Keith West is the legendary lead singer, songwriter and front man of several ground-breaking bands, including the 60s seminal band Tomorrow. Indeed, Tomorrow and Keith West were at the forefront of the psychedelic rock movement, along with Pink Floyd and Soft Machine.
After the demise of Tomorrow, Keith went on to have a huge career as a solo artist selling over 10 million records and winning an Ivor Novello award for songwriting. His album “Wherever My Love Goes”, featured writing partner Ken Burgess and steel guitarist Glen Ross Campbell (formerly of The Misunderstood) with Andrew Oldham producing two of the tracks. By the mid 1970s, Keith became the lead singer of Moondance, which featured John Welder (formerly of Family), Chico Greenwood, (later to perform with Murray Head) and Bruce Thomas.
More recently, Keith has been performing once again, and The Keith West Band have played a number of sold-out shows at the well-known music venue The Bull’s Head, in Barnes in West London. Keith has even dusted off My White Bicycle... In October 2021, The Keith West Band played a triumphant gig at the Temple of Arts and Music in London, with more shows now being planned.
Also in 2021, the fascinating and incredible life story of Keith West came out in the book “Thinking About Tomorrow”.
Here’s an excerpt…
One question that is often asked is: what does a former pop star, songwriter, and musician do 40 or 50 years after their major hits? Keith turned 75 at the end of 2019, but there is a surprising amount of income still being generated from his best-known songs. As he says, ‘I’m still receiving royalties because the companies that I signed to, they’ve all gone to Sony now. Warner Brothers own the master rights, and Sony ATV own the publishing. Therefore, it’s all done professionally.
‘Some artists that have written stuff with small publishing companies that have gone bust, they never get their money. It’s a disaster. I’ve got no complaints, looking back. I have had some terrible deals, but I’m still receiving income.
‘It was all with EMI and Robbins Music, but EMI got sold. So that’s good, for me. I know the guys at Warners, and they’re fans of Tomorrow and our stuff. Actually, the MD of the company wrote me a lovely letter, because I said to him, ‘Where are my royalties?’ [There was a pause in payments during the sale of EMI, understandably.]
‘He wrote me a lovely letter saying, ‘Oh, you’re going to get them. Don’t worry. I’m going to put you in touch with somebody in the UK, and they’ll be sorting it all out. By the way, we’re big fans of your work with Steve in Tomorrow.’ A nice touch in the digital, paperless world we find ourselves in today.’
Thinking About Tomorrow.
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