FOR Mud, success, when it finally came, was avalidation. Formed in Mitcham in 1967 by singer Les Gray (who died in 2004), guitarist Rob Davis, bassist Ray Stiles and drummer Dave Mount (who died in 2006), they released their first single –the psych-pop “Flower Power” –the same year. They spent the next six years on the road in the Midlands and North, playing working man’s clubs, pubs, cabaret and university halls – sometimes all in one weekend.
“Les never had agreat voice but he wasan amazing frontman and that helped us develop abig following,” says Davis, who still occasionally performs as Mud with Stiles. “It was atough circuit and we had to be good. We’d do pop and heavy metal in the same set. We did anything, from oldies to the latest chart hits.”
Lilac times: (l–r) Rob Davis, Dave Mount, Ray Stiles and Les Gray of Mud, 1974
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