Egypt (band)
Encyclopedia
There is/has been more than one band called Egypt over the years. This can cause confusion with albums & tracks from different 'Egypts' often listed together as if they were one band. This Egypt (1987 to the present) is best known for its close connections to 60s/70s band The Groundhogs
and, just to add to the confusion, had a very different style and line-up in the early days, making many people believe they were two different bands.
, London in late 1987, but the story really begins a few weeks before when ex-Groundhogs bass player
Alan Fish and ex-Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker
were asked to record the very first album release (literally serial number
001) for the then fledgling record label
HTD Records (HTD are now Talking Elephant Records and deal with Wishbone Ash
, Fairport Convention
, Ritchie Blackmore
, Steven Stills
, etc.). Also included was guitarist Don Greer (ex-Bachman Turner Overdrive and others).
This initial plan got as far as some recording sessions (unreleased) before Clive found himself unavailable due to other commitments and Don decided to move back home to the States and was unable to continue, though he would later fill in for a broken-thumbed Eric Chipulina whilst Egypt were in the US for a short while in the early 90s. Alan was determined to carry on but was now on his own with recording and gig commitments to fulfil. Having difficulty finding the right musicians he began looking for a suitable ready-made band instead and met the first Egypt drummer Peter Chichon at one of these auditions. Peter was also there to audition but opted to pitch in with Alan instead.
Alan Fish started off his musical career (as guitarist initially) playing skiffle at the age of 12. As a teenager during the 60s he had been in bands in the far east supporting The Who
, The Rolling Stones
, The Beatles
, The Kinks
and other names of the era before relocating in the UK where he was again, during the 60s/70s, supporting many name acts including David Bowie
. He had recently left his bass playing job with bike rally favourites Dumpys Rusty Nuts and had played since the mid-seventies with the legendary Tony T S McPhee in The Groundhogs, Terraplane, and Tony McPhee's Turbo, recording several albums. In the 80s he joined Tredegar (with ex-Budgie drummer & guitarist Ray Philips and Tony Bourge) and was involved in many other projects including a European tour with Chuck Berry
and a couple of albums with ex-Bo Diddley harp player Billy Boy Arnold. His entire CV is too long to include here.
Peter Chichon had recently been drumming for infamous London trash/glam rockers The Gunslingers and had already played in several bands with guitarist Eric Chipulina, who joined up after playing the Benny Hill
theme tune
(!) at an impromptu audition at the aforementioned Shepherds Bush squat. Eric had until that time been gigging around London with Periphery (with Bill Kruse and Francis Pecino). Finally, on vocals came in Ryka who had previously been in Shattered with Peter. This line-up barely stuck together long enough to record the first album (produced by NWOBHM
pioneer Paul Samson
) in 1988 and do a couple of brief UK tours of mostly smaller hall and club venues.
The music at this point was very different to the blues-rock
style that developed later on. There was a recording and gigging schedule to keep within weeks of forming which saw some studio work begin even before a singer had been found. Material for both studio and live performances was hurriedly written and sourced from different genres, past projects, etc. and the result was a mixture of thrash metal
and older metal styles along with several other things including North Africa
n and Andalusian influences, hence the name Egypt. It was suggested by the record company HTD (now Talking Elephant Records) after hearing Find A Way, a track with a somewhat Egyptian sounding riff which featured on the first album. With HTD literally waiting for a name to put on the cover so they could go ahead with artwork and release (and with the pub about to open any minute) the name was adopted despite doubts about it as no one could think of anything else in the time available.
The first album was released in 1988 getting plenty of airplay on national radio (Radio One
Rock Show
, featured album on Radio Caroline
, etc.), an airing on a late night 'jukebox jury' type TV show on Channel 4
and press coverage nationwide. However there was a problem with distribution (by EMI subsidiary Supertrack) and by the time the album reached the shops the moment had gone. After so much money and effort had been spent and with HTD nearly sunk almost before it had even started, and therefore unable to carry on the momentum, there seemed to be nowhere to go and the band gradually began to fall apart. The first to leave was Ryka, who went on to record a solo album
project with songwriting duo Nick Jefferson and Alistar Nicholson in a project called Sine on Minority One Records. Next to leave was Peter Chichon, who later found cult success in the UK and worldwide with the excellent Breed 77
. Ironically a badly edited bootleg of the album made an appearance soon after and was apparently selling well.
