Sons Of Fred

An obscure but intense British beat band, The Sons of Fred featured guitarist Mick Hutchinson in their line-up. Their original sound, along their 1964 debut single on EMI-Columbia, "Sweet Love" b/w "I'll Be There," was very r&b oriented, but the band switched over to Parlophone the following year and took on a slightly more pop orientation, similar to the <a href="spotify:artist:6waa8mKu91GjzD4NlONlNJ">Hollies</a> right down to the high harmonies and the crunchy guitars. Then, for their final single in 1966, "Baby What Do You Want Me To Do" b/w "You Told Me, marked a return to r&b before they split up. All of the Sons of Fred singles are worth hearing, and seeing as they also cut singles under the names <a href="spotify:artist:5b4SvpTqll0LSqJWPpXya5">Odyssey</a> ("How Long Is Time," on Strike) in 1966, and, in a somewhat altered line-up, as Tandem ("Shapes And Shadows" on Chapter One) in 1969, one could come close to assembling a full album built around the group in its different incarnations. Mick Hutchinson went on to play with The Sam Gopal Dream and also played on <a href="spotify:artist:5KEG7G8LDYlHgFDqZyEEs2">Chris Rea</a>'s album Tennis in 1980. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi