Eggs over Easy
Encyclopedia
Eggs over Easy were an American country-rock band, of the early 1970s, who visited London
to record an album, and then became a resident band in a London public house
, launching what subsequently became known as pub rock
.
, Jack O'Hara (guitar, bass & vocals) met Austin de Lone (keyboards, guitar & vocals) in Berkeley, California
, where they formed a duo. The pair moved back to New York, where they met Brien Hopkins (keyboards, bass, guitar & vocals) who joined to form a multi-instrumental trio, without a drummer or percussionist. They regularly played clubs and bars in Greenwich Village
and Long Island
, until they acquired a small fan base, and a manager, Peter Kauff. Kauff was also helping Cannon Films to move into the music business, and arranged for Chas Chandler
(bass player for The Animals
and producer/manager of the Jimi Hendrix Experience) to produce their first album.
in Barnes, London, in December 1970, initially with Les Sampson (a friend of Noel Redding
who joined him in the band “Road”) on drums. They also played several dates at the American Embassy as a trio. Recording was completed in January 1971, with ex-Animal John Steel
on drums. The recordings went well, but Kauff fell out with Cannon Films, and advised the band to stay in London, until the problems were resolved, rather than return to the US.
Chandler arranged for the band to play a number of college gigs around the country. Many of these were sponsored by the American Embassy in London, which paid for the band to tour British universities to perform before larger audiences with American poets such as Marilyn Hacker
, Denis Boyles
, and Louis Simpson
. By then, the band had moved into a house, 10 Alma Street, Kentish Town
, near a pub called the Tally Ho. The band were used to playing in American bars, but in common with most London pubs at the time, the Tally Ho had a jazz-only policy. They persuaded the landlord that they played jazz, although their music was predominantly country rock and blues, and first appeared on either 3 May, or 13 May 1971, with Steel on drums. They soon attracted good crowds - including other musicians, such as Graham Parker, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello - making Eggs the pioneers of the "pub rock" movement. Eventually, they were asked to increase their performances, until they were playing three nights and Sunday lunchtime each week. On other days they often appeared at other venues, such as The Marquee, which is where Dave Robinson, Brinsley Schwarz
's manager, had seen them and introduced them to the band.
Eggs over Easy had a large repertoire of over 50 of their own songs, and 50 covers, and were regularly joined on stage by members of Brinsley Schwarz and other performers, such as Loudon Wainwright III
and Frankie Miller
. One of the former Tally Ho jazz players, Barry Richardson, was so impressed he formed Bees Make Honey
, who were also given a Tally Ho residency, alongside a mix of new and existing bands, such as Max Merritt and the Meteors
and Brinsley Schwarz.
The number of venues wanting to stage Eggs Over Easy and other "pub-rock" bands was also increasing, primarily in large Victorian pubs “north of Regents Park” where there were plenty of suitable pubs. Eggs over Easy toured a chain of London pubs owned by the brewer Ind Coope, and in September and October 1971 supported John Mayall
on a UK tour, with George Butler replacing Steel on drums; "Eggs over Easy's country rock-flavored repertoire offering a fascinating counterpoint to Mayall's then rampant jazz-blues fixation" (Dave Thompson).
Kauff had not managed to resolve the dispute with Cannon Films, so the album remained unreleased, and the band had not secured a contract with a UK record label either. As they were having visa problems, Kauff suggested that they return home, so on 7 November 1971 they played their last gig at the Tally Ho, and went back to the US.
and in 1972 they recorded their first album to be released, Good 'N' Cheap. This was partially a re-recording of the tracks originally recorded in London. The album was produced by Link Wray
, at his brother, Vernon Wray’s studio in Tucson, Arizona
, and the band wrote all but one of the songs.
In 1973, they moved to San Francisco, and later supported The Eagles and Yes
on tour; ironically, the sort of “megastar” bands that, back in England, pub rock was seen as a backlash against. By 1976 John “Jay” David (ex Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
) had replaced Franz on drums, and they issued a single “Bar in my Car”, on Buffalo Records, but the record company “tanked as soon as the record came out.” Originally titled "I'm Gonna Put a Bar in the Back of My Car (And Drive Myself to Drink)", the song appears on numerous internet lists of "worst country song titles" as being from their album Fear of Frying, but this is incorrect.
The second album Fear of Frying was eventually recorded in 1980/81 and issued on Squish Records, which also failed as soon as the album was released, making this album a rarity, which has yet to be re-issued on CD.
The Eggs were frequently joined on stage by Grootna's vocalist Anna Rizzo and also played with members of Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen
in Moonlighters. One of their final gigs was as “The Opinions”, backing Dan Hicks
and Eggs Over Easy finally split in 1981.