who has been involved with Egypt from day one. Alan and Eric took over on vocal duties and played blues and rock'n'roll numbers, many of which Alan knew from his days with Chuck Berry. Despite the lack of any backing and general apathy from record companies, agencies, etc., the band managed to keep on gigging, sometimes under different names, while deciding whether to continue using the name Egypt as the style was changing so much from what it started out as. In time Eric took over more on vocals, becoming the main vocalist. This was the beginning of the transition to the current version of Egypt, in that the circumstances forced a re-invention as a more back-to-the-roots blues/rock three piece, which gradually evolved to include a more progressive blues side and a delta blues
side alongside the rockers.
needed a backing band
for a gig in Liverpool and asked his old bass player Alan if he could 'borrow' his band. Eventually Egypt members were to form part of various versions of the 'Hogs for the next ten years or so. By this time there had finally been found a regular drummer in Chris Bennett
(previously with original Iron Maiden
vocalist Paul Dianno). All three went into The Groundhogs and continued gigging as Egypt as well (including a few weeks gigs and TV appearance in Dubai) until some time in 91 when Chris left. More drumming friends again helped to keep Egypt going until the summer of that year.
Songbook in 99. Towards the end of 99 Eric and Peter left The Groundhogs to concentrate more on Egypt, which had been pushed aside to a certain extent.
Ken Hensley
and ex-members of Wings and AC/DC
. Soon after this a long overdue new CD Midnight Sun was recorded at Purple Studios in Norwich and released mid 2004 on Blues Matters
Records.
The Groundhogs
Groundhogs are a British rock band founded in late 1963, that toured extensively in the 1960s, achieved prominence in the early 1970s and continued sporadically into the 21st century.-Career:...
and, just to add to the confusion, had a very different style and line-up in the early days, making many people believe they were two different bands.
The early years
Egypt's original line-up first got together in a squat in Shepherds BushShepherd's Bush
-Commerce:Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green....
, London in late 1987, but the story really begins a few weeks before when ex-Groundhogs bass player
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Alan Fish and ex-Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker
Clive Bunker
Clive William Bunker is a British rock drummer. He was the original drummer in the British band Jethro Tull....
were asked to record the very first album release (literally serial number
Serial number
A serial number is a unique number assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discrete integer value...
001) for the then fledgling record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
HTD Records (HTD are now Talking Elephant Records and deal with Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular records included Wishbone Ash , Argus , There's the Rub , and New England...
, Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
, Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
, Steven Stills
Stephen Stills
Stephen Arthur Stills is an American guitarist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash . He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time...
, etc.). Also included was guitarist Don Greer (ex-Bachman Turner Overdrive and others).
This initial plan got as far as some recording sessions (unreleased) before Clive found himself unavailable due to other commitments and Don decided to move back home to the States and was unable to continue, though he would later fill in for a broken-thumbed Eric Chipulina whilst Egypt were in the US for a short while in the early 90s. Alan was determined to carry on but was now on his own with recording and gig commitments to fulfil. Having difficulty finding the right musicians he began looking for a suitable ready-made band instead and met the first Egypt drummer Peter Chichon at one of these auditions. Peter was also there to audition but opted to pitch in with Alan instead.
Alan Fish started off his musical career (as guitarist initially) playing skiffle at the age of 12. As a teenager during the 60s he had been in bands in the far east supporting The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
and other names of the era before relocating in the UK where he was again, during the 60s/70s, supporting many name acts including David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
. He had recently left his bass playing job with bike rally favourites Dumpys Rusty Nuts and had played since the mid-seventies with the legendary Tony T S McPhee in The Groundhogs, Terraplane, and Tony McPhee's Turbo, recording several albums. In the 80s he joined Tredegar (with ex-Budgie drummer & guitarist Ray Philips and Tony Bourge) and was involved in many other projects including a European tour with Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
and a couple of albums with ex-Bo Diddley harp player Billy Boy Arnold. His entire CV is too long to include here.
