The Guy Hamper Trio (featuring James Taylor) – The Goddess Tree
The Guy Hamper Trio (featuring James Taylor) – The Goddess Tree
Format: CD – Vinyl LP – Digital (Limited to 500 copies on vinyl (also on CD)
Label: Spinout Productions
Release: 2025
Release date: February 2, 2025
The Guy Hamper Trio was formed by Billy Childish, after a chat with his friend James Taylor (Hammond organ).
Billy and James had played respectively in The Milkshakes and The Prisoners, often sharing the same bill in the early 80’s. After James formed The James Taylor Quartet, Billy’s blues ensemble, The Natural Born Lovers, were often the support act for the early shows of JTQ.
The Guy Hamper Trio is: Billy Childish on guitar, his wife Julie on bass and Wolf on drums – who as it happens was the drummer in the original incarnation of JTQ – and of course James Taylor on Hammond organ.
The Guy Hamper Trio provide a bottom end, Blues-influenced instrumental mayhem for those unafraid of dirt, germs and true grime. With no particular wish, other than to be recognised as the best at playing badly, they refuse to obey the usual rules of combat and music.
Their first 45 (Polygraph Test / Sally Sensation) was released in 2009, followed by a full-length studio album, ‘All The Poisons In The Mud’, appearing, as if by magic, in 2022, followed by five 7” singles (via Damaged Goods and Spinout Nuggets), and also two further full-length albums.
This long playing record proves that The Guy Hamper Trio and James Taylor are a perfect team. The fourth in this ‘series’ of finely crafted compositions, listen out for several tracks also featuring Bash Brand and Tub Johnson as stand in rhythm section (in effect Thee Headcoats). Let’s hope there’s plenty more from the leaders in jazz/pop mayhem!
Tracks:
01. Bo Pug
02. Shapes Of Things
03. The Goddess Tree
04. The Cuckoo’s Cuckoo
05. If The River Was Whiskey
06. 2 Minutes From 10am
07. Chatham’s Burning
08. Rock All The Whiles
09. The Magpie’s Flown
10. For Your Love
11. I’ll Carve Your Name
12. Modern Terms Of Abuse
Line Up:
Guy Hamper – Guitar, Vocals
Juju Hamper – Bass
Wolf Howard – Drums
James Taylor – Hammond Organ
*Bash Brand – Drums
& Tub Johnson – Bass