After being fired from Deep Purple following their third LP in July 1969 and a brief stint with the Marsha Hunt Band, bassist Nick Simper formed his own band, Warhorse. The group consisted of Marsha Hunt's backing band with Ashley Holt (voc), Ged Peck (g), Mac Poole (dr) and Frank Wilson (keyb), who replaced the original keyboardist Rick Wakeman. In early 1970, they signed a record deal with Vertigo, Philips' legendary progressive label. The eponymous debut album was released in November with a gatefold cover photographed and designed by Keef. It features progressive hard rock dominated by heavy guitar riffs and powerful organ, understandably very close to early Deep Purple. Despite this earlier connection, the LP did not find many buyers.
Nevertheless, the highly collectible English first pressing on the legendary Vertigo label is a rare and impressive piece of British hard rock history from the early 70s, as is their second album, Red Sea.
