Pink Fairies were an English rock band active in the London (Ladbroke Grove) underground and psychedelic scene of the early 1970s. They promoted free music, drug taking and anarchy and often performed impromptu gigs and other agitprop stunts, such as playing for free outside the gates at the Bath and Isle of Wight pop festivals in 1970, as well as appearing at Phun City, the second Glastonbury and many other free festivals including Windsor and Trentishoe.
The group was formed after the three musicians from The Deviants (Paul Rudolph, guitar and vocals, Duncan Sanderson, bass and Russell Hunter, born Barry Russell Hunter, drums), sacked their singer and leader Mick Farren during a disastrous tour of the West Coast of the United States. Prior to the tour these musicians had collaborated on the Think Pink solo album by Twink, former drummer of The Pretty Things, using the name Pink Fairies Motorcycle Club and All-Star Rock and Roll Band, taken from a story written by Deviants' manager Jamie Mandelkau. Twink (drums), Farren (vocals), Steve Peregrin Took (guitar) and Twink's girlfriend Sally 'Silver Darling' Meltzer (keyboards) hooked up in October 1969 for one shambolic gig at Manchester University, billed as The Pink Fairies,and went on to record Farren's solo album, Mona – The Carnivorous Circus.Within a few months Twink had left, followed by Farren, by which point Took had renamed the embryonic band Shagrat. In 1970 Twink recruited the remaining Deviants to a new Pink Fairies line-up.[3] Took meanwhile continued with Shagrat as a vehicle for his own songs, and the two bands would appear as separate acts at the Phun City festival that summer.
Their music was upbeat good-time rock and roll, often jamming on The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows", The Ventures' "Walk Don't Run", "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and other standards. Their sets climaxed with the lengthy "Uncle Harry's Last Freakout", essentially an amalgam of old Deviants riffs that included extended guitar and double drum solos. They were closely associated with the UK underground, being based in the Ladbroke Grove scene and playing festivals, benefits and free concerts. The band had strong connections with Farren's home town Worthing, playing gigs for the Worthing Workshop. These included an appearance on a float in the Worthing Rotary Club Carnival Procession and a free open-air concert in Beach House Park. Playing for in June 1970 free outside the Bath Festival, they encountered another Ladbroke Grove based band Hawkwind, who shared similar interests in music and recreational activities, a friendship developed which would lead to the two bands becoming running partners and performing as Pinkwind. Sensationalist coverage in the (Mick Farren edited) International Times solidified their rebel reputation
Mike Reed writes:
"Chinese Cowboys is an archive, unreleased live CD title that was recorded at two 1987 gigs the band had played in support of their ' 87 comeback album, Kill 'Em and Eat 'Em. These two shows took place at Leeds and at the Long Marston Speedway. Good sound quality. On a ten scale I give it a 9 / 9+. Not perfect but awfully darn nice to listen to as well as fully take in. Glad to see the Fairies decided to play material from their first three albums, like '71's Neverneverland. There's drummer Twink stepping out for a rousing performance of "Do It". Then off ' 72's What A Bunch Of Sweeties there are the band's two drummers, Twink and Russell Hunter totally cutting loose on the ten minute "Walk Don't Run". Also, you get from ' 73's Kings Of Oblivion the stunning instrumental "Raceway", "Street Urchin" and "City Kids". One lesser known track here that I was surprised to hear was off the Previously Unreleased EP, the rocking "Waiting For The Lightning To Strike". From the afore mentioned Kill 'Em and Eat 'Em album (never thought I'd hear live versions of these tunes) the guys serve up "Takin' LSD", "White Girls On Amphetamine", "Seeing Double" and the jamming "Waiting For The Ice Cream To Melt". Whew! What a trip. My only regret is I wasn't there. Simply a fun CD to listen to. This will stay in my 'current listening stack for quite some time. I also dug "The Snake", with its wicked lyrics, but I wasn't able to find out where this tune originally came from. Not completely sure but I think it might've been a 45 single when it first came out. If you're a Pink Fairies fan you need to get yourself a copy of this CD."
