Keith Jack

Keith West - Grocer Jack (Excerpt from a Teenage Opera) (1967)

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• published: 10 Feb 2016
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Keith Alan Hopkins, better known by his stage name, Keith West (born 6 December 1943, Dagenham, Essex, England) is a British rock singer who was the lead singer of Tomorrow, a 1960s psychedelic rock band. West composed most of the band's songs (duly credited to Keith Hopkins). Despite critical acclaim and support from BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, who featured them on his Perfumed Garden show, the band was not a commercial success. In 1964, West became lead singer of "In Crowd" a rock band from London, which was then renamed Tomorrow. Another member of that earlier band was the guitarist Steve Howe (later Yes). In 1967 West became acquainted with Mark Wirtz, a producer who had already created the instrumental title, "A Touch of Velvet, a Sting of Brass" (1965). Later on, the melody became the theme music for the German television programs, Beat-Club and Musikladen. West himself is perhaps better known as a participant in Wirtz's A Teenage Opera. He was the singer of "Excerpt from A Teenage Opera", also known as "Grocer Jack", which reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart in 1967. He also performed "Sam," which reached the bottom end of the UK Top 40 the same year. In 1968, West released the single "On A Saturday" on Parlophone, which failed to chart in the UK. Other musicians who appeared on the single were the guitarist Howe, bassist Ronnie Wood, and drummer Aynsley Dunbar. It has since been included on the remastered CD version of the Tomorrow album (1999). In 1971, West released a solo album, Wherever My Love Goes on the German progressive rock record label, Kuckuck. It featured his songwriting partner Ken Burgess and steel guitarist Glenn Ross Campbell (ex-The Misunderstood). Two tracks of it were produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. By the mid 1970s, West was the lead singer for a group called Moonrider. Moonrider also featured John Weider (Family etc.), Chico Greenwood (later to perform with Murray Head) and Bruce Thomas. Footage is from "The Trip" (1967) A counterculture-era cult film released by American International Pictures, directed by Roger Corman, written by Jack Nicholson, and shot on location in and around Los Angeles, including on top of Kirkwood in Laurel Canyon, Hollywood Hills, and near Big Sur, California in 1967. Peter Fonda stars as a young television commercial director, Paul Groves. (source Wikipedia)