Tea & Symphony formed in Birmingham (UK) in 1968 and were originally heavily influenced by folk music, their repertoire consisting largely of their own arrangements of other people’s songs, with a strong proclivity for those of Bob Dylan.
Their instrumentation at the time was an amalgam of electric instruments (bass and guitar) and acoustic ones (guitars, cello, harmonica, hand drums, flute, recorder, etc).
Their first Harvest single was a version of Procul Harum‘s Salty Dog and they augmented their line-up to include Hammond Organ, drums, piano and mandolin.
They became part of Jim Simpson’s Birmingham-based Big Bear Management stable of artists who also included Black Sabbath.
Debut album An Asylum For The Musically Insane was an enchanting if self-indulgent collection. By the time of the Jo Sago album, the group were joined by Bob Wilson on Keyboards, Guitar and Bass and had moved further into the area of Prog Rock.
Produced by Tony Cox at Sound Techniques studios, Jo Sago was a conceptual work that touched on subjects such as race relations in 1970s Britain and more.
The album is now regarded as a classic of the era, with original Harvest vinyl copies changing hands for significant sums.
The band broke up in 1971.
James Langston
Vocals, guitar, percussion Jeff Daw
Vocals, flute, guitar, vocals Nigel Philips
Drums, recorder, keyboards Bob Wilson
Keyboards, guitar, bass, vocals
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