In our recent family-themed Dugout Chatter, a few Townspeople seemed to be stumped by the choice of Family vs MSFB. Although MSFB is in my blood, I’ve never known much about Family, really only knowing of them in the first place because they’re the band from which supergroup journeyman bassist Ric Grech sprung. Years ago I borrowed a handful of their records from a friend, expecting an Overlooked Gem or two. It was not to be, but they do turn up a few interesting tracks to examing in my Rock Lab. Here’s a little Family sampler. Those of you who find it difficult not to turn away from checking out a Jethro Tull deep cut may be interested. Pince Nez me, if you must: I believe none of the following tracks is from the early, Ric Grech era.
Family, “Drowned in Wine”
Family, “Song for Me-Stop for the Traffic”
Family, “Children”
Family, “Anyway”
Family, “Burlesque”
Apparently Grech’s role was drug buddy to the stars. I was reading a Gram Parsons bio recently, and he turned up there. They were supposedly going to form a band together, and then Gram od’d. Grech subsequently got kicked out of various bands for being too loaded. Being too loaded to be in Traffic is pretty bad. He eventually died in 1990. Sad.
I think Family fits in with the other thread about bands you can’t turn people on to, judging from the response to this thread.
Yeah, I can’t even turn myself onto Family. How did they manage to release so many albums? I’d like to see a showdown between Family and Horslips, another Celtic rock band that managed to sustain a long career across the ocean.