Named after the 19th century mariner and novelist (writer of sea adventures) Captain Frederick Marryat (associate and friend of Charles Dickens), this Glaswegian heavy prog rock band recorded just one privately-pressed album, released in 1974.

The line-up on the album was Tommy Hendry (vocals, acoustic guitar), Ian McEleny (lead guitar, acoustic guitar), Allan Bryce (organ, vocals), Hugh Finnegan (bass, vocals) and Jimmy Rorrison (drums, vocals). They were originally intending to record a single, but the engineer at the Glasgow studio they’d booked told them that there was enough time to make a whole album. The 150-200 copies pressed on the Thor label were sold at gigs. Not seeing that they were getting any attention from labels in London, they parted and went their separate ways.
Longhair Music recently released a remastered edition with cover sized insert sheet.

Can you elaborate on the formation of Captain Marryat, name some influences and how the name came about?

Allan Bryce: I was in the early days of Captain Marryat on keyboards and vocals with the drummer Jimmy Rorrison and bass player Hugh Finnegan and we needed a new lead guitarist and got a surprise when Ian McEleny came to my door looking to join the band … and that was great. I used to do all the vocals, but wanted a lead vocalist so we eventually got in Tom Hendry who has recently passed away.

Our main influences were Beggars Opera, Deep Purple and Uriah Heep.

The name of the band was found. Captain Marryat was a novelist and a seafairer from the 19th century. We just loved the name.

“The engineer asked us to do a whole album”

What’s the story behind the 1974 self-released album?

The album was recorded in Thor studios in Glasgow and was recorded in just a few days. 200 copies were pressed. We only had a couple of our own songs and the engineer asked us to do a whole album, so we quickly put together some songs rehearsed in my room. It was really intended as a demo and some of us went down to London looking for a record contract and were nearly signed to A&M Records. A few others were interested as well. Once again we needed more songs.

The first song was my song ‘Blindness’ which seemed popular when we played it live. It has thousands of views on YouTube, which I’m very happy with.

Then I came up with ‘It Happened To Me’ and ‘Songwriter’s Lament’ which was a bit different for us with the acoustic start and classical mid piece which I like too. When we went up to Thor to record them they asked for another few songs, so vocalist Tom Hendry came up with the song ‘A Friend’ and Ian McEleny came up with ‘Changes’. All of them were written in a couple of days and partly rehearsed in my room. We were still needing something else so we did a jam in Thor studios which became ‘Dance of Thor’. This one was popular anytime we played it and really that’s it.

However not long after we returned part of the band split up and I carried on back on vocals plus another guitarist, but after a few years that was it and we went our separate ways. This was in 1975.

What can you tell us about gigs?

We played a lot in Glasgow at Burns Howff, an amazing place. We played with bands like Nazareth, Stone the Crows, Beggars Opera and The Sensational Alex Harvey Band. A lot of great memories. We played all over Scotland and the North of England.

Were you in any other bands?

Before Captain Marryat I was in a band called Grass and then Blue Matter. I have always loved music as I was brought up in a musical house. My dad was an amazing piano player. I eventually started up my own business and that was it. But I continued to love my music.

Are you still in touch with any members?

I’m still in close contact with Ian McEleney and we still do some recordings in my room which can be seen on YouTube with a new version of ‘Blindness’ and a track called ‘The Blue Void,’ which I was very pleased with.

What are you doing these days?

I’m a massive music fan and record collector buying vinyl and CD’s all the time. In fact I’m running out of room and always posting reviews on Facebook. I’m a big progressive rock fan. I love bands like Porcupine Tree, Pineapple Thief and too many others to name. Thank you Klemen for your interest in my band and for your patience.

Klemen Breznikar

Longhair Music Official Website