Unicorn were an English country rock band, notable for their association with David Gilmour of Pink Floyd from 1973.
Although Unicorn didn't release their first album until 1971, most of the group had been playing together since 1963 under various band names, including The Senders, The Pink Bears, The Late Edition, The Late, and Late. They started as a beat group and focused on playing covers of bands like The Beatles, The Searchers and The Hollies but began writing their own material from 1967, with Ken Baker as the songwriter.
In the early years they also found work backing other singers, including Sue and Sunny. After recording a number of their songs in 1967 they got a month-long residency at the Carousel Club in Copenhagen and then nine months touring as Billy J. Kramer's backing band.
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Links to Peel[]
Peel first discovered the group in 1971 when the band released their debut album, Uphill All The Way. He compered a gig of their performance at the Paris Theatre in London in October 1971 when they had also Stefan Grossman performing as well. The gig was broadcast as part of the In Concert series and was first broadcast on BBC Radio One on 2nd November 1971.
Impressed by the band’s material, he invited the group to record a session for his programme in 1974 and also reviewed their single, I'll Believe In You, in Singles Reviews, published in Sounds on 28th June 1975, where he described their track as a grower, despite initially founding it dull when first hearing it. He also mentioned in the article seeing them recently perform, where he stated that the band were muscular when performing live compared to their records.
By the time, the rise of punk, the band's music was considered unfashionable and Peel never revisited the group on his radio programmes.
Sessions[]
1. Recorded: 1974-09-03. First Broadcast: 24 September 1974
- Nightingale Crescent / Take It Easy / Autumn Wine / Electric Night
Live[]
Recorded at the Paris Theatre, London: 1971-10-21. First Broadcast: 02 November 1971
- 115 Bar Joy
- Barry Is Keys Or Things
- Jesus Knows
- P.F. Sloan
- Fully Baked
Other Shows Played[]
- 29 August 1974: Rat Race (LP - Blue Pine Trees) Charisma
- 1975
- 07 July 1975: I Believe In you (The Hymn) (single) Charisma