About Hurdy Gurdy

There are at least three bands named Hurdy Gurdy: 1. Hurdy Gurdy (Denmark): This trio, formed in the late sixties in Copenhagen as Boom Boom Brothers, later abbreviated their name as B.B.Brothers and made at least one single for Sonet. The group was based in London for a while around 1968-69, where they took up their new name Hurdy Gurdy. Among the musicians they befriended was Donovan, who wrote the song "Hurdy Gurdy Man" for them. The intension was that the Danish group should record the song, but Donovan turned out to enjoy the song so much that he recorded it himself and refused to let them use it! Other Hurdy Gurdy recordings from this period are rumored, but apart from an excellent single on Spectator ("Tick Tock Man"/"Lend Me Your Wings"), none of them have been released. Their eponymous album for CBS was recorded with Freddy Hansen in the Rosenberg studio, a place where several legendary albums were conceived. This one ranks among the top 10 Danish albums and comprised blues and jazz influenced heavy progressive rock with strong melodies and competent vocals. The trio had obviously heard the first albums by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Jethro Tull, but also added an Eastern track with tablas and sitar. (Taken from Scented Gardens of the Mind - A guide to the Golden Era of Progressive Rock (1968-1980) in more than 20 European Countries, by Dag Erik Asbjørnsen, Borderline Productions) Band members: Claus Bøhling - vocals, guitars, sitar, harp Torben Forne - bass Jens Marqvard Otzen - drums Mac MacLeod - bass (1967-70) 2. Hurdy Gurdy (Sweden): A project of Hållbus Totte Mattson (Hedningarna) and Stefan Brisland-Ferner (Garmarna). Please see the page Hurdy-Gurdy for this project. 3. Hurdy Gurdy (Japan): Hurdy Gurdy is the solo project of Seiji (Seizi) Kimura, the ex-frontman for ZEPPET STORE which was disbanded in 2005.