Marillion ( B2 )

 

History

The Fish era

Formation and early years (1978–1982)

"I thought they were a lot like Camel. It was also very clear to me that Steve Rothery was a brilliant guitarist."

—Fish on his first impression of the band

In 1977, Mick Pointer joined Electric Gypsy, which also included Doug Irvine on bass. Pointer and Irvine left to form their own band, Silmarillion, after J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Silmarillion, in late 1978. They played one London show as an instrumental band with Neal Cockle (keys) and Martin Jenner (guitar). 1979 saw a new line-up of Mick Pointer, Steve Rothery, Doug Irvine and Brian Jelliman. They played their first concert at Berkhamsted Civic Centre, Hertfordshire, on 1 March 1980. According to Pointer, it was at this stage that the name was shortened to Marillion.

Other sources have that the band name was shortened to Marillion in 1981 to avoid potential copyright conflicts, at the same time as Fish and bassist William 'Diz' Minnitt replaced original bassist/vocalist Doug Irvine following an audition at Leyland Farm Studios in Buckinghamshire on 2 January 1981. Rothery, drummer Mick Pointer, and keyboardist Brian Jelliman completed this line-up; the first gig with this line-up was at the Red Lion Pub at 35 Market Square in Bicester on 14 March 1981. Irvine eventually joined the band Steam Shed. By the end of 1981, Kelly had replaced Jelliman, with Trewavas replacing Minnitt in 1982. Minnitt later formed Pride of Passion and went on to perform with Zealey and Moore.

Marillion's first recordings were two demos recorded in March and the summer of 1980, prior to Fish and Minnitt joining the band. Two versions of the Spring demo circulate amongst collectors; the first has four tracks; "The Haunting of Gill House", "Herne the Hunter", an untitled track known as "Scott's Porridge", and "Alice". The second version has an instrumental version of "Alice" in place of "Scott's Porridge". All tracks are instrumental apart from "Alice", with vocals by Doug Irvine. 

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