Steve Peregrin Took (left)

Steve Peregrin Took (July 28, 1949–October 27, 1980) was an English musician. Image File history File links Unicorn(Album). ... Image File history File links Unicorn(Album). ... is the 209th day of the year (210th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Monarch Queen Elizabeth II...

Early life and Tyrannosaurus Rex

Took was born Stephen Ross Porter in Eltham, London. He took his name from the hobbit Peregrin Took in JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. At the age of 17 he was recruited as drummer for the electric band that Marc Bolan was forming in response to his departure from John's Children. Took outlived a gig disaster, the departure of other sidemen, and the repossession of the band's equipment. Marc and Steve formed an economy version of the band, busking in subways on acoustic guitar and bongos. As an ersatz flower-power unit, Tyrannosaurus Rex proceeded onto the club and stage circuit and thence into the record shops, where they clocked up three albums and two top 40 hits. Eltham is a place in the London Borough of Greenwich. ... Peregrin Took (T.A. 2990–?), better known to his friends as Pippin, is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkiens universe of Middle-earth; a Hobbit, and one of Frodo Bagginss youngest but dearest friends. ... J. R. R. Tolkien in 1916. ... The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by the English academic J. R. R. Tolkien. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Johns Children were a Leatherhead, England-based 1960s proto-punk band featuring future T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan, whose 1967 single Desdemona was banned by the BBC for the controversial lyric, Lift up your skirt and fly. Their manager was Simon Napier-Bell, who devised white stage outfits and... Busking is the practice of doing live performances in public places to entertain people, usually to solicit donations and tips. ... A pedestrian and cyclist subway under a main road in the United Kingdom A sign in London prohibiting vehicles weighing over 17 tonnes from passing over a subway not designed to carry such loads In British English the term subway normally refers to a specially constructed underpass for pedestrians and... Bongos being played Bongos are a percussion instrument. ... T. Rex (originally known as Tyrannosaurus Rex, also occasionally spelled T Rex or T-Rex), were an English rock band fronted by Marc Bolan. ... Top 40 is a radio format based on frequent repetition of songs from a constantly-updated list of the forty best-selling singles. ...

It was Took's arrangements which were instrumental in transforming Bolan's music from the straightforward rock 'n roll it had once been (and would again be one day) into an 'exotic' brew of musical influences.

In Tyrannosaurus Rex, Steve Took contributed backing vocals, drums, bongos, African drums, kazoo, pixiephone; Chinese gong and in later stages some bass guitar. Two examples of the kazoo A metal kazoo The kazoo, also called Clegghorn, is a simple musical instrument (membranophone) that adds a buzzing timbral quality to a players voice when one hums into it. ... The Pixiephone was a childrens toy sold in the UK in the 1960s and 1970s, similar to the Melodica. ... A gong is any one of a wide variety of metal percussion instruments. ...

While still in Tyrannosaurus Rex, Bolan refused to let the duo perform any of Took's songs, so he took two of them to Twink. Subsequently, the songs were included on his seminal album Think Pink. He also worked with David Bowie and appears on a BBC Bowie album. John Charles Alder (born 29 November 1944), better known as Twink, is a British musician (drummer), singer and song writer) who was a central figure in the British psychedelic movement, and an actor. ... David Bowie (IPA: []) (born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger and audio engineer. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ...

The Pink Fairies

After being sacked by Bolan, Took formed the Pink Fairies (mark 1) with newly ex-Deviant Mick Farren and Twink. They evolved out of the drinking club of the same name by Took, Syd Barrett, the Pretty Things, the Deviants etc in 1969. However, this didn’t last that long as Twink and the other Deviants formed a new band called the Pink Fairies (mark 2) which were greeted with applause before they even played a note due to the reputation of the name gained by the Took/Farren/Twink incarnation. Took appears prominently on Mick Farren's first solo album Mona the Carnivorous Circus (1970). The Pink Fairies were a British heavy/progressive/alternative rock group active in the London (Ladbroke Grove) underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s . ... Mick Farren is a UK Underground/counterculture radical and anarchist. ... John Charles Alder (born 29 November 1944), better known as Twink, is a British musician (drummer), singer and song writer) who was a central figure in the British psychedelic movement, and an actor. ... Roger Keith Syd Barrett (born 6 January 1946 in Cambridge – died 7 July 2006 in Cambridge) was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, and artist. ... The Pretty Things is a 1960s and 1970s rock and roll band from London. ... The Deviants (formally the Social Deviants) were a musical group in the United Kingdom. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Shagrat

Further information: Shagrat (band)

