Good morning/good day internet friends and neighbors! So todays write-up may be an interesting one for classic music fans. Even though the short journey ends in sadness, the story should be told and history must be preserved for you and me and tomorrows generations.
This is a look into the brief life of Scottish guitarist and co-founder of blues rock band Stone the Crows... he is best known as Les Harvey. In America, it was the 1960's U.K. invasion era when Les was asked to join English Rhythm and Blues Rock band The Animals, but he turned the offer down, electing to stay with his older brother's group "The Alex Harvey Soul Band". He later joined the doomed band "Blues Council", another Scottish band. The Blues Council made one record, Baby Don't Look Down, then, in March 1965, their tour van crashed, killing lead vocalist Fraser Calder and bassist James Giffen. The fatalities robbed the group of its self-belief and energetic push, resulting in no further recordings.
In 1969 Harvey joined Scottish band Cartoone to record some tracks for their second album. He also accompanied Cartoone on their live tour of the U.S.A. supporting Led Zeppelin. They also supported the US band Spirit. And then there was American blues guitarist legend John Lee Hooker, whose songs both Harvey and Cartoone used to cover on their tour of the UK, was their opening act. In December 1969 Harvey played guitar on Maurice Gibb's "The Loner" album, but only the single "Railroad" was released.
Harvey was a co-founder of Glasgow, Scotland's Stone the Crows in late 1969. It was while on stage with Stone the Crows at the Wales indoor venue "Swansea Top Rank" in 1972, that he was electrocuted after touching a microphone that was not grounded while the fingers of his other hand were holding the strings of his guitar. A roadie attempted to unplug the guitar, but his efforts were unsuccessful. Les Harvey died from his injuries on May 3rd 1972 at the very young age of 27.