Rumplestiltskin

This great band was comprised of some of the best musicians in the UK at the time, although, probably for contractual reasons, they weren't allowed to use their real names. Bassist Herbie Flowers and guitarist Alan Parker were the main characters in this hard rock band, as was vocalist Peter Lee Stirling, who'd been in Hungry Wolf. They released two fairly rare albums in the early seventies and split, with the various members getting involved with the likes of Donovan, Sky, Lou Reed and Marianne Faithfull. Both albums were released on CD by Repertoire Records a number of years ago and are certainly worth checking out.

Rumplestiltskin was created by American producer Shel Talmy, his intent was to create a supergroup from highly respected, seasoned session man (including Clem Cattini and Peter Lee Stirling) to rival the rock monoliths of the day.

A uniquely talented British heavy rock band, Rumplestiltskin was the brainchild of American producer Shel Talmy. It was his idea to form a ‘supergroup’ that might rival the highly successful outfits that dominated the early Seventies, such as Status Quo and Led Zeppelin.
Instead of picking young, untried rockers, Talmy brought together highly experienced professional session men. Among them was drummer Clem Cattini.
Although ‘Rumplestiltskin’ wasn’t a hit, it was nevertheless a serious project, as can be heard on the eight powerful tracks on their classy album, first released in 1970. The band also featured singer Peter Lee Stirling, who later scored a hit single with ‘Beautiful Sunday’ under the name of Daniel Boone.

The first album is good bluesy rock with longish organ and guitar solos but nothing particularly progressive about it. Black Magician was released on Bellaphon, the same label as Nektar. (60s-classic-rock.com)