumours the band were actively involved in mysticism. But guitarist Denim ‘Denny’ Bridges, who joined in 1970, has his own views on this.
“I believe Glen was very knowledgeable about the subject. But he was certainly also prepared to use it to get interest in the band. If he felt that using alchemy and magick imagery would get us attention, then he would exploit this side as much as possible.”
By the time Bridges joined, the band had released their self-titled second album in 1970, and had also recorded the soundtrack
“They took risks in a way that was highly progressive. I loved them for it. In some ways, what they were doing was pioneering what we’d call world music today.” Peter Jenner
for a TV production of Abelard And Heloise the same year. They’d also gained a significant profile from appearing on the bill for three of the celebrated free concerts in Hyde Park, which happened in 1969/70, organised by Blackhill Enterprises. The Third Ear Band played at events headlined by Blind Faith, the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd; they also played the Isle Of Wight Festival in 1969.
“We thought it would help their profile,” explains Jenner. “So we put them in as the opening act. Nobody seemed to mind them being on the bill, and one of the legends that came out from these festivals was that the Third Ear Band inspired good weather. Because whenever they came onstage it was sunny. Mind you, this was the summer time, so maybe you’d expect fine weather anyway! But having a reputation for bringing such a positive vibe didn’t do them any harm.”
“I was at the Blind Faith show,” adds Bridges, “so I knew who they were when I joined. I answered an advert in Melody Maker and went to their rehearsal place in Balham, South London. The fact I had a double-neck guitar probably put me ahead of the field for the job. They wanted to move away from the medieval style they’d been known for and become more electric. I did find their use of improvisation intriguing, but the way they outlined the new musical direction was rather inspiring.”
The band’s next project was to prove fascinating, yet also sow the seeds for them splitting up: they were commissioned by Roman Polanski to create the music for his adaptation of Macbeth.
“I have no clue how we got this,” admits Bridges. “Polanski wanted the kind of music that the Third Ear Band were known for performing. It fitted the way he was going to interpret Shakespeare. He allowed us free rein. Everything we did had to be run past him, and there were some pieces he rejected, but for the most part we got on with things the way he wanted.”
Some of the music was prepared in advance.
“We came up with two pieces, which were to be used for dances,” says Bridges. “Now, because the dancers had to have the music before they could come up with the choreography, it was necessary that we send over the music without seeing anything visual in advance. But on the rest of the movie, what happened was that we’d play along to footage that was sent over. We always had vague structures and frameworks for the tracks. These could be based on a rhythm, and then we’d effectively improvise around this skeleton and build something up that made sense according to what was on the screen. It was certainly a challenge, but one
I feel we rose to meet.”
The film came out in 1971, with the soundtrack coming out the following year. Since then, it has been claimed that children’s TV presenter Keith Chegwin was in the band for these recordings. Bridges puts this into a proper context.
“It’s true that he did the vocals for Fleance, which is on the album. But that’s because he sang this in the film. He was an actor who was part of the cast, and certainly was not in the Third Ear Band at any point.”
What the Macbeth soundtrack did was reinforce the band’s acoustic outlook at a time when they were hoping to move away from this. Bridges accepts this led to the band’s demise soon after the album was released.
“In reality the band disintegrated. At the time, Paul Buckmaster and I shared rooms on the road. He played the cello and bass, but was starting to earn a reputation as an arranger, which is the area in which he would end up building such a successful career. He’d sit in the back of the van while we were travelling to and from gigs working on this stuff. Eventually he decided to leave and concentrate on this side of things.
“Now, Paul and I were very likeminded in wanting to get
“Keith Chegwin did the vocals for Fleance, which is on the album. But that’s because he sang this in the film. He was an actor who was part of the cast, and certainly was not in the Third Ear Band at any point.”
Denny Bridges
away from the whole medieval sound for which the band had been known. But Macbeth dragged us back into that environment, even though I’d been brought in because they were keen to go electric. So, when he quit, I felt I should follow suit. There were also a lot of political issues going on, and the band didn’t so much come to an end as fall apart.”
“The reason for the split was quite simple,” insists Andrew King, who managed the band for Blackhill, and also produced Third Ear Band and Macbeth. “They couldn’t make enough money.”
Just before it all came to a halt, the Third Ear band did begin work on a new album.
“We did go into the studio to record some electric tracks, and this was for a planned fourth album,” says Bridges. “But then Harvest decided not to keep us on the roster; I think we had a three album deal, and this had run out with Macbeth. So, those tracks were kept in the record company’s vault for decades. Obviously losing the deal hastened the end for the band as well.”
Some of these seemingly lost recordings have now surfaced as bonus tracks on the reissue of the Macbeth album as part of Cherry Red’s series of reissues.
Bridges does remember that during his two-year period with Third Ear Band they were active on the live front.
“We must’ve only done about 30 gigs during that time. But the band did get some significant dates. For instance, we were ask to open for Centipede, the massive jazz/progressive ensemble led by Keith Tippett, in Paris and it didn’t get much bigger than that. We also did a number of shows supporting Pink Floyd around England. In terms of getting high-profile opportunities, we did well when it came to tours.”
While the band did return during the late 80s, it was those few years in the late 60s and early 70s for which they are rightly celebrated. But there are still those mysteries mentioned at the start of this feature that have to be resolved. For instance, did Sweeney actually fight in World War II?
“Well, he was old enough,” laughs King. “And I believed him when he said he was involved.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he did,” adds Bridges. “We were all in our early 20s back then, whereas Glen was so much older. But a lot of the stories out there about him were actually spread by Glen himself. He was great at self-promotion. Whether it’s true or not you could never be sure.
“He was also excellent at spreading confusion. There are loads of songs out there that all have the same title. You also have tracks which have multiple titles depending on where they come from. You never quite know what you are listening to. But that was typical of Glen – he loved keeping things mysterious, especially when it came to the truth about himself.”
One story about Sweeney suggests that he spent much of the Second World War being pampered by six rich Egyptian ladies in a Cairo mansion…
“It’s the sort of existence Glen would fantasise about leading,” admits King. “And it might well be true. But none of us would have any idea whether he was making it up or not. He was such an entertaining character, though, and very much the band leader.”
All of which leaves the truth behind the origin of the band name. Did it come from an obsessed fan who stalked them and carried that Van Gogh ear in a bag? Or, maybe it came from the title of a novel by GermanAmerican author Curt Siodmak, which has also been intimated.
Well, we can rule out the latter, because Siodmak’s book came out in 1971, after the band had adopted their name. Bridges, though, feels the truth is a little more prosaic.
“I never heard that tale about the Van Gogh ear. But I think the origin of the name came from the idea of the third eye. And since this was talking about music, it made sense to use the ‘ear’ instead of the ‘eye’. I know that’s boring, but when you delve behind the stories Glen loved to spread, you normally find the facts aren’t as flamboyant as he liked to make them out.”
The recent reissues of those Third Ear Band albums highlight that, even now, no one sounds quite as bonkers, eclectic and free-thinking as this lot.
“People always talk about the Third Ear Band as if they were so obscure,” concludes King. “But they were more successful than most on the Harvest label and sold a lot of records.”
Third Ear Band: Music From Macbeth, Remastered & Expanded Edition is out now via Esoteric/ Cherry Red. See www.cherryred. co.uk and www.ghettoraga.blogspot. com for more information.