Juicy Lucy

Juicy Lucy - Do That and You'll Lose It - 2006 - Sore-feet Productions

Many people will be familiar with Juicy Lucy from their 1970 single "Who Do You Love" which has graced over 180 compilation CDs to date. Some people will remember that Juicy Lucy was a stopping point for Micky Moody on his way to fame and fortune with Whitesnake. What a lot of people don't know (yet) is that Juicy Lucy in 2006 is one of the most powerful, interesting "classic" rock bands performing and recording in the world today. With a combined experience of recording and playing live that is frightening, but with an attitude which is fresh and energetic, the music of Juicy Lucy appeals to a surprisingly wide audience without being simplistic or patronising. Male, female, aged sixteen to sixty, it doesn't seem to matter what people are "in" to, Juicy Lucy's music seems to havea universal appeal. © cdbaby.com

Juicy Lucy, took their name from a character in Leslie Thomas' "Virgin Soldiers" novel. Their first single from their s/t debut album. "Who Do You Love?" in 1970 was a cover of a Bo Diddley tune. It reached number 14 in the UK and stayed in the charts for three months. The band are one of the many the 70's rock bands who's brand name bears little or no resemblance to their original line-up or musical genre. Juicy Lucy, aside from the early days of vocalist Ray Owen who fronts the current line-up, have enjoyed nearly four renaissances with both Owen and his successor Paul Williams fronting assorted line-ups. The original band was primarily a blues rock outfit, but the "new" line-up is more involved with the hard rock genre. With powerful vocals, superb guitar licks and some brilliant tight rock and rhythm and blues tracks, this is a great album from the ageless blues rock band, Juicy Lucy. Ray Owen penned seven of the tracks on this album, and bar the fourth track, "species," which is arguably the albums "weakest" track, the songs should still appeal to fans of the early Juicy Lucy followers, and to all lovers of modern day hard rock. There is info on the ex Juicy Luicy's guitarist Micky Moody's album, "I Eat Them For Breakfast" album @ MMOODY/IETFB One of the more "modern" Juicy Lucy albums, from 1996, "Blue Thunder" is available @ JULU/BLUTH Probably their best album, the s/t "Juicy Lucy" from 1969 can be found @ JULU/ST The band's 1972 "Pieces" album is also one of their best works. Check it out @ JULU/PCS

TRACKS

1. Silver Bird
2. Making a Name
3. Forty Days
4. Species
5. Where Were You?
6. Madeline & Suzy
7. Only When You Know
8. Freedom
9. Facts of Life
10. One Time, One Place
11. God Only Knows
12. Floss

BAND

Mr.Fish - Guitar
Ray Owen - Vocals & Rhythm Guitar
Mr. James - Bass
Paul Stuart Fletcher - Drums

ABOUT JUICY LUCY

Saucy blues-rockers Juicy Lucy formed in 1969 from the ashes of cult-favorite garage band the Misunderstood, reuniting vocalist Ray Owen, steel guitarist Glenn "Ross" Campbell and keyboardist Chris Mercer; with the additions of guitarist Neil Hubbard, bassist Keith Ellis and drummer Pete Dobson, the group immediately notched a UK Top 20 hit with their reading of the Bo Diddley perennial "Who Do You Love," with their self-titled debut LP falling just shy of the Top 40. Ex-Zoot Money singer Paul Williams, guitarist Mick Moody and drummer Rod Coombes replaced Owen (who exited for a solo career), Hubbard and Dobson for 1970's Lie Back and Enjoy It, with bassist Jim Leverton assuming Ellis' duties for the follow-up, 1971's Get a Whiff a This. The constant turnover clearly took its toll on the group both creatively and commercially, with co-founders Campbell and Mercer both exiting prior to the fourth Juicy Lucy album, 1972's Pieces, which was recorded by a makeshift lineup of Williams, Moody, keyboardist Jean Roussel and the former Blodwyn Pig rhythm section of bassist Andy Pyle and drummer Ron Berg. Juicy Lucy finally disbanded shortly thereafter. Ray Owen revived the name in 1995 for the album Here She Comes Again which found Mike Jarvis (guitar), Andy Doughty (bass), and Spencer Blackledge (drums) rounding out the band. A couple of years later this version of the band broke-up but Owen wanted to keep on going, especially when he formed a musical partnership with a guitarist known as Mr. Fish. Legal problems kept the new band from using the Juicy Lucy name so they gigged as Ray Owen's Moon. By 2004 bassist Fudge and drummer Fletch had joined the band and the legal issue was settled. The new Juicy Lucy spent 2006 working on a new album and touring the U.K. with Nazareth. © Jason Ankeny, allmusic.com

