ANTION (VIKRAM Singh) aka Vic Briggs
1965 Recorded with Dusty Springfield hit single "Middle of Nowhere" (#3 in UK). Album "Everything's Coming up Dusty" (#6 in UK)
1965/1966 Recorded with Rod Stewart, Long John Baldry, Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger in Steam Packet Review.
1966 Recorded with Johnny Halliday (the "French Elvis Presley") Album "La Generation Perdue", hit single "Noir c'est Noir" ("Black is Black"), both #1 in France.
1966/1969 Recorded and arranged for Eric Burdon and The Animals. Co-writer, arranger and lead guitar on:
When I was Young (#15, 1967) San Franciscan Nights (#9, 1967) Monterey (#15, 1967) Sky Pilot (#14, 1968) Album Credits
Eric Burdon and the New Animals (MGM Records 1966) Eric is Here (MGM 1966) Best of Eric Burdon and The Animals (MGM 1967) Winds of Change (MGM 1967) The Twain shall Meet (MGM 1968) Every One of Us (MGM 1968) (Producer for this album, but not credited) Love Is (MGM 1969) (Arranger for this album) The Greatest Hits of Eric Burdon and The Animals (MGM 1969) The Live Eric Burdon and The Animals (Bulldog Records, Italy 1988) Road Runners (Rare Live Recordings) (Raven Records, Australia, 1990) The Best of Eric Burdon and The Animals 1966-1968 (Polygram 1991)
Other Recordings
May to December 1969 Staff A&R for Capitol Records, Hollywood
Produced and arranged albums by:
Danny McCulloch "Wings of a Man"
Sean (T.S.)Bonniwell (Ex Music Machine Lead Singer) "Close"
Hilton Valentine "It's all in your Head"
Zoot Money "Welcome to my Head"
Future "Down a Country Road"
Marc Eric "A Midsummer Day's Dream"
The Surf Symphony "Songs of Summer"
1975 to 1991
Recorded 6 New Age albums of Sikh Sacred music for Invincible Music under his Sikh Name "Vikram Singh Khalsa"
Victor Harvey Briggs III was born in Hampton, in West London. His father had been an American, Capt. Victor H. Briggs Jr., commander of C Company, 1st Infantry division. Highly respected by his men, Captain Briggs led them through the hell of Omaha beach on June 6th, 1944 where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry. On November 17th 1944, he was killed in action in Northern France, before his only child was born. Young Vic was raised by his mother, the former Sheila Mills, who lived with her parents Alexander and Caroline Mills in Feltham, an undistinguished town about 15 miles from the heart of London's West End. As a child he was encouraged, like many children of the time, to take piano lessons. Although he did not continue for very long he gained a basic understanding of written music and a musical ear that would serve him well in his life to come. His mother was an avid fan of musicals and a sound track album of 'The King and I', 'Carousel' or 'Oklahoma' always on the record player.
England was a grim place in the years following the Second World War and Vic, like many of his contemporaries, was always listening to the radio as a way to escape some of the gloom that surrounded peoples' lives in the early '50's.
When he was ten years old Vic heard 'Rock Around the Clock' by Bill Haley and the Comets . It was thrillingly unlike anything he had ever heard before and he began to collect records by Bill Haley, Elvis Presley and Little Richard , the wild abandon of the music of the latter quickly made him Vic's favorite rock 'n' roll artist.
At 12 years, Vic began to attend Hampton Grammar School . In spite of its very staid middle class traditions and rigid attitudes, and the fact that the headmaster and teaching staff were vehemently opposed to rock music and the culture that surrounded it, pupils from that school had a huge influence on the rock music scene in years to come. Amongst Vic's contemporaries at Hampton Grammar were Paul Samwell- Smith and Jim McCarty ( The Yardbirds ), Murray Head (movie actor and singer "One Night in Bangkok") and Brian May (Queen ).