After the break-up, Hopkins continued as a songwriter, O’Hara became a recording engineer and de Lone played as a session musician with Bonnie Raitt
, Nick Lowe
, Elvis Costello
and others.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to record an album, and then became a resident band in a London public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, launching what subsequently became known as pub rock
Pub rock (UK)
Pub rock was a rock music genre that developed in the mid 1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, pub rock was a reaction against progressive and glam rock. Although short-lived, pub rock was notable for rejecting stadium venues and for returning live rock to the small pubs and...
.
Formation
Although both hailed from New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Jack O'Hara (guitar, bass & vocals) met Austin de Lone (keyboards, guitar & vocals) in Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, where they formed a duo. The pair moved back to New York, where they met Brien Hopkins (keyboards, bass, guitar & vocals) who joined to form a multi-instrumental trio, without a drummer or percussionist. They regularly played clubs and bars in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
and Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, until they acquired a small fan base, and a manager, Peter Kauff. Kauff was also helping Cannon Films to move into the music business, and arranged for Chas Chandler
Chas Chandler
Bryan James "Chas" Chandler was an English musician, record producer and manager of several successful music acts....
(bass player for The Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
and producer/manager of the Jimi Hendrix Experience) to produce their first album.
London
Recording started at Olympic StudiosOlympic Studios
Olympic Studios was a renowned independent commercial recording studio located at 117 Church Road, Barnes, South West London, England. The studio is best known for the huge number of famous rock and pop recordings made there from the late 1960s onward....
in Barnes, London, in December 1970, initially with Les Sampson (a friend of Noel Redding
Noel Redding
Noel Redding was an English rock and roll guitarist best known as the bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Biography:...
who joined him in the band “Road”) on drums. They also played several dates at the American Embassy as a trio. Recording was completed in January 1971, with ex-Animal John Steel
John Steel (drummer)
For other persons named John Steele, see John Steele .John Steel was the original drummer of the band, The Animals, and is the owner of the rights to the band's name, by virtue of a trademark registration.Steel went to the Gateshead Grammar School...
on drums. The recordings went well, but Kauff fell out with Cannon Films, and advised the band to stay in London, until the problems were resolved, rather than return to the US.
Chandler arranged for the band to play a number of college gigs around the country. Many of these were sponsored by the American Embassy in London, which paid for the band to tour British universities to perform before larger audiences with American poets such as Marilyn Hacker
Marilyn Hacker
Marilyn Hacker is an American poet, translator and critic. She is Professor of English at the City College of New York....
, Denis Boyles
Denis Boyles
Denis Boyles is a writer, editor, former university lecturer and the author/editor of several books of poetry, travel/history, criticism, practical advice and essays, including Design Poetics , The Modern Man's Guide to Life , African Lives , Man Eaters Motel , A Man's Life: The Complete...
, and Louis Simpson
Louis Simpson
Louis Aston Marantz Simpson is an American poet. He won the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his work At The End Of The Open Road.-Life:...
. By then, the band had moved into a house, 10 Alma Street, Kentish Town
Kentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of north west London, England in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The most widely accepted explanation of the name of Kentish Town is that it derived from 'Ken-ditch' meaning the 'bed of a waterway'...
, near a pub called the Tally Ho. The band were used to playing in American bars, but in common with most London pubs at the time, the Tally Ho had a jazz-only policy. They persuaded the landlord that they played jazz, although their music was predominantly country rock and blues, and first appeared on either 3 May, or 13 May 1971, with Steel on drums. They soon attracted good crowds - including other musicians, such as Graham Parker, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello - making Eggs the pioneers of the "pub rock" movement. Eventually, they were asked to increase their performances, until they were playing three nights and Sunday lunchtime each week. On other days they often appeared at other venues, such as The Marquee, which is where Dave Robinson, Brinsley Schwarz
Brinsley Schwarz
Brinsley Schwarz were a 1970s English pub rock band, named after their guitarist Brinsley Schwarz. With Nick Lowe on bass and vocals, keyboardist Bob Andrews and drummer Billy Rankin, the band evolved from the 1960s pop band Kippington Lodge.-Formation:...
's manager, had seen them and introduced them to the band.
Eggs over Easy had a large repertoire of over 50 of their own songs, and 50 covers, and were regularly joined on stage by members of Brinsley Schwarz and other performers, such as Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Wainwright III
Loudon Snowden Wainwright III is a Grammy Award-winning American songwriter, folk singer, humorist, and actor. He is the father of musicians Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche, brother of Sloan Wainwright, and the former husband of the late folk singer Kate McGarrigle.To...
and Frankie Miller
Frankie Miller
Frankie Miller is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter, who had his biggest success in the 1970s. Miller was raised at Colvend Street, Glasgow with his parents, Cathy and Frank, and elder sisters Letty and Anne. Miller attended Sacred Heart Primary school. He was an altar boy in Sacred Heart Chapel...
