If (band)
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If | |
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Jazz rock, jazz fusion, progressive rock | |
Years active | 1969–1975, 2015–2016 |
Labels | Island, Capitol, United Artists, Metromedia |
Past members |
If was a British
History
The band was formed in 1969 by
The albums
Consisting of essentially two clearly defined line-ups, as well as an intermediate, transitional one, the original band had a heavier leaning towards jazz, and was formed by
The definitive seven-piece line-up for the first incarnation of the band, with a more jazz-rock-oriented style, and which appears on the first four studio albums, as well as a live recording, was
The above line-up is possibly the band's best known, but the band was subject to other personnel changes.[6] With If coming off the road when Dick Morrissey was admitted to hospital, J. W. Hodkinson joined Darryl Way's Wolf, Terry Smith and Dave Quincy went off to form ZZebra, John Mealing joined Klaus Doldinger's Passport before going on to Strawbs, Jim Richardson went on to do studio session work, and Dennis Elliott joined the hugely successful group Foreigner.
A new line-up had Fi Trench and Dave Greenslade (ex-Colosseum) on keyboards, and Dave Wintour replacing Richardson on bass. Wintour left shortly afterwards to join Roger Daltrey, appearing on his first two solo albums.
A sixth studio album, Double Diamond (1973), with only Dick Morrissey left from the original line-up, featured Fi Trench (keyboards) and Pete Arnesen (keyboards), Steve Rosenthal (guitar/lead vocals), Kurt Palomacki (bass) and Cliff Davies (drums). It was recorded at The Manor recording studios shortly after Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.
The last two If albums,
Coinciding with their more rock-influenced style, they also changed their famous small-case logo "if" for the more solid-looking large-case "IF".
If finally broke up in 1975, Dick Morrissey going on to work with the Average White Band and Herbie Mann, eventually forming Morrissey–Mullen; Geoff Whitehorn to join Crawler and, subsequently, Procol Harum. Other members worked with Ted Nugent, who was also produced by Lew Futterman: Gabriel Magno (1973–1974), Cliff Davies (1975–1980) and Walt Monaghan (1979).
Following the interest generated in the band with the re-release of If, If 2, If 3, and If 4, Dave Quincy and Terry Smith announced the re-formation of If in 2015 with a new line-up. A new album was released in 2016 and was titled If 5.
Band members
1969 |
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1969–72 |
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1972–73 |
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1973–74 |
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1974–75 |
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2015–16 |
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Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
- If (Island, 1970) US No. 187[7]
- If 2 (Island, 1971) US No. 203[7]
- If 3 (United Artists, 1971) US No. 171[7]
- If 4 (United Artists, 1972)
- Waterfall (Metromedia, 1972) US No. 195[7]
- Double Diamond (Metromedia, 1973)
- Not Just Another Bunch of Pretty Faces (Gull, 1974)
- Tea Break Over–Back on Your 'Eads! (Gull, 1975)
- If 5 (Repertoire, 2016)
EPs
- A Little Taste of If (Capitol, 1974) – sampler of Not Just Another Bunch of Pretty Faces
Compilation albums
- Forgotten Roads (Sequel, 1995)
- Europe '72 (Repertoire, 1997)
Live albums
- Fibonacci's Number: More Live (Repertoire, 2010)
References
- ^ a b Jim Newsom. "If Biography". allmusic.
- ^ Billboard Vol. 83, N.º 17–24 April 1971 ISSN 0006-2510. 24 April 1971. p. 24. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
- ^ "Fillmore East official website". Fillmore-east.com. 17 June 1998. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
- ^ "If Concert & Tour History | Concert Archives". Retrieved 28 March 2023.
- .
- ISBN 0-352-39715-2.
- ^ Allmusic
External links
- Allmusic
- John Peel at BBC Radio 1
- Jim Newsom's website review of If 1 album
- If biography from liner notes by Chris Welch at Alex Gaitlin's website
- The Free-Lance Star - 18 December 1971 at Google News