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Zior - Every Inch Man (1971)

Track listing:
  1. Entrance Of The Devil 2:11
  2. The Chicago Spine 4:06
  3. Have You Heard The Wind Speak 3:35
  4. Time Is The Reason 2:49
  5. She'll Take You Down 3:47
  6. Dudi Judy 2:52
  7. Stange Kind Of Magic 3:04
  8. Ride My Baby 2:20
  9. Evolution 3:37
  10. Every Inch A Man 4:38
  11. Cat's Eyes 2:59
  12. Suspend Animation 3:21
  13. Angel Of THe Highway 6:24

Notes

Unreleased second album from the collectable UK progressive rockers. Mainly recorded in 1971, this contains the solid heavy rock - with fine lead guitar - that the band have become known for. On Certain songs zior used organs,harps & flutes making a variety of progressive/psychedelic inroads which become really noticable on the 6 minute epic 'Angel of the Highway'.

An obscure progressive/heavy rock group whose debut album has few memorable moments but has become quite collectable because of the label it's on. The vocals are poor, the composition's weak and the playing is ponderous. The pick of a poor batch are I Really Do, Za Za Za Zilda (also released as a 45), Love's Desire and Oh Mariya, but all four were in a similar, rather flat, heavy rock style.

The See For Miles album reissue includes five previously unreleased tracks from a second projected album which never saw daylight. The best of these was Strange Kind Of Magic, which had a good voodoo beat and some distorted guitar. Overall, they were stronger than the material on the original album. Cat's Eyes had some decent heavy rock guitar riffs. The CD featured three additional tracks to the album but I can only really recommend this to Zior and Black Sabbath fans.

Zior had their roots in Southend's early sixties R&B scene. Kevin Bonsor had previously been in a local R&B outfit, The Essex Five, and then classical/rock fusion outfit, Cardboard Orchestra. Pete Brewer had been in another Southend R&B band, The Night Riders. He and Bonsor were Zior's founding members recruiting Truba and Skeels (who'd once played in a London band called The Bum) via a 'Melody Maker' advert.

Zior did have a reputation as a wild live band. They were heavily into Black Magic and Satanic Mass etc. They recorded an album on the Beacon label, later in 1971, which was credited to Monument, though in fact it featured all four members of Zior.

Pete Brewer eventually ended up a successful musical instrument/equipment dealer in Southend. Skeels sells dress jewellery in his native Newcastle. Bonsor worked for many years as an engineer/producer at Tin Pan Alley Studios and also became a dee-jay in the late seventies, hosting 'Capital's Big Night Out' at 'The Lyceum' in London's Strand.