Bobby Tench

The Gass and early career

Tench formed The Gass with Godfrey and Errol McLean in May 1965, credited as Robert Tench and featured as vocalist, guitarist and bass player. The band played mainly in the London Club circuit with other appearances elsewhere in the U.K and occasional tours in Europe. The Gass were often accompanied on stage by guest musicians,such as Georgie Fame,Jimi Hendrix and Eric Burdon. They recorded two singles for Parlophone and another for CBS with their original lineup, before taking a more progressive musical direction. During 1968 they were supporting bands such as Led Zeppelin. Tench moved on with drummer Godfrey McLean to form a new lineup and were signed by Polydor Records in 1969. By now the band was simply known as Gass and were already playing as the backing band for Catch My Soul, a stage musical produced by Jack Good. Tench sang some parts for Othello and he featured with the band on the original UK cast recording of Catch My Soul-Rock Othello, released a year later. They recorded Juju (1970), which was soon removed from retail outlets and re-released as Gass. Juju featured the Fleetwood Mac guitarist Peter Green on the tracks "Juju" and "Black Velvet".

Tench also formed the original lineup of Gonzalez with Godfrey McLean. The lineup also included Gass band mates bassist Delisle Harper, percussionist Lennox Langton and sax player Mick Eve. During this period Tench began to use the pseudonym 'Bobby Gass'.

The Jeff Beck Group

Tench moved on at the end of May 1971, leaving Gass and Gonzalez to become a full-time member of The Jeff Beck Group. Jeff Beck had signed a record deal with CBS in June 1971, having reformed The Jeff Beck Group. Vocals by Alex Ligertwood had been unexpectedly rejected by record company bosses, forcing Beck to find a replacement singer. Having heard Tench perform with Gass, "Upstairs" at Ronnie Scott's club in Soho London, he employed him as replacement vocalist. In their book about Beck Chris Hjort and Doug Hinman, mention this association and circumstances. He was given only a short time to add his vocals to Rough and Ready (1971), before mixing resumed on tracks previously recorded in London by Beck and the other band members including, drummer Cozy Powell, bassist Clive Chaman and keyboard player Max Middleton. When the album was released in Europe they toured Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. Rough and Ready was released in USA eight months later and a sixteen date promotional tour followed. The album eventually reached #46 on the US album charts.

In January 1972 The Jeff Beck Group travelled to United States to join Beck at TMI studios in Memphis, Tennessee, where they recorded the album Jeff Beck Group (1972) with Steve Cropper as producer. The promotional tour which followed included an appearance on the BBC In Concert series, which was recorded on 29 June 1972 at the Paris Theatre, London. During this session Tench's guitar playing was featured on "Definitely Maybe", a rare occasion whilst he was associated with Beck. On 24 July 1972 The second Jeff Beck Group was officially disbanded and Beck's management released this statement: "The fusion of the musical styles of the various members has been successful within the terms of individual musicians, but they didn't feel it had led to the creation of a new musical style with the strength they had originally sought".

Ginger Baker, BBA

In 1971 Tench played guitar with Cream's drummer Ginger Baker. The sessions were recorded and the album Stratavarious was released in July 1972. He was credited under the pseudonym Bobby Gass and appeared with Afro beat Pioneer Fela Ransome-Kuti, also appearing at live dates with Baker during this period. Tracks from Stravarious were later re-issued, along with others on Do What You Like.

He was re-united with Jeff Beck during the summer of 1972. At that time Beck was collaborating with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice and they had begun touring the United States on 1 August 1972, billed as The Jeff Beck Group. Tench was flown in from England to replace vocalist Kim Milford, in time for the Arie Crown concert in Chicago, on 8 August. The tour concluded at the Paramount North West Theatre in Washington, on 19 August 1972 and Tench ended his association with Jeff Beck further to the formation of the power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice.

Freddie King

Tench recorded with the blues rock guitarist Freddie King and record producer Mike Vernon. He is credited on two albums by King, Burglar (1974) and Larger than life (1975) King died of a heart attack on 29 December 1976 aged 42 and the compilation album Freddie King 1934-1976 was released several months later, featuring tracks Tench had contributed to on Burglar.

Linda Lewis and Junior Marvin's Hanson

He featured as guitarist on Fathoms Deep (1973), an album by Linda Lewis which followed her top twenty success with "Rock a Doodle Do" in the UK singles charts. He appeared alongside former Jeff Beck Group keyboardist Max Middleton, bassist Phil Chen and guitarist Jim Cregan who also produced the album. In her review of Fathoms Deep for Allmusic, Amy Hanson wrote: "Helmed by a virtual supergroup featuring the likes of R&B masters Bobby Tench, Max Middleton, Danny Thompson and rocker Philip Chen, alongside Jim Cregan, Fathoms Deep is a true singer songwriter's album, tasteful and tight".

