Chick Churchill
{{Short description|English keyboard player}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{BLP sources|date=April 2010}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Chick Churchill
| image = 2015 Lieder am See - Ten Years After- Chick Churchill by 2eight - DSC0480.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| landscape = yes
| caption = Chick Churchill in 2015
| birth_name = Michael George Churchill
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1946|01|02}}
| birth_place = Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England
| origin =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| genre = Blues rock, blues, rock
| occupation = Musician, songwriter, record producer
| instrument = Keyboards, piano, organ, synthesizer
| years_active = 1960s–present
| label = Decca, Deram, Columbia, Chrysalis
| associated_acts = The Jaybirds, Ten Years After
| website =
}}
Michael George "Chick" Churchill (born 2 January 1946) is an English keyboard player, who was with the blues rock band Ten Years After.{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p5617/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Biography: Ten Years After|last=Ruhlmann|first=William |website=AllMusic|access-date=26 April 2010}}
Early career
Churchill began playing the piano at the age of six and studied classical music until he was 15. He became interested in blues and rock music, and joined his first band Sons of Adam in Nottingham, as a pianist/keyboardist.
Ten Years After
In the 1960s, Churchill met Alvin Lee of The Jaybirds, who were the backing band for The Ivy League at the time.{{Cite web |date=2015-03-04 |title=TEN YEARS AFTER - NOW |url=http://www.tenyearsafternow.com/tya/biochick.htm |access-date=2023-12-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150304170813/http://www.tenyearsafternow.com/tya/biochick.htm |archive-date=4 March 2015 }} At first, Churchill joined the band as its road manager, but he soon became the keyboard player. When he was their road manager, he managed to get the band an audition at the Marquee Club in London.
In November 1966, there was a name change to Ten Years After. With this group, Churchill played at major rock festivals including the Woodstock music festival in 1969 (where they performed the songs "Spoonful", "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", "Hobbit", "I Can't Keep from Crying Sometimes", "Help Me", and "I'm Going Home"),{{Cite web |title=Ten Years After: 50 Years of Peace & Music |url=https://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/blog/ten-years-after |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=Bethel Woods Center for the Arts |language=en}} and the Isle of Wight Festival on 29 August 1970.{{Cite web |title=TEN YEARS AFTER 1970 - August - Isle Of Wight Festival |url=https://www.alvinlee.de/1970_3.htm |access-date=2023-12-21 |website=Alvinlee.de}}
File:Ten Years After (1970).png
Churchill has been in Ten Years After since joining in 1966. He has played on all their records, including their best known tracks "Love Like a Man" (1970) and "I'd Love to Change the World" (1971). In 1973, he recorded a solo album You and Me featuring Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson of Supertramp, Martin Barre of Jethro Tull, and Cozy Powell.{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Chick-Churchill-You-And-Me-Come-And-Join-Me/release/6664107|title=Chick Churchill – You And Me / Come And Join Me|year=2017|website=Discogs.com|access-date=19 January 2017}}
Ten Years After re-formed in 1983 for the Marquee Club's 25th Anniversary, performed two large European festivals in Belgium and Switzerland and were special guests at The Reading Festival. In September 2024, it was announced that the Ten Years After line-up of Ric Lee, Churchill, Marcus Bonfanti, and Colin Hodgkinson had split but that Lee intended to premiere a new line-up in early 2025.{{Cite web |last=Lewry |first=Fraser |date=2024-09-29 |title=Ten Years After are calling it quits but a new Ten Years After will arise |url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/ten-years-after-split |access-date=2025-02-17 |website=Loudersound.com |language=en}}
Other works
Ten Years After broke up in 1976 and Churchill became Professional Manager at Chrysalis Music; the company was then owned by his manager, Chris Wright. In 1977, he left to found Whitsett Churchill Music Publishing with Tim Whitsett, publishing and promoting American artists, especially from the south of the United States, where Whitsett came from.
Following on from this, Churchill furthered the career of The News, a group he managed and signed to a lucrative deal with Polydor Records.
Discography
=Ten Years After=
=Solo=
- Album: You and Me – 1973
- Single: "Broken Engagements" – 1973
- Single: "You and Me" / "Come and Join Me" – 1974
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20150304170813/http://www.tenyearsafternow.com/tya/biochick.htm Biography]
- [https://www.myspace.com/chickchurchill Chick Churchill MySpace]
{{Ten Years After}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Churchill, Chick}}
Category:20th-century English musicians
Category:21st-century English musicians
Category:English rock keyboardists
Category:English record producers
Category:English male songwriters
Category:English rock musicians
Category:English blues musicians
Category:British blues (genre) musicians
Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians
Category:Ten Years After members
Category:Decca Records artists
Category:Deram Records artists
Category:Columbia Records artists
Category:Chrysalis Records artists
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