Blonde on Blonde (band)

Blonde on Blonde was a guitar-led psychedelic rock group from South Wales.

The band was originally formed in Newport in 1967 by vocalist/guitarist Ralph Denyer, drummer Les Hicks, bassist/organist Richard Hopkins and guitarist/sitar player Gareth Johnson. The band was named after Bob Dylan's 1966 album of the same name.

In 1968 the quartet left Wales for London, playing clubs such as Middle Earth, and appearing on the BBC TV series "How Late It Is". Signing to Pye Records, they released their first album, Contrasts, produced by Barry Murray, in 1969. The album included the Robin Williamson covers "No Sleep Blues" and "I Need My Friend", and a cover of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby". That summer they appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival.

1970s Rebirth was released on Ember Records after a personnel change that saw singer/guitarist Ralph Denyer joining Aquila and replaced by school friend David Thomas. Thomas' introduction gave the band a tougher, rock-oriented sound. Their second album including Moody Blues-styled ballads ("Castles In The Sky"), progressive rock songs ("You'll Never Know Me/Release") and fuzz-guitar based rockers ("November").

Blonde on Blonde

Blonde on Blonde is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on May 16, 1966, on Columbia Records. Recording sessions began in New York in October 1965 with numerous backing musicians, including members of Dylan's live backing band, the Hawks. Though sessions continued until January 1966, they yielded only one track that made it onto the final album — "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)". At producer Bob Johnston's suggestion, Dylan, keyboardist Al Kooper, and guitarist Robbie Robertson moved to the CBS studios in Nashville, Tennessee. These sessions, augmented by some of Nashville's top session musicians, were more fruitful, and in February and March all the remaining songs for the album were recorded.

Blonde on Blonde completed the trilogy of rock albums that Dylan recorded in 1965 and 1966, starting with Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited. Critics often rank Blonde on Blonde as one of the greatest albums of all time. Combining the expertise of Nashville session musicians with a modernist literary sensibility, the album's songs have been described as operating on a grand scale musically, while featuring lyrics one critic called "a unique blend of the visionary and the colloquial". It was one of the first double albums in rock music.