THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
1,783) Aquila — “Change Your Ways”
Sterling British (or, British sterling) jazz-rock/prog “quickened by the driving beat of the rhythm section” and “reminiscent of the early work of Chicago” from “an unjustly lost album”. (Bob McBeath, https://persevalk.blogspot.com/2011/02/aquila-aquila-1970.html?m=1)
Nigel Camilleri writes:
“Change Your Ways” has the band opening with saxophones and Hammond blaring out the main theme while the band seems to plough along an almost rhythm and blues backing rhythm. [Ralph] Denyer’s vocals are pleasant and rich with a distinctive sixties sound to it. Electric guitars are almost non-existent on this track as the bass is brought to the front of the mix accentuating the soulful rhythm of this track. At times there are hints of early Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears [see #765], mainly caused by the generous use of saxophones coupled with the strong roaming bass sound.
As to Aquila, Camilleri adds:
[I]t seems that Denyer wished to move away from the Psychedelic drenched rock that Blonde On Blonde [see #227, 267, 1,089, 1,620] were playing and move further towards a progressive style that combined influences of Rhythm & Blues and Jazz. . . . The line-up consisted of James Smith (drums, percussion), Martin Woodward (Hammond organ), George . . . Lee (flute, saxophones) and Phil Childs (bass, piano). . . . Musically the group played a straight forward progressive rock with tinges of jazz provided mainly by Lee’s playing.
Sébastien Métens adds:
Aquila were a five-piece progressive rock band from Wales who, in their time together during that wonderfully creative and burgeoning prog scene of the day, sadly left us with only one 1970-issued, self-titled release on RCA. The band were the brainchild of Blonde On Blonde guitarist, Ralph Denyer, who wrote and composed all the music and songs on the album. Flute, sax, and the venerable Hammond augment the classic bass-drums-guitar bedrock, affording a jazz-inflected sound . . . .
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2015/04/aquila-interview.html#google_vignette
And Bob McBeath writes:
Denyer left [Blonde on Blonde] in 1970 to work on his Aquila project. . . . Aquila’s music, while substantially based in art rock, draws in influences from a diverse range of influences, including jazz and heavy rock. . . . [Denyers] brought in four other musicians including George Lee, a dedicated wind instrumentalist and the five piece Aquila was formed. . . . [Denyer] . . . entrust[ed] production duties to Patrick Campbell-Lyons [see #287, 391, 475, 1,238, 1,525, 1,712] . . . . It is perhaps George Lee’s contribution which distinguishes Aquila from other releases of the time, his multi- instrumental talents giving each track a unique flavour. Ralph Denyer’s own contribution though should not be under-played. As sole songwriter and vocalist, as well as lead guitarist, he takes great credit for the way he exploits the talents of his fellow band members.
https://persevalk.blogspot.com/2011/02/aquila-aquila-1970.html?m=1
James Smith and Martin Woodward recall from a fabulous interview by Sébastien Métens in Psychedelic Baby Magazine which I urge you all to read:
[JS] “[T]he existence of Aquila is entirely due to Martin and myself. When we were with The Fantastics we formed a genuine friendship. Also, musically, we were very compatible—very much into jazz-rock. We generally roomed together on the road and often talked at length about music and original arrangements etc. . . . [W]hen The Fantastics went back to the US, we were out of work. Martin was crashing at my flat . . . and it was almost an unspoken understanding that we should try to create something ourselves, rather than just look for another gig. I mentioned that I knew a really good bass player of a similar musical leaning, and if he was free we could get together and see what happened. Luckily, Phil (Childs) was indeed free, so we arranged a rehearsal room; within half an hour it was as if we’d been playing together for years, so we all decided to give it a go. None of us could sing, so we advertised for a guitarist/vocalist and were lucky enough to get Ralph, who again fitted in seamlessly . . . .”
[MW] “[B]asically most of the songs were constructed by Ralph coming up with the original idea and getting us all to play along with different rhythms. This created more ideas between all of us, and the songs evolved that way. . . . Aquila didn’t so much disband as fell apart. No one actually said, “Right, that’s it. We’re done.” RCA didn’t do anything for us, and the main reason it fell apart was lack of funds, or rather lack of gigs (which amounts to the same thing).”
[JS] “We had all put a hell of a lot of effort and hard work into the material and the album itself; when it didn’t take off, it was very disappointing. The production was not as good as it could have been and RCA did virtually nothing regarding promotion. Though nothing was said directly at the time, we just seemed to lose the impetus. In hindsight—a mistake; we should have learned from the experience and stuck at it.”
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2015/04/aquila-interview.html
* As to the name, Smith and Woodward recall:
[JS] “We were all smoking weed and generally talking rubbish, when the topic of the band’s name came up. One of the guys . . . who was into astrology suggested that rather than name the band after a ‘somewhat depressing’ book [Animal Farm], why not name it after a star or constellation. Out came a book, and we came across the name ‘Aquila’ a constellation which was also the Latin for ‘eagle’. It was prominent in Roman mythology as the sacred bird that carried Jupiter’s thunderbolt. It instantly appealed to us and at rehearsal the next day we all decided to adopt it.”
[MW] “I loved the album cover, which was in fact a drawing of Goldie, the golden eagle who, at that time, was in London Zoo and quite famous. Keith, who did the drawings on the album, was a friend of ours. We did originally want an eagle’s cry at the beginning of the album, and Ralph went to London Zoo and asked the keeper if he could take some recording gear there to record Goldie. The keeper said, ‘You can try if you like mate, but I’ve been here 30 years and haven’t heard him make a sound yet!’, so we gave up on that one!”
https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2015/04/aquila-interview.html
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Great song! Never heard it before!
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Happy Thanksgiving.
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