Craig Ross (lead vocals)
Geral Knott (lead guitar)
Hugh Mackrell (rhythm guitar/vocals)
Dave Ridgeway (bass)
Colin Knott (drums)
A Durban band formed in late 1968 after former Gonks lead singer Craig Ross had left South African rock legends, Freedom’s Children.
The group also comprised siblings Colin and Geral Knott who had previously played with The Alouettes; bass player Dave Ridgeway and former Mods rhythm guitarist Hugh Mackrell.
During 1969, the band recorded four tracks in Johannesburg with producer Brian Pretorius and engineer Dave Pollcutt. These comprised three covers: John Lennon’s “Ballad of John & Yoko”, Lee Dorsey’s “Love Machine”, Oz’s “King Croesus” and one original, Hugh Mackrell’s “Down”. The four tracks are issued over two singles for the Uptight label.
When the group split up in 1970, Craig Ross later recorded a lone one-off single, “Ginger Man” c/w “Dear Prudence” in 1975.
Huge thanks to Hugh Mackrell and Brian Pretorius for helping piece this story together and for providing the single scans and newspaper clippings.
Thank you for publishing that comprehensive story about Parish News. They were such a great bunch if young men and it was a pleasure working with them in the EMI studio. I recorded them the day after I had finished the Abstract Truth Totum LP and the feeling in the studio was vastly different.
The Craig Ross single Ginger Man and Dear Prudence was recorded in the Gallo Studio just after I returned from OZ and I had Lofty Schultz RIP do do the arrangements.
Although I thought Dear Prudence should have been the A Side we went for an original written by Brian Cadd, Ginger Man.
It was so well accepted by the radio jocks and started to receive full support from SABC until Craig sat down and wrote out a 100 postcards requesting Ginger Man to be played, that was the norm in those days, but unfortunately he posted the full 100 on the same day from the same Post Office!
I was called in to see Lance James at SABC and was shown the 100 postcards and advised that they did not like what was done and they immediately pulled Ginger Man from all their playlists. The end of a dream for Craig.
At that point I had blown all the money I had on those Parish News, Abstract Truth, Pamala Dean and Craig Ross productions that I got out of the music industry and moved into my next love Advertising.