The story begins in Stroud, Gloucestershire in the heart of the Cotswolds, England, way back in 1978. In those days they were known as Zeus Pendragon. A name that had a "mysterious and progressive" feel to it for a group of enthusiastic young musicians. The original line up consisted of: Nick Barrett (on rhythm guitar in those days!), Julian Baker (lead guitar and vocals), Nigel Harris (the most wanted drummer in the Stroud area!) and Stan Cox (who was persuaded by Julian to ditch his guitar and play bass!). Young and full of hopes and ambitions Zeus Pendragon played covers in those days: Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, and Santana to name but a few! Their first gig was the day that Nick left school...
With Nick’s brother Patrick doing an amazing p.r. job the Marshall Room’s in Stroud were full to capacity and Zeus Pendragon played a storm and so began a loyal following which would see them through line up changes, highs and lows and just about anything that could be thrown at them over the next almost 30yrs and an equally long love/hate relationship with the UK press! The Zeus part of their name was later dropped when the logical and visionary Julian decided it was far too long to fit across a t-shirt!
More and more gigs followed, and soon they were approached by local promoter and manager Greg Lines, who had put on many bands in the area (including U2, who actually slept on Greg’s lounge room floor following the gig!!!) Julian and Nick were to spend many sleepless nights writing the first Pendragon material, and Pendragon’s busy schedule meant that Stan decided to leave. Robert Dalby replaced him and John "Barney" Barnfield (the keyboard whiz from another local band "Cygnus") was persuaded to join.
Line up hassles plagued the band in those early days however, and it wasn’t long before the brilliant but fiery Julian decided to quit the band (Julian and Nick are still in touch and Julian remains a brilliant musician much loved and respected).
Nick and Barney were soon writing together and a distinctive Barrett/Barnfield sound was forged. A friend of Patrick Barrett, guitarist Peter Gee was drafted in originally to fill Julian’s boots... but when Robert Dalby decided to call it a day Peter stepped in to play bass.
So now we have Nick, Barney, Peter and Nigel. The next step was both dramatic and exciting for Pendragon.
Greg Lines booked a new band called Marillion to play in Gloucester, with Pendragon of course supporting them. Marillion were to bring a lot of fans with them and this would be an opportunity to play in front of an audience that already loved progressive rock. After initially being slightly taken aback by the sight of this huge Scottish guy sporting grease paint the two bands hit it off right away and Mick Pointer (Arena) asked Pendragon to support them at the Marquee club in London.
So started the roller coaster ride of Pendragon. Playing the Marquee club was electrifying, and Pendragon went on to play with Marillion on many, many occasions whilst building on their own strong and loyal following.
1983 saw Pendragon play in front of a 30,000 strong audience at the Reading Festival and they recorded a live session for Tommy Vance on the Friday Rock show (BBC Radio 1 UK) Tommy Vance saw something special in Pendragon, especially being impressed with "Black Knight" which of course became anthemic for the band for many years!
Never being a band with a particularly smooth path more upset was about to befall Pendragon.
Despite the exposure the band had enjoyed there was no recording contract on the horizon and difficult decisions had to be made. Barney’s contribution to the band was huge and the Barrett/Barnfield writing team was very strong, however Barney decided to leave, it was too big a gamble to give up his day job and so during a break in touring he made the difficult decision to quit. How on earth could Barney be replaced??? (Barney now says: "My time with Pendragon was probably the happiest time of my life, it’s great that I still enjoy a close friendship with Nick and I love being able to still get out the guitars and play together, my favourite Pendragon album without a doubt has to be "Not Of This World" [2001] - is it really 20 yrs since "The Jewel"???").
Rik Carter joined the band on keyboards and soon Pendragon with some help from John Arnison (Marillion’s manager) were in the studio to record a mini album Fly High Fall Far, and later the bands first full length album The Jewel.
More touring with Marillion, and their first European gigs but still no sign of a contract, these were frustrating times indeed. Due to lack of cash in pockets and a gruelling tour schedule more line up changes were about to happen. Nigel left and was replaced for a short time by a friend of Rik’s, Matt Anderson. He soon departed followed by Rik... So Pendragon were left with just Nick and Peter!
