Tea and Symphony


Tea and Symphony were a British progressive rock musical group of the late 1960s and early 1970s, whose style may be described as "progressive folk". From Birmingham, England, they recorded two albums for Harvest Records, had one track, "Maybe My Mind ", included on the Harvest sampler Picnic - A Breath of Fresh Air, toured Britain with Bakerloo (Blues Line) and were guests on John Peel's BBC radio programme.
The group were generally a trio, though sometimes supplemented by extra musicians. Members included Jeff Daw, James Langston, Nigel Phillips, Jonathan Benyon, Dave Carroll, Bob Wilson, Peter 'Chatters' Chatfield, Tom Bennison, Mick Barker, and Stewart Johnson. Steve Eaves is another former alumnus.

Tea and Symphony were one of the earliest bands to have their own dedicated light show, one of which was Ephemera Lights.
They broke up in mid-1972, a few months after Wilson, Carroll and later addition drummer, Bob Lamb, had all left in February 1972 to join The Idle Race, which within weeks evolved into The Steve Gibbons Band.

Albums

''An Asylum for the Musically Insane''

LP Harvest SHVL 761
  1. "Armchair Theatre" - 3:54
  2. "Feel How So Cool The Wind" - 3:19
  3. "Sometime" - 4:14
  4. "Maybe My Mind " - 3:42
  5. "The Come On" - 4:30
  6. "Terror In My Soul" - 6:06
  7. "Travelling Shoes" - 4:25
  8. "Winter" - 3:19
  9. "Nothing Will Come To Nothing" - 6:12
Personnel:
  • Jeff Daw - lead guitar, flute, triangle, vocals
  • James Langston - lead vocals, rhythm guitar, kazoo, bells, cymbal
  • Nigel Phillips - drums, recorder, mandolin, organ, piano, vocals
with:

''Jo Sago''

LP Harvest SHVL 785
  • 1) Jo Sago - A Play On Music including:
  • a. "Miniature" - 2:01
  • b. "Nyada" - 4:06
  • c. "Journey" - 1:19
  • d. "Brother" - 3:51
  • e. "Africa Paprika" - 3:29
  • f. "Fairground Suite" - 2:25
  • g. "Desperate Oil" - 5:53
  • h. "Umbilical Bill" - 0:51
  • i. "Goodnight" - 3:33
  • 2) "Try Your Luck" - 3:18
  • 3) "Yourself" - 3:28
  • 4) "Green Fingered" - Redhanded - 0:54
  • 5) "Seasons Turn To One" - 3:04
  • 6) "View To The Sky" - 2:41
  • 7) "The Nortihorticulturalist" - 3:26
  • 8) "Dangling" - 0:59
Personnel:
  • James Langston - lead vocals, acoustic & 12-string guitars, percussion
  • Jef Daw - acoustic, electric & 12-string guitars, bass guitar, percussion, flute, backing vocals
  • Bob Wilson - piano, organ, harpsichord, acoustic, electric & 12-string guitars, bass guitar, percussion, backing vocals
  • Nigel Phillips - drums
  • Mick Hincks - guitar
Produced by Tony Cox