Tomorrow

Tomorrow [click for larger image]

Tomorrow was one of the most innovative of the late 1960s British "psychedelic" groups." Keith West, Steve Howe and John Wood had all been in the In Crowd that had released a few singles while Twink joined from the Fairies.Tomorrow was an exciting live act as the tracks on the compilation, 50 Minute Technicolour Dream testifies. They supported artists such as Jimi Hendrix who even jammed on stage with them at Brian Epstein's Saville Theatre. Pink Floyd had been a major influence on artists such as Twink who saw something different in the improvisation and light shows. Other influences came through Steve Howe's liking for jazz as well as the direction being supplied to everyone by the Beatles and the Byrds. The jazz influences can be heard on one of Tomorrow's earliest tracks, Why? At the same time vocalist Keith West had started writing his own material for the group. Tomorrow's own material started simple but contained different sounds thus making the tracks sound far more complex than they actually were. Drugs such as acid may have played a role in tracks such as Real Life Permanent Dream and Hallucinations.

The group made two singles, one of which, My White Bicycle, is a British psychedelic classic. The other single was Revolution. These didn't make any impact on the record charts, although the group did manage to build up a sizeable underground following. One of the group's earlier champions was the late and much missed John Peel who played the first single extensively on his Perfumed Garden radio show, on Radio London. He also had a Night Ride session recorded early in 1968 which was broadcast although the tapes were later lost or, in true BBC style, in all probability, erased.

Keith West may be better known as a participant in the Teenage Opera project that gave him a solo hit single Excerpt from a Teenage Opera (Grocer Jack) and brief commercial success. This was part of an idea for all the members of Tomorrow to have parallel solo careers alongside tomorrow. However, the move to work on other projects pulled the group apart with Twink joining the Pretty Things and the Pink Fairies. Poor record sales did not help either.

By spring 1968 the group was no more. Steve Howe later joined Yes.

Tomorrow were:

Keith West/vocals

Steve Howe/guitar

Junior (John Wood)/bass

Twink (John Alder)/drums

The Aquarian Age were:

Junior

Twink

keyboard instruments on all Tomorrow

and Aquarian Age tracks: Mark Wirtz

Keith West tracks feature