Fudge Smith (La Host) joined on drums and soon became (and remains) the Pendragon joker, the smiliest drummer in the world and a drummer with great talent! A session keyboard player in the shape of James Colah was drafted in to complete the tour.
During this time Nick, Peter & Greg were making trips to and from London chasing that elusive record deal. Nick called his old friend Clive Nolan who was now living in Egham, Surrey to see if they could stay with him whilst doing the rounds of the record companies. Clive Nolan and Nick had been friends since the age of 4 when they started school together. Although Nick was aware that Clive played keyboards he also thought he would be too busy with other commitments so hadn’t asked Clive about joining Pendragon. On one of the trips to London they sat up talking, and Nick asked Clive if he knew of any keyboard players... "I’ll do it!!!" said Clive, and so at last a line up that would endure the sometimes still turbulent road that would follow!
A full length album demo was commissioned by EMI and things were certainly looking up! However this was to be short lived and following a personnel change at EMI the demo was dropped.
The frustration of this was to create a "make or break" feeling amongst the band, and Toff records was born! Toff records, the bands own record label was formed to release the failed demo, and so Kowtow was released.
Nick felt however that the band did not have a distinctive enough image; lots of possibilities were considered and dismissed until by chance Nick saw a classical CD with some seriously impressive artwork. This led him to Simon Williams...
Toff Records, a stable line up and a great visual image for the band and the Pendragon we know today was truly here! Many fans still believe that Pendragon started with The World. It was in fact their third full length studio album, although definitely the beginning of a new era for the band.
Amazing times indeed, Nick had just met his future wife and returned from and inspiring trip to the States. The World was to be the least commercial sounding album to date, yet their most commercially successful so far. An album full of tracks that they truly believed in, that they loved and boy did everyone else love it too! The World was met by much critical acclaim, a whole new tidal wave of fans followed and even the press were beginning to realise that Pendragon were a force to be taken notice of! Live albums, tours, and an ever growing fan club… in 1991 with The World Pendragon had arrived!
Followed by The Window Of Life the now tight knit band with the incredible sound were on a roll, and the early years of line up changes and disillusionment were behind them.
Toff records was still a small, home run business and the avalanche of success that followed The Masquerade Overture saw the lounge of Nick and Anthea Barrett’s small cottage piled high with cd’s, and booklets and merchandise to be sent out and the family were drafted in to help whilst Nick was answering the many calls for interviews and it was truly the most invigorating time for Pendragon to date. Masquerade Overture sold 60,000 copies, an incredible feat! The partnership of Pendragon and Simon Williams along with the "5th member of the band" Karl Groom engineering the superb classic Pendragon sound was to make the band one of the highest selling prog-rock bands unsigned to a major label to date. Nick was a father now to his son Max, Pendragon were successful and the world was their oyster...
However a maelstrom of events were to come both personally and for Pendragon. Nick says: "It was strange because when I was writing "The Shadow", (Masquerade Overture) there was a line that started 'there's a man who's followed me just about all of my life, being to you what I couldn't be, I call him my insecurity', I remember writing this very clearly and feeling there was a slightly strange atmosphere about that day in the studio, little did I know how prophetic that line would become."
There was to be a five year gap between Masquerade and the next studio album Not Of This World. During this time Nick suffered painful personal problems in the shape of a messy divorce. Not Of This World was a cathartic body of work, perhaps the most personal and emotional recorded by the band, considered by many to be the finest album produced by Pendragon. Following the release of Not of this World Nick was awarded "best guitarist 2001" by The Classic Rock Society in the UK.
However, again suffering from disillusionment and crippled financially following the divorce, a new studio album has been a long time coming.
Just like in 1991 when The World was released, and there was a wind of change and a feeling of successful anticipation in the air. 2005 will see the release of Believe, the 7th studio album by Pendragon. A slight change of direction both musically and visually for the band. 2005 will also see the twentieth anniversary of The Jewel with a special edition cd version including new recordings of some other early material and a 20th anniversary gig to include some of the musicians from those early days.
So to the future, well that bit isn’t written yet, there is definitely a tingle in the air, and the fans of Pendragon both old and new are definitely ready to "Believe"...
http://www.pendragon.mu/uk/files/band_history.htm
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