Guitar Orchestra

In the early '70s, a couple of second-line British rock guitarists teamed up with the idea of forming a "Guitar Orchestra," a heavy rock band with four guitarists in the lineup. Ray Fenwick had played with the Syndicats, Holland's Tee Set, and the post-Stevie Winwood version of the Spencer Davis Group; Mick Grabham had been in Plastic Penny, and would play with Procol Harum during much of the '70s. An album was recorded, but in the end the pair overdubbed most of the guitar parts themselves, with a bit of help from Tim Renwick (then of Quiver, later to play with Pink Floyd). The record was never released, mostly because they couldn't get necessary permissions regarding the copyright to "Pomp and Circumstance," one of the key tracks on the release. The album, which finally saw release in 1997, is pretty typical early-'70s hard rock, with bombastic, pretentious instrumentally oriented songs alternating with gentler passages on the more tuneful, pop-oriented cuts. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi