Blue Mink was formed in London in 1969 by a group of Britain’s top session musicians with the sole intention of recording an album of instrumental tracks they had written together.
But when songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway composed Melting Pot the instrumental ideals of the band were abandoned in favour of a fuller vocal sound. The intention, though, was still to be purely a studio band.
Melting Pot was released in Autumn 1969 and within weeks had reached #3 in the British charts.
They followed the single with a barrage of original hits including Good Morning Freedom, Banner Man, Stay With Me, Our World, By The Devil and Randy.
With so many hits, it was inevitable that the band would abandon their ‘studio band’ concept and start performing live.
Roger Coulam left the band in April 1973 to return to session work and was replaced by Ann Odell. The group were augmented for a large-scale American tour by percussionist Ray Cooper. The group disbanded in 1975 at the top of their game.
Roger Cook returned to songwriting, Parker and Morgan returned to session work and became two of the most respected musicians in the UK, and Herbie Flowers dabbled with a solo career and played in the successful classical-rock band Sky.
Madeline Bell worked extensively as a solo singer, primarily on the international cabaret circuit.
Madeline Bell
Vocals
Roger Cook
Vocals
Herbie Flowers
Bass
Alan Parker
Guitar
Roger Coulam
Keyboards
Barry Morgan
Drums
Ann Odell
Keyboards
Ray Cooper
Percussion
