Chris Joe Beard talked to us in his garden studio near Manchester about his band The Purple Gang who had 2 recording sessions at Sound Techniques, Chelsea. The first session was 4 tracks in 1967 with the legendary Joe Boyd recording in back to back sessions with Pink Floyd’s debut classic Arnold Layne. This first session included the single and almost hit Granny Takes A Trip, famously banned by the BBC for its supposed references to LSD. The second session was recorded by John Wood to complete the album Strikes in 1968.
Chris Joe Beard still plays and records and his riveting book Taking the Purple is available at all good book shops and Amazon. You can read more about The Purple Gang over on his official web page.
