Chicory Tip – Son of my Father

Chicory Tip

Chicory Tip is a British pop group from Maidstone, Kent, originally comprising; vocalist Peter Hewson (born 1 September 1945, in Gillingham); guitarist Rick Foster (born Richard Foster 7 July 1946); bass guitarist Barry Mayger (born 1 June 1946, Maidstone); drummer Brian Shearer (born 4 May 1951, Lewisham, South East London); and guitarist and keyboard player Rod Cloutt (born Roderick Cloutt, 26 January 1949, Gillingham). Chicory Tiponly released a few records in the US, and their name was shortened to just Chicory for the US market. The band formed in 1967, their name having been chosen by Barry Mayger who saw a coffee bottle (probably Camp Coffee) that reminded him of chicory, and they were signed to CBS Records. The first few singles flopped, although “Excuse Me Baby” in 1971 secured the band its first appearance on the BBC Television pop music programme, Top of the Pops. The group’s finest moment came after studio manager Roger Easterby came across an advance copy of “Son of my Father”, a song written by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. Convinced of its potential, he secured the option to rush record the group’s own cover version in competition with the original. The result was a Number One hit in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in February 1972. It was one of the first hit singles to prominently feature a Moog synthesizer (in this case played by studio engineer and record producer, Chris Thomas).[1] It sold over one million copies by July 1972, and was awarded a gold disc.

Son of my Father

Mama said to me
we gotta have your life run right
Off you got to school
where you can learn the rules there right
Be just like your dad lad
Follow in the same tradition
Never go astray and stay an honest lovin’ son

Son of my father
Moulded, I was folded, I was preform-packed
Son of my father
Commanded, I was branded in a plastic vac’
Surrounded and confounded by statistic facts

(Instrumental)

Tried to let me in
but I jumped out of my skin in time
I saw through the lies
and read the alibi signs
So I left my home I’m really on my own at last
Left the trodden path
and separated from the past

Son of my father
Changing, rearranging into someone new
Son of my father
Collecting and selecting independant views
Knowing and I’m showing that a change is due.

Son of my father
moulded, I was folded, I was preform-packed
Son of my father
Commanded, I was branded in a plastic vac’
Surrounded and confounded by statistic facts

Chicory Tip – Son of my Father 1972