1-2-3 were a Scottish band who by all accounts were way ahead of their time and very influential. They had a residency at the Marquee in early 1967 and blew people away, influencing The Nice and Bowie amongst others. Unfortunately they were signed to NEMS around the time Epstein died, and they then got lost in the shuffle without releasing anything at the time. The re-emerged as Clouds at the end of the decade, a fine band, but had kind of lost their mommentum by this time.

Anyway, it seems strange that such a well regarded and influential band never recorded even some demos - anyone know of anything that has emerged?

I asked the same question PP but no response back then in Feb.


Mr Wisdom 's Whopper
Feb 23, 2019 - 4:31PM
1-2-3/Clouds

I came across a copy of Clouds 1971 album Watercolour Days awhile back and thought I'd get around to listening to their earlier stuff. I was surprised to find all this info and plaudits about their previous incarnation as 1-2-3.
Does anyone know if there are any other of their tracks available to listen to besides their version of America.

https://youtu.be/MKE3tlij77k

https://youtu.be/oH9d054o7x8

https://youtu.be/E2VzKRtqiAk

https://www.cloudsmusic.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clouds_%2860s_rock_band%29

I came across a couple of things on youtube that you gentlemen should have seen by now but probably won't have . As readers of this forum will know, to put it mildly I'm not a fan of genre labelling nor of prog-rock. However, there may be certain exceptions I can appreciate amongst the stuff that gets labelled like that.

Here's a youtube vid called 1-2-3/CLOUDS - TRAILBLAZERS OF PROG ROCK. I think [not having watched the whole thing] there's probably only about 7 minutes out of an hour about 1-2-3 here, starting a little after the 5 minute mark. You can see/hear when and if there's other bits that are relevant to this band. Let us know if there's more please. Many of you will probably want to watch the whole video anyway.



The other thing I found is the real treasure for you lot. There's 13 seconds of silence at the start but folks might wanna see the pictures:



I reckon 1-2-3 count as one of the exceptions I mentioned earlier, as they seem to be the trailblazers defying musical conventions of that time. Such a shame that those who later took that trail extinguished the fires and bored many of us with the pretentious uppermiddleclass musical snobbery that is known as 'prog-rock'.
~ End of Steve's anti-prog rant for now, folks! ~

[I hope more 1-2-3 songs come to light.]

Enjoy the video clips.

Cheers Steve. They certainly seemed ahead of their time.

And another!
Interestingly, the poster says:
This is the second of two rare recordings recently found of 1-2-3. The band say that these recordings show how little idea people had of how to record a Rock organ trio in those days.


How the band looked just a few years ago

"They applied all their previous knowledge of cocktail jazz trios to us, as they had never had the experience of a Rock band like this before, and it left too much space between the instruments. Even on songs like this, the band sounded much more powerful on stage". Also missing on this recording apparently are the musician's solos, presumably edited for recording purposes. Still, very interesting to hear such unusual vocal harmonies and arrangements, and yet another glimpse into this legendary band.



The trio met up for a rare interview in 2012 and here are some excerpts -

“We just weren’t good enough,” says Hughes, who gave drums lessons to Carl Palmer and Bill Bruford.

“We were years ahead of our time,” says Ritchie, who most laments what might have been and admits: “I’ve never been able to find anything to replace music in my life.”

They became a trio by accident. “We were the only ones from an earlier line-up who wanted to quit Scotland and try London and we left behind wives and jobs,” says Ellis, who played bass and sang.

Before Clouds they were 1-2-3 and the look was unfussy. “T-shirts, vinyl trousers and the obligatory long hair,” recalls Ellis. Misplacing guitarists as well as wives put greater emphasis on Hughes’ jazz-influenced drums and Ritchie’s Hammond organ, which he played standing up with classical flourishes. He remembers Keith Emerson being especially intrigued. “He asked me why I stood, didn’t think he could. In the Nice he was playing sideboard, but next I knew their guitarist had gone and he was standing up too. And performing Nut Rocker, which had been part of our set.”

Yes would go on to record Paul Simon’s America, another 1-2-3 staple. It was a highly competitive scene but what upset Ritchie, and in his darker moments still does, was the others’ reluctance to give his band due credit. “We were friends with a lot of these guys but while Jon Anderson would tell audiences we were his favourite group he was careful never to say it in print. King Crimson probably took their concept from us – quiet melodies broken up by frantic muso playing – but Robert Fripp, an odd fellow, wouldn’t admit it. And Rick Wakeman even had the cheek a few years ago to say he’d never heard of me. I can still see him down the front at the Marquee!”

Hello Steve, thank you for putting those clips up.as for prog rock, as with psych it was mainly middle class thing and particularly with psych in the UK very London based. The states was a bit different as it's such a vast country you also had blue collar psych bands from predominantly working class areas which in the UK being much smaller was a pretty rare thing. Now 50 years later for many means nothing now and just appreciate a lot of the music made then. How many working class lads back then could swan off to far away countries for 12 months or so, or less or more then come back to the UK, say like Kevin ayers for example??very very rare, reading books and articles concerning the UK psych scene, many were art school students who did have the funds to live that what some would call that bohemian lifestyle, not necessary hsving to find a 9-5 job to live, form a band, play gigs and if lucky grab a record deal, maybe I'm simplifying it a bit, how many coal miners or builders formed psych groups or lived that hippie lifestyle? It was definitely a London thing mainly that eventually spired out to other areas within the UK the next year or 2.its an interesting time in UK pop and culture with the mods some taking on the psych mantle and others adopting a hard mod look which eventually lead onto the skinhead style who on the whole could not stand the mainly middle class hippie stuff and who could not relate to that kind of thought or lifestyle, mainly a working class phenomenon was the skinhead thing!!I'm sorta going off subject here, but UK psych was a very limited thing for a very short time too,how many psych albums from the original psych era from 66-68 were actually released in the UK?not many really!! A fair number of singles I agree, but as for prog rock, I enjoy the proto prog and early prog from 69-71 mainly, as I feel after that many were more interested in showing off their virtuosity at how good they were at playing their instruments rather than keeping their songs melodic and interesting!! Of course there are exceptions to the rule as there always are in any musical genre!! What that 16 year old said to rick wakeman in the clip is spot on, though the music I listen to is 50 years old,to a 20 year old, it's new!! I'm still hearing albuns from the 60s and 70s that still thrill me now as it's the first time I've heard them, so though they're 40 or 50 years old,they're new to me!! So a great point made there!! Sorry to prattle on, I'm as working class as they come, back then if I was in my teens would I be into psych music as much as I am now as a 50 year old,I doubt it very much, as a working class Edinburgh lad back then I'd probably have been a rarity if I was,though clouds,writing on the wall and of course incredible string band were all Scottish bands, along with hippie steelworker billy connolly who went onto the humblebums and he must've been a real rarity, but he started in the folk clubs mainly. Just my thoughts guys,anyone agree or think I'm tslking absolute twaddle? If so be interested in hearing your thoughts on anything I've said. Cheers guys.

They certainly seemed to be well respected and musical trend setters, even though they were unaware of it at the time.
Disappointing and frustrating that they didn't receive the plaudits and recognition from their peers though.