Great Escape

Great Escape took over where Blues Apex left off.  Boss of the bass Ian Charles put the band together to feature the songwriting , harmonica and extraodinary vocal talents of Chris Cheale, writer of the No-1-in-Sweden hit "Evil Eyes", with Coll on lead guitar, Phil Swan on rhythm guitar, Tim Phillips on second lead guitar and Ivor Rosenthal on drums.

The band convened on Friday nights for rehearsals into the wee hours at the Grosvenor Rooms in Willesden Green.  A number of remarkable home-studiorecordings survive from this era, although the gigs were few and somewhat far between.

Devastated by Chris' suicide, the band soldiered on for a while with Coll doing his best to get Chris' musical messages across.  Tim drifted off; Ian gave up bass completely, and John Curtis (now with Coll in Cadillac) was recruited to replace him; Ivor moved on and was replaced by Coll's friend Tom Mautner in a band that jammed more than it gigged but had a lot of fun for a couple of years more. Ex-Blues Apex bass player David Margolis produced some fine studio recordings which will be available from the download section on this site.
more <<<

Great Escapees

Chris Cheale

Coll Michaels

Phil Swan

Ian Charles

Tim Phillips

Ivor Rosenthal

Tom Mautner

David Margolis

Paul Hirsh

more <<<

Great Escape Song Downloads

I hope to process and upload a few examples of Chris Cheale's brilliant songs in the next few weeks..........

:: Great Escape
more <<<