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Formed in 1969 in south London by David Morris (voc, keyb) and John Challenger (sax, ww) and then expanded to include Terry Williams (g), Jeff Watts (b) and Chris Martin (dr, perc), Steel Mill remains one of the most mysterious British bands in the boom of early progressive rock. After various gigs and jam sessions in several London clubs, they recorded five demo acetates in April 1970. The songs impressed Geoff Wilkins from the British music publisher Louvigny Marquee, who not only secured the quintet a six-week gig at the famous Marquee Club, but also recommended the producer John Schroeder. They then signed with Penny Farthing, the newly founded indie label of producer Larry Page. Their first single Green Eyed God unexpectedly reached a remarkable No. 17 in the German singles charts, which was probably the deciding factor in releasing their eponymous debut album, recorded in December 1971, only in Germany. It was launched in 1972 with a cover design by Helmut Wenske.
It remains a mystery to this day why it took three years for their first and only LP to be released in their home country. Of course, the band had long since disbanded due to their lack of success. Still Mill was an extremely talented progressive rock group that played a fantastic mix of guitar-orientated hard and psychedelic rock with elements of folk and ethnic music and a nice balance between heavy and lyrical moments. Nowadays, Green Eyed God is a huge rarity, with collectors sometimes paying over €1,000 for an original German copy.
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