SAMURAI
Samurai ESOTERIC
Cult Brit proggers’ sole lost classic dusted down.
Samurai’s sole album is a classic victim of progressive rock’s rapid evolution through the early 70s, wherein highly promising bands often recorded one great statement before their members moved on.
However, there’s a bit more to this story. As The Web, they had been playing R&B before changing times dictated the progressive makeover that produced two albums on Deram. Sharing a bill with Episode Six (whose Ian Gillan and Roger Glover had already left to form Deep Purple), led to the latter’s singer-keyboardist Dave Lawson replacing The Web’s departing singer John L Watson and recording 1970’s I Spider. Inspired by his RAF stint in Japan, Lawson renamed them Samurai, landing a deal with Greenwich Gramophone Co through A&R man (and ex-Colosseum bassist) Tony Reeves.