Peter Chichon had recently been drumming for infamous London trash/glam rockers The Gunslingers and had already played in several bands with guitarist Eric Chipulina, who joined up after playing the Benny Hill
Benny Hill
Benny Hill was an English comedian and actor, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.-Early life:...
theme tune
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
(!) at an impromptu audition at the aforementioned Shepherds Bush squat. Eric had until that time been gigging around London with Periphery (with Bill Kruse and Francis Pecino). Finally, on vocals came in Ryka who had previously been in Shattered with Peter. This line-up barely stuck together long enough to record the first album (produced by NWOBHM
New Wave of British Heavy Metal
The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was a heavy metal movement that started in the late 1970s, in Britain, and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. The movement developed as a reaction in part to the decline of early heavy metal bands such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Black...
pioneer Paul Samson
Paul Samson
Paul Samson was a British guitarist, closely associated with the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal.Born Paul Sanson, after a period in several obscure bands, Samson formed his own eponymous outfit, Samson, in 1977, consisting of Chris Aylmer on bass guitar, and Clive Burr on drums...
) in 1988 and do a couple of brief UK tours of mostly smaller hall and club venues.
The music at this point was very different to the blues-rock
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
style that developed later on. There was a recording and gigging schedule to keep within weeks of forming which saw some studio work begin even before a singer had been found. Material for both studio and live performances was hurriedly written and sourced from different genres, past projects, etc. and the result was a mixture of thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
and older metal styles along with several other things including North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
n and Andalusian influences, hence the name Egypt. It was suggested by the record company HTD (now Talking Elephant Records) after hearing Find A Way, a track with a somewhat Egyptian sounding riff which featured on the first album. With HTD literally waiting for a name to put on the cover so they could go ahead with artwork and release (and with the pub about to open any minute) the name was adopted despite doubts about it as no one could think of anything else in the time available.
The first album was released in 1988 getting plenty of airplay on national radio (Radio One
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
Rock Show
The Rock Show
"The Rock Show" is the first single from Blink 182's 2001 album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket. It was released in June 2001. The song was the most successful song on Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart, #71 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #14 on the UK...
, featured album on Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline
Radio Caroline is an English radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopoly...
, etc.), an airing on a late night 'jukebox jury' type TV show on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and press coverage nationwide. However there was a problem with distribution (by EMI subsidiary Supertrack) and by the time the album reached the shops the moment had gone. After so much money and effort had been spent and with HTD nearly sunk almost before it had even started, and therefore unable to carry on the momentum, there seemed to be nowhere to go and the band gradually began to fall apart. The first to leave was Ryka, who went on to record a solo album
Solo album
A solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...
project with songwriting duo Nick Jefferson and Alistar Nicholson in a project called Sine on Minority One Records. Next to leave was Peter Chichon, who later found cult success in the UK and worldwide with the excellent Breed 77
Breed 77
Breed 77 is a British band from the overseas territory of Gibraltar whose music is a fusion of alternative metal and flamenco.-Origin:Breed 77 comes from the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Old Gibraltarian school friends, Paul Isola, Danny Felice, and Stuart Cavilla met up in London and...
. Ironically a badly edited bootleg of the album made an appearance soon after and was apparently selling well.
The Wilderness Years
The first year or so immediately following the split is a blur of drummers and vocalists, many of them musician friends from the past helping to keep things going. For a while on rhythm/2nd guitar was sound engineer/road manager Dick WilsonDick Wilson
Dick Wilson, born Riccardo DiGuglielmo , was a British-born American character actor who played the role of finicky grocery store manager Mr...
who has been involved with Egypt from day one. Alan and Eric took over on vocal duties and played blues and rock'n'roll numbers, many of which Alan knew from his days with Chuck Berry. Despite the lack of any backing and general apathy from record companies, agencies, etc., the band managed to keep on gigging, sometimes under different names, while deciding whether to continue using the name Egypt as the style was changing so much from what it started out as. In time Eric took over more on vocals, becoming the main vocalist. This was the beginning of the transition to the current version of Egypt, in that the circumstances forced a re-invention as a more back-to-the-roots blues/rock three piece, which gradually evolved to include a more progressive blues side and a delta blues
Delta blues
The Delta blues is one of the earliest styles of blues music. It originated in the Mississippi Delta, a region of the United States that stretches from Memphis, Tennessee in the north to Vicksburg, Mississippi in the south, Helena, Arkansas in the west to the Yazoo River on the east. The...
side alongside the rockers.
