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Steve "Peregrine"Took(aka stephen Ross Porter)

Unfortunately probably seen as a 60s equivalent of Whams Andrew Ridgley to George Michael,but for Steve Took it was Marc Bolan as part of the duo that went under the utterly combersome name of(breathe...here goes with the spelling) Tyrranosaurus Rex,in essence seen by some as a powerless,untalented sideman or stooge,to the talented ,gifted pretty one,in his case Marc Bolan!

He DID feature on 3 albums"My people were fair and had sky in their hair,but now they're content to wear stars on their brow"(July 68)"Prophets,Seers & Sages The Angel Of The Ages"(Oct 68)and "Unicorn"(May 69).Of course looking at the credits,ALL songs are written by Marc Bolan,so i've no idea if Steve Took had much creative input to the creating and then recording of those songs.I'll tell you what though,it takes bottle to go on stage and just play in front of an audience,no matter how big or in the case of Bolan and Took,originally small audience,but this increased with each album release,along with European gigs and doing the live tours and promo stuff on TV,Steve Took WAS part of the duo,WAS playing the bongos and other percussive instruments,on stage, in live shows and TV,so he was an integral part of the whole elfin image and vibe they were attempting to convey,and the hippie style image,so surely Steve had input on many things?

Unfortunately for Steve Took,he was enjoying his drug consumption,his party lifestyle too much,as he earned the nickmame The Phantom Spiker,but he also wanted more input on the creative side of things,and that mixed with Bolans quest for fame,for success,proved that Steve Took was dispendsable,and was made so,as Mickey Finn entered the picture,and Steve Took was out the picture in September 69 after returning from a US tour!!

So in essence a replacement who was arguably more handsome with a good but different look and others say a better musician,more creative and talented,and fitted in better with Bolans own image of what he perceived as HIS band,HIS baby,HIS chance for fame and success,so maybe BOTH Took and Finn where just the good looking sidemen?who will get replaced as Bolan grows tired of them or interfere with his vision?Thats for a debate somewhere else,and another time maybe?

What did Steve Took do musically after his days with Bolan where over in 1969?

Hang around a lot seems to be the answer,with other loons of the London undeground music and art scene,but those loons where musicians in bands and some with success too,and connections with The Deviants Mick Farren,UFOs Larry Wallis and Tomorrows and Pretty Things John Twink Alder,BOTH to apppear with The Pink Fairies at different times,with Twink featuring and co-writing on their marvellous freaky debut album"Never Never Land"and Larry Wallis featuring and writing most of the album"Kings Of Oblivion".

Steve Took featured on Twinks "Think Pink"album recorded from summer into Autumn of 1969,but NOT released in the UK till January 1971.It had seen late 69/early 1970 releases in France and Germany,so its hold up with the UK release 18 months after its initial recording is rather puzzling.

Took features on the numbers"The Coming Of The Other One","Three Little Piggies" and "The Sparrow Is a Sign"credited to co-writing and playing pixie horn,percussion,rythm guitar,lead vocals on"Sparrow Is A Sign" and backing vocals.Along with Mick Farren,Paul Rudolph,Jon Povey,Viv Prince,Vic Unitt,Wally Allen,John Lodge and Junior Wood.A who is who of the London underground music scene.
The tracks Steve Took features on are mainly freaky,atmospheric mainly non musical arty stoned pieces,but he also helped with the mixing of the album,and was heavily involved in its fruition through to it's completion.

Steve Took also contributed to Mick Farrens first solo album"Mona:The Carnivorous Circus"straight after the Think Pink sessions,so he was an integral part of the Pink Fairies Motorcycle Club and All Star Rock & Roll Band,basically a bunch of muso loons and acid freaks,which according to Mick Farren ,was just a drinkers club in reality!!By the time of guesting on this album Steve Tooks days with Marc Bolan where over!!

