Chicken Shack


Chicken Shack are a British blues band, founded in the mid-1960s by Stan Webb, Andy Silvester, and Alan Morley, who were later joined by Christine Perfect in 1967. Chicken Shack has performed with various line-ups, Stan Webb being the only constant member.

Career

David 'Rowdy' Yeats and Andy Silvester had formed Sounds of Blue in 1964 as a Stourbridge-based rhythm and blues band. They invited Stan Webb, who was leaving local band The Shades 5, to join them. The band also included Christine Perfect and Chris Wood amongst others in their line up. With a new line-up Chicken Shack was formed as a trio in 1965, naming themselves after Jimmy Smith's Back at the Chicken Shack album. 'Chicken shacks' had also been frequently mentioned in blues and R&B songs, as in Amos Milburn's hit, "Chicken Shack Boogie". Over the next few years the band had a residency at the Star-Club, Hamburg with Morley, then Al Sykes, Hughie Flint and later Dave Bidwell on drums.
They made their first UK appearance at the 1967 National Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor and signed to Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon record label in the same year; releasing Forty Blue Fingers, Freshly Packed and Ready to Serve in early 1968. A mainstay of the British blues boom, and a regular at UK festivals, Chicken Shack enjoyed some commercial success, with Christine Perfect voted Best Female Vocalist in the Melody Maker polls two years running. They had two minor hits with "I'd Rather Go Blind", and "Tears in the Wind", after which Perfect left the band in 1969 when she married John McVie of Fleetwood Mac. She was replaced by Paul Raymond from Plastic Penny.
After being dropped by Blue Horizon, pianist Paul Raymond, bassist Andy Silvester, and drummer Dave Bidwell all left in 1971 to join Savoy Brown. At this point Webb reformed the band as a trio with John Glascock on bass and Paul Hancox on drums, and they recorded Imagination Lady. The line-up did not last; Glascock left to join Carmen, while Webb was recruited for Savoy Brown in 1974 and recorded the album Boogie Brothers with them.
Since 1977 Webb has revived the Chicken Shack name on a number of occasions, with a rotating membership of British blues musicians including, at various times, Paul Butler, Keef Hartley, ex-Ten Years After drummer Ric Lee and Miller Anderson, some of whom came and went several times. The band has remained popular as a live attraction in Europe throughout.
Webb remains as their only constant band member.

Personnel

Members

;Current members
;Former members

Timeline


ImageSize = width:1000 height:675
PlotArea = left:200 bottom:120 top:0 right:25
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1965 till:01/01/2019
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4
ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1965
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1965
Colors =
id:voc value:red legend:Vocals
id:ww value:gray legend:Wind_instruments
id:g value:green legend:Guitars
id:key value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:b value:blue legend:Bass
id:dr value:orange legend:Drums
id:alb value:black legend:Studio_releases
LineData =
at:01/07/1968 layer:back
at:01/02/1969
at:01/11/1969
at:01/04/1970
at:02/02/1972
at:01/08/1973
at:01/01/1977
at:01/07/1977
at:01/01/1978
at:01/07/1978
at:01/01/1979
at:01/01/1980
at:01/01/1999
at:01/01/2001
at:01/01/2002
at:01/01/2004
at:01/01/2006
at:01/07/2006
PlotData =
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:
bar:Stan Webb from:start till:01/07/1974 color:g
bar:Stan Webb from:start till:01/07/1974 color:voc width:3
bar:Stan Webb from:01/07/1976 till:end color:g
bar:Stan Webb from:01/07/1976 till:end color:voc width:3
bar:Robbie Blunt from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1979 color:g
bar:Paul Butler from:01/07/1979 till:01/09/1981 color:g
bar:Miller Anderson from:01/09/1981 till:01/07/1986 color:g
bar:Roger Saunders from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1986 color:g
bar:Gary Davies from:01/07/1988 till:end color:g
bar:Dave Winthrop from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1979 color:ww
bar:Dave Winthrop from:01/07/1986 till:01/05/1987 color:ww
bar:Dave Winthrop from:01/07/2008 till:01/07/2010 color:ww
bar:Christine Perfect from:01/01/1968 till:01/07/1969 color:key
bar:Christine Perfect from:01/01/1968 till:01/07/1969 color:voc width:3
bar:Paul Raymond from:01/07/1969 till:01/05/1971 color:key
bar:David Wilkinson from:01/09/1972 till:01/07/1974 color:key
bar:David Wilkinson from:01/07/1986 till:01/07/1993 color:key
bar:Tony Ashton from:01/05/1981 till:01/09/1981 color:key
bar:Andy Sylvester from:start till:01/05/1971 color:b
bar:John Glascock from:01/05/1971 till:01/05/1972 color:b
bar:Bob Daisley from:01/05/1972 till:01/09/1972 color:b
bar:Bob Daisley from:01/07/1979 till:01/05/1980 color:b
bar:Rob Hull from:01/09/1972 till:01/07/1974 color:b
bar:Paul Martinez from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1978 color:b
bar:Steve York from:01/07/1978 till:01/07/1979 color:b
bar:Alan Scott from:01/05/1980 till:01/09/1980 color:b
bar:Andy Pyle from:01/09/1980 till:01/07/1986 color:b
bar:Andy Scott from:01/07/1983 till:01/07/1986 color:b
bar:Jan Connolly from:01/07/1986 till:01/05/1987 color:b
bar:Wayne Terry from:01/05/1987 till:01/09/1987 color:b
bar:David Wintour from:01/09/1987 till:01/07/1991 color:b
bar:James Morgan from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1998 color:b
bar:Jim Rudge from:01/07/1998 till:end color:b
bar:Alan Morley from:start till:01/06/1968 color:dr
bar:Al Sykes from:01/06/1968 till:01/08/1968 color:dr
bar:Hughie Flynt from:01/08/1968 till:01/10/1968 color:dr
bar:Dave Bidwell from:01/10/1968 till:01/05/1971 color:dr
bar:Paul Hancox from:01/05/1971 till:01/09/1972 color:dr
bar:Alan Powell from:01/09/1972 till:01/07/1974 color:dr
bar:Ed Spivock from:01/07/1976 till:01/07/1979 color:dr
bar:Keef Hartley from:01/07/1979 till:01/05/1980 color:dr
bar:Ric Lee from:01/07/1980 till:01/09/1981 color:dr
bar:Russ Alder from:01/09/1981 till:01/07/1983 color:dr
bar:John Gunzell from:01/07/1983 till:01/05/1987 color:dr
bar:Bev Smith from:01/05/1987 till:01/07/2002 color:dr
bar:Mick Jones from:01/07/2002 till:01/07/2010 color:dr
bar:Chris Williams from:01/07/2010 till:01/07/2012 color:dr
bar:Romek Parol from:01/07/2012 till:01/07/2013 color:dr

Discography

Albums