Blue Mink

One of the giants of British pop in the early 1970s, Blue Mink was formed in fall 1969 by keyboard player Roger Coulam, around a nucleus of musicians based at London's Morgan Studios - bassist Herbie Flowers, guitarist Allan Parker and drummer Barry Morgan were also involved. Having already recorded a number of backing tracks, Coulam then approached soul singer Madeleine Bell and former David & Jonathan star Roger Greenaway as vocalists; Bell accepted, Greenaway declined but recommended his songwriting partner (and fellow David & Jonathan-er) Roger Cook in his stead. With this line-up, Cook and Greenaway's "Melting Pot" was released as Blue Mink's debut single, a plea for multi-racial harmony that reached #3 in the UK that November. An album of the same title was released in the new year, alongside the single "Good Morning Freedom" - for reasons unknown, the single did not originally appear on the LP. However, its swift rise into the UK Top 10 prompted a rethink and subsequent pressings packed it on board. Throughout Blue Mink's career, the members maintained their high profile session careers - in March 1970, Cook and Bell appeared on Elton John's eponymous album; John reciprocated by covering "Good Morning Freedom" on the compilation album Pick Of The Pops (while waiting for his own career to take off, the pianist made ends meet by recording anonymous covers of top hits for the budget Deacon label). The following month, Cook rejoined Greenaway briefly in a new band, Currant Kraze, while the pair maintained their songwriting career with such anthems as "You've Got Your Troubles", "I've Got You On My Mind" and "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing". Other extra-curricular activities over the next few years included Alan Parker's the Congregation, and Herbie...