Trapeze - You Are The Music: We’re Just The Band [Expanded Edition 3CD] [WEB] (2020)

Trapeze’s origins can be traced back to two bands from the Midlands; Finders Keepers, featuring Mel Galley (guitar/vocals), Dave Holland (drums) and Glenn Hughes (bass/vocals), plus the Montanas’ John Jones (vocals/trumpet) and Terry Rowley (keyboards/guitar/flute), Trapeze were soon discovered by The Moody Blues, and snapped up for their own label, Threshold Records.

Trapeze would record three albums for Threshold; the self-titled “Trapeze” in May 1970, “Medusa” in November 1970 and “You Are The Music • We’re Just The Band” in 1972.

By the time of their second record, Trapeze had scaled down to the classic power trio of Mel Galley, Dave Holland and Glenn Hughes, finding their definitive sound, with a unique mixture of blues, soul and hard rock, which found them plenty of fans in America.

Recorded at Decca Studios and Island Studios in London, their third album was produced by Neil Slaven, with its release preceded by the ‘Coast To Coast’ single. The album includes a number of notable guests, including B. J. Cole on steel guitar for ‘Keepin’ Time’ and ‘Coast to Coast’, plus Rod Argent on electric piano for ‘Coast to Coast’ and piano on ‘Feelin’ So Much Better Now’.

This 3CD deluxe edition has been expanded with the mono version of the ‘Coast To Coast’ single, plus the non-album tracks ‘Good Love’ and ‘Dat’s It’. Four tracks were aired for the 1973 Radio 1 In Concert series, taken from an “off-air” recording. One of Trapeze’s major strongholds was Texas, so it’s no surprise that this collection is completed with a track recorded in Dallas in 1972, plus a whole show from Houston the same year.

Glenn Hughes would leave Trapeze to join Deep Purple in 1973, leaving Mel Galley and Dave Holland to soldier on for the remainder of the 1970s, periodically reforming this classic three-piece line-up.

As well as a reproducing rare and original memorabilia from the band’s archives, the collection includes extensive liner notes by Malcolm Dome based on interviews with Glenn Hughes, manager Tony Perry, producer Neil Slaven, Tom Galley and Rod Argent.