The skiffle craze was in full swing and for Christmas 1957, Vic's mother gave him a guitar. He quickly mastered a few chords and within months was playing with semipro bands. By the time he was sixteen he was playing two or three nights a week with a band called the Cruisers Rock Combo. One night in February of 1961, Big Jim Sullivan who was the lead guitarist with Marty Wilde (one of the early Brit teen idols) came to sit in with the Cruisers. Impressed with Vic's talent, Jim became his mentor; a role Jim also fulfilled for Ritchie Blackmore who lived only a few miles from Feltham.
Big Jim was instrumental in getting Vic's first pro gig with a band called The Echoes. Although Vic only spent three weeks with the band (before his mother made him quit and go back to school) during that time he met many of the top names of Brit rock of that time including Cliff Richard and the Shadows and Billy Fury .
"We were playing the Theater Royal in Chester. Ian Hines, The Echoes pianist, had been working in Hamburg a short time previously. He told us that there were some great bands from Liverpool that he had met there, the best of which was called The Beetles. We were quite unimpressed. "What a stupid name! Whoever would want to hear a band called The Beetles." "Liverpool is not far from here" said Ian. "I'm going to call my friends and see if I can get them over here". On the Wednesday night two characters showed up at the theater. They both had black leather jackets and hair piled up in pompadours on their heads. One was peroxide blond with a bit of stutter; the other had black hair and a ring on every finger. They had a slightly wild and out of control air to them. But they were very friendly. Ian introduced us. "This is Rory Storm, he has a band called The Hurricanes over there in Liverpool. This is Ringo, his drummer." And that's who it was, Ringo Starr in his days before the Beatles."
Rory and Ringo invited The Echoes to come and jam at the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool. There Vic met Gerry and the Pacemakers and even The Beatles themselves, then still with Pete Best on drums.
After Hampton Grammar politely asked Vic if he would not return to school in August of 1962, his mother realized that there was nothing she could do but allow him to become a professional musician. Vic's first 'real' pro gig was with the 'Shel Carson Combo' starting in September of 1962. The band spent the winter of '62/63 (one of the coldest on record) miserably touring England and Scotland in an unheated van. In April of 1963 they went to Hamburg, Germany, where they had a residency at the Top Ten Club (The Beatles were just around the corner at the 'Star Club') At the end of the German tour, the band received an offer to go to Italy and Vic quit the band. The band stayed in Italy changed their name to The Rokes and became the top band in Italy throughout the '60's. Bassist Bob Posner's website tells the story of The Rokes.
Between May of 1962 and February of 1965, Vic played with several different bands, including the Laurie Jay Combo, The Fleerekkers and Peter's Faces (Peter Nelson and The Travelers with a new name). He also went back to Germany for two months as a substitute with a band from Glasgow (John O'Hara and the Playboys), whose lead guitarist had been badly injured in an automobile accident. These were not great times. It was hard work playing uninspiring gigs, lots of traveling, long hours (in Germany, playing up to 8 hours a night!) with little success and even less money. But it was a time for paying dues. Vic used these years to refine a guitar technique that in 1967 would lead no less a figure than Jimi Hendrix to name him as one of his three favorite guitarists (along with Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck ). He also became immersed in the study of arranging and writing music.
In January of 1965, success finally began to come his way. He was asked to rejoin The Echoes, the same band his mother had forced him to leave in September of 1961. In the interim, The Echoes had become the back up band for hit making chanteuse, Dusty Springfield . On February 14th 1965 (his 20th birthday) Vic flew to Ireland to begin his first tour with Dusty.
These were heady times to be involved in the British music scene. Vic began to frequent the 'in clubs' in London's West End where all the top bands, models, artists and other various assorted characters would hang out. Life was a constant party with nightly musical jams and parties until daylight being the norm. Vic became friendly with an outstanding keyboardist named Brian Auger . Brian had moved from the jazz world where he had been an award winning pianist to be part of the growing R & B scene which was THE happening place to be on the Brit music scene.
The Echoes
Brian and Vic took an immediate liking to each other and became friends, spending endless time in the pre dawn hours at Brian's flat drinking gallons of tea and swapping music stories and Goon Show jokes. When Dusty wasn't working, Vic would go and sit in with Brian's band (The Trinity) featuring Rick Brown on bass and the legendary Mick Waller on drums. In August of 1965, Brian became one of the founding members of The Steampacket with Long John Baldry , Rod Stewart and Julie Driscoll. He asked Vic if he would join.