MORE ABOUT JUICY LUCY

In the beginning there was a band called The Misunderstood. Hailed in the late sixties as pioneers of the psychedelic movement by the likes of Pink Floyd, their cause had been championed by John Peel who discovered them whilst he was working as a DJ in the US. He was so impressed by them that he produced their first recordings in 1966 and invited them to come to the UK, an offer they later took up. However, having made it to the UK the Vietnam draft in the US and UK immigration services caused personnel problems, so in the late sixties Ray Owen was drafted in on vocals and The Misunderstood became Juicy Lucy. Taking their name from a character in Leslie Thomas' "Virgin Soldiers" Juicy Lucy were aiming to move away from the psychedelic sound of The Misunderstood to something more contemporary and commercial. Well, they certainly got that right with the first single from the self titled debut album. "Who Do You Love?", a cover of a Bo Diddley song, stamped it's way up the singles charts in the UK and several European countries in the spring of 1970, finally reaching number 14 in the UK and staying on the chart for three months. The album cover itself caused quite a stir, featuring as it did a woman lying naked, surrounded (and modesty preserved) by fruit! Unfortunately all was not well in the Lucy camp. Personal differences took their toll and Ray's position fronting the band was taken over by Paul Williams, then known for his work with Alan Price and Zoot Money. This was the first of several personel changes, including the addition of Micky Moody, later to achieve great success as a key writer and performer with Whitesnake. By the time of the band's last album "Pieces" none of the original members who had seared their way onto the scene with Who Do You Love remained in the band. And so Juicy Lucy disappeared from sight. However, 1995 saw the return of the band. With Ray taking the position centre stage on vocals and guitar and ably assisted by Mike Jarvis (guitar) Spencer Blackledge (drums) and Andy Doughty (bass) the album "Here She Comes Again" saw the light of day. The band toured in support of the album, but could not reach out to either their old fans, or the new audience which they desired. Dispirited, that line-up called it a day after a couple of years. Soon after the collapse of that incarnation of Juicy Lucy Ray came into contact with Mr Fish. It was immediately obvious to each of them that the other had talent and so they decided to work together. Legal considerations at the time prevented them using the Juicy Lucy name, so they gigged and recorded as "Ray Owen's Moon", a name originally used for Ray's 1973 solo album. Over the course of the next few years there were several changes of personnel working alongside the dynamic duo; another guitarist as well as various drummers and bass players (including Fudge and the band's current manager). And then in 2002 Fletch came on to the scene. Possessing a remakable combination of skill, power and imagination he instantly fitted into place as the final piece of the puzzle and the band achieved a new level. With a renewed enthusiasm the band set about writing, rehersing and gigging. Although still out in the cold as far as the mainstream of the music industry was concerned, they set about working at the grass roots level. Doing the unthinkable, they were playing original music in pubs and small clubs, getting a great response and building up a following. By 2004 the situation with the Juicy Lucy name had been resolved and it was clear that the band had the capability to repeat, or even exceed, it's earlier success. Sanctuary Records had released "Who Do You Love - the anthology" and interest in the band was being shown from all over the world. By mid-2004 a management deal had been struck and Juicy Lucy was back in business! Following a very successful relaunch of the band on an unsuspecting public on 16th February 2005, held at the famous Eel Pie Club in Twickenham, April 2005 saw the band setting out to gig across the UK. Kicking off supporting Saxon and Wishbone Ash in front of a crowd of 4000, they played at venues from Plymouth to Aberdeen and back again. Whether playing to long time fans from the '70s or to student audiences the response was the same; ecstatic! As one happy audience member was heard to say in Dundee "They're real live f****** rock stars, but nobody knows it yet!". February 2006 saw the band supporting rock legends Nazareth at a string of dates up and down England as well as continuing to headline in their own right. In June 2006 the band went in to The Levellers' Metway Studios in Brighton to work on the first new recordings for twelve years. The value of extensive live performance showed when it came to the recording sessions, with the band completing the tracking for eleven songs in four days! The result of these sessions was "Do That And You'll Lose It", released in September 2006. © Sore-feet Productions 2005-2006

BIO (Wikipedia)

