Fat Mattress was formed in late 1968 by Noel Redding with vocalist
Neil Landon, bass guitarist
Jim Leverton and drummer Eric Dillon. Redding (from Folkestone) and Leverton (from Dover) had been involved in the flourishing early 1960s group scene in South East Kent which also included Landon (who hailed originally from
Kirdford,
Sussex). Dillon (from
Swindon,
Wiltshire) was brought in by Leverton who had met him while playing in
Engelbert Humperdinck's
backing band. The band was formed while Redding was a member of the
Jimi Hendrix Experience, with a view to enabling Redding to play guitar and to sing lead, as well as to record original material. While he had done all three things with the Experience, they were restricted to rare occasions.
Martin Barre was briefly a member of the band, but soon left to replace
Mick Abrahams in
Jethro Tull. The first major public exposure of the band was as the opening act to the Jimi Hendrix Experience on a tour of the
United States, during which Redding performed with both bands. In August 1969, the band made an appearance at the
Isle of Wight Festival in front of a crowd of an estimated 120,000 people. The line-up also included
Bob Dylan &
The Band,
The Nice,
The Pretty Things,
The Who, and the
Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. On 27 September 1969, Fat Mattress (along with The Who) appeared on the
German TV show,
Beat-Club. They performed three songs; "Naturally", "Mr. Moonshine" and "Magic Forest". On 22 February 1970, Fat Mattress headlined over
David Bowie's new band
Hype at the
Roundhouse, a gig later described by the
BBC as "arguably ... mark[ing] the birth of
glam rock." A major U.S. tour was cancelled after completing only five dates of an initially anticipated 30. In the midst of recording
Fat Mattress II, Redding and Leverton had a falling out, resulting in Redding's departure from the band. He was replaced by Steve Hammond at roughly the same time as Mick Weaver was added to relieve Leverton on keyboard duties, allowing Leverton to focus on bass and vocals.
Fat Mattress II was less of a success than their debut, and the band split in the middle of recording what would have been their third album. ==Band members==