Fat Mattress

Fat Mattress were an English folk rock band that formed in Folkestone in 1968. Founded by guitarist and vocalist Noel Redding, during his time as bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and vocalist Neil Landon, the band was completed by multi-instrumentalist Jim Leverton and drummer Eric Dillon. The band released two albums – Fat Mattress and Fat Mattress II – before splitting up in 1970.

History

Fat Mattress was formed in late 1968 by Noel Redding with vocalist Neil Landon, bass guitarist Jim Leverton and drummer Eric Dillon. Redding (from Folkestone) and Leverton (from Dover) had been involved in the flourishing early 1960s group scene in South East Kent which also included Landon (who hailed originally from Kirdford, Sussex). Dillon (from Swindon, Wiltshire) was brought in by Leverton who had met him while playing in Engelbert Humperdinck's backing band. The band was formed while Redding was a member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, with a view to enabling Redding to both play guitar and sing lead, as well as to record original material. While he had done all three things with the Experience, they were restricted to rare occasions.Martin Barre was briefly a member of the band, but soon left to replace Mick Abrahams in Jethro Tull.

Fat Mattress (album)

According to Melody Maker, July 19, 1969, the debut album was to be released August 29.

Fat Mattress is the debut self-titled studio album by English folk rock band Fat Mattress, released on 15 August 1969.

Background

Fat Mattress was formed in late-1968 by vocalist Neil Landon and guitarist and vocalist Noel Redding, who was then performing bass with the popular psychedelic rock band The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Landon and Redding had already written a number of songs for Landon's cancelled solo project and, with the recruitment of bassist Jim Leverton and drummer Eric Dillon, completed writing and began recording their first material. The self-titled debut was completed the next year, and was released in the United Kingdom by Polydor Records on 15 August and in the United States by Atco Records in October. In promotion of the album, the band also released their debut single, "Magic Forest", which reached number 11 in the Netherlands.

Fat Mattress was later reissued in 1992 by Sequel Records featuring five new songs, all of which were later included on the 2000 compilation album The Black Sheep of the Family: The Anthology(which also contained three more previously unreleased songs);Castle Communications subsequently re-released the 15-track reissue on 5 March 1996 under the title One. The album was reissued again on 29 June 2009 by Esoteric Recordings with eight bonus tracks, all of which had already appeared on The Black Sheep of the Family anthology.