Jack the Lad were a British folk rock group from North East England formed in 1973 by three former members of the most successful band of the period from the region, Lindisfarne.
[2] They had originally thought of calling themselves the Corvettes, but decided it would make them sound too much like a rock 'n' roll revival outfit, and instead took their name from a phrase that Status Quo had used when they and Lindisfarne were touring Australia together earlier that year.
[3] While Lindisfarne without them had become a harder rocking outfit, Jack the Lad retained much of the folksy spirit, warmth and good humour of the original group.
)[4] Neither charted, though they received positive reviews for their records and live performances which began to gain a reputation for outlandish entertainment.
[5] Clements left in late 1974 and was replaced by two former members of northern folk rock band Hedgehog Pie, Ian 'Walter' Fairbairn (guitar, mandolin, violin, banjo, vocals) and Phil Murray (bass, vocals), which inevitably, together with the loss of a main songwriter, gave the band a much more traditional focus.
The third album Rough Diamonds, which also featured musical and artistic contributions from Lindisfarne's Ray Jackson, and the single 'Gentleman Soldier' (both 1975), were both produced by Fairport Convention stalwart Simon Nicol.
Following this in 1993 Jack The Lad re-formed in as both the original band running side-by-side with their Lindisfarne commitments, and as a festival act which included Mitchell, Fairburn and Murray.
[6] Jack the Lad were one example of the music scene that flourished in the North-east of England in the late 1960s and early 1970s producing acts such as Animals, Lindisfarne and Hedgehog Pie.