The 'Hogs Years-pt I
One thing that very much re-enforced this direction was joining (or in Alan's case re-joining) legendary progressive blues outfit The Groundhogs circa 89 when Tony McPheeTony McPhee
Tony McPhee is an English blues guitarist, and founder of The Groundhogs....
needed a backing band
Backup band
A backing band or backup band is a musical ensemble that accompanies an artist at a live performance or on a recording. This can either be an established, long-standing group that has little or no change in membership, or it may be an ad hoc group assembled for a single show or a single recording...
for a gig in Liverpool and asked his old bass player Alan if he could 'borrow' his band. Eventually Egypt members were to form part of various versions of the 'Hogs for the next ten years or so. By this time there had finally been found a regular drummer in Chris Bennett
Chris Bennett
Chris Bennett may refer to:* Chris Bennett , Grammy-nominated singer, dancer and composer* Chris Bennett , former Canadian international and NASL soccer player...
(previously with original Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
vocalist Paul Dianno). All three went into The Groundhogs and continued gigging as Egypt as well (including a few weeks gigs and TV appearance in Dubai) until some time in 91 when Chris left. More drumming friends again helped to keep Egypt going until the summer of that year.
The Present Line-up
In mid 91 Peter Correa who had already played in bands with Eric in the dim and distant past decided to uproot from his (and Eric's) native Gibraltar and take the plunge with Egypt. This is probably where the band in its current form started, recording Preserving The Dead in 94 for a now fast recovering but much slimmed down HTD Records. This is the CD that most of the original stuff played live over the next few years came from and the first to be representative of the current bluesier style.The 'Hogs Years-pt II
It would have been around 92 or 93 that all three, one by one, joined/rejoined The Groundhogs, now and then gigging in Italy, Germany, Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe, apart from the regular UK circuit. They can be heard backing Tony McPhee on the Groundhogs album Lost Tapes II, recorded live in Milan in June 94 although it was not released until several years later. Again both bands were on the go at the same time and several occasions saw Egypt doing an opening set at a Groundhogs gig.The 'Hogs Years-pt III
Around 96 Alan left The Groundhogs and Eric switched over to bass (initially for a couple of German gigs but in fact for about 3 years) recording the CD Hogs In Wolf's Clothing and a video Live from The Astoria London both in 98,and another CD The Muddy WatersMuddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
Songbook in 99. Towards the end of 99 Eric and Peter left The Groundhogs to concentrate more on Egypt, which had been pushed aside to a certain extent.
Y2K
With the decision made to focus efforts on Egypt again, things slowly but steadily began to progress over the next few years. In early 2003 Alan went to Spain for a few months to work with ex-Uriah Heep keyboard playerKeyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
Ken Hensley
Ken Hensley
Kenneth William David Hensley is a keyboard player , guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer best known for his work with Uriah Heep during the 1970s....
and ex-members of Wings and AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
. Soon after this a long overdue new CD Midnight Sun was recorded at Purple Studios in Norwich and released mid 2004 on Blues Matters
Blues Matters
Blues Matters! is a British Blues music magazine....
Records.
The Present
From the very beginning, more than 20 years ago, Egypt has built up a reputation as a hard working live band and have rarely stopped gigging for more than a couple of weeks at a time since then. Gigs are constantly being booked throughout the UK and abroad with regular gigs in Spain, Germany and elsewhere. Also the re-release of the second and third albums (Preserving the Dead and Midnight Sun) and the recording and release of the next (and fourth) album Bluesbelly, all on Stable Records.Line-up
- Peter Correa - drums (ex-Groundhogs)
- Eric Chipulina - guitars/vocals (ex-Groundhogs)
- Alan Fish - bass/vocals (ex- Groundhogs, Tredegar, Chuck Berry, Zorro)
Former members
- Ryka - Vocals (Valhalla (UK), Shattered)
- Peter Chichon - Drums (Shattered, Breed 77)
- Chris Bennett - Drums (Paul Di'Anno Band)