Welcome to 'The Savages' website
The Savages were the backing band for the late Screaming Lord Sutch during 4 decades. Between their formation in February 1960 and the decease of Dave Sutch in June 1999, hundreds of musicians have been through their ranks. The Savages had been a breeding ground for many great luminaries of the British rock scene including, Nicky Hopkins, Freddie Fingers Lee, Matthew Fisher (Procol Harum), Ritchie Blackmore, Nick Simper (both of Deep Purple), Adrian Gurvitz (Gun), Danny McCulloch etc., but also for actors Paul Nicholas and Dave Adams.When musicians joined his band, Screamin' Lord Sutch invariably changed their names:
Roger Mingay was known as "Scratch and Scrape Bailey"; Ken Payne as "Hopping Ken Rupert Payne"; Bernie Watson as "Strawberry"; Ritchie Blackmore as "Bluebell"; Tony Dangerfield as "Tulip". All his pianists were called "Freddie Fingers Lee The Flea" - but Fred Cheeseman kept the name forever. In fact, They were nicknames given to them by Tom Littlewood, Dave Sutch's manager in the early days.
However it's difficult to determine who were the true Savages because Dave Sutch sometimes used pick-up bands instead of the established line-up of Savages for financial reasons. When The "Original" Savages couldnt make a gig or if the gig was up in the north of England, The northern Savages would step in to back Screamin' Lord Sutch from 1978. Throughout the years, The Savages had so many different members and various line ups which usually lasted only some months (See "The line ups of The Savages" section).
Drummers "Wild" Bob Burgos, Carlo Little (who deputised for the Rolling Stones in the early days), and bass player Tony Dangerfield, were the longest serving Screaming Lord Sutch's sidemen. They considered The Savages as their Rock 'n' Roll spiritual home. Curiously, Screaming Lord Sutch well remembered some great names of the British Rock history such as Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Jeff Beck, Albert Lee, Mick Abrahams (Jethro Tull), Keith Moon (The Who), Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple), Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell both of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, as fleeting members of his band but he forgot less known Savages, even though they were very skilled musicians.
In August 1963, the British music magazine, NME reported that should Sutch win the forthcoming Stratford-upon-Avon by-election in which he was standing as a parliamentary candidate, he would give up the music industry to concentrate on politics, but that the Savages would continue their flamboyant act alone.
Following the death of Sutch in 1999, the band continued to perform with members Tony Dangerfield (who joined the Savages initially during the 1960s), Dave Dix, Angi Antinori, Jack Irving (all three joined during the early 1990s) and Johnny Casanova (who joined the band in 1995, following a meeting with Sutch and the band at a festival at Donnington). Performances are infrequent due to the individual commitments of the band members. Following the death of bassist Dangerfield in 2008, the band has re-established itself with the current, 2009 line-up of Angi Antinori on lead guitar, Jack Irving on drums and vocals, Johnny Casanova on keyboards and vocals, and on bass, former Savage, and one of Sutch's 'Heavy Friends' line-up, Nick Simper.
Extracts from: www.musicstorytellers.blogspot.com & www.thebookofbands2.blogspot.com
