The band with the unusual name GOT that name when two totally separate bands merged in the early '70's.
Real-life brothers Iain and Gavin Sutherland had some minor British chart success recording as a band called "A New Generation" in 1968 with a song called "Smokie Blues Away", which reached #38 on The U.K. Chart. In late 1970, after submitting a demo to former Traffic bassist Muff Winwood, they earned a new recording contract with Island Records as The Sutherland Brothers Band, a folk / rock (but mostly folk) duo and released a couple of albums and singles for the label that really didn't make much of an impact on the British charts.
Looking to diversify their sound (they were for all intents and purposes performing folk duets and were never happy with their sound doing live performances), The Sutherland Brothers joined forces with Quiver, a local rock band consisting of guitarist Tim Renwick, bassist Bruce Thomas, drummer John "Willie" Wilson and keyboardist Peter Wood. (The fact that Quiver lead vocalist Cal Batchelor had just left the band certainly helped to cement this merger!!!)
Billing themselves as Sutherland Brothers And Quiver (and probably having one HECK of a time finding marquees large enough to accommodate this new name ... jeez, it was probably just as difficult to fit it all on the record label!!!) the newly formed sextet had their GREATEST chart success in 1973 with their Top 40 U.S. Hit "You Got Me Anyway", which hit #20 on The Cash Box Chart, made the Chicagoland Top Ten and JUST MISSED The Billboard Top 40, where it peaked at #48.
They wouldn't hit the U.S. charts again until 1976 when "Arms Of Mary", a Top Five British Hit, made the lower region of the Cash Box and Billboard charts, peaking at #71 and #81 respectively. A year later, they had already disbanded.
The Sutherland Brothers released a couple more singles as a duo (and even attempted solo careers in the early '80's) before hanging it up for good ... but the guys from Quiver continued their musical dream a little bit longer, albeit NOT together as a group ... instead, each found success on their own. Tim Resnick went on to play guitar for Al Stewart and a latter-day incarnation of Pink Floyd. Drummer Willie Wilson (who had also hit the charts as part of the band Cochise, another group we featured a while back in Forgotten Hits when we spotlighted their reworking of the Buddy Holly tune "Love's Made A Fool Of You", a Top Ten Chicagoland hit in 1971) worked with Pink Floyd for a while, too, during the period when the band was touring to promote "The Wall". Peter Wood (as Peter Woods) went on to work with Cyndi Lauper ... sadly, he died in 1994. And bassist Bruce Thomas went on to join Elvis Costello and the Attractions.
You Got Me Anyway is catchy as hell ... and you probably haven't heard it in AGES!!! Maybe we can get a few of the jocks on the list to give this one a spin today!!!
