Wally was a band led by songwriter Roy Webber in the early seventies. They formed in Harrogate and were successful on the local scene. In 1973 the band entered a competitions sponsored by the weekly music paper Melody Maker to find a new recording act. The final took place at the Roundhouse in London and while the band were the runners-up they actually did very well. They caught the eye of radio DJ and presenter of The Old Grey Whistle Test, Bob Harris. The runners-up prize was to record a session for Bob’s radio show. Bob was so impressed with the band that he helped secure them a contract with Atlantic Records.
Wally recorded their debut album with Bob Harris producing and Rick Wakeman acting as executive producer. Once the record was released the band embarked on a series of live dates including a high profile appearance at the Crystal Palace Garden Party supporting Rick Wakeman who had recently left Yes and was presenting his Journey To The Centre of The earth Show.
Valley Gardens was the bands second album, released in 1975. By this time Nick Glennie-Smith had replaced Peter Gerret on keyboards. Again Bob Harris produced the album, which was notable for the inclusion of the side-long track The Reason Why. This song became a live favourite and is still highly regarded by the group's loyal fan base.
Shortly after the release of the album, however, the band split up, making Valley Gardens the final Wally album until 2010 when the band released their third album Montpellier, which was made up in part of songs originally written for the follow-up to Valley Gardens. This re-issued version of Valley Gardens has been re-mastered and also includes two bonus tracks from Roy Webber’s personal archive: Live Versions of Nez Perce and Green Room Smiles.
With the recent reunion of Wally for concerts and recording, interest in the band is high for the release of Valley Gardens, which is being released on CD in the UK for the first time.
