Bronco (English band)
Bronco were an English five piece rock and country band, who were signed to Island and Polydor Records between 1969 and 1973. They released three albums during their existence, "Country Home" (1970), "Ace of Sunlight" (1971) and "Smoking Mixture" (1973). History. Bronco were formed in August 1969 by Jess Roden following his split from The Alan Bown Set. They were signed to Island Records by Guy Stevens and, after initially recording tracks at Olympic Studios with him, recorded their first album, "Country Home", at Island's own Basing Street Studios during 1970, with the final mix being  overseen by Paul Samwell-Smith. One of the album's tracks, "Love" was included on "Bumpers", an Island sampler album. The group similarly recorded their second album "Ace of Sunlight" at Basing Street (1971) which was produced by the band and Richard Digby Smith. Singer-songwriter Clifford T. Ward guested on their debut album "Country Home". Trevor Lucas sang back-up vocals on "Ace of Sunlight", and both Ian Hunter and Mick Ralphs from Mott The Hoople also guested on that album. In January 1971, Bronco appeared on BBC Two's "Disco 2". Following a serious motorway accident between Cheltenham  and Bristol (in which the group's crew – Dick Hayes and Alan Stone – and drummer Pete Robinson and bassist John Pasternak were badly injured) and a later, ill-fated West Coast of America tour, Roden left the band after a final British tour with label-mates Mott The Hoople and John Martyn in the early 1972, to start a solo career. Guitarist Robbie Blunt soon followed and the remaining members drafted in Paul Lockey on vocals (who Kevyn Gammond knew from Band of Joy) and Dan Fone on guitar. This incarnation of Bronco signed to Polydor and released one album , "Smoking Mixture". Bronco's bass player John Pasternak died of a heart attack in September 1986. Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant fronted a tribute event for Pasternak in December of that year, that featured Plant and The Big Town Playboys, and concluded with an ensemble band featuring Plant, Jimmy Page on guitar and Jason Bonham on drums. Two Bronco tracks are featured on Island records compilation albums: "Love" appeared on "Bumpers" released in 1970 and "Sudden Street" was on "El Pea" (1971). "Time Slips Away" was included on the Island Records compilation "Meet on the Ledge", released as part of  Island's 50th anniversary in 2009. Discography. Section::::"Country Home" (1970). Label: Island ILPS 9124 Section::::"Ace of Sunlight" (1971). Label: Island ILPS 9161 Section::::"Smoking Mixture" (1973). Label: Polydor 2383 215 Section::::"Hidden Masters : The Jess Roden Anthology". Label: HiddenMasters HM 3001 (2013) – contained a number of previously unreleased tracks by Bronco (including)