WhoIsWho
VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR /
PETER HAMMILL.
Peter Joseph Hammill was born in Ealing (a suburb of London), 5 November '48. After working in the IT branche (i doubt if it was called that way then) he went back to the University of Manchester.
In the late '60s, there, in Manchester, a band was formed, by university friends:
Peter Hammill (piano/guitar/vocals),
Hugh Banton (keyboards/bass), and
Guy Evans (drums).
Called Van Der Graaf Generator, the band folded without making any recordings, but in 1968 it re-formed with:
David Jackson on saxophone.
Hammill had intended to release a solo album, but the new Van Der Graaf Generator seized on his material, the result being the imaginative AEROSOL GREY MACHINE. Hard claustrophopic rock with symphonical elements. The band had more success in Europe than in the UK, splitting up for the second time in 1972. This split gave Hammill the opportunity to continue with the limited success he had found in his solo career, which he pursued until 1975 when Van Der Graaf Generator regrouped yet again, this time for just three years.
Godbluf ('75) with;
Guitars - Peter Hammill,
Bass - Hugh Banton,
Drums - Guy Evans,
Saxophone - David Jackson,
Flute - David Jackson,
Percussion - Guy Evans,
Vocals - Peter Hammill,
Organs - Hugh Banton,
Pianos - Peter Hammill.
His first solo album was called Fool's Mate ('71), Robert Fripp plays guitar on that album.
Randy Callifornia is the guitarist on his third album called The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage ('74).
He write poems and got a few books published.
Together with his old pal Chris judge Smith he worked on a opera based on Edgar allen Poe's The Fall Of The House Of Usher.
Everyone you hold is recorded and mixed at Bath 1995 - June 1997 and is a dark,
melancholic album.
Clutch ('03), solo album number 35 or thereabouts, is, for the first time, a
collection of purely acoustic numbers written and performed exclusively on guitar. The only
additional instruments are violin and viola, played by long-standing live performance
co-conspirator Stuart Gordon, and saxophones and flutes by original Van Der Graaf Generator
member David Jackson. In essence, this album takes Hammill back to his earliest days when
all the songs were written on acoustic guitar.
Original Van der Graaf Generator lineup to perform together in 2005.
Hugh Banton, Guy Evans, Peter Hammill and David Jackson will perform at the Royal Festival Hall in
London on May 6th 2005. Tickets are available from the RFH ticket office (www.rfh.org.uk).
Session:
Robert Fripp (Exposed '79):
Peter Gabriel,
Jerry Marotta (also from Peter Gabriel's band),
Tony Levin,
Phil Collins,
Daryl Hall and others,
The TANGENT Project CD ("The Music That Died Alone..")
featuring Andy & Sam from Po90,
Guy Manning, plus Roine,
Zoltan and Jonas from the
Flower Kings and David Jackson.
David Jackson will also collaborate with MANGALA VALLIS an Italian prog band ('05).
In 1990 Hammill guested on vocals for Peter Gabriel's fourth album (Sercurity '82) & on Us ('92).
David Jackson joins The Rome Pro(G)ject (April 2012).
featuring:
David Cross (played in King Crimson),
Francesco Di Giacomo, (Banco, BMS, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso)
John Hackett,
Steve Hackett,
David Jackson, (Solo Artist,
Van der Graaf Generator, VDGG)
Nick Magnus, (Solo Artist, Steve Hackett Band)
Richard Sinclair (Solo artist,
Caravan, Camel, Hatfield and the North)
and:
with the delicious talents of
Franck Carducci, Narrow Pass, Mauro Montobbio, Jerry Cutillo, Luca Grosso, Danilo Chiarella, Maurizio Mirabelli, Paolo Ricca.
“Some of the most important names of the progressive rock scene and friends comment and celebrate in adventurous and peculiar sound and music the greatness and the beauty
of Rome on the 2765th anniversary of its foundation”.
Conceived and produced by Vincenzo Ricca 2012.
Symfo-Index.