The Churchill's: The Churchill's 1968

 

The Churchill's was one of the first Israeli rock bands, formed by Yitzhak Klepter. They later became the

backing band of Arik Einstein on his late 1960s and early 1970s rock efforts which helped the genre breakthrough in Israel. The Churchills story began in Israel in 1965, when Mickey Gavriellov noticed Haim Romano playing a mandolin for a small group of friends. Gavriellov, who wanted to be in a band, started following Romano around with his guitar, trying desperately to get noticed. 
                                    

Gavriellov soon started playing bass with guitarist Yitzchak Klepter, drummer Ami Treibich, and vocalist

Selvin Lifshitz. Going under assorted names, including Tequila and the Whisperers, the band soon added Romano on lead guitar. The group soon became known as Churchill's Hermits (in tribute to Herman's Hermits), and eventually just the Churchills. "Churchill" was a nickname Klepter had been tagged with in high school because of his resemblance to the late English prime minister. 
                       

This Psychedelic and hard rock band from Israel, active from 1965 until 1973, in 2015, and from 2018 to

present. Their name was a nickname given to original guitarist Yitzhak Klepter, whose appearance reminded the other band members of a young Winston Churchill. In Hebrew they were הצ'רצ'ילים, literally "The Churchills." When they relocated to England and signed with a British label they temporarily changed the name to Jericho Jones as it was feared an Israeli band calling themselves Churchill's would not be appreciated. 
                                 

The band soon released its first single, "Too Much in Love to Hear," a Huxley original, backed with Solomon's "Talk to Me." Not long after the single was released, the band ventured to Denmark, where

they spent four months opening for Deep Purple. Romano recalled, "We had hundred-watt Marshall amps. They [Deep Purple] had six- hundred watt Marshalls. When we played, we turned our amps low and the club owner complained that we were too loud. When Deep Purple got up, they turned up loud and blew the fucking place, and the owner loved it! We couldn't believe it! One night... we decided to turn our tiny amps up full volume and the owner fired us." 
                                

When the band returned to Israel, they were asked to create a soundtrack for the film A Woman's Case, a bizarre movie about an advertising executive who falls for and later plots to kill a lesbian

fashion model. The songs Huxley, Solomon and Gavriellov wrote for the movie became the basis for the band's 1968 self-titled debut album. This album, which according to Record Collector magazine is one of the rarest psychedelic albums in the world, put all of the group's strengths on display, from "So Alone Today" and "Strange People," which recall Jimi Hendrix and the Doors respectively, to "Debka" and "Subsequent Final," which showcased their Mediterranean influences. 
                              

The original Israeli release and some reissues of their second album give the name of the band as Jericho Jones in English and הצ'רצ'ילים in Hebrew. The name was shortened to Jericho for their

third album. After returning to Israel in 1972 they returned to the original name and, after some personnel changes, they became The New Churchills before disbanding. The four surviving members from the 1970-72 lineup reunited for two concerts in 2015 which resulted in a new double live album. They released a single from their forthcoming album, their first new studio recording since 1972, Messianic Times, on February 3rd, 2020.
                            

The Churchills' sole album is above average for a rare psychedelic late-'60s obscurity, and an

important document as the only Israeli psychedelic record to achieve even a bit of an international cult, but not as interesting as some of the buzz generated on the collector's circuit may have you believe. Heavily influenced by both West Coast psychedelia and late-'60s British hard rock, there's often a Jack Bruce-type resonance to the vocals, and a garage-Doors vibe to the guitar-organ interplay and spacy-but-somber lyrics. 
                                   

Sometimes they let more of a Middle Eastern element into play, as on "Subsequent Final," a mandolin

tune which sounds like a psychedelic hora dance. The CD reissue adds four bonus tracks from early-1970s singles, including covers of Led Zeppelin's "Living Loving" and the Beatles' "She's a Woman," that are more run-of-the-mill hard rock.
                           

Churchill's = צ'רצ'ילים – Churchill's = צ'רצ'ילים
Label: Hed-Arzi – BAN-15591
Series: קלאסיקה ישראלית במחיר נוסטלגי
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 1991
Country: Israel
Released: 1968
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Hard Rock

TRACKS
                          

SONGS FROM THE SOUNDTRACK OF "A WOMAN'S CASE"    

    
01. Open Up Your Eyes    2:51
02. Song From The Sea    2:18
03. Pictures In My Mind    1:54
04. Comics    3:48
05. Where You're Gone    3:21
06. Strangulation    2:18
07. Straight People    3:51
08. Subsequent Final    6:17
09. So Alone Today    3:35
10. Debka   4:46
Producer, Written-By – Noam Sheriff

BONUS TRACKS        

    
11. Living Loving   2:36
Written-By – Page, Plant
12. Signs Of You    5:04
Written-By – Triebich, Romano
13. She's A Woman  4:00 
Written-By – Lennon-McCartney
14. Sunshine Man   3:17

LINE - UP

Bass, Vocals, Producer [Assistance] – Michael Gabriellov
Drums – Amy Triebitch
Guitar, Mandolin, Vocals – Haim Romano
Guitar, Vocals – Rob Huxley
Vocals, Producer – Stan Solomon
Written-By – Huxley (tracks: 1 to 10, 14), Solomon (tracks: 1 to 4, 6, 7, 9, 10)

NOTES

Recorded at Kolonor Studios, Tel Aviv, Israel 1968
Origianlly released in 1969 on LP: Hed-Arzi BAN-14106

Flac Size: 319 MB