Magenta Music | Magenta: The Band

MAGENTA (1975 to 1985)

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The Music

Most people will remember Magenta’s music as a mix of original and traditional songs and tunes using various acoustic instruments and four voices. Initially, the instrumentation was limited to guitars, mandolin, whistle, dulcimer and glockenspiel but later featured keyboards and fiddle.

Much of the original material was written by Arthur Brown with substantial contributions from Pete Thompson and Jan Macauley. The songs covered various ‘folky’ topics with old folk tales being given a modern treatment, plus songs and stories on a wide variety of other subjects.

Their most ambitious work was the Battle of Sedgemoor, which runs for over 14 minutes and recounts the story of the battle from the participants’ points of view. It can be heard in its entirety on the ‘Recollections’ album.

Magenta’s appeal as a ‘live’ act was music and variety. The spread and style of the music was quite broad, as was the instrumentation and harmony singing employed to deliver it. There was also a generous sprinkling of humour in some of the songs and from front man Mervyn Brown, which kept audiences engaged.

History

Magenta operated for over 10 years in the seventies and eighties. Brother and sister team Arthur and Janet Brown started to play local folk clubs as a duo in 1975 under the name Magenta. Their first paid booking (they didn’t call them ‘gigs’ then!) was at the Oak & Horn Folk Club in Hanham, Bristol, for the princely fee of £7.50.

They soon met up with Mervyn Brown (no relation) at the Bell Folk Club in Banwell Somerset. They formed a trio and became residents at The Bell Folk Club, from where they started to get invitations to play further afield.

In 1977, they were joined by singer and instrumentalist Pete Thompson who was already well-known in the Bristol area for his involvement with bands like Derravaragh and Bethams, and the popular traditional duo Brockenspectre. The four-piece line-up lasted until 1984 when they were joined by guitarist Allen Greenall to become a five-piece for the last year of the band’s existence.

Magenta played folk clubs, concerts and festivals up and down the country. They always remained a semi-professional band, never quite making the leap into full professional status, but this did not stop them from developing a full diary and a sizeable following, particularly in the west country, but also throughout England. 1981 was a particularly busy year with the release of their second album and a tour of Brunei and Singapore among the highlights.

Magenta reformed briefly in the mid 1990s to play a short series of reunion gigs but have not played together since then.

Recordings

Magenta produced 3 albums. In 1978 they recorded ‘Canterbury Moon’ at John Golding’s Bird Sound Studio for Cottage Records. This was followed in 1981 by a double-album entitled ‘Recollections’ recorded by Andy Allen at Cave Studio in Bristol and released on Magenta’s own ‘Little Stan Productions’ label.

Their final album ‘Wot’s Next Then?’ was also recorded at Cave Studios and came out on the same label in 1983. All these vinyl albums are now out of print and are listed in various Rare Records Catalogues but the albums are all now available on CD through Magenta Music.