Sam Gopal Biography

The original Sam Gopal Dream formed in the midst of London's underground scene in 1967. Alongside Sam Gopal himself, the band featured Andy Clark (previously of The Fenmen, which at one stage featured future Pretty Things Wally Allen and John Povey) on keyboards and vocals, Mick Hutchinson (previously of Sons Of Fred) on guitar and Pete Sears on bass. Regular performers at Middle Earth, UFO and other London clubs, they split up in mid-1968. Minus Gopal, they continued as Vamp, after which Clark and Hutchinson formed Clark-Hutchinson. Pete Sears worked in several groups and as a session musician (most notably with Rod Stewart), before finding fame and fortune as a member of Jefferson Starship.

Lemmy's band first band of note were Blackpool combo the Rockin' Vickers. The Vickers had been managed by Kinks/Who producer Shel Talmy, who had cut two singles with the band on which Lemmy featured (they were 'It's Alright' / 'Stay By Me' and "Dandy' / 'I don't Need Your Kind'). Inevitably, with the breathless pace of the times, the band fell apart, and Lemmy drifted to London, where he became a gear humper for Jimi Hendrix, on the legendary Hendrix / Move / Pink Floyd / Nice / Amen Corner package tour of late 1967. As he remarked in Pete Frame's 'Rock Family Trees': "I was able to see Jimi play twice a night for two weeks!"

Now naming his band simply Sam Gopal, Gopal recruited Lemmy along with Phil Duke and Roger D'Elia in late summer 1968, in time to record 'Escalator' in the late autumn of that year.

Originally released on the small UK indie imprint Stable in 1969, and sporadically available as a bootleg since then, this release marks the first time that 'Escalator' has enjoyed a legitimate CD issue. One thing that a study of the sleeve will reveal is that the band doesn't have a drummer as such. Sam Gopal himself provides tabla and percussion as the driving rhythmic force behind the band, along with Phil Duke's bas guitar pulse.
Lemmy, known as Ian Willis at the time, plays guitar, with Roger D'Elia.
By this time, Lemy had served his ten-month apprenticeship as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix, and such proximity to the 'Wild Man of Pop' can't help but have left an impression on the relatively callow Motornead main man. This is clearly in evidence on tracks such as the opener, 'Cold Embrace', and other items such as 'You're Alone Now', which features such mode-ish devices as fade-outs / ins. Tracks such as 'The Dark Lord' anticipate the portentous doominess of Black Sabbath and more obscure acts such as Black Widow.

Apart from the hard rock, tracks such as the lyrical, Eastern flavoured 'Yesterlove' and the band's jammed version of Donovan's 'Season of the Witch' reveal a diversity to the bands approach that suggest there may have been more to them than the acid-tinged material that was the band's staple. It wasn't to be, though; as Lemmy stated above, the whole thing trickled to a halt. Lemmy next appeared in an outfit named Opal Butterfly (with Simon King, later of Hawkwind, and Ray Major, later of Hackensack and Mott) in 1970, before moving to Hawkwind and ultimately Motorhead. He is, of course, one of the British Hard Rock scene's great characters, a witty, picaresque individual possessed of a sharp intelligence an raffish wit. There wasn't anyone like him before, nor will there ever be - God bless 'im! Oh yeah - and enjoy this charming period piece from his early days.

Alan Robinson, February 2000

Acknowledgements: "The Tapestry Of Delights" by Vernon Joynson; "The Complete Rock Family Trees" by Pete Frame.

Special thanks to Frank Lea

Taken from the booklet of the CD 'Escalator'

Band Members

Sam Gopal: Tabla/Percussion
Ian (Lemmy) Willis: Vocal/Lead/Rhythm Guitar
Roger D'Elia: Lead/Acoustic/Rhythm Guitar
Phil Duke: Bass Guitar