The Birds
Formed in West Drayton, Middlesex, England in 1964. Ali McKenzie (vocals), Tony Munroe (guitar/vocals), Ron Wood(guitar/vocals), Kim Gardner (bass/vocals) and Pete McDaniels (drums) were originally known as the Thunderbirds, but truncated their name to avoid confusion with Chris Farlowe's backing group. One of the era's most powerful R&B groups, the Birds' legacy is confined to a mere four singles, but the excitement displayed on Leaving Here and No Good Without You Baby (both 1965), show their reputation is deserved. However, the group is better-known for a scurrilous publicity stunt wherein seven writs were served on the American Byrds, demanding they change their name and claiming loss of income. The US group naturally ignored the charges and the UK unit was latterly known as Birds's Birds. They broke up in October 1966 when Gardner joined Creation. Wood was also a member of this seminal pop-art unit in between his two spells with the Jeff BeckGroup. Gardner achieved momentary fame in the '70s with Ashton, Gardner And Dyke and Badger, but it was Wood who enjoyed the greater profile, firstly with the Faces and latterly the The Rolling Stones.