Stone The Crows/Maggie Bell six CD reissues released 25/06/21

STONE THE CROWS / MAGGIE BELL:

SIX REISSUES FROM REPERTOIRE RECORDS (CDs ONLY)

STONE THE CROWS (REP UK 1392)

ODE TO JOHN LAW (REP UK 1397)

TEENAGE LICKS (REP UK 1395)

ONTINUOUS PERFORMANCE (REP UK 1400)

MAGGIE BELL: QUEEN OF THE NIGHT (REP UK 1398)

SUICIDE SAL (REP UK 1399)

ALL TITLES RELEASED: FRIDAY, 25th JUNE 2021

Stone The Crows, the soulful and gutsy Scots rock combo fronted by the razor-edged vocal talents of Maggie Bell, are the subject of four fine reissues from Repertoire Records, along with two solo albums by Maggie herself.

Stone The Crows released their self-titled debut album in 1970 and featured the impressive guitar talent of Les Harvey, younger brother of the great Alex Harvey. Also in the band was bass player/vocalist Jim Dewar, who would go on to be a stalwart of the Robin Trower powerhouse trio of the mid-seventies, and also drummer Colin Allen, a former member of Zoot Money Big Roll Band. The band were managed by the formidable Peter Grant, who also managed Led Zeppelin, and under his guidance Stone The Crows made solid progress through their four-album tenure on Polydor Records. However, tragedy struck the band when Harvey was fatally electrocuted onstage at Swansea University in May 1972. His replacement on guitar was the mercurial, diminutive Jimmy McCullough, formerly of Thunderclap Newman, who would go on to join Wings, with Paul McCartney. McCullough completed the recordings for their final album, Ontinuous Performance, before the band split for good in 1973.

After the split, Maggie Bell commenced a solo career. After recording two solo albums that were unreleased, she eventually released her first solo foray, Queen of the Night, in 1974. She followed this with the sparkling Suicide Sal in 1975 (recorded at Startling Studios – owned by Ringo Starr, and featuring guest slots from Phil May (The Pretty Things), Jimmy Page and Pete Wingfield)  both of which were released on the Swan Song label, which was owned by Led Zeppelin and Peter Grant. Despite good reviews and extensive touring, the albums failed to sell, and Bell would go on to front the band Midnight Flyer, again under Grant’s management.

Maggie Bell would later achieve a greater profile as the vocalist on ‘No Mean City’, the theme from the long-running ITV detective series Taggart. Maggie Bell still tours and performs regularly (Lockdown permitting!) in the UK and Europe. 

Maggie Bell and Colin Allen are available for interviews in support of these excellent reissues. The music has been newly remastered by cutting engineer Eroc, and feature sleeve notes by seasoned UK Rock journalist and author Chris Welch, which include quotes from Maggie and Colin taken from recent interviews. 

A 3CD + DVD set, Stone The Crows at the BBC, is being prepared for release, again on Repertoire Records  - watch this space for further details.