Twink,Steve Took and Mick Farren spoke of creating a new band called The Pink Fairies,as all 3 had come to an end with their bands,Twink from The Pretty Things,Farren from The Deviants and Steve Took from Tyrranosaurus Rex but after much tooing and frowing,this idea became a reality,as preparaton was being made for the recording of an album,but by the time it came to recording in December 1970,both Mick Farren and Steve Took had no part in it's fruition,as a rift had developed between Mick Farren,Steve Took and Twink.
With Twink featuring alongside Paul Rudolph,Duncan Sanderson and Russell Hunter as The Pink Fairies with a single The Snake/Do It,appearing in January 1971,followed by recordings for the album "Never Never Land" on March 1st 1971 and ended at the end of that month,with the release of the album"Never Never Land"a month or so later.So NO Steve Took!!

Unfortunately Steve had taken to hard drugs,and was being housed in Ashford Remand Centre for drug offences at this time,but fortunately he did write songs,and DID manage to record several different demos in studios and with home recordings,and fortunately for us music enthusiasts of this time,some of those demos,acetates,home drafts of songs have survived in varying sound quality,and have been made public on several cds,the recordings that were still salvagable come from the years 1969-1972. Those recordings have been released as by SHAGRAT.

The first cd is titled"Pink Jackets Required"issued in 2001 on Get Back Records.
According to the info:
The first of those demos featured:Steve Took-Vocals,epiphone Guitar.
John"Twink"Alder-Drums,Cymbals,tambourines,bongos,claps
Paul Rudolph-Bass guitar

They took place late 1969/early 1970.At Denmark Street Studios
They recorded 4 numbers,ALL written by Steve Took.

Beautiful Deceiver(demo 1)-This is a Tyrranosaurus Rex sounding piece of acoustic elfin pop WITHOUT Marc Bolan,but very much in his musical style,i prefer Steves vocals compared to Bolans accquired taste sheep baaaing vibrato of the time Steve was in Tyrranosaurus Rex.
(demo 2,is a bit cleaner sounding,slightly quicker,Tooks vocals are not as erratic,and harder percussion is used,i prefer Demo 1)

Still Yawning Still Born(demo 1)-A harder more frantic style,with this excellent furiously strummed acoustic guitar demo,with an edgier vocal by Steve Took,if this could have been developed further,this would be excellent,as it is just a demo,its a sketch,but its a good number.
(Demo 2,has more bongos,better sounding and varied percussion,but slightly less frantic guitar strumming,and more controlled vocal from Took,this is a superior version)

Amanda(demo 1)-A rather lucid,hazy,loner folk sounding number,again this IS a good number,even with this sketch of a demo,you can hear qualty,of course his vocals can be rather erratic,rather bumpy,but i do still like it,it has a certain stoned busker Englishness to it.
(Demo 2,again in better quality,a more controlled atmosphere,not as a hazy vibe,with real drums,less tambourine,but less stoned out loner sounding)

Strange Sister(demo 1)-Another loner folk vibe,for me not as strong in this sketched form as the others,but it does have a slight home country vibe in bits.
(Demo 2,a slightly more developed sound,but less exciting to my ears,but with added guitar parts which are nice,again real drums,instead of drums like bongos and other percussive instruments,somethings went amiss in vibe since demo 1,this sounds rather uninspired,flat and lacklustre to me)

Luckily Steve Took accquired some royalties from his time with Marc Bolan,in some new deal that had been agreed to pay Steve Took,to possibly distance Marc Bolan from his ex band member?
The cd is titled"Lone Star",issued by Captain Trips Records in 2001.
This resulted in Steve Took getting studio time.
Recordings where made in Strawberry Studios,on April 1970.
The following featured on those recordings:Steve Took-Lead Vocals,Guitar.
Larry Wallis-Lead Guitar,Vocals.
Tim Taylor-Bass.
Phil Lenoir-Drums

Peppermint Flickstick-A cowrite with Larry Wallis,Full electric band,with excellent heavy acid pedalled guitar licks and effects,and a real hard rock vibe which had become popular at this time in uk music,but this is grungey,manic,stoner rock,before ANY of those things were given a name,its the guitar which makes this intersting,because Steve Tooks vocals are scatty at best,but low in the mix and full of echo and guitar reverb.This is totaly differnt to Tooks earlier compositions.

