Attack
  (Gordon Haskell, Pete Sears, Chris Andrews, Phil Sawyer, Keith Guster)
Les Fleur De Lys

 Personnel

Check songs for listing.
 Biography

    Les
Fleur De Lys long and complicated story starts off in Southampton, England. It was there were Fleur De Lys started out as a beat combo with the original line up of Frank Smith (guitar/vocals), Alex Chamberlain (Organ), Gary Churchill (Bass) and Keith Guster (Drums). Already an established local act, the band were signed to Immediate in 1965 after catching one of their live shows in a London gig. This line up then recording the only single they would, a beat version of Buddy Holly's Moondreams backed with Wait For Me with a young Jimmy Page in the producer's chair. The single, however, did not do too much on the charts and this lineup disbanded leaving only drummer Keith Guster to continue on. He would, incidentally, be the only member to survive all the personnel changes. Teaming up with some musicians he met in London, Les Fleur De Lys went back into the studio to record what is probably their best track, Circles. With Jimmy Page producing again, this second single knocks the socks off the original version recorded by The Who. New members Gordon Haskell (bass), Pete Sears (keyboards) and Phil Sawyer (guitar) rock out on this single but as it achieved recognition only with the pirate stations, the single flopped. The band then decided they needed a front man/lead vocalist and found Chris Andrews, who had been a child actor and worked in the 1964 production of Oliver in London. With the lineup augmented, Polydor took interest in the group and signed them in the summer of 1966. Unfortunately, the unreliable Pete Sears was fired and guitarist Phil Sawyer left right after and Fleur De Lys was down to a three-piece. They did the Mud In Your Eye single with new guitarist Bryan Haworth. It was around this time when the band met producer/manager Frank Fenter and this association led to working with a young girl singer Sharon Tandy. With Tandy, the band went off to tour Holland (with Aretha Franklin), the band also backed Issac Hayes and recorded an album with Barney Kessel. By Spring 1967, Fleur De Lys joined the ever growing psychedelic bandwagon and did a single with friend and guitarist Rod Lynton under the name Rupert's People. Chris Andrews went on with the band, releasing the Procol Harum influenced Reflections Of Charles Brown on Columbia, which was a hit all over Europe but soon after, Rupert's People disbanded. The intrepid Fleur De Lys became a three-piece once again when losing singer Andrews. The went into to studio to back Sharon Tandy with a remake of Rupert's Peoples' Hold On and a new composition, Daughter Of The Sun. It wasn't until September 1967 that a new Fleur De Lys single appeared. With Bryn Haworth on vocals, I Can See The Light/Prodigal Son was released and around the same time, a single under the name Shyster appeared called Tick Tock. In October 1967, the band did a Top Gear show with Sharon Tandy and teamed up with the Vanilla Fudge, recording material that has yet to surface. Another single immediately followed this time, Gordon Haskell's take on a nonsense poem by Edward Lear, Gong With A Luminous Nose in 1968. The band also started recording an album for Polydor, but those tapes (containing several cover versions from Ray Charles to The Young Rascals) have seem to disappeared into the bottomless filing cabinets at Polygram. The three-piece continued to provide backing for several artists, most notably backing Donnie Elbert and John Bromley for their albums. Also a single under the name Waygood Ellis appeared which also featured the Lys. Gordon Haskell left at this time and two new members joined, singer Tony Head and bassist Tago Byers. A new single with the new lineup appeared in June 1968 and was a complete commercial/STAX groove track called Stop Crossing The Bridge backed by a mediocre pop song, Brick By Brick. Fortunately, the saved something better for their next single. Liar shows what the band was really all about with it's psychedelic guitar and layered chorus. The B side was another superb slice of rock, One City Girl has a pounding bass line and some tight drums and nice wah guitar. Previous to this last single, the band released a single under the guise of Chocolate Frog! However the band didn't get to the seventies, and disbanded after yet another personnel shift- Bryan Haworth who left to the US West Coast, replaced by Graham Maitland. This lineup didn't get as far as recording any more singles and called it a day...or a decade!
 
