Forever More (band)

Forever More was a late 1960s and early 1970s progressive rock band, featuring Alan Gorrie on bass guitar, piano, vocals; Mick Strode (aka Mick Travis) on guitar, vocals; Onnie McIntyre (aka Onnie Mair) on guitar and vocals; and Stuart Francis on drums and vocals. The principal songwriters for Forever More were: Alan Gorrie and Mick Strode, writing either as individuals or co-writing. Alan Gorrie, Onnie McIntyre, and Stuart Francis all originated from Scotland, whereas Mick Strode was born in Oldbury in the West Midlands. The band toured extensively in the United Kingdom and in Europe. They recorded two LPs: "Yours" and "Words on Black Plastic".

Forever More
Photo of band taken from album liner notes
Background information
OriginScotland
GenresProgressive rock
Past membersAlan Gorrie
Onnie McIntyre
Mick Travis
Stuart Francis

Formation of Forever More, 1969

Scottish musicians Alan Gorrie, Onnie McIntyre and Stuart Francis had previously been part of a band called Hopscotch, alongside two other Scottish musicians, namely pianist/vocalist Graham Maitland and vocalist Hamish Stuart (later of Crocodile, and Sir Paul McCartney's Wings). Mick Strode, meanwhile, had been the lead guitarist in various bands in the Midlands and in London, most notably with Robert Plant and John Bonham in the final 1968 lineup of their pre-Led Zeppelin group Band of Joy. Early in 1969 in Shepherd's Bush, London, Mick Strode met Alan, Onnie, and Stuart of Hopscotch; and soon afterwards the four of them formed Forever More. All of Forever More also played as session musicians in various studios in London.

Management of Forever More

Initially, Forever More were managed by a company called International Artists, which was based in Gerrard Street, Soho. That company also operated as a booking agency for musicians, thus enabling musicians to obtain work at pubs, clubs, concert halls, and festivals throughout the UK or abroad.

Mafalda Hall later became the manager of Forever More.

Recording contracts

Forever More were signed to RCA New York and produced two LPs on that label. Both LPs were recorded at Olympic Studios in London, at the end of 1969/early 1970. Forever More's first LP, "Yours" was released in 1970. Forever More's second LP, "Words on Black Plastic" was not released until early 1971. Both albums were produced by Ray Singer and Simon Napier-Bell, who were known as Rocking Horse Productions. Vic Smith was the engineer on "Yours", an album which entered the American Billboard Charts.

In 1970 Forever More also appeared as a band pursued by groupies in Lindsay Shonteff's film Permissive.

A CD containing both albums was released in 2007 on 'Retro Disc International, SL, Spain', claiming to be 'digitally re-mastered, original recordings'.

Morphing and Evolution of Forever More

Shortly before disbanding in 1971 Forever More, by means of a simple name change, morphed into a band called Glencoe. The line-up was still the same: Mick Strode, on lead electric guitar, had already incorporated his mandolin playing and acoustic guitar into their live performances; and all four members were offering vocal harmonies, although Alan Gorrie remained the principal singer with Mick Strode singing solo on some numbers, especially on his own compositions. Since Alan Gorrie played both bass and piano, Onnie McIntyre would sometimes switch to playing bass for live performances.

Not long after Forever More's change of name to Glencoe, however, Onnie McIntyre and Alan Gorrie decided to leave the band. Determined to continue as Glencoe, Mick Strode and Stuart Francis set about recruiting two new members for their band. The first musician who joined them was Graham Maitland, a pianist who had previously played with Stuart Francis, prior to Forever More's formation. The second new member was a very young bass player called Norman Watt-Roy, whose audition to join Glencoe is described in Dr.Sonja Strode's book (2011). This line-up toured widely in the United Kingdom until April 1972 when guitarist/songwriter Mick Strode decided to leave the band. Strode was replaced by John Turnbull and they released 2 further albums "Glencoe" (1972) and "Spirit Of Glencoe" (1973).

Having left Forever More in 1972, Alan Gorrie and Onnie McIntyre formed the Average White Band, teaming up with Scottish saxophonists Roger Ball and Malcolm Duncan who had been part of Jimmy Litherland's Brotherhood (later known as Mogul Thrash). Together with trumpeter Mike Rosen, they were known as the Dundee Horns. In the heyday of Forever More it was not unusual for this brass section to jam with Forever More whenever their gigs coincided.

Discography
Cover of the digitally remastered CD of both albums released in 2007

Bibliography

"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me", (1998 edition), Simon Napier-Bell, ISBN 9780091865733

"Doctor Sonja's Bitches Brew: A 'telling' journey through music spaces", (2011), Dr.Sonja Strode, ISBN 9782954075501

"Forever More", article, March, 2014, Peter Viney for Toppermost.co.uk

References
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