family reunion

Roger Chapman, Poli Palmer, Rob Townsend and Jim Cregan back together again as Family for the first time in 40 years are playing the Shepherds Bush 02 Arena on Friday and Saturday night (1st & 2nd Feb). Sadly guitarist Charlie Whitney, now living in Greece, won't be joining them which will be a little disappointing for the fans of this once extraordinary group, but look at it the other way it's a minor miracle any of them have survived to even do this reunion gig. The young Roger Chapman seemed on the verge of exploding at most gigs as it was.
Except for their old fans, Family have been largely over looked on retrospectives of their work over the years (not here we might add, see post ) but with the release of a box set a new appreciation of just how unusual this band was and also how innovative they were is being realised.

Released on 4th February as a 2.000 copy 14CD box set including all 8 original albums in mini card sleeves, a 2 CD of unissued alternative takes, 3 CD singles, a live CD from 1971, a 72 page book and numbered certificate signed by Roger Chapman.
Available from FamilyOnceUponATime.com

It's fare to say not all of their music successfully translated to record but playing live they stood in class of their own. A band not afraid to improvise and develop a song live can thrill an audience far beyond the predictability of note for note copies of hit albums.
Of course no one should expect a performance like the halcyon days of that young band but if their fans are out in force, and it looks like they are with Friday night as a sell out, the 02 Arena will definitely be on full rock.
So until a video does appear of the latest concerts have a look at Family as they were. Could be the Isle Of Wight 1970 or that year.
The song is "Good News Bad News". Not great picture, sound a bit wooly at times.. but it's pretty clear what power this band had led by Chapman's presence.

family

"Family are also often seen as an unjustly forgotten act when compared with other bands from the same period".
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".