If not for a single photo – presumably, Chrysalis promo shot – and a few mentions in the contemporary press, plus latter-day interview remarks, a supergroup called JUDE could have been apocryphal. The 1972 convergence of vocalist Frankie Miller and STONE THE CROWS singing bassist Jimmy Dewar, who had struck up a friendship back in their Scottish bands, with guitarist Robin Trower, who had recently left PROCOL HARUM, and drummer Clive Bunker, fresh out of JETHRO TULL’s "Aqualung" success, might seem unlikely from today’s perspective, especially given the fact that not a single audio recording of the quartet’s brief career ever surfaced. Until now.
Just recently, the legendary vocalist found a recording of a concert the quarter played at “Haymarket Theatre” in Basingstoke on January 8th, 1972, and decided to make a few songs available to the members of Official Frankie Miller Group on Facebook – presumably, temporarily but hopefully permanently. Of course, the sound quality is far from being perfect – and the warbler describes the quality of the foursome performance as “probably where the disappointed take a bow” – but it’s impossible to overestimate the importance of the only live document from the ensemble who apparently never saw the inside of a studio, especially as it was the start of longtime collaboration between Robin and James.
Tremendous on all counts.
