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East of Eden were formed in BRISTOL in 1967
around Bristol University student Dave Arbus (violin/flute). The
rest of the band were Geoff Nicholson (guitar/vocals), Ron Caines
(saxophone), Stuart Rossiter (drums), Terry Brace (bass) and Al Read
(guitar/vocals). In 1968 they were the first British signing to the
American Atlantic label and released a single "King of Siam" b/w
"Ballad of Harvey Kaye". Also in 1968 they also made an appearance
in the film "Laughter in the Dark" which was directed by iconic
Sixties director Tony Richardson ("Tom Jones", "Look Back in Anger",
"A Taste Of Honey", "Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" and
more.
Very soon after the film's release, Tony Richardson, hurt by the
panning from the critics, successfully withdrew all copies and now
none in exist!
Towards the end of 1968 Terry Brace, Al Read and drummer Tony
Fennell who had replaced Stuart Rossiter earlier in the year, left
the band. Al and Terry started a music company called "Plastic Dog"
which, amongst other things, was responsible for Bristol's "Granary"
rock club.
The new East of Eden line-up in 1969 was Dave Arbus (born David
Arbus, 8 October 1941, in Leicester, Leicestershire) (violin, flute,
saxophone, trumpet), Ron Caines (born Ronald Caines, 13 December
1944, in Bristol, Somerset) (alto saxophone), Geoff Nicholson (born
Geoffrey Nicholson, 27 June 1948, near Bristol, Somerset) (guitar,
vocals), and Geoff Britton (born Geoffrey Britton, 1 August 1943, in
Lewisham, South London) (drums), who later joined Wings.
In 1969 they released the Merkator Projected album, followed shortly
after by the SNAFU and Jig-a-Jig albums (both released in 1970).
Although some might consider this group as being a symphonic
progressive band, others state that their style is mostly jazz
orientated. Combining flutes, violins and tape loops to folk, gypsy
and psychedelic music, the East of Eden style was always heavily
supported on a pure rock base; strong and experimental.
The band broke up in the mid 1970s having undergone various changes
in membership. However, the three core members (Arbus, Caines and
Nicholson), reunited in 1999 for the release of their new album
Kalipse. Like most of their earlier work, it was a cult hit only.
Trivia : Dave Arbus was a guest musician on The Who's track "Baba
O'Riley," playing the violin solo. He was a good friend of the
band´s drummer Keith Moon
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