ABC Of Beauty

For the 2 Nov 1968 edition of Disc & Music Echo, columnist John Peel offered readers his "ABC of Beauty', featuring British "underground" artists both famous and obscure who caught his attention at the time ("There will be complaints that this is a purely personal and arbitrary list. This is quite true....").

The full list of artists picked by Peel is reproduced below in his original order, under each letter of the alphabet. His brief comments on each selection can be read in the complete article, available here.

Many of the artists featured would have been familiar to listeners of Peel's Top Gear and Night Ride radio shows, while others subsequently recorded sessions or had their records played by the DJ. Van Der Graff Generator were one band who gained valuable early publicity from being featured in Peel's list, as later recalled by Peter Hammill.V is for... Van De Graaff Generator Others soon lost favour with the DJ, including Deep Purple, Ten Years After and Yes.

A
V is for... Van De Graaff Generator See Van Der Graaf Generator's records inside the Archive here: http://johnpeelarchive.com/albums/recordbox.html?...


 * Action, Alan Bowm, Al Stewart, Andromeda, Arthur Brown, Ansley Dunbar

B

 * Bakerloo Line, Barclay James Harvest, Beatles, Bee Gees, Blonde On Blonde, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Brian Auger Trinity (and Julie Driscol), Bridget St John

C

 * Caravan, Cat Stevens, Chicken Shack, Cream

D

 * Deep Purple, Deviants, Dr K's Blues Band, Donovan, Duncan Browne, Duster Bennet

E

 * East Of Eden, Eclection, Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, Eric Burdon (& the Animals), Eyes Of Blue

F

 * Fairport Convention, Family, Fleetwood Mac

G

 * Gilbert, Giles, Giles & Fripp, Gods, Gordon Smith, Gun

H

 * Harsh Reality, Hollies, Honeybus

I

 * Ian Anderson, Idle Race, Incredible String Band

J

 * Jackie Lommax, Jeff Beck, Jethro Tull, Jeremy Taylor, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Jo-Ann Kelly, Joe Cocker (& The Grease Band), John Mayall (& The Bluesbreakers), John Dummer Blues Band, John Martyn, Johnstons, Jon Heinemann's Colosseum, July, Junior's Eyes

K

 * Kate, Kinks

L

 * Led Zeppelin, Lesley Duncan, Liverpool Scene, Love Sculpture

M

 * Manfred Mann, Moody Blues

N

 * Nice, Nirvana(2)

O

 * Occasional Word Ensemble

P

 * Pentangle, Pink Floyd, Pretty Things, Principal Edward's Magic Theatre, Procol Harem, Pete Brown's Battered Ornaments

R

 * Ralph McTell, Rolling Stones, Ron Geesin, Roy Harper

S

 * Sallyangie, Savoy Brown, Scaffold, Serendipidy, Shirley Collins, Skip Bifferty, Small Faces, Soft Machine, Spooky Tooth, Strawbs

T

 * Taste, Ten Years After, Third Ear Band, Tim Hollier, Tyrannosaurus Rex

V

 * Vamp, Van Der Graaf Generator

W

 * Who, Writing On The Wall

Y

 * Yes, Young Tradition

Z

 * Zombies