High Tide was founded in 1969 by guitarist Tony Hill, violinist Simon House, bassist Peter Pavli and drummer Roger Hadden. The band quickly landed a record deal and recorded their first album for Liberty at Olympic-Studios (with sound engineer George Chkiantz) that very same year. With their unusual combination of hard-hitting psychedelic rock from Tony Hill’s extremely distorted fuzz guitar and an electrically amplified violin, masterfully played by Simon House, they were truly unique at the time. Powerful and superbly accompanied by bass and drums, House proves that the electrically amplified violin is every bit as good as the guitar as an aggressive rock instrument.

Thanks to their debut album Sea Shanties, the band is now regarded as one of the most important underground hard rock bands from the UK and as a highly influential group, even though they never achieved great commercial success. Their sound is sometimes described as one of the first examples of heavy metal and even prog metal. However, the rare „Blue Liberty“ LP, with a cover design by Paul Whitehead, sank without a trace at the time and remains an overlooked gem to this day. But one that is extremely sought after by collectors, especially in the heavy and hard rock scene, due to the radical nature and uniqueness of the music. The power quartet afterwards released just one more, self-titled album before disbanding at the end of 1970.