Phoenix

Rising again from the ashes of ARGENT...

It was during ARGENT's final tour of America that John Verity, Bob Henrit and bassist Jim Rodford came up with the idea of forming a new band with a more straight-ahead, rocky sound combined with strong vocals and compelling hook-lines drawn from a wealth of experience and years on the road.

The Argent split was amicable and since John, Bob and Jim were great friends who also admired each others musical abilities, a new band seemed an obvious progression.

Rehearsals began on their return to the UK at John's house in North London where demos were also recorded. All three friends had material ready to be worked on and soon there was enough to record a whole album. A management deal was secured with Trident in London, who also had a studio in London's West End where many major artists recorded - including The Beatles with 'Hey Jude'.

Our intrepid 'Power Trio' was very soon burning the midnight oil, recording tracks for their first album; now under the watchful eye of CBS Records.

The new band was to be called 'H.R.V' - Henrit, Rodford, Verity.

The album title was to be along the lines of: 'HRV like a Phoenix rising from the ashes of Argent' but the record company and the media soon latched onto the name Phoenix so a quick re-appraisal quickly established the name as 'PHOENIX'.

The album was released in 1976 and the band was soon on the road as planned. Firstly for a serious of warm-up dates in the UK followed by a tour of Europe as special guests to headliners 'Aerosmith'.

A second album recorded for CBS but finished under the guidance of Rocket Records remains unreleased although a couple of singles - including a version of 'Time of the Season' - came out on Rocket.

'In Full View' was the third and final PHOENIX album recorded for Charisma Records without Jim Rodford who had left to join the KINKS. At this time the band also recorded a number of Russ Ballard songs including the original version of 'I surrender' - deemed by Charisma to be 'uncommercial' and subsequently a hit for Rainbow! Since the Phoenix and Rainbow versions were identical they were presumably both uncommercial...

PHOENIX then morphed into the band CHARLIE for one album on RCA records: 'Good Morning America' before Bob joined Jim in the KINKS and JV immersed himself into record production and the beginnings of a solo album: 'Interrupted Journey' complete with Henrit on drums...

JV continued with the record production and solo recording whilst Bob toured the world yet again with the Kinks. Never far apart, the pair were soon working together playing powerful blues/rock as the John Verity Band - until the demand and desire for a new Phoenix became just too strong.