REACH FOR THE SKY

Biography

Sutherland Brothers (Gavin and Iain Sutherland) originally performed as a folk / rock duo in the field of British music in the early 1970s, and then joined with Quiver to record and tour as The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver. The Sutherland Brothers began their career in 1968 as A New Generation, having some early success with the single "Smokie Blues Away" (which used a melody based on the main theme of Dvorak's, New World Symphony). Subsequently re-billed as The Sutherland Brothers Band, they...

Sutherland Brothers (Gavin and Iain Sutherland) originally performed as a folk / rock duo in the field of British music in the early 1970s, and then joined with Quiver to record and tour as The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver.

The Sutherland Brothers began their career in 1968 as A New Generation, having some early success with the single "Smokie Blues Away" (which used a melody based on the main theme of Dvorak's, New World Symphony). Subsequently re-billed as The Sutherland Brothers Band, they won a new recording contract with Island Records and put out two albums in 1972. Their first minor hit was "The Pie" in 1970.

In an effort to diversify and expand their folk based sound, the Sutherland Brothers joined forces with a local rock band known as Quiver. Quiver included the guitarist Tim Renwick, keyboardist Peter Wood and drummer Willie Wilson. Their joint greatest success came under the credit of The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver. Several moderately successful albums were released by Island Records throughout the 1970s under this joint name before they moved to CBS Records where they recorded, amongst other songs, the Top Ten hit single, "Arms of Mary", which also became a hit when covered two years later by the Canadian group, Chilliwack.

The band were just reaching their peak as the punk music explosion happened; they ended up being ousted from their residency at London's Marquee Club to make way for the likes of The Damned and X-Ray Spex. The group quickly found that its cheerful, folk-rock style had fallen out of fashion, and disbanded after recording a final album in 1979.

One of the earlier Sutherland Brothers recordings is "Sailing", which exists in two versions: one with The Sutherland Brothers alone, the other together with Quiver. "Sailing" was no success for the Brothers, but in 1975, it became a major hit for Rod Stewart.

* Quiver's Tim Renwick went on to play with Al Stewart, and even a later incarnation of Pink Floyd.
* Bassist Bruce Thomas went on to join Elvis Costello and the Attractions.
* Peter Wood (aka Peter Woods) later worked with Cyndi Lauper. Born in 1950 in Middlesex, England, he died in 1994 in New York.
* Willie Wilson also worked with Pink Floyd during the period when the band were touring with The Wall.

Tim and Willie now play with local band The Bucket Boys in Cornwall... and fab they are too Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.