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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZMORRISSEY, Dick(b 9 May '40, Horley, Surrey; d 8 Nov. 2000) UK saxophonist, composer, leader; also played flute. He worked with Ginger Baker and Phil Seamen in the Harry South band (Sound Venture collaboration '66); he sessioned on Georgie Fame's Two Faces Of Fame '67. Morrissey's own albums included Storm Warning '67 and another with Jimmy Witherspoon at the Bull's Head '68, both on Fontana. He formed the jazz-rock group If late '60s with guitarist Terry Smith; first LPs If and If 2 '70 included Dennis Elliott, drums; John Mealing, keyboards; Dave Quincy, sax; Jim Richardson, bass; J. W. Hodgkinson, vocals. If did not break through in the UK due to absence touring in USA, where the market for jazz-rock was stronger. After If 3 and 4 '71-2 Morrissey was the only one left; a lineup with Dave Wintour on bass and Dave Greenslade on keyboards rehearsed but came to nothing when they left to form rock band Greenslade; Morrissey formed a new lineup with Cliff Davis, drums; Walt Monaghan, bass; Geoff Whitehorn, guitar; Gabriel Magno, keyboards; this group made Not Just A Bunch Of Pretty Faces '74 and Tea Break Over, Back On Your Heads '75, then split. Smith and Quincy formed Afro-rockers Zzebra for two LPs '74-5; Mealing went into production (Strawbs, others); Davis backed Ted Nugent; Elliott joined King Crimson. Morrissey then teamed with guitarist Jim Mullen (b 2 Nov. '45, Glasgow; led groups in Glasgow; came to London and worked with Pete Brown '69-71, Brian Auger '71-3). Both had worked with the Average White Band and Herbie Mann; as a team they likewise did not make the big time despite adding a dash of funk to suit changing fashion: they co-led albums Up '77 on Embryo, Cape Wrath and Lovely Day '79 on EMI/Harvest, renamed the group Morrissey-Mullen for Badness '81, Life On The Wire '82, It's About Time '83 on Beggars Banquet; This Must Be The Place and Happy Hour on Coda. (Beggars Banquet stuff was also reissued on Coda.) They later recorded with Cargo (see Mike Carr), 'playing superbly', as Anthony Troon put it in The Scotsman, 'as if they have escaped from a theme park'. Among the UK's most in-demand freelance musicians, apart from studio work their solo albums included Morrissey's After Dark '84 and Souliloquy '88 on Coda, Resurrection Ritual on Miles Music '89, while Mullen released Thumbs Up '84 on Coda, Soundbites and Rule Of Thumb '94-5 on EFZ (the latter's booklet decorated with guitar picks, an in-joke: his fans knew he relied on his thumb). |