Boo!I Said Freeze-A cowrite with Larry Wallis,full electric band,continuing in a hard rock vibe and sound,with a slight Iggy touch to the vocals,but with layers of heavy guitar,maracas and heavy pounding drums,this is hard and heavy.

Steel Abortion-A co-write with Larry Wallis,BUT unfortunately,the source material is in poor sound quality on this,the BEST of the 3 songs recorded,this is ultra fast and heavy,with lashings of guitar,and better sounding vocals from Steve Took,and a more fully realised arrangement....but you have to look past the poor quality source material like a well worn acetete!!
In general the music on the 3 tacks is so different to Tooks past recordings,and the influence of Larry Wallis can be heard on ALL 3,resultng in 3 hard rocking,heavy blasters.

Steve Took revisited some of his earlier songs,that where basically just skeletal demos,in their early incarnations.
On the cd titled"Lone Star"isssued by Captain Trips Records in 2001.
According to the info,those recordings took place in 1971,in the home of Larry Wallis,and are referred to as Larry Wallis home demos on the cd.
Those who took part are listed as:Steve Took-Acoustic guitar and Vocals
Larry Wallis-Bass
Dave Bidwell-Tambourine

I've a slight suspicion,the same 4 songs,as featured on the cd "Pink Jackets Required"as Demo 2,of the same songs,just maybe,im saying,just maybe the same versions?As i detect very little differences,though the running order is different with slight time differences,and source quality varies,so possibly some wrong info provided on that cd??
I don't know,or maybe I am totally wrong,and they are 4 new demo versions?Can someone put me right on that crazy idea,or am i needing to clean my ears???Here are the titles in the running order:
Amanda
Strange Sister
Still Yawning,Still-Born
Beautiful Deceiver.

I'll move away from my suspicions and move to what Steve Took was doing,he had fallen on harder times,living in a squat,and on self dstructive drugs,hes even quoted after a music paper had claimed he was back on the road after straightening his head out,Steve seemingly complained with "Thats entirely untrue,i havent been able to straighten my head out at all",so that either shows you his humour,or being remarkably honest with his personal situation.

Tony Secunda,had split from managing Marc Bolan,and turned his attention to Steve Took,putting him in Olympic Studios,recording 3 numbers:Blind Owl Blues
Mr Discreet
Amanda
Those who took part in this session were:Steve Took
Mick Wayne
Duncan Sanderson
Russell Hunter
Unfortunately those sessions were never complete,and i've NOT heard them,or even know if they are available?He was also teamed up with Larry Wallis again to RG Jones studio,but again the session floundered.With little information on what songs were attempted.

The following are from the cd titled"Crazy Diamond"issued by Angel Air Records in 2002.

Another attempt at recording was made in early 1972,as a small budget had been found for the recordings,a band was put together,and those who took part are:
Steve Took-Vocals,Guitar,Keys and Percussion.
Mick Wayne-Guitar and Bass
Duncan Sanderson-Drums
Larry Wallis-Guitar
Twink-Drums
Crazy Diamond(syd Barrett)-Guitar and various noises.

The tracks recorded were:
Scorpius
Lucky Charm
Flophouse Blues
Seventh Sign
Days
I Caught You
Give
Molecular Lucky Charm
Syds wine
Flophouse Blues(reprise)

Commenting on those recordings,no wonder some recordings are left on the shelf as works in progress,and never looked at again or worked on again....the main reason and attitude back then,was that they were just works in progress and NOT for public release,some BIG groups DON'T have any demos,acetates or out-takes of early years of their existence,as many where discarded,taped over,or just lost through time.No one could imagine back then in 1972,that people in the year 2022 would want to hear those demos,acetates and out-takes not worthy enough of release or development at that time.........

THIS is one that should have stayed on the shelf!!Oooofffttt.

BUT the perceived public demand,so it was thought,deemed those recordings worthy of release,and it must be said,Tony Secunda supplied the tapes,after i suspect some tinkering,possible modern overdubs to fill the sound.......maybe?So they were cleaned up,and released on cd in 2002,30 years after they were put away and forgotten about,but this was deemed worthy because of the Marc Bolan /T Rex connection,and Steve Took IS a big part of it!!

