Over the years they had a sound that veered quite dramatically from one style to another, on occasions confounding even their own audiences, renowned as they were for their fierce loyalty to the group. A typical turn out in the early 1970's would see a mooching army of straggly haired, great-coated fans following them to a festival somewhere.
The band themselves were an enigma, led by the vocalist Roger Chapman there were some highly talented players which came and went over the 6 or 7 years they performed.
Chapman himself on a good night could build to virtually an unhinged performance verging on the psychotic with a tambourine usually the recipient and then hurled into the audience as a result, while the band improvised full on playing to "progressive" songs that would veer from folk, psychedelia, acid, jazz fusion and rock and roll. There really was no other rock band that dared tour with a vibraphone!.
Quite inexplicably too, they had a couple of top ten hits which were dutifully torn apart with different versions for the live performance. For a band that could be as unpredictable as the UK weather it was no surprise their venture into the States was less than successful. Just a bit too far out and too eclectic for the US audience that had far less interest in UK progressive rock.
Watch now as Family in classic form play one of their hits on yet another excellent Beat Club show, and remember the single was never quite like this.. "The Weaver's Answer".
