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Named after a tin of talcum powder spotted in Boots the Chemist, Lemon Grass has over the years, become one of the most popular and enduring bands on the British country music scene. Funnily enough, it didn't start out that way. When three young Cumbrian musicians first got together to form the band back in the late 60's, they had pop music in mind. Somehow though even in those early days, country songs kept finding their way into the repertoire. Get a bunch of football fans together and chances are they'll get into a hot debate over which players and teams have been the best over the years - and whether a particular squad of twenty years ago would have been any match for today's lot. Lemon Grass fans are just the same - except that in their case they'll talk about the band's various line-ups, comparing names from the past with those who now take the stage. That the band still exists today is thanks entirely to founder member Malcolm Mason. He's responsible for resurrecting it after it went into premature and short-lived retirement, and for bringing together one of its most successful line-ups. From the soul band Captain Flint he recruited John Stubbs - a man who looks like a Hells Angel and sings like a Fallen Angel and is far better known to his legion of fans as Stubby. And he brought on board accomplished steel player Geoff Betsworth who'd been in the band Harper Valley.
'It was with Stubby and Geoff that Lemon Grass really went to the top of the British country music scene', Malcolm says now. 'That's the line-up that most people would remember. For two years running we were voted top British trio in the Country Music Round-Up and we also brought out three very successful albums.'
The third of those albums, True Brit featured a song called 'A Breath Is All It takes' by Geoff Betsworth. Its beautiful lyrics and heart-string tugging melody made it the number one country single in the UK. The more humorous side of the band brought them success stateside, when Malcolm's song 'Bingo Cowboy', a rather wry look at those clubs which seem to fit the bands in between the bingo sessions, charted in America.
A few years farther on down the line, Stubby's a solo artist now, but he still stays at Malcolm's house when he's appearing anywhere nearby - and Geoff lives just a few miles away in a Cumbrian seaside town where he's still involved with music. Meanwhile Lemon Grass is still going strong, with a new, vibrant and wholly modern sound - that nevertheless manages to stay true to the band's philosophy.
'I've always liked having a Steel player in a country band and when Geoff left to concentrate on his studio based work, Colin Gibson joined us. He'd worked with Harper Valley and Craig Duggan and I knew he was good.
'It was with Stubby and Geoff that Lemon Grass really went to the top of the British country music scene', Malcolm says now. 'That's the line-up that most people would remember. For two years running we were voted top British trio in the Country Music Round-Up and we also brought out three very successful albums.'
The third of those albums, True Brit featured a song called 'A Breath Is All It takes' by Geoff Betsworth. Its beautiful lyrics and heart-string tugging melody made it the number one country single in the UK. The more humorous side of the band brought them success stateside, when Malcolm's song 'Bingo Cowboy', a rather wry look at those clubs which seem to fit the bands in between the bingo sessions, charted in America.
A few years farther on down the line, Stubby's a solo artist now, but he still stays at Malcolm's house when he's appearing anywhere nearby - and Geoff lives just a few miles away in a Cumbrian seaside town where he's still involved with music. Meanwhile Lemon Grass is still going strong, with a new, vibrant and wholly modern sound - that nevertheless manages to stay true to the band's philosophy.
'I've always liked having a Steel player in a country band and when Geoff left to concentrate on his studio based work, Colin Gibson joined us. He'd worked with Harper Valley and Craig Duggan and I knew he was good.
Then we discovered my daughter Caroline could sing a good country song
so she came into the line-up.' Which has to be a masterpiece in understatement that only a father could achieve. Caroline Charters has one of the best voices in country music today, whether she's singing the modern day songs of the Dixie Chicks and Shania - or the classics of Patsy Cline. I bet loads of people have been amazed on first hearing Caroline sing, that so much voice could be contained in one small person!
But if the personnel have changed considerably over the years, Malcolm has worked hard to keep a thread of continuity going, to ensure that the essential Lemon Grass sound survives.
Lemon Grass really started life as a pop group but has made an indelible mark in the world of country music. Voted top British trio in the Country Music Round-Up two years running, the band brought out several successful albums, featuring their own original tracks as well as popular covers. ‘A Breath Is All It Takes’ by Geoff Betsworth made it right to the top of the country charts in the UK – while ‘Bingo Cowboy’, Malcolm Mason’s wryly affectionate look at country music clubs in Britain, charted in the USA.
Now the band has found a way of satisfying both strands in its make-up – by having not one, but two line-ups! When they’re playing country gigs and festivals, Malcolm Mason and his daughter Caroline are joined by former Diesel Cowboys Valley steel player Colin Gibson – while founder member Mike Wilding returns to the Lemon Grass fold when audiences want more pop and rock. Whatever the genre, the sound is always distinctive – with the true taste of Lemon Grass!
'It's a sound that I like. It's a modern country sound and if we go back into the 60's and 70's to pick up a song from there, we give it the modern country treatment and I think we've established a Lemon Grass kind of sound on most of the material that we do.'
But if the personnel have changed considerably over the years, Malcolm has worked hard to keep a thread of continuity going, to ensure that the essential Lemon Grass sound survives.
Lemon Grass really started life as a pop group but has made an indelible mark in the world of country music. Voted top British trio in the Country Music Round-Up two years running, the band brought out several successful albums, featuring their own original tracks as well as popular covers. ‘A Breath Is All It Takes’ by Geoff Betsworth made it right to the top of the country charts in the UK – while ‘Bingo Cowboy’, Malcolm Mason’s wryly affectionate look at country music clubs in Britain, charted in the USA.
Now the band has found a way of satisfying both strands in its make-up – by having not one, but two line-ups! When they’re playing country gigs and festivals, Malcolm Mason and his daughter Caroline are joined by former Diesel Cowboys Valley steel player Colin Gibson – while founder member Mike Wilding returns to the Lemon Grass fold when audiences want more pop and rock. Whatever the genre, the sound is always distinctive – with the true taste of Lemon Grass!
'It's a sound that I like. It's a modern country sound and if we go back into the 60's and 70's to pick up a song from there, we give it the modern country treatment and I think we've established a Lemon Grass kind of sound on most of the material that we do.'