During February 1973 he went into the studio with Junior Marvin, who had appeared with Tench on the Gass album Juju three years previously (credited as Junior Kerr), Marvin had previously formed Hanson also known as "Junior Marvin's Hanson" and they recorded Now Hear This (1973). The lineup on this album included, drummer Conrad Isidore, bassist Clive Chaman who later joined Tench in Hummingbird and DeLisle Harper who also played bass and had been a member of Gass with Tench. The album fused rock with funk and was produced by Mario Medious also known as "Big M".

A&M records, Hummingbird, Chapman/Whitney and Streetwalkers

Tench signed to A&M in 1973 and later formed the rock and soul fusion band Hummingbird, whose lineup included members of the second Jeff Beck Group also second guitarist Bernie Holland and drummer Conrad Isidore. The band's recordings were produced by Ian Samwell for A&M Records and they recorded the first of three albums produced by Samwell, Hummingbird (1975)

In April 1975 he became a member of the Streetwalkers. He had already been part of a fluid line-up with Chapman and Whitney, performing as a member of "Chapman Whitney Streetwalkers" and had appeared with their touring band at concerts, such as at Hyde Park in London, the previous year and in television appearances, including Rockpalast in March 1975.

Tench recorded a second album with Hummingbird, We Can't Go On Meeting Like This, which was released in 1976 and was the first of two albums to feature drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie.

Widowmaker (U.K), Boxer, Streetwalkers first album

Tench recorded with former Mott the Hoople and Spooky Tooth guitarist Luther Grosvenor's band Widowmaker (UK), which was considered as a potential supergroup, and was formed during 1975. Tench contributed guitar and vocals to the band's first album Widowmaker (1976), which was recorded in 1975

During 1976 Tench contributed vocals to Bloodletting with Boxer, a band which had been formed by Mike Patto and Ollie Halsall the year before. Bloodletting was recorded at The Manor Studios in Oxfordshire and would eventually be released as the band's third album three years later. Tench also appeared on stage with members of Boxer at the Crystal Palace Bowl on 7 August the same year, at a concert promoted by Harvey Goldsmith. This high pedigree concert also featured others such as Eric Clapton and Freddie King, who appeared with guests Larry Coryell and Ronnie Wood on the same bill.

Tench and Streetwalkers recorded their first album Downtown Flyers early in 1975, which was released during October the same year in Europe and the U.S.A. they then recorded a second album, the groove heavy Red Card (1976), which became their most respected album. On 8 June 1976 he appeared on the BBC Radio 1 Peel Sessions with Streetwalkers and they performed again on the John Peel sessions, on 14 March 1977.

Streetwalkers breakup and Hummingbird's final album

On 19 April 1977, Streetwalkers appeared on Rockpalast, for a final time and their set for this performance included Tench playing guitar and singing on songs such as "Run for Cover". Streetwalkers recorded their third and last studio album Vicious but fair (1977) with Tench and he also appeared on their final release Live Streetwalkers (1977), before the band broke up. Tench and Hummingbird's final album Diamond Nights was released the same year.

Van Morrison and Wavelength

Van Morrison included Tench in a new band lineup as the lead guitarist and a vocalist, in March 1978 to record the Wavelength album. Tench was recommended to Morrison by drummer Peter Van Hooke, after Hooke had seen him perform with Streetwalkers. In an interview with Johnny Rogan Tench stated: "I quite liked the songs "Natalia" and "Wavelength" because I had a lot to do with them. They came together quickly. He's a very quick worker and once it's there he doesn't see why you can't record it. He let us get on with it, really. It was a good band". He was credited with production assistance, guitar, and backing vocals on this album, which became Morrison's best selling album at that time. He also contributed lead guitar and vocals to the promotional Wavelength tour which followed. The tour started in Santa Clara, California on 30 September 1978 and ended on 1 March 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. By the end of the tour he had appeared in Morrison's lineup sixty two times.

One of these appearances with Morrison was recorded and broadcast by WNEW-FM radio on 1 November 1978 at the Bottom Line. In his book Van Morrison: The Mystic Music, Howard. A. DeWitt described this concert as the "best live Van Morrison concert broadcast over radio". Later that year, on 26 November 1978 Morrison appeared with the same band at the Roxy in Los Angeles, U.S.A. This performance was recorded and released as the promotional album Live at the Roxy (1979).

