Bedouin's Beginnings. . .

The first half of the 90's was something of a golden era for Hawkwind, with a high standard of musical output and opportunities to release lots of material. One of the main elements of their success was Alan Davey's input on bass and increasingly on keyboards and wave sequencing. This fitted in well with Hawkwind's growing emphasis on synths and sequencers, which enabled them to have a full sound live even as a three-piece.

The Band Forms. . .

By this time, however, Alan was finding that the very tightness of rhythm achievable through sequencers and recording technology was starting to restrict his playing, and he began to feel the need for a format in which he could rock more freely. So in late '96 he decided to put his own band together and leave Hawkwind, and recruited his old bandmate Danny Thompson as drummer.Since Danny's departure from Hawkwind at the end of the 80's, he and Alan had continued to gig together occasionally as a trio with Huw Lloyd-Langton under the name 'Snorkwind', but for a guitarist for this new project Alan turned to Sean Massett from Captain Rizz+, who had supported Hawkwind on 1995's magnificent 'Alien' tour. Alan had also been giving the band a helping hand in the studio.

The First Releases. . .

The second Alan Davey CD, released in 1997, was presented as a group album and named 'Bedouin' in order to to establish the identity of the new band, but despite the inclusion of photos of Danny and Sean in the CD booklet, this was very much a solo album, with Sean guesting on four tracks and Alan taking a cut from Dan's Skinwalker percussion album as the basis for another track. Four of the tracks from Bedouin did however find their way into the new group's live set.

Bedouin . . .

The band made their first public appearance at a festival near Hamburg on 14th June 1997. They continued gigging in Germany, Holland and Belgium, aiming to 'get their foot' in the UK door by means of securing some good reviews on the continent. At this point, the magazine Ardshock (circulation 100,000), featured Alan's first album 'Captured Rotation' as their top CD, which helped Bedouin to get gigs in Europe, and as fanzines back home began to pick up on them the group were able to get some British bookings. Bedouin have always acknowledged their Hawkwind connections, not only on gig posters and with opportunities to play as support band, but also in the content of their set, which has at various times included 'Wings', 'Elric the Enchanter Pt. 2', 'Hassan I Sahba', 'LSD', 'Arioch', 'Sword of the East' and 'Sputnik Stan'. This material, much of which was written or co-written by Ali, sits easily amongst other pieces written specifically for the band, and although Bedouin's style is quite distinct from Hawkwind's, they both share a healthy enthusiasm for improvisation.

Early Influences. . .

The band carried on gigging, and Alan was soon approached by a promoter asking him to form a Motorhead tribute group. Ali was an obvious choice for the job: it was Lemmy's solo on Time We Left This World Today that first inspired him to take up the bass, and Ali's style, whilst very distinct, is clearly greatly influenced by Lemmy. And of course he happened to already have a three-piece at his fingertips; Sean, however, wasn't so keen on the idea....

Changes Afoot . . .

Further trouble was brewing. Sean, sadly, was having some personal problems, and on the eve of a tour was unable to attend rehearsals and suggested they cancel the first two dates. Increasingly concerned that things were likely to get worse rather than better, Alan made the decision to sack him. Alan was now faced with acquiring a new guitarist for the group and the tour at somewhat short notice, and so it was that in September '99 Glenn Povey, an old college friend of Alan's, joined the band on guitar. Glenn was also happy with the tribute band idea, and Bedouin played their first 'Motorhead' tribute gig under the title 'Ace of Spades' on 29th October that year and have continued with it on an occasional basis ever since...

More Problems Encountered. . .

However, there was a more subtle problem lurking. From the start Bedouin had been promoted as "hard rock with Arabic overtones" and as a "psychedelic Motorhead", but even before Sean's departure, Alan had already started to feel concerned that they might be losing some of their distinctive sound and heading towards becoming a straight heavy metal outfit. With Glenn (whose natural style could easily be described '70s rock) finding his feet in the band, and perhaps also the influence of the 'Ace of Spades' sets they were playing, the drift towards a pure metal sound became noticeable live. They needed to get back on course. But there was even more change in the air..

More Changes . . .

At the start of 2000, Bedouin became a four-piece with the addition of Danny 'Bash' Faulkner from Starfield on vocals and size of stage permitting, percussion. The connection had been through Keith Kniveton (author of the essential HW Family Tree '79-'93 in Hawkfan 21 and nowadays an occasional Hawk himself). Keith had bought some equipment from Alani, and Danny had worked with Keith. January also saw the recording of the first 'proper' Bedouin album, entitled 'As Above So Below', with Bash on, or sharing lead vocals. Gigging still continued, but Ali soon felt that Danny's vocals, well suited to the mellower material of Starfield, weren't working out at the volume required by Bedouin's aggressive style. This came particularly into focus during the playback of a gig recorded for possible release as a live CD, and the decision was reluctantly made by Alan to revert to a three-piece.

On the bright side, however, the remaining trio had by now re-established their musical direction. Glenn had found his niche in the material and was starting to make it his own, and this line-up has continued successfully to date... A new CD-R, Live and Beyond, showed the strength of the group on two live cuts plus a raft of solo pieces.

As Above, So Below. . .

Securing a release for the studio CD, however, proved more than frustrating. Hopes were initially high for a deal with the Castle subsidiary Snapper, and when that eventually fell through, a German label called Think Progressive. In the meantime, Alan had re-recorded all the vocals himself, and Simon House added violin to five tracks. Finally, Matthew Bainbridge, son of Harvey, who has done work for Robbie Williams, Steve Hillage and Madonna, did a lot of extra work with Ali on the mixing and production, resulting in a very strong album. Eventually the band decided to release the
CD themselves, choosing the name Salahadin for their label.

Into The Future. . .

Simon House's interest in the group dates from the Hawkestra reunion gig in October 2000, at which Bedouin played a support set, and he's since guested live with them now and again. The Hawkestra crowd enjoyed Bedouin too, and as a consequence they drew a large audience to their gig at the Half Moon, Putney shortly after. The band continued to continue building their profile through playing live, including some Hawkwind supports and special events such as their set at Hawkfest 2002 where they headlined on the opening night. In addition to leading Bedouin, Alan has rejoined Hawkwind, and Danny has guested on a few occasions as second drummer.

Although Alan as noted has produced a lot of ambient music, the band has was not prolific with new Bedouin pieces.

Mention should also be made at this point of some stalwart Bedouin supporters.
Alan Arthurs contributes much wonderful artwork, and also acted as roadie to the band, having previously acted in both these capacities for the mothership, until some family circumstances forced him to come off the road in February '01. Jez Oldfield has since replaced him as roadie. Steve Hibbert has been a great help on merchandising, and Neil Ward and Marie Jenkinson have also been very important supporters, helping with merchandising, copying a number of small-run CD-R releases of Bedouin group and solo material sold at gigs, and operating the lighting as 'Chaos Illumination'. Also many thanks to Andy and Clive Jefferies without which there wouldnt be an "As Above.." as they financed it !

Band profile text adapted with thanks from "More Bass In The Monitor Please" by John Neasel.