The vocals by Steve Took are atrocious,wordless,mumblings and ramblings,in every song,and low in the mix,as the instrumentation has possibly been made higher in cd reproduction,to cover the awful noise by Steve Took,maybe this was meant to be a guide vocal of sorts,as i said,NOT meant for public ears,and possibly no futher work was done on this tape to add the real vocals on top of the guide vocal??Or this is a man,who sounds ill,incoherent,spaced,and in a very bad place mentally,and had no sane idea on what he was doing....it is possible,it sounds rather familiar to others like Peter Green,Syd Barrett and Alex Skip Spence....who unfortunately ALL turned out to have severe mental health illnesses,and possibly Steve Took could be added to it,as evidenced in hearing this tape,it is a conclusion you could find feasible!!

As for the music,there is amble capable support in the band with Mick Wayne of The Hullabaloos,The Tickle,Juniors Eyes and David Bowies backing during the "Space Oddity"phase,Twink and Larry Wallis being experienced in recording also,so it beggars belief,with the talent on this,theres nothing to suggest that talent is there......as its meanderring soundcapes have little character,little guitar heroics,little adhesion,little melody,no structure,and ARE just guys playing around,maybe stoned maybe straight,but theres little happening on this,and i DON'T understand anyone who will play this more than once,i get it for its historical value,because to be bluntly honest,thats the ONLY value i got from this.

I dislike being negative concerning music,but this should have stayed hidden,seemnigly Steve Took had asked Tony Secunda to clean the tapes as best as he could,maybe HE knew this was just guys playing about,and when requested for any tapes,unreleased material,he threw this up......and Angel Air,god bless them,released them hoping interest from Bolan/T Rex enthusiasts may just buy it.I've bought it and still got it......So personally i think this is not a good recording to remember Steve Took by,or to criticise his work with,as i said Works in Progress!!
So theres not much left to give any fair judgement on his post Bolan years,very little other music of Steve"peregrine" Took seems to survive,BUT those demos,sketches,ideas and old recordings do show a guy with some writing skills,playing skills and real promise for a solo career,but something stopped his development and promise,and the lack of fully finished songs,as he seems to have never been satisfied with the work he and others did,and would quickly move on,as if working hard on those songs was not worth it......so this added with his drug use,unhealthy lifestyle may have resulted in lack of self belief and confidence.
resulting in vey few finished recordings...which is a pity,as he did have promise!!

He seems to have been written out of the UK 60s music scene retrospectively,the invisible man next to Marc Bolan....ehh what was his name again?many will say!!
He was part of a music scene full of ideas,full of change,full of excitement,he was in a undeground act that was becoming more popular,and mainstream,he travelled the world,recorded in the best studios,had a recording contract,played to 1000s,featured in music papers,written about......here i am writing about him in 2022,decades after he left this mortal coil.
He did things many of us can ONLY dream about,he was NOT in a dreary 9-5 job,he was in and out of TV studios all the time,and he had a good 2 years with a gifted front man,who would become massively popular,that gave them both opportunities,that many DON'T get in life.....Steve Took had it,alonh with the negative aspects of showbusiness......and the downside,so THAT at least MUST be given to Steve Took,even if folks do think of him as the 60s answer to Andrew Ridgley.

Re: Steve "Peregrine"Took(aka stephen Ross Porter)

Bongos are real drums in my eyes, lol, it's interesting that I saw the tribute band TRexstacy a few years back - very accomplished but left unfulfilled simply because there were no bongos at all! Just realised that most of us are more than double the age that Steve lived to be... rest his soul.

Re: Steve "Peregrine"Took(aka stephen Ross Porter)

Of course Doctor Gaz,Bongos ARE real drums.
Yes he left this mortal coil young,though in truth,i don't know the full story,as i was so concentrated on the music,that unbelievably i didn't take in when he died,and the reasons for it.

I can't believe 54 years have passed in my life,while others never even reached half that,as sometimes i feel 54 years have whizzed past,and happened so quick........and other times,when i stop to actually think about it......its quite a long time...but still feels so darn quick.