Stone the Crows

Stone the Crows was a blues-rock band formed in Glasgow in late 1969.

History
The band were formed after Maggie Bell was introduced to Les Harvey by his elder brother Alex Harvey. After playing together in the Kinning Park Ramblers, their next band Power was renamed Stone the Crows (after a British/Australian English exclamation of surprise or shock) by Led Zeppelin's manager, Peter Grant. The band was co-managed by Grant and Mark London. London was associated with Lulu as the co-writer of her signature song, "To Sir With Love" and was also married to Lulu's manager, Marion Massey. London had also managed the predecessor band Cartoone, in which Peter Grant had a financial interest and featured Les Harvey on guitar.

Original line-up
The band's first two albums were recorded with the original line up and Bell's vocals were described as being similar to Janis Joplin's.
 * Maggie Bell, vocals
 * Les Harvey, guitar
 * Colin Allen, drums
 * James Dewar, bass and vocals
 * John McGinnis, keyboards

Second line-up
McGinnis and Dewar left the band in 1971 and were replaced by Ronnie Leahy and Steve Thompson. Jimmy McCulloch would subsequently replace the main songwriter Harvey as lead guitarist, following Harvey's on-stage death by electrocution at Swansea's Top Rank Suite in May 1972. After Harvey's death the band reconsidered their direction.

After band breakup
Stone the Crows ultimately broke up in June 1973, and Peter Grant continued to manage Maggie Bell's career. Guided by Grant, Bell subsequently recorded two solo albums, Queen of the Night (1974) and Suicide Sal (1975) and an album with the Grant-managed band Midnight Flyer (1981). Bell is also known for her session work on Rod Stewart's album Every Picture Tells a Story (1971), in particular her co-lead vocal with Stewart on the album's title track (credited as "vocal abrasives"). Jimmy McCulloch joined Paul McCartney's group Wings, in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1974.

Studio albums

 * Stone the Crows (1970)
 * Ode to John Law (1970)
 * Teenage Licks (1971)
 * Ontinuous Performance (1972) - UK Number 33

Live albums

 * The BBC Sessions - Volume 1 - 1969-1970 (1998)
 * The BBC Sessions - Volume 2 - 1970-1971 (1998)
 * Live Montreux 1972 (2002)
 * Radio Sessions 1969-1972 (2009) (2CD)
 * BBC Sessions 1969-1972 (2014) (2LP)