Sutherland Brothers was a British folk-rock duo comprising brothers Gavin Sutherland (born 6 October 1951, Peterhead, Scotland) (bassist / vocalist) and Iain Sutherland (born 17 November 1948, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; died 25 November 2019) (vocalist / guitarist / keyboards). Probably best-known for the song "Sailing" (later a world-wide hit for Rod Stewart), the brother's greatest success came under the combined name of Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. The brothers began performing as a...
Sutherland Brothers was a British folk-rock duo comprising brothers Gavin Sutherland (born 6 October 1951, Peterhead, Scotland) (bassist / vocalist) and Iain Sutherland (born 17 November 1948, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; died 25 November 2019) (vocalist / guitarist / keyboards). Probably best-known for the song "Sailing" (later a world-wide hit for Rod Stewart), the brother's greatest success came under the combined name of Sutherland Brothers & Quiver.
The brothers began performing as a folk / rock duo in the early 1970s, including recording one album as The Sutherland Brothers Band. From 1973 to 1978, the brothers joined with rock band Quiver to record and tour as Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. Under this combined moniker, the group recorded several albums and had a significant international hit single with the song "Arms of Mary" in 1976.
Sutherland Brothers began their career in 1968 as A New Generation, having some early success with the single "Smokie Blues Away" (which used a melody based on the main theme of Dvořák's, New World Symphony). Their first minor hit was "The Pie" in 1970. Subsequently re-billed as The Sutherland Brothers Band, they won a new recording contract with Island Records and put out an album under that name in 1972.
In an effort to diversify and expand their folk-based sound, Sutherland Brothers joined forces with a local rock band known as Quiver. Quiver originally comprised guitarist and singer Cal Batchelor, guitarist Tim Renwick, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer John "Willie" Wilson. Keyboardist Peter Wood had replaced Batchelor just before the band joined up with the Sutherland Brothers.
Their joint greatest success came under the combined name of Sutherland Brothers & Quiver. Several moderately-successful albums were released by Island Records throughout the 1970s under this joint name before they moved to CBS Records where they recorded, amongst other songs, the Top Ten hit single, "Arms of Mary", which also became a hit when covered two years later by the Canadian group, Chilliwack.
The band were just reaching their peak as the punk music explosion happened; they ended up being ousted from their residency at London's Marquee Club to make way for the likes of The Damned and X-Ray Spex. The group quickly found that its cheerful, folk-rock style had fallen out of fashion.
One of the earlier Sutherland Brothers recordings is "Sailing", which exists in two versions: one as Sutherland Brothers, the other together with Quiver. "Sailing" was no success for the Brothers, but in 1975, it became a major hit for Rod Stewart.
Sutherland Brothers parted company with Quiver (i.e., Wilson) by 1979, but continued to release material as Sutherland Brothers for a time. In this period, they achieved one further chart success with "Easy Come Easy Go", in June 1979. However they disbanded late in 1979 after recording a final album When the Night Comes Down on CBS, with the final single being "First Love" / "Crazy Town". Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
