Family aren’t remembered with the same misty-eyed nostalgia as other early 1970s road warriors like The Faces or Traffic – Roger Chapman’s desperate yodel and the band’s frequent oddness put some off. But they were a compelling live act.
Guitarist Richard John Whitney formed a band called The Farinas while attending Leicester Art College in 1962. Playing rhythm and blues in local venues, the group featured Jim King on saxophone and vocals, Tim Kirchin on bass and drummer Harry Ovenall.
The band were signed to Fontana and released You Better Stop in 1964. The B-side was their take on Chris Kenner’s I Like It Like That.
Tim was eventually replaced by Ric Grech, and Roger Chapman joined as lead vocalist. In 1966, they renamed themselves Family.
The group had an unusual instrumental line-up, including electric violin played by Rick Grech, and sax and flute from Jim King. There was also Chapman’s extraordinary stage act (described by one critic as “demented ultra-violence”) which usually involved Chapman picking up the microphone stand and hurling it off the stage during a break in his impassioned singing.
After their first two albums, Music In A Doll’s House and Family Entertainment, and the departure of original bassist Rick Grech (who defected to Blind Faith), Family settled down to work mainly in Britain.
Weavers Answer, from their second album, was a hit single for the band a year after the album came out. Despite this – and singles success with In My Own Time and No Mules Fool, they never tailored their music to the singles market.
Their albums Fearless, Anyway (half of which was recorded live) and Burlesque stand as a good legacy for the band who called it a day in October 1973.
Ric Grech died on 17 March 1990, aged 43, of liver failure as a result of alcoholism. Bassist John Wetton died on 31 January 2017 after a lengthy battle with colon cancer. He was 67.
Keyboard player Poli Palmer died on 21 July 2025, at the age of 82.
Roger Chapman Vocals
John Whitney Guitar, vocals
Rob Townsend Drums
John Weider Bass, violin
Jim King Saxophone, flute
John ‘Poli’ Palmer Keyboards
John Wetton Bass, vocals
Jim Gregan Bass
Tony Ashton Keyboards
Ric Grech Bass, electric violin Harry Ovenall Drums
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