21 GUNS [UK] - Melodic Rock
Introduction
Born on March 17, 1951, Scott Gorham grew up in Glendale (California), where he picked up a guitar and began playing in rock bands as a teenager. One of his friends was Bob Siebenberg, who relocated to the UK in the early 70s to become the drummer of Supertramp. When that band was considering to add another guitarist to the line-up, it was Siebenberg who recommended Gorham to fly over for an audition. However, by the time he arrived (sometime in 1974), the band had already decided to add a sax player instead.
Gorham then founded a band of his own, Fast Buck, and began playing the pubs in London until a mutual acquaintance introduced him to Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy. One try-out was enough to add him to the line-up and he would stay with the band until its demise in 1983.
After the split of Thin Lizzy nothing much was heard from Gorham for a while, until he showed up on “Dream Runner” (1987), the second album from Phenomena, a project set up by Tom Galley. Other players on that album included Michael Sturgis on drums and Leif Johansen on keyboards. Gorham, Sturgis and Johansen kept working together after the release and quickly realized that they should form a band together. Sturgis and Johansen recommended to add Thomas LaVerdi from the band A=440, who were then on the verge of signing a record deal with a major record company. LaVerdi didn’t hesitate and joined 21 Guns. About a total of 25 songs were written in a short period of time, most of them by the pair of Gorham and Johansen, and 12 of them landed on the mighty debut album, “Salute”, featuring great vocals and excellent axework.
LaVerdi was replaced for the second album, “Nothing’s Real” (1997), by former Sons of Angels singer Hans-Olav Solli, but the magic was gone and the band called it quits in 2000. A collection of demos and B-sides was released as “Demolition” in 2002.
Gorham would later show up in a reunited Thin Lizzy and in December 2012 he co-founded Black Star Riders, a kind of Thin Lizzy spin-off.
Chris Lambert
Gorham then founded a band of his own, Fast Buck, and began playing the pubs in London until a mutual acquaintance introduced him to Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy. One try-out was enough to add him to the line-up and he would stay with the band until its demise in 1983.
After the split of Thin Lizzy nothing much was heard from Gorham for a while, until he showed up on “Dream Runner” (1987), the second album from Phenomena, a project set up by Tom Galley. Other players on that album included Michael Sturgis on drums and Leif Johansen on keyboards. Gorham, Sturgis and Johansen kept working together after the release and quickly realized that they should form a band together. Sturgis and Johansen recommended to add Thomas LaVerdi from the band A=440, who were then on the verge of signing a record deal with a major record company. LaVerdi didn’t hesitate and joined 21 Guns. About a total of 25 songs were written in a short period of time, most of them by the pair of Gorham and Johansen, and 12 of them landed on the mighty debut album, “Salute”, featuring great vocals and excellent axework.
LaVerdi was replaced for the second album, “Nothing’s Real” (1997), by former Sons of Angels singer Hans-Olav Solli, but the magic was gone and the band called it quits in 2000. A collection of demos and B-sides was released as “Demolition” in 2002.
Gorham would later show up in a reunited Thin Lizzy and in December 2012 he co-founded Black Star Riders, a kind of Thin Lizzy spin-off.
Chris Lambert
Discography01|1992|Salute
773 (#1) 02|1997|Nothing’s Real 669 (#3) 03|2002|Demolition 692 (#2) |
Rock Report's choice
SaluteRCA, 1992
Produced by Chris Lord-Alge Cover: Hugh Syme Ratings: HH: 86 (41) | RYM: 3.43 (102) Total rating: 773 Updated: 14.12.08 Line-upThomas LaVerdi (lv)
Scott Gorham (g, bv) Leif Johansen (b, k, bv) Mike Sturgis (d, p) + Kim Bullard (pi on tr. 8) |
Track listing01|Knee Deep (SG/LJ/TLV)
02|These Eyes (SG/LJ/MS) 03|Walking (SG/LJ/TLV) 04|Marching In Time (SG/LJ) 05|The Rain (SG/LJ) 06|Little Sister (SG/LJ) 07|Pays Off Big (SG/LJ) 08|Just A Wish (SG/LJ) 09|Battered And Bruised (SG/LJ) 10|Jungleland (SG/LJ) 11|Tell Me (SG/LJ) 12|No Way Out (SG/LJ) SongwritersLJ = Leif Johansen
MS = Mike Sturgis SG = Scott Gorham TLV = Thomas LaVerdi |
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