. One of the former Tally Ho jazz players, Barry Richardson, was so impressed he formed Bees Make Honey
Bees Make Honey
Bees Make Honey were an influential band in the early pub rock movement in the UK.The band were formed in 1971 in north London by Barry Richardson, who had a residency in a jazz band at the "Tally Ho" public house, when Eggs over Easy started playing pub rock there...
, who were also given a Tally Ho residency, alongside a mix of new and existing bands, such as Max Merritt and the Meteors
Max Merritt
Max Merritt is a New Zealand-born singer-songwriter and guitarist who is renowned as an interpreter of soul music and R&B...
and Brinsley Schwarz.
The number of venues wanting to stage Eggs Over Easy and other "pub-rock" bands was also increasing, primarily in large Victorian pubs “north of Regents Park” where there were plenty of suitable pubs. Eggs over Easy toured a chain of London pubs owned by the brewer Ind Coope, and in September and October 1971 supported John Mayall
John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...
on a UK tour, with George Butler replacing Steel on drums; "Eggs over Easy's country rock-flavored repertoire offering a fascinating counterpoint to Mayall's then rampant jazz-blues fixation" (Dave Thompson).
Kauff had not managed to resolve the dispute with Cannon Films, so the album remained unreleased, and the band had not secured a contract with a UK record label either. As they were having visa problems, Kauff suggested that they return home, so on 7 November 1971 they played their last gig at the Tally Ho, and went back to the US.
Return to US
Back in New York, Bill Franz joined on drums, they signed a deal with A&M RecordsA&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
and in 1972 they recorded their first album to be released, Good 'N' Cheap. This was partially a re-recording of the tracks originally recorded in London. The album was produced by Link Wray
Link Wray
Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr was an American rock and roll guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer....
, at his brother, Vernon Wray’s studio in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, and the band wrote all but one of the songs.
In 1973, they moved to San Francisco, and later supported The Eagles and Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
on tour; ironically, the sort of “megastar” bands that, back in England, pub rock was seen as a backlash against. By 1976 John “Jay” David (ex Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show
Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show was an American pop, country and soft rock band, formed around Union City, New Jersey in 1967 as The Chocolate Papers. They enjoyed considerable commercial success in the 1970s with hit singles including "Sylvia's Mother", "The Cover of the Rolling Stone", "A Little Bit...
) had replaced Franz on drums, and they issued a single “Bar in my Car”, on Buffalo Records, but the record company “tanked as soon as the record came out.” Originally titled "I'm Gonna Put a Bar in the Back of My Car (And Drive Myself to Drink)", the song appears on numerous internet lists of "worst country song titles" as being from their album Fear of Frying, but this is incorrect.
The second album Fear of Frying was eventually recorded in 1980/81 and issued on Squish Records, which also failed as soon as the album was released, making this album a rarity, which has yet to be re-issued on CD.
The Eggs were frequently joined on stage by Grootna's vocalist Anna Rizzo and also played with members of Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen is an American country rock band founded in 1967. Core members included founder George Frayne, John Tichy, Billy C. Farlow, Bill Kirchen, Andy Stein, Paul "Buffalo" Bruce Barlow, Lance Dickerson, and Bobby Black....
in Moonlighters. One of their final gigs was as “The Opinions”, backing Dan Hicks
Dan Hicks (singer)
Dan Hicks , is an American singer-songwriter working at the intersection of cowboy folk, jazz, country, swing, bluegrass, pop, and gypsy music...
and Eggs Over Easy finally split in 1981.
After the break-up, Hopkins continued as a songwriter, O’Hara became a recording engineer and de Lone played as a session musician with Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
, Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
and others.
Albums
- Good 'N' Cheap - LP (1972) A&M (A&M 2366) : LP Re-issue (1986) Edsel : CD (1998) Edsel (ED199) : CD + bonus tracks (2006) Hux (Hux 081) Allmusic [ link]
- "Back of My Car" – Single (1974) Buffalo Records
- Fear of Frying – LP (1981) Squish Records
Compilations
- Naughty Rhythms: The Best of Pub Rock CD (1996) EMI (Premier 37968) includes one "Eggs" track - "Factory"
- Goodbye Nashville Hello Camden Town – a Pub Rock Anthology CD (2007) Castle Music (CMEDD1451) includes one "Eggs" track - "Runnin' Down to Memphis"