 Other


Pictures

 Le Fleur De Lys The Fleur De Lys last line up 1968

 
 Albums

Reflections
Reflections 1965-69
Compilation released 1996; FDL 1005 (CD)

1 Circles
(Townsend)
     2nd line-up
     Gordon Haskell: Bass    Phil Sawyer: Guitar
     Pete Sears: Keyboards    Keith Guster: Drums
2 Mud In Your Eye
     4th line-up
     Gordon Haskell: Bass    Bryan Haworth: Guitar
     Keith Guster: Drums     Chris Andrews: Lead Vocals

3 Gong With The Luminous Nose (Haskell)
     5th line-up
     Gordon Haskell: Bass, Vocals    Bryan Haworth: Guitar
     Keith Guster: Drums

4 Sugar Love
     Issued as John Bromley with 5th line-up backing
5 Hold On
    Issued as Sharon Tandy with 5th line-up backing
6 Prodigal Son
    5th line-up
    Gordon Haskell: Bass    Bryan Haworth: Guitar, Vocals
    Keith Guster: Drums
7 One City Girl
    6th line-up
    Tony Head: Vocals    Bryan Haworth: Guitar
    Tago Byers: Bass    Keith Guster: Drums

8 Daughter Of The Sun
    Issued as Sharon Tandy with 5th line-up backing
9 Tick Tock
    Issued under the name Shyster. 5th line-up
10 I Can See The Light
       5th line-up
       Gordon Haskell: Bass    Bryan Haworth: Guitar, Vocals
       Keith Guster: Drums

11 Liar
       6th line-up
       Tony Head: Vocals    Bryan Haworth: Guitar
       Tago Byers: Bass    Keith Guster: Drums

12 I Forgive You
       Issued as Chocolate Frog. 6th line-up
13 So Come On
       2nd line-up
       Gordon Haskell: Bass    Phil Sawyer: Guitar
       Pete Sears: Keyboards    Keith Guster: Drums

14 Hammerhead
       5th line-up
       Gordon Haskell: Bass    Bryan Haworth: Guitar
       Keith Guster: Drums

15 Stop Crossing The Bridge
       6th line-up
       Tony Head: Vocals    Bryan Haworth: Guitar
       Tago Byers: Bass    Keith Guster: Drums

16 I Like What I'm Trying To Do
       Issued as Waygood Ellis with 5th line-up backing
17 Hold On
       Issued as Rupert's People with Chris Andrews and
       guitarist Rod Lynton
18 Butchers & Bakers
       Issued as Chocolate Frog. 6th line-up
19 Wait For Me
       1st line up
       Frank Smith: Guitar, Vocals    Alex Chamberlain: Organ
       Gary Churchill: Bass    Keith Guster: Drums

20 Reflections Of Charles Brown
       Issued as Rupert's People with Chris Andrews,
       Pete Solley and guitarist Rod Lynton
21 Brick By Brick
       6th line-up
       Tony Head: Vocals    Bryan Haworth: Guitar
       Tago Byers: Bass    Keith Guster: Drums

22 I've Been Trying
       4th line-up
       Gordon Haskell: Bass    Bryan Haworth: Guitar
       Keith Guster: Drums     Chris Andrews: Lead Vocals

23 Moondreams
       1st line up
       Frank Smith: Guitar, Vocals    Alex Chamberlain: Organ
       Gary Churchill: Bass    Keith Guster: Drums
24 So Many Things
       Issued as John Bromley with 5th line-up backing
 

 Singles

Moondreams/Wait For Me
1965 - Immediate IM 20

Circles/So Come On
1966 Immediate IM 32

Mud In Your Eye/I've Been Trying
1966 - Polydor 56124

I Can See A Light/Prodigal Son
1967 - Polydor 56200

Gong With The Luminous Nose/Hammer Head
February 1968 - Polydor 56251

Stop Crossing The Bridge/Brick By Brick
1968 - Atlantic 584 193

You're Just A Liar/One City Girl
February 1969 - Atlantic 584 243
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