Refugee
Biography
You have to feel for bassist/vocalist Lee Jackson and drummer Brian "Blinky" Davison. By the end of 1969, the three years of hard work they'd put in as the engine room of the Nice were beginning to pay dividends. From being P.P. Arnold's backing band, through the early days of psychedelia, they had gone on to lay the foundations for what would become known to future generations as progressive rock, and had begun playing prestigious gigs with full symphony orchestras. But Jackson and Davison must have known even then that few members of their ever growing audiences were there to marvel at their bass and drum playing, proficient as they were. No, they were there to see Keith Emerson doing battle with his Hammond organ. So when Emerson professed himself dissatisfied, in particular with Jackson's distinctive croak of a voice, and left to form ELP, they could have been forgiven for anticipating a period of downscaling. Jackson promptly decided he'd had enough of prog rock anyway and formed the altogether folkier Jackson Heights, with whom he recorded five largely acoustic albums. For his part, Davison took something of a jazz-rock direction with the short-lived Every Which Way.
Selected Discography
Refugee
1974
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