Simon Dupree And The Big Sound

Simon Dupree and the Big Sound were a British psychedelic band formed in 1966 by brothers Derek (vocals), Phil (vocals, saxophone, trumpet), and Ray Shulman (guitar, violin, trumpet, vocals); also known for their later prog rock band, Gentle Giant. 
They started as The Howling Wolves and then became The Road Runners, playing R&B around the Portsmouth area, home of the Shulman brothers, becoming Simon Dupree and the Big Sound in early 1966. Making up the rest of the group were Peter O'Flaherty (bass guitar) (born 8 May 1944, in Gosport, Hampshire), Eric Hine (keyboards) (born Eric Raymond Lewis Hines, 4 September 1944, in Portsmouth, Hampshire), and Tony Ransley (drums) (born Anthony John Ransley, 17 May 1944, in Portsmouth, Hampshire). Those early group names aside, their repertory was focused a lot more on the songs of Wilson Pickett, Don Covay, and Otis Redding, than on Howlin' Wolf or Bo Diddley. 'Simon Dupree and the Big Sound' came about in the course of their search for a flashy name.
The group were signed to EMI's Parlophone label, under producer Dave Paramor. Their first few singles, notably "I See The Light" (1966), failed to chart, then in October 1967, the group's management and their record label decided to try moving Simon Dupree and the Big Sound in the direction of psychedelia.
They broke through at the end of 1967 with the psychedelic "Kites", a Top 10 hit in the UK Singles Chart. Regarding themselves as blue-eyed soul brothers, they hated it as it was so unrepresentative of their usual style. The follow-up, "For Whom The Bell Tolls", was only a minor hit, and a subsequent single "Broken Hearted Pirates", featuring an uncredited Dudley Moore on piano, made no headway at all.
==Links to Peel==
Peel mentioned on his 10th January 1989 show that Simon Dupree And The Big Sound's Reservations record was stolen by him from the pirate ship, whilst working for Radio London in 1967. He played the track on the show. In 2004, he revisited the group by playing their big hit, 'Kites' (a cover of the Rooftop Singers song), which Peel mentioned on his programme as the ten best psychedelic rock tunes listed by Will Sergeant in The Independent newspaper.
==Shows Played==
;thumb|220x220px1989
*10 January 1989: Reservations (7" - Reservations / You Need A Man) Parlophone
;2004
*08 July 2004: Kites (7") Parlophone
==External Links==
*Wikipedia
*Discogs
Category:Artists