Kris Ife

Most known for recording a version of "Hush" that inspired <a href="spotify:artist:568ZhdwyaiCyOGJRtNYhWf">Deep Purple</a>'s hit cover of the same tune, Kris Ife was active on the British pop scene in various guises from the mid-'60s to the mid-'70s, though he had barely a taste of commercial success. The guitarist and singer/songwriter first recorded in the mid-'60s as part of <a href="spotify:artist:4O1usgoWsXig1jyZw6CslZ">the Quiet Five</a>, who released half a dozen singles that combined different parts of Merseybeat, pop/rock, folk, and blue-eyed soul. They managed to sneak inside the Top 50 in 1965 with the Ife-composed "When the Morning Sun Dries the Dew," repeating the feat the following year with a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:70cRZdQywnSFp9pnc2WTCE">Simon & Garfunkel</a>'s "Homeward Bound," though the original version was the one that became a U.K. Top Ten single. Ife left <a href="spotify:artist:4O1usgoWsXig1jyZw6CslZ">the Quiet Five</a> in 1967 to go solo, cutting several obscure 45s, among them a forceful soul-rock cover of <a href="spotify:artist:7s2L0cftC6UBVVxADuyfwS">Joe South</a>'s "Hush." It later emerged that <a href="spotify:artist:568ZhdwyaiCyOGJRtNYhWf">Deep Purple</a> became aware of the song after some members heard the single played at a Manchester discotheque, and <a href="spotify:artist:568ZhdwyaiCyOGJRtNYhWf">Deep Purple</a> would have a U.S. Top Five smash in 1968 after giving the number a more hard rock-slanted treatment.

By the late '60s, Ife was writing songs with Vince Edwards and Michael Derrick under the collective pseudonym Miki Anthony, and put together a band, the Matchmakers, that recorded for British producer <a href="spotify:artist:1GE0GiT8nHbr1WOsuYJvtp">Mark Wirtz</a>. Ife and <a href="spotify:artist:1GE0GiT8nHbr1WOsuYJvtp">Wirtz</a> co-wrote most of the material recorded by Judd, featuring Ife as singer, that was released as the 1970 Judd LP Snarling Mumma Lion, though Ife has recalled that this was a combination of finished tracks and demos. Many of Judd's recordings had a swamp pop feel, albeit with a dash of British blue-eyed soul-pop, but these weren't as impressive as those of <a href="spotify:artist:7s2L0cftC6UBVVxADuyfwS">Joe South</a> (to take an obvious reference point), and didn't make a commercial impact. Ife also recorded a couple obscure, more heavily orchestrated early-'70s <a href="spotify:artist:4b0WsB47XCa9F83BmwQ7WX">Righteous Brothers</a>-styled singles with Vince Edwards as half of the duo Jackson & Jones. He also did an unreleased concept album that aimed to teach American history through popular music, entering the publishing side of the music industry in the mid-'70s.

Much of Ife's output was assembled for the compilation Definitive Collection 1967-1973, which includes late-'60s solo singles ("Hush" among them), Judd's LP, a Judd outtake and non-LP single, the Jackson & Jones singles, and an unreleased track from his American history concept album. His <a href="spotify:artist:4O1usgoWsXig1jyZw6CslZ">Quiet Five</a> years are covered on the When the Morning Sun Dries the Dew compilation CD, which combines everything from that group's singles with some unreleased material. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi