Iain Sutherland
Musician who with his brother wrote Rod Stewart’s No 1, Sailing
IAIN SUTHERLAND, who has died aged 71, was a musician who, with his younger brother Gavin, formed the band Sutherland Brothers and Quiver, and provided Rod Stewart with one of his biggest hits, Sailing.
The brothers’ own version of the song, released in 1972, failed to break into the Top 50; but Stewart had been a fan of the brothers since seeing them perform at the Marquee Club in London, and worked with them on several songs for his Atlantic Crossing album. Only Sailing made the cut, however, and even then Stewart argued against its being the lead single.
He was proved wildly wrong when the song sailed up the UK charts, hitting the top in September 1975 and staying there for a month. It was also No 1 in several European countries, and had a new lease of life the following year when it was used as the theme song to the BBC documentary series HMS Ark Royal, and again in 1987 when it was re-released as a charity single following the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise at Zeebrugge.
The song had nothing to do with the sea, however. “Most people take the song to be about a young guy telling his girl that he’s crossing the Atlantic to be with her,” said Gavin Sutherland. “In fact the song’s got nothing to do with romance or ships; it’s an account of mankind’s spiritual odyssey through life on his way to freedom and fulfilment with the Supreme Being.”
Iain Sutherland was born on November 17 1948 at Peterhead in Aberdeenshire; Gavin followed in October 1951. It was a musical family: their civil servant father, George, was also leader of a local dance band, the Melody Makers. In the mid-1950s the family moved down to Stoke-on-trent.
The brothers’ first musical incarnation was as A New Generation in 1968, formed with old schoolfriends, with Gavin on bass and Iain on guitar; they had a minor hit with Smokey Blues Away, which drew on a melody in Dvorak’s New World symphony. Moving to London, they recorded several sessions for John Peel’s BBC radio show.
Adding musicians, they morphed into the Sutherland Brothers Band, signing to Island after Muff Winwood heard a demo of theirs, and releasing Sailing, the stand-out track on the Lifeboat album.
In 1973 they joined forces with Quiver, who featured Bruce Thomas, future bassist with Elvis Costello and the Attractions; as Junior’s Eyes, Quiver had backed David Bowie in 1969 and in 1971 became the first band to appear at the Rainbow in Finsbury Park when they supported The Who on the new venue’s opening night.
Sutherland Brothers and Quiver had their biggest hit in 1973 with (I Don’t Want to Love You But) You Got me Anyway, which penetrated the Top 30 in the US and Canada. They supported Elton John on his “Yellow Brick Road” tour, then after a couple of years of a shifting line-up and moderate success, switched from Island to CBS.
Their debut single on the label, Ain’t Too Proud, featuring Dave Gilmour of Pink Floyd on slide guitar, failed to make an impression, but the follow-up, Arms of Mary, reached No 5 in the UK and topped the charts in several European countries, and was covered by artists as diverse as the Everly Brothers, the country singer Keith Urban (now Mr Nicole Kidman), Boyzone and Smokie.
The Brothers went back to being a duo in 1979 and continued to tour and record, and had one more hit single, Easy Come Easy Go. They built a studio, “Sweet Sixteen”, in Iain’s back garden, which became a hub for Stoke’s thriving music scene.
Iain largely gave up performing to concentrate on writing; his songs were recorded by, among others, Joan Baez, Bonnie Tyler, Paul Young and the Shadows.
Iain Sutherland married Pat in 1976; she survives him with their daughter and son.