Early years (1966–1969) Family formed in late 1966 in
Leicester, England, from the remaining members of a group that was previously known as The Farinas and later briefly The Roaring Sixties, whose sound was grounded in
rhythm and blues though they did not record under that name. The Farinas originally consisted of
John "Charlie" Whitney, Tim Kirchin (born around 1944, Birstall, Leicestershire died
circa 2000), Harry Ovenall (born Richard Harry Ovenall, 12 September 1943, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire), and
Jim King, forming at Leicester Art College in 1962.
Ric Grech replaced Kirchin on bass in 1965 and
Roger Chapman joined the following year on vocals. The American record producer
Kim Fowley suggested they call themselves "The Family" as they regularly wore double-breasted suits in performances, giving themselves a
mafia style appearance, a look they soon abandoned in favour of a more casual dress code. The group played the music club
The Marquee regularly and other London clubs including
The 100 Club and Sybilla's in
Swallow Street. Through their friend, Mim Scala, they arranged
Jimmy Miller to produce their first single and met manager John Gilbert. Because of their association with Miller,
Steve Winwood helped with the recording. Shortly afterwards, Ovenall became disillusioned with the group's move away from
soul music towards
psychedelia and was concerned about the management. He subsequently decided to leave the band. Family's debut single "Scene Through The Eye of a Lens/Gypsy Woman" was released by
Liberty Records in October 1967 but was not a success. Ovenall was replaced by
Rob Townsend. and the group also backed Mason on "Little Woman", the B side of his February 1968 single "Just For You". Alongside
Pink Floyd,
Soft Machine,
The Move, and
The Nice, Family quickly became one of the premier attractions on the burgeoning UK psychedelic/progressive "underground" scene. Their lifestyle and exploits during this period provided some of the inspiration for the 1969 novel
Groupie by Jenny Fabian (who lived in the group's Chelsea house for some time) and to
Johnny Byrne. Family featured in the book under the pseudonym, 'Relation'. ''Music in a Doll's House'' was released in July 1968 and charted at number 35 in the UK to critical acclaim, sound was characterised by Chapman's vocals, rooted in the
blues and R&B, reaching number six in the
UK Albums Chart, A further setback occurred during their first concert at
Bill Graham's Fillmore East, whilst sharing the bill with
Ten Years After and
The Nice – during his stage routine, Chapman lost control of his microphone stand, which flew in Graham's direction, an act Graham took to be deliberate; Chapman performed the following shows with his hands by his sides, and by the end of the tour, he had lost his voice; Family's reputation in the US never recovered and they ultimately never achieved great recognition there. Returning to the UK, the band performed at The Rolling Stones'
Hyde Park gig and the
Isle of Wight Festival that summer. In late 1969, Jim King was asked to leave Family due to "erratic behaviour" and was replaced by multi-instrumentalist
John "Poli" Palmer. The album itself was a blend of
hard rock and
folk rock. Family's new line-up played at major rock festivals that summer, including the
Kralingen Music Festival in the
Netherlands and the
Isle of Wight Festival for the second year in a row. Family's follow-up album
Anyway, released in late 1970, had its first half consist of new material recorded live at Fairfield Halls in
Croydon, England, with the second half a set of new songs recorded in the studio, and reached number seven on the UK chart. In March 1971 the
compilation album,
Old Songs New Songs, (which contained remixes and rare tracks) was released, but in June Weider left Family to join
Stud. He was replaced by former
Mogul Thrash bassist
John Wetton, who had just declined an invitation from Robert Fripp to join
King Crimson. The band performed at the
Glastonbury Free Festival 1971, filmed by
Nicolas Roeg for the 1972 documentary
Glastonbury Fayre. As with Grech in Family's original line-up, Wetton also shared vocal duties with Chapman, and this line-up soon released Family's highest-charting single "In My Own Time/Seasons" which reached number four, and the album
Fearless in October 1971, which charted in both the UK and the US. featuring the singles "Burlesque" in late 1972, and "
My Friend the Sun", which was released in early 1973. Family gave their final concert at the Hawthorn Building of
Leicester Polytechnic on 13 October 1973. Rob Townsend was a member of
Medicine Head between 1973 and 1975. He has been a member of The Blues Band since 1979 and of The Manfreds since 1991. Ric Grech died of kidney and liver failure in 1990 at the age of 43, as a result of alcoholism. Tony Ashton died in 2001 at the age of 55 of cancer. Jim King died on 6 February 2012 in Middlewich, Cheshire, at the age of 69. Wetton died on 31 January 2017, at the age of 67.
Reunion performances (2013–2016) In September 2012 the band announced a one-off reunion gig on 2 February 2013 at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London featuring Roger Chapman, Poli Palmer, Rob Townsend and Jim Cregan Demand for tickets was so great that an extra show was scheduled for the previous night as well and an expanded line-up of the band (also featuring Chapman's regular back-up musicians Paul Hirsh, John Lingwood, Nick Payn, Gary Twigg and Geoff Whitehorn, billed as "The In Laws") played to sell-out audiences. The setlist on both nights included: Top of the Hill, Drowned in Wine, Holding the Compass, Part of the Load, Ready to Go, Crinkly Grin, Burning Bridges, No Mule's Fool, Sat'dy Barfly, Between Blue and Me, Hung Up Down, Burlesque, In My Own Time. Encore 1: Weaver's Answer; Encore 2: My Friend the Sun, Sweet Desiree. During these performances Chapman paid warm tributes to absent band members Rick Grech, Tony Ashton, Jim King, John Weider, John Wetton and Charlie Whitney during the band's performance. The band went on to appear at the Rockin' the Park Festival at Clumber Park in Notts on 16 August 2013. The limited edition Family box set
Once Upon a Time, won the
Storm Thorgerson Grand Design award at the 2013
Progressive Music Awards. Family again played gigs in the UK in 2014 and 2015. In 2016 they appeared at festivals in England and Italy, as well as two gigs in London on 17 and 18 December and one in Leicester on 22 December, which were billed as the band's last shows. For these gigs, Chapman, Palmer and Cregan were joined by five other musicians. ==Artistry==