Music:
Member Since: 9/19/2006
Influences: Gracious began as a schoolboy lark in 1964, when guitarist Alan Cowderoy and
vocalist/drummer Paul Davis banded together to cover pop songs at school
concerts. To arouse maximum ire at their Catholic school, the adopted the band
name "Satan's Disciples." Over the next several years the recording lineup of
the band coalesced -- Cowderoy and Davis (who now only sang), former road
manager Tim Wheatley on bass, Martin Kitcat on keyboards, and drummer Robert
Lipson. Renamed as Gracious (or Gracious!), the band toured Germany in
1968 and then recorded a concept album about the seasons of the year, although
this went unreleased. Still, their ambitions were unabated. After playing on a
double bill with the newly formed King Crimson, an awestruck Kitcat
immediately adopted the mellotron as a lead instrument for the band. Kitcat and
Davis were the band's composers, and Kitcat in particular lent the group its
distinctive sound. He played the mellotron as a lead instrument, much like a
blues organ -- that is, with percussive single notes, rather than the grandiose
chords favored by bands that used it as a faux-orchestral backdrop. Their first
released album appeared in 1970; with its rich harmonies, heavy prog feel, and
religious themes that hearkened back to the band's Catholic school roots, it was
a worthy contemporary to such progressive bands as King Crimson and the Zombies.
But when this album failed to chart, the band found itself scraping for money.
Tensions flared up, precipitating Lipson's and then Kitcat's departures in 1971.
The rest staggered on to tour in Germany, but they had clearly reached the end
of the road. Gracious had recorded a second album, but the poor sales of the 1st
album caused it be shelved by their label until a halfhearted posthumous release
two years later. Cowderoy and Kitcat had already both moved into music industry
jobs at a variety of major labels, largely forsaking their instruments, while
the rest of the band drifted into family businesses, session work and studio
jobs; Davis even turned up on "Jesus Christ Superstar." Meanwhile, their
hard-to-find LPs acquired a certain cachet among collectors. Deprived fans got
some relief at last in 1995, when Beat Goes On Records re-released their two
albums on CD. That same year, Wheatley and Lipson reunited under the Gracious
name to put out the album "Echo" on the Centa label.
~ Paul Collins, All Music Guide
Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: None