Larry (or "Lazza") Wallis and Tim Taylor, guitarist and bassist with 60s underground band the Entire Sioux Nation, were headhunted by Farren and Took in February 1970. A month later, Farren dropped out, leaving Took an outright bandleader for the first time in his career. With the addition of drummer Phil Lenoir, Shagrat was formed (the name is that of an orc in The Lord of the Rings); they recorded three tracks at Strawberry Studios and played live at Phun City before the rhythm section dropped out. Took and Wallis continued with drummer Dave Bidwell, rehearsing with various bass players and eventually forming an acoustic trio. Wallis would later join the Pinks, transforming the band, leading them on the Kings Of Oblivion LP. Later in 1975/6 Wallis and Took again worked together. Cover of the Shagrat album Pink Jackets Required Shagrat was a band formed by Steve Peregrine Took and Mick Farren in 1970, they recruited Larry Wallis (guitar, backing vocals), Tim Taylor (bass), Phil Lenoir (drums), Dave Bidwell (percussion). ... Larry Wallis is a guitarist, songwriter and producer for Stiff Records. ... The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel written by the English academic J. R. R. Tolkien. ...

Took played support slots for Hawkwind and the Pink Fairies, as well as jamming as third drummer, and once even playing bass guitar for the Pinks. He worked with a number of Hawkwind members during his lifetime, most notably Robert Calvert and Nik Turner. While still with Bolan, Took recorded a session with Syd Barrett; it appears likely that Barrett is on the recordings done in Mayfair by Took and friends in 1972. Farren recalls that Took would "drag a bemused Syd Barrett along" to events in Ladbroke Grove in the late 1960s. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Robert Newton Calvert (9 March 1945 - 14 August 1988) was the lead singer, poet and frontman of Hawkwind intermittently from 1972-1979, who went on to a less successful but intriguing separate career. ... Nik Turner (born Nicholas Turner, 28 August 1940, in Oxford, Oxfordshire), is a British musician, best known as a founder of space rock pioneers Hawkwind. ... Roger Keith Syd Barrett (born 6 January 1946 in Cambridge – died 7 July 2006 in Cambridge) was an English singer, songwriter, guitarist, and artist. ... Mayfair is an area in the City of Westminster London, named after the fortnight-long May Fair that took place there from 1686 until it was banned in that location in 1764. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ladbroke Grove is a road in West London, and is also the name given to the immediate area surrounding the road. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ...

Steve Took's Horns

Steve Took's Horns — which featured the first pairing of guitarist Trevor Thoms and drummer Ermanno Ghisio-Erba, later of Inner City Unit (ICU) — recorded three studio tracks in November 1977. The band performed on 18 June 1978 at The Roundhouse as part of "Nik Turner's Bohemian Love-In." But Took felt the gig went badly, and pulled the plug on the band shortly after they came offstage. Trevor Thoms, more commonly known as Trev Thoms or Judge Trev Thoms is a British guitarist. ... Dino Ferari (real name Ermanno Ghisio-Erba ) is an Italian drummer who has worked with a number of British bands. ... Inner City Unit (ICU) is a British Punk/hard edged Space rock band fronted by ex-Hawkwind founder Nik Turner on saxophone with Trev Thoms (guitar), Dead Fred (Keyboards), Baz Magneto (Bass), and Mick Stupp or Dino Ferari on drums. ... The Roundhouse was built in 1847 as a turntable engine shed for the London and Birmingham Railway at Chalk Farm (near Camden Town), in London, England. ... Nik Turner (born Nicholas Turner, 28 August 1940, in Oxford, Oxfordshire), is a British musician, best known as a founder of space rock pioneers Hawkwind. ...

Turner subsequently drafted Thoms and Ghisio-Erba into Sphynx for a live festival LP recorded that August; in 1979 they joined Turner's new Inner City Unit. Took guested with ICU a number of times; the last recorded date is June 16, 1980. is the 167th day of the year (168th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ...

Took died on October 27, 1980, at age 31, when he choked on a cocktail cherry at his home in Ladbroke Grove, allegedly as a direct result of being 'high' on drugs purchased with a long awaited Tyrannosaurus Rex royalty cheque.^[1][2] is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Ladbroke Grove is a road in West London, and is also the name given to the immediate area surrounding the road. ...

References

1. ^ T-Rex-Web.co.uk Fan Website
2. ^ http://www.historytalk.org/Tom%20Vague%20Pop%20History/Chp%205.pdf HISTORYtalk Article

External links

• Steve Took's Domain
• Steve Took info on Larry Wallis' site