THE HISTORY OF ’SASSAFRAS’
Sassafras were first formed in 1970 as a three-piece band with guitarist Ralph Evans, bassist Ricky John Holt and drummer Rob Reynolds. Guitarist David (Dai) Shell, who was working in a residency in Titos nightclub in Cardiff was the first musician they drafted in to enlarge the band.Ralph "We all thought that Dai was a wonderful guitarist so we asked him to join us...." Dai "So it wasn’t my looks then?" Ralph "It was probably because you had a mini-van at the time and we wanted to use it.Sassafras found themselves an agency in Hereford and the band were finally on the road. In 1971 Dai Shell set up Ddraig (Dragon) Studios in Severn Road, Cardiff with the help of musician Peter (Jake) Jacobs and Carl Leighton-Pope. Steve (Pudding) Jones joined them at Ddraig as did John Kelly who later went on to produce Kate Bush, Chris Rea and Paul McCartney to name a few.Dai "Draig means ’dragon’ in Welsh, but we spelt it with two ’d’s because we were a bit thick! That was when Jake came in and part financed the studios. Well, he didn’t really part finance it - he stole most of the bricks and some matresses for the walls, so he was in."Feeling the need to expand once again, vocalist Terry Bennett from Nottingham was invited down to Ddraig to record some songs, instead he found himself being auditioned, his distinctive voice was exactly what Sassafras were looking for.
Sassafras Today
2003 Terry Bennett left Sassafras to pursue a new life in Spain, not wishing to give up performing Sassafras started auditioning for new vocalists , not an easy task for a band that had been together for so long with an outstanding frontman, Terry Bennett...... nevertheless auditions were held, along came Richie Galloni an experienced singersongwriter, mainly known as James Hogg’s frontman, he was a friend of Ray Jones , and had worked with Ray in Quest a progressive rock band from the seventies, after auditioning Richie was offered the job in Sassafras and took it, he had been a fan of the band for many years, and was thrilled at the prospect of singing with the boy’s , Richie has worked with many bands including, Killing Time,Red Sharks, The Hailers along with Mike Japp and Robert Mill’s, and Victoria Cross a southern Californian band, and Expecting Company
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