The next year was a whirlwind of gigs (one week the Steampacket did 8 gigs!), traveling and partying. The musical standards that Brian set were very high and Vic had to stay on his toes and keep practicing to stay with the program. Slowly the Steampacket began to disintegrate. Rod Stewart left in March of 1966. After the band spent the month of June in a club in San Tropez in the South of France, Long John left. It then became Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger and the Trinity. During that summer, Brian and Vic recorded an album with Johnny Halliday , the top French male singer. One of the songs 'Noir c'est Noir' ('Black is Black') went to the top of the French charts.
In May, something happened that, while it seemed unimportant at the time, would play a major role in changing Vic' destiny. The craze for Indian Classical music had just begun and people were interested in Indian musicians like Ravi Shankar . While visiting with Eric Clapton at his home, Vic asked him if he knew anything about Indian music. Eric immediately pulled out two albums and gave them to Vic to borrow.
"The albums were of vocal music in the Dhrupad style by the Dagar Brothers and of bansuri (flute) music by Panalal Ghosh. My mind was blown; this was a dimension of music I had never imagined. After I listened to them once, I went to an Indian import store, bought them both and gave Eric his albums back. I still have those albums in my collection."
"At that time I was playing an unusual Marshall stack that they had developed. It had twelve six-inch speakers with a hundred watt amplifier. Jimi plugged in his Strat (which was right handed but strung left handed) and turned every control on the amp up to eleven! I was horrified. For one thing I was sure this would blow out the speakers, I had never turned the volume up past five. And for another, The Scotch of St. James was about twice the size of the average living room. What was this guy trying to do? He must have seen the look of horror on my face because he immediately said to me "Don't worry man, I turn it down on the guitar".
On October 18th, the band was at L'Olympia, the top music hall in France at the time for a show with Johnny Hallyday. The Jimi Hendrix Experience had also been added to the bill. Shortly before the show, Vic was approached by Mike Jeffrey, who was Jimi's co-manager (with Chas Chandler). Mike was also the manager for Eric Burdon and The Animals and he asked Vic if he would like to join The Animals. Vic immediately agreed.
The other members were Eric Burdon (vocals), Barry Jenkins (drums), John Weider (guitar) and Danny McCulloch (bass). John had played with Vic in the Laurie Jay Combo in 1963 and regarded Vic as somewhat of an older brother. Their friendship is still very much alive.
After some weeks of rehearsal, The New Animals (that is, the version with Vic in it) made their debut on December 2nd 1966 at the University of Birmingham. The band also began recording, making their first single "When I was Young" at Olympic studios, also in December.
In January, Mike Jeffrey cut a deal for Eric to sing a song in the upcoming James Bond spoof "Casino Royale". The song was a Bacharach/David song.
"I was to arrange it. I went up to see Burt Bacharach at his hotel in the West End. Even though it was the middle of winter Burt looked tanned and handsome, having just come from LA. I wrote some horn parts and we recorded the song. Everyone was there. Tom Wilson (The Animals producer), Mike Jeffrey, Burt and Angie Dickinson and Burt's song writing partner, the great lyricist Hal David . Everyone was very happy with the track and congratulated me. I was quite pleased with myself. It was the first time that a written arrangement of mine had been recorded."
However, when it came time for Eric to overdub the vocal, he hadn't learned the song properly and Hal David vetoed its use in the movie.
After a few weeks of doing gigs around the UK and Europe, it was time for the experience of a lifetime: a tour that would take the band around the world with concerts in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. They left for New York on February 2nd 1967.
The tour was hard going at first, slogging through the cold and dealing with unappreciative audiences in New England, Canada and the Midwest. But, when the band arrived in California, there was an immediate feeling of relief, a sense of 'coming home'. There in Los Angeles, the band recorded their first album. 'Winds of Change". The hit "San Francisco Nights" (with Vic playing lead guitar) was taken from this album.