Tench also appeared in the video Van Morrison in Ireland, which was filmed in February 1979, when he was performing with Morrison on "The Wavelength Tour" and was released in 1981. Of the band's performance on the video, Tony Stewart commented in NME, that: "The band display a range of textures reminiscent of The Caledonia Soul Orchestra, first with the dark resonance of Toni Marcus' violin, then Pat Kyle's bright sharp tenor sax and finally Bobby Tench's prickly electric guitar". In a review of the same video in January 2013, Rovi Eleanor Mannikka mentions "the quality of the music" in her review for The New York Times.

Eric Burdon and Axis Point

During May 1978 Tench joined Eric Burdon to record the album Darkness Darkness, at Roundwood House in County Leix Ireland. The album was released nearly two years later. The album was recorded using Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio and with a lineup also including guitarists Brian Robertson from Thin Lizzy and Henry McCullough recently departed from Wings, also Mick Weaver from Traffic. He performed with Burdon in concerts during this time, before joining Streetwalkers guitarist Charlie Whitney's band Axis Point as a guitarist and vocalist to record Axis Point (1979).

Humble Pie

He joined Humble Pie in 1980, further to a previously aborted attempt to enlist him. The lineup included founder member, guitarist and vocalist Steve Marriott, their original drummer Jerry Shirley and American bassist Anthony "Sooty" Jones. They recorded and submitted "Fool For a Pretty Face" which Marriott had written with Shirley earlier, to record companies. The song secured a recording contract with Atlantic subsidiary Atco in USA and Don Arden's Jet Records in U.K. Tench remained with them and they recorded On To Victory (1980), which reached #60 in the Billboard 200 album charts and the single "Fool For a Pretty Face" reached #52 in the US singles charts. Tench toured with Humble Pie in United States as part of the Rock 'N' Roll Marathon Bill, which included others such as Aerosmith and they recorded Go for the Throat (1980). The band toured this album after its release During the tour, earlier scheduled appearances by the band were delayed and later Marriott became ill, forcing the cancellation of all further tour dates. Soon afterwards Humble Pie disbanded.

Solo recordings, Topper Headon and The Short List

Tench recorded "Chain Gang" (1982) as a tribute to Sam Cooke, which was released as a single by the German label Line Records. "Looking For A Good Time" was featured on the B side, a song co-written by Tench and Peter Bardens. He later recorded with Topper Headon the drummer from The Clash, credited on Headon's album Waking Up (1984). Tracks from these sessions and others such were used for promotional and commercial releases and some found Club success as well. The lineup included Headon, Tench, vocalist Jimmy Helms, former Ian Dury and the Blockheads and Clash keyboard player Mick Gallagher, also bassist Jerome Rimson.

During this period he appeared with bands such as Roger Chapman's Shortlist at Glastonbury in 1985, also appearing with them at various other European festivals. He recorded vocals for a cover of "Still in Love with You" (1986) for Stiff records, as a tribute to Phil Lynott who had died on 4 January the same year. The song was released as a single by the Stiff label, later the same year and Brian Robertson contributed guitar parts. The B side "Heart Out Of Love" was co-written by Jeremy Bird and Tench.

Thin Lizzy band, Alan Price and The Electric Blues Company

In 1993 Tench sang lead vocals with The Thin Lizzy band, which featured original Thin Lizzy drummer Brian Downey, former guitarist Brian Robertson, also Doish Nagle and bassist Dough Brookie. The band played a short tour of Ireland. Tench also played guitar and sang vocals with former Animals keyboardist Alan Price and The Electric Blues Company on Covers (1994). Later that year he recorded A Gigster's Life for Me with the same lineup. This album was recorded between July and August 1995 at Olympic Studios, London and released the next year as part of Sanctuary's Blues Masters Series. In his review for Allmusic, Thom Jurek hints at Tench's influence on the album and stated that "the Peter Barden's and Bobby Tench song Good Times, Bad Woman with its slippery guitars and keyboards feels more like Peter Green's mid-period work and the killer read of Boz Scagg's Some Change, is more driven and funky than the original. Then there's the reggae-blues of the title trick, which swings out of a jazzy backbeat into a rootsier inner circle type groove".

1995-2005

During 1995 he contributed guitar and vocals to Rattlesnake Guitar a tribute to Peter Green (1995). He joined Paul Jones and Max Middleton on the song "Whatcha Gonna Do" and Zoot Money on the song "Albatross", the album was released in October of the same year. In 1998 he played guitar and contributed vocals on Ruby Turner's Call Me by My Name, appearing alongside Boz Burrell, Stan Webb and Zoot Money.

Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley reformed Humble Pie in U.K during 2000 with a lineup including former member Tench, their original bassist Greg Ridley and a new rhythm guitarist Dave "Bucket" Colwell. They recorded Back on Track (which was released by Sanctuary Records on 19 February 2002). A brief tour of U.K and Europe with Company of Snakes followed, but was curtailed due to Greg Ridley becoming ill. On 14 April 2001, Tench appeared at the Steve Marriott Tribute Concert and performed The Humble Pie song "Fool for Pretty Face", which he had originally recorded with the band in 1980. He was also the front man for the house band which included Zak Starkey, Rabbit Bundrick and Rick Wills. Performances from this concert were released on various CDs, including Mustn't Grumble: Steve Marriott Memorial Concert 2001 and a DVD entitled The Steve Marriott Astoria Memorial Concert 2001, was eventually released on October 5, 2004.

2006-present

Tench continued to be involved with studio collaborations and production, occasionally making appearances at live shows, such as with Roger Chapman, Arthur Louis and Jim Cregan. In 2009 he was a featured artist in the Maximum Rhythm and Blues Tour of thirty two UK theatres. On 17 March 2015 he appeared at The Half Moon, Putney music venue, in a benefit concert for the former Wings guitarist Henry McCullough. The bill also featured Paul Carrack, Nick Lowe, Andy Fairweather Low and Suggs. He also performed with the backing band Henry's Heroes an appropriate pseudonym for Hinkley's Heroes, along with Tim Hinkley, Steve Simpson, Mel Collins, Neil Hubbard, John Halsey and bassist Kuma Harada.

Throughout this period Tench has made regular appearances with his band Barnes Blues and he also performs with them at the historic Bull's Head music venue in South West London, where the band has a long standing residency.

Following and legacy

Tench's proficency as a guitarist and vocalist has attracted an international following. For Allmusic, Mark Deming states in his biography of Tench, that he is: "a talented singer and guitarist who has worked with some of the biggest and best-respected names in British rock". In their book Chronology of Jeff Beck's Career 1965-1980, Chris Hjort and Doug Hinman mention that "Tench is a proficient guitar player" and in her review of The Linda Lewis album Fathoms Deep, Amy Hanson described him as a "R&B master".

When writing about Tench joining the Jeff Beck Group the author Martin Power makes reference to him stating that "he was a first class singer". On the original release of The Jeff Beck Group's album Rough and Ready, Stephen Davis of Rolling stone magazine wrote "Then comes [the track] Situation and a neat rocker called Short Business. Vocalist Tench does a valiant job on both, considering the considerable handicap of being mixed down under the guitar. Tench has a fine, gravel voice and sometimes sounds like Felix Cavaliere. Trying to fill [Rod] Stewart's high heels is no mean feat and it's to Tench's credit that he carries himself well".

A Beat publication which featured an article about the band Hummingbird's album We can't go on meeting like this, noted that Tench's voice had "surprising power and range utilised to the full" and of the band in which Tench also played lead guitar, the music magazine Gramophone commented that "the members of Hummingbird are the cream of British session musicians, more acclimatised than most to playing rock at all intellectual levels".

In an interview with Tom Jennings from Backstage Axxess in 2012, Joe Bonamassa mentioned Tench as a vocal influence. In his autobiography Stick It, Carmine Appice (drummer for the influential Vanilla Fudge), states that Tench was "a killer soulful singer, with a real cool gritty edge to his vocals".

The Canadian rock band Danko Jones mention his vocals in their song "Sugar High" with the lyric "Got the radio on to Bob Tench singing Sugar Cane, from their album This is Danko Jones (2009).

In 2008 Doug Collett reviewed Van Morrison's re-mastered Wavelength album (2008) for the online magazine allabout jazz.com and mentioned Tench's guitar solo on the title track, stating that he "imbued his fast fingered guitar solo with all the joy of singing". More recently rocktrain.net also commented about Tench's guitar solo on the same recording, stating that "of particular note is the zinging, joyous lead guitar of Bobby Tench. His concise solo at mid-song is uplifting, bending notes every which way while displaying a special adeptness at speed noodling. It is truly pleasurable" and on the blog site "The Immortal Jukebox" Thom Hickey reflected on a live performance from the same period, noting that "Bobby Tench played gorgeous spiky guitar fills".

Fran Leslie wrote an editorial feature about Tench for the September 2009 edition of the Blues in Britain magazine. In her introduction she wrote "Our cover artist Bobby Tench, is a musician who has played and recorded with so many people that his biography reads like a Who’s Who of British Blues". She also stated that he was a noted singer and formidable guitarist.

Singles

As Bobby Tench

With Gass

With The Jeff Beck Group

With Hanson (Junior Marvin)

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With Hummingbird

With Boxer
A side only

With Widowmaker (U.K)

With Van Morrison

With Humble Pie

With Topper Headon

With Jeff Beck
"New Ways/Train Train" only

Albums

DVD and video