Juicy Lucy were saucy blues-rockers, who formed in 1969 from the ashes of the cult garage band The Misunderstood; thus uniting vocalist Ray Owen, steel guitarist Glenn Ross Campbell and keyboardist Chris Mercer. The group later picked up guitarist Neil Hubbard, bassist Keith Ellis, plus their drummer Pete Dobson. The band immediately notched a UK Top 20 hit with their cover version of the Bo Diddley perennial "Who Do You Love?". Their self-titled debut album then fell just shy of the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart. Line-up changes were quickly afoot as ex-Zoot Money singer Paul Williams, guitarist Micky Moody and drummer Rod Coombes; replaced Owen (who exited for a solo career), Hubbard and Dobson; for 1970's Lie Back and Enjoy It (#53 - UK Albums Chart), with another bassist Jim Leverton assuming Ellis' duties for the follow-up, 1971's Get a Whiff of This. The constant turnover clearly took its toll on the group both creatively and commercially, with co-founders Campbell and Mercer both exiting prior to the fourth Juicy Lucy album, 1972's Pieces. This was recorded by a makeshift line-up of Williams, Moody, keyboardist Jean Roussel and the former Blodwyn Pig rhythm section of bassist Andy Pyle and drummer Ron Berg. Juicy Lucy disbanded shortly thereafter. Micky Moody (born 30 August 1950, in Middlesbrough), later joined the inaugural Whitesnake line-up in 1978. Before then he was a member of another rock outfit Snafu between 1973 and 1976. Moody also released the bluesy solo album I Eat Them For Breakfast in 2001. Plus, Juicy Lucy's version of the song "Who Do You Love?" was featured in Shellshock: Nam '67. Founder member Ray Owen revived the name in 1995 for the albums Blue Thunder and Here She Comes Again which found Mike Jarvis (guitar), Andy Doughty (bass), and Spencer Blackledge (drums) rounding out the band. A couple of years later this version of the band broke-up but Owen wanted to keep on going, especially when he formed a musical partnership with a guitarist known as Mr. Fish. Legal problems kept the new band from using the Juicy Lucy name, so they gigged as Ray Owen's Moon (Moon being the title of Ray Owen's 1971 solo album). By 2004 bassist Fudge and drummer Fletch had joined the band and the legal issue was settled. The new Juicy Lucy spent 2006 working on a new album (subsequently titled Do That And You'll Lose It), and touring the UK with fellow rock veterans Nazareth. They played the Cambridge Rock Festival (2007) and are managing to build a formidable live reputaion. The link with the past though is not forgotten, and the modern day Juicy Lucy still plays "Mississippi Woman", "Who Do You Love?" and more from their first album. The original Misunderstood was formed in 1966 and reformed for its trip to England. They made two singles for Fontana including 'Children Of The Sun,' and featured good looking young singer Steve Hoard. However the Misunderstood were eventually superseded by a more commercial Juicy Lucy. The first Lucy lineup included Ray Owen (vocals), Glenn Campbell (steel guitar, mandolin and vocals), Neil Hubbard (guitar), Chris Mercer (saxophone, and piano), Keith Ellis (bass and vocals) and Pete Dobson on drums. The band was managed by Nigel Thomas who also looked after the affairs of Joe Cocker. A controversial but energetic music biz figure, Nigel died of a heart attack a couple of years ago. Micky Moody (born August 30, 1950), who is featured on the present album, remembers seeing the first version of the band on the road. 'The band was virtually formed around Glenn and everyone remembers their first album cover with the lady covered in fruit! I think her name was Zelda Plum. It was a great album and I remember seeing the band in action at their early gigs.’Moody is from Middlesborough. He went to school with Paul Rodgers who later came to fame with Free and Bad Company. Micky and Paul formed a band at school called The Roadrunners which became The Wild Flowers when they moved to London in 1967 and 'starved to death in our caftans!' Micky later went home to study classical guitar while Paul Rodgers met Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke and formed Free. Says Moody: 'I went back to the North East and was asked by a local club owner and singer called John McCoy to help form a blues band called Tramline.' The singer was friendly with record boss Chris Blackwell and the band released two albums on Blackwell's Island label. In March 1969 Moody auditioned for Lucas & The Mike Cotton Sound, a well known soul band. He got the gig, but switched to Zoot Money's band for a few months in 1970. He'd got to know Zoot's regular singer Paul Williams, who by this time had joined Juicy Lucy. Micky was brought up to date on all the latest Juicy gossip. 'Ray Owen had been sacked after a couple of months and Paul had got the gig. He told me Neil Hubbard was leaving and asked if I'd like to join on lead guitar. I said, 'Great!' I went straight into recording the album 'Like Back And Enjoy It.' We were gigging all the time and became particularly popular in Germany where the band was very respected." However it proved increasingly difficult to break out of the club circuit, and reach a higher level of acceptance. "We made another album 'Get A Whiff Of This' before the group finally disintegrated in 1971.' Glenn Campbell went back to America, apparently disillusioned, but during their time together the, Campbell/Moody guitar partnership had worked well. ‘It was good because we didn't get in each other's way. I liked Glenn's playing and did a bit of slide guitar myself, using the bottle neck. Yes I remember Glenn wearing his big hat. But we all used to do that, it was quite trendy at the time!’ Despite the defection of the mainman, Paul Williams wasn't ready to give up. ‘Paul said he wanted to keep the band together. He wanted me to be the lead guitarist and also play bottle neck slide and the band kind of reformed. We had the famous rhythm section of Ron Berg and Andy Pyle from Blodwyn Pig. The line-up varied from time to time and Bernie Marsden actually came down for a blow. We were looking for another player because we wanted twin guitars. I'd been promoted to lead and we needed a rhythm player to get that American funky sound, without being too heavy. Bernie came down, but he was wrong for the job, as he was more in the Clapton vein.’