Eric found out that the Monterey Pop Festival was going to take place and had Mike Jeffrey move heaven and earth to get The Animals on the festival. And so the band flew back to LA on June 15th, appearing on Friday June 16th at the festival. On that trip, the Animals also played two legendary California venues for the first time: The Fillmore Ballroom in San Francisco and the Whiskey a gogo in Hollywood.
Vic at the Monterey Festival
After spending August and September back in London, the Animals were back in California in October. Here they recorded their second album, "The Twain shall Meet". By now Vic's arranging skills were growing in leaps and bounds and are quite evident on this album where he wrote for strings, horns and even the band of the Scots Guards. This album produced two hit singles: "Monterey" (again with Vic playing blistering lead on a Danelectro electric sitar) and "Sky Pilot".
December found the Animals back home in London. Except that it didn't feel like home anymore. The "Summer of Love" had come and gone. The Brits had very little interest in psychedelic music and many felt the Animals suspect because of their oft expressed attraction for California. It was also becoming obvious that there was gross financial impropriety in the Animals management.
Vic with Paul McCartney at a recording session
The Animals on stage at the Windsor Jazz Festival, August 1967
During the late '60's, the LA recording scene was THE place to be. An enormous string of hits had been produced by such artists as The Beach Boys, The Byrds, Sonny and Cher, The Monkees and many others. At the heart of most of these recordings was an elite group of musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. Although it was an ever changing group, some of these musicians became famous in their own right; musicians like Hal Blaine , Carol Kaye , Michel Rubini and many others.
From the wealth of fine horn players in Hollywood, Vic would often use Plas Johnson and Gene Cipriano on reeds, Vince DeRosa, Bill Hinshaw, Art Maebe and Henry Sigismonti on French Horns. And of course Vic's long suffering copyist, Virgil Evans on trumpet, as well as Tony Terran who was featured on "Hotel Hell", a cut from the Animals' "Winds of Change" album. Vic's concert master for the string section was inevitably the unflappable Jimmy Getzoff, concertmaster for the Glendale Symphony.
"It was quite incredible. Here I was in LA working with jazz guys that I had idolized for years. I was in demand and just having a great time. I cannot express what an honor and privilege it was for me to play with these great musicians at such an exciting time."
"None of these albums made it commercially but, through the internet, I've come to find out that some of them are now underground favorites and collectors' items. The Mark Eric album goes for $100 if you can find it, while Sean Bonniwell's album goes for $150. The other gratifying thing is that I get e-mails from young people telling me how much they enjoy my arrangements on these different projects."
"I think it was sometime during the fall of 1969 that I realized that music and spirituality for me were one and the same. I knew that I only wanted to play and write music that was spiritual in nature."
Vic took a job as a staff producer with Capitol Records in May of 1969. He quickly found that he was not suited to the stifling corporate life but felt he needed the security of a steady income. He began to suffer from depression. After the Animals management pulled some dirty tricks on him in November of that year, he began to wonder if he was cut out for the business side of the music business. On December 16th 1969, he got his answer when he was fired from Capitol. Vic Briggs, rock guitarist, arranger, producer and party animal was about to undergo a transformation.
"Yogi Bhajan was an imposing man, more than 6 ft 4 ins in height who carried himself like he was king of all he surveyed. I was quite overwhelmed with his personal aura that was extremely powerful. He asked me if I had any question about my future life. I told him about the sarod and how my ambition was to be a great sarod player. His answer shocked me. "When you sing, he said, " people will come for thousands of miles to hear you. The dead will rise from their graves when you sing. My first thought was that Yogi Bhajan did not speak English well and that he had no idea what a Sarod was. But I didn't have too much time to think about it because he literally zapped me with energy from across the room, causing my third eye to open and for me to go into samadhi for a few moments. At that point, I allowed him to become the spiritual and temporal father that I never had..
"Yogi Bhajan was an imposing man, more than 6 ft 4 ins in height who carried himself like he was king of all he surveyed. I was quite overwhelmed with his personal aura that was extremely powerful.
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