Eggs Over Easy - London

London

Recording started at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London, in December 1970, initially with Les Sampson (a friend of Noel Redding who joined him in the band “Road”) on drums. They also played several dates at the American Embassy as a trio. Recording was completed in January 1971, with ex-Animal John Steel on drums. The recordings went well, but Kauff fell out with Cannon Films, and advised the band to stay in London, until the problems were resolved, rather than return to the US.

Chandler arranged for the band to play a number of college gigs around the country. Many of these were sponsored by the American Embassy in London, which paid for the band to tour British universities to perform before larger audiences with American poets such as Marilyn Hacker, Denis Boyles, and Louis Simpson. By then, the band had moved into a house, 10 Alma Street, Kentish Town, near a pub called the Tally Ho. The band were used to playing in American bars, but in common with most London pubs at the time, the Tally Ho had a jazz-only policy. They persuaded the landlord that they played jazz, although their music was predominantly country rock and blues, and first appeared on either 3 May, or 13 May 1971, with Steel on drums. They soon attracted good crowds - including other musicians, such as Graham Parker, Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello - making Eggs the pioneers of the "pub rock" movement. Eventually, they were asked to increase their performances, until they were playing three nights and Sunday lunchtime each week. On other days they often appeared at other venues, such as The Marquee, which is where Dave Robinson, Brinsley Schwarz's manager, had seen them and introduced them to the band.

Eggs over Easy had a large repertoire of over 50 of their own songs, and 50 covers, and were regularly joined on stage by members of Brinsley Schwarz and other performers, such as Loudon Wainwright III and Frankie Miller. One of the former Tally Ho jazz players, Barry Richardson, was so impressed he formed Bees Make Honey, who were also given a Tally Ho residency, alongside a mix of new and existing bands, such as Max Merritt and the Meteors and Brinsley Schwarz.

The number of venues wanting to stage Eggs Over Easy and other "pub-rock" bands was also increasing, primarily in large Victorian pubs “north of Regents Park” where there were plenty of suitable pubs. Eggs over Easy toured a chain of London pubs owned by the brewer Ind Coope, and in September and October 1971 supported John Mayall on a UK tour, with George Butler replacing Steel on drums; "Eggs over Easy's country rock-flavored repertoire offering a fascinating counterpoint to Mayall's then rampant jazz-blues fixation" (Dave Thompson).

Kauff had not managed to resolve the dispute with Cannon Films, so the album remained unreleased, and the band had not secured a contract with a UK record label either. As they were having visa problems, Kauff suggested that they return home, so on 7 November 1971 they played their last gig at the Tally Ho, and went back to the US.