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Rumour has it that around this time Morshead nearly joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, but was pipped
for the guitar chair by Mick Taylor, because Mayall thought that he sounded a little too like Peter Green.
At this point he joined the newly formed Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation, initially with Brox, Dunbar, and
bassist Keith Tillman, and they debuted at the 7th National Jazz and Blues Festival, at Windsor, in August
1967 (this was the forerunner of the long lasting Reading festivals). However, Tillman soon left to join
John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, and was replaced by Dmochowski, who was recommended by Morshead
from when they had allegedly played together very briefly in Neil Christian and the Crusaders.
The previously mentioned 45rpm single, “Warning”, backed by “Cobwebs” had been recorded by the
original band lineup in September 1967. Warning was a strong blues based song that later became a
staple of the Black Sabbath catalogue, but the flip side
was a fine slow blues. Both songs were written by Brox.
This was my intro to the Retaliation, and I was
immediately impressed by the playing of Morshead,
particularly on Cobwebs, where his signature
understated style was to the fore.
Retaliation pretty quickly became the “musicians’
choice” on the circuit, with the likes of Jimi Hendrix,
David Gilmour, Alvin Lee and Steve Howe turning up to
jam with them, and members of Led Zeppelin regularly
in the audience.
I saw the Retaliation at a number of London venues over
the next couple of years, including one evening when
they backed US musician Tim Rose (he of ‘Morning Dew’
fame), and during this time they released 3 albums on
the Liberty label, the first 2 in 1968, and the third in
1969. The albums unusually contained almost entirely
original compositions, generally the work of Victor Brox,
but were unashamedly blues based. The second album,
“Dr. Dunbar’s Prescription”, contained two especially
fine solos from Morshead, on the slow blues ‘Till Your
Lovin’ Makes Me Blues’ and ‘Tuesday Blues’. His less is
more approach was well to the fore throughout both
albums, although live he could easily mix it with the
more aggressive players of the day, if he chose to.
His signature sound was apparently achieved in the studio by placing one mic in front of the amp, and
another at the end of the room, with the two being mixed together.
Word is that a live album had been recorded at a London club, very soon after Alex Dmochowski joined
the band, but it has never seen the light of day. I wonder if the tapes are languishing somewhere?
In addition to their own albums, Retaliation (plus a horn section) backed Champion Jack Dupree on an
LP released on the Charly R&B series label, under 2 different titles (“The Heart of the Blues is Sound”
and “Home”). This sounds like a studio jam, but with plenty of room for the Morshead guitar, in a
supporting role, much as he had done with Eddie Boyd, at the Marquee. It’s a hit and miss album, in
terms of the overall project, but worth seeking out for one or two fine guitar solos, quite apart from the
vocal and piano of the ever engaging Dupree.
On all the occasions I saw the Retaliation, Morshead was using the Les Paul, but there is a great film on
You Tube of the band on French tv where he is playing a blonde Gibson ES335, which I understand was
a 1959 model, that Victor Brox had bought from Peter Green, and it was eventually sold to Jackie Lomax.
There are also various photos on the internet of Morshead with a beautiful sunburst Gibson Firebird 7
(and wearing a leather jacket and trousers!).
His choice of amplification seemed to vary, as I recall a Fender Dual Showman, Marshall, and Hiwatt,
quite probably amongst others now forgotten. However, that signature sound was always in evidence,
whatever guitar and amplifier he used.