Midnight Flyer Album Cover
If your a fan of Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Foghat or just great classic rock and roll music, than you need to check out the the 1970’s band Midnight Flyer. Rock and roll history is lined with stories of brilliant groups that came and went with only being noticed by a select few. There are groups that have been signed by major labels and than dropped because they were never given the proper promotion to get them noticed. These are sad stories because many of these groups had the talent to have long lasting careers. .
We mentioned Led Zeppelin, Foghat and Bad Company for good reason in the name of Midnight Flyer. The connection to the sound of Foghat is defined by the inclusion of the legendary Foghat guitarist Tony Stevens in the band Midnight Flyer. Tony Steven’s iconic Foghat sound is all over the band’s recording. Just listen to the opening lick of “Sweet Women,” and you can hear the connections to Foghat songs like Slow Ride and Driving Wheel.
The Bad Company connection stems from the role Bad Company member Mick Ralphs played as a producer of the Midnight Flyer recording. You can hear Bad Company grooves and arrangements all over the record. Producers play a very influential role on the sound of a recording and Mick Ralphs definitely left his mark on the band.
The Led Zeppelin connection came via the band’s experience of being signed by Led Zeppelin’s own label Swan Song Records. The band would also be manged by Led Zeppelin’s notorious manager Peter Grant who was also the head of the Swan Song label.
Besides Tony Stevens the band also featured Dave Dowle, Anthony Glynne, John Cook, and Chris Parren. Standing front and center was the impeccably talented Maggie Bell who had already been signed to Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label as a solo artist.
The band released a great rock and roll record in 1980 entitled Midnight Flyer. It was a smoking record that juxtaposed the sound of mid 1970’s classic rock with a mixture of blues licks delivered by the outstanding vocals of Maggie Bell. These were some of the best musicians of the classic rock era all playing at their peak and writing great material. This was a band that may have had a long career ahead of them. However, the passing of John Bonham that put an end to the Swan Song label, cut short the promise of a great rock and roll band.
