From the Sun / Bitter Suite
by Pete Clemons
The reason for putting together these few words was to recognise and remember a couple of Coventry bands from the mid to late 1960s. In fact October 2nd marks 50 years from when one of them recorded. Information on these bands is understandably difficult come across given the passage of time. But there is one cutting from the archives of Colin Williams featuring ‘From the Sun’ and which I have faithfully reproduced.
‘After exiling itself for the past year a Coventry group – restyled with a new sound – is bouncing back into the city scene.
The five man group ‘From the Sun’ was formed toward the end of 1966 with a ‘soul’ base to its material. But Coventry has seen little of the group, which found itself a ready market for its talents in clubs and pubs all over the North.
About the nearest the five got to their Coventry homes was a fortnightly spot, since last Easter, at Chesford Grange. But that stay away plan is changing. On Saturday night the group appeared at the Walsgrave Inn, where the five are booked to appear again, with the Ray King Soul Band next Thursday.
Present line-up is singer Mick O’Rourke: organ Tony Warner: drums Rick Sparke: bass guitar Reg Sparke and lead guitar Colin Williams. And the three pictured above – at the Walsgrave – are Reg, Mick and Colin.
The group, which writes some of its own material, is switching to a new sound. Colin, who handles music arrangement, said: ‘We used to be a soul group. But now we’re trying out new material with a very free-form basis. It’s a sort of cross between blues and American west coast’.
Bitter Suite was a short lived Coventry band.
As lead guitarist Colin Williams recalls ‘I think we probably got together during the summer of '68, but never, as far as I can remember, did any gigs’.
But here is some information on "Bitter Suite" that I have managed to gather and put together.
The band recorded four tracks at Hollick & Taylor studios in Birmingham on 2nd October 1968. These were titled:
Wild Waters
The Cat
Evergreen Wood
Bride Of The Winds
Personnel on these recordings were:
Alan Payne on keyboards
Mick Keel on Bass Guitar
Kevin Connolly Drums
Colin Williams Guitar
--------------? Vocals
Afraid that the singers name remains a mystery. Nobody seems to remember his name only that he was from Birmingham, and sang with another lad previously, as a duo.
As for the other member of Bitter Suite, Mick Keel played bass in a number of Coventry bands, The Soul Express being one of them. Kevin Connoly played drums for The Chicanes and Alan Payne played for The Flamingoes. Colin Williams would go on to pay for Indian Summer.
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Additional material
From the Sun
Psychedelic group or rather blues and free form.
Line up: Mick O'Rourke (vocals), Colin Williams (guitar), Tony Warner (organ), Reg Sparke (bass), Rick Sparke (drums). (The original singer Pete ? was replaced by Mick O'Rourke from The Gazelles.)
Mick O'Rourke was also in The Gazelles and The Image.
Colin Williams later in Indian Summer.
From Pete Clemons http://coventrygigs.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/colin-williams-indian-summer.html
"Began following on from Soul sect with R & B and soul, playing in clubs and pubs all over the North East of England. British blues was in its infancy but Colin became more influenced by Eric Clapton and John Mayall (with Peter Green) and Ainsley Dunbar. From the Sun restyled themselves with new vocalist Mick O'Rourke (after original vocalist Pete, had moved on). They went on to forge a new sound. They played local venues like the General Wolf, Walsgrave and Plough with the sound of blues and a more free-form sound. They began playing some of the things that Colin had written and were also influenced by some of the things coming from the west coast of America. They gained a reputation for being one of the hottest and most creative bands in the city.
This photo of Tony Warner is from his daughter Haley Warner.
Photos from Sharron Flanagan
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