to be commissioned to write and record music for stage production of Shakespeare's The Tempest at the National Theatre in London, directed by Peter Hall. It opened at The Old Vic in April 1974, the same month as the album's release. Gryphon's music for the play inspired the direction of Midnight Mushrumps named after a phrase mentioned in the play. Following the successful premiere of the play and acclaim for its music, Lewis arranged for Gryphon to perform at The Old Vic in July 1974, the first concert at the venue by a rock band. A month following their success at The Old Vic, the band recorded their third album, Red Queen to Gryphon Three. The album marked a reduction in the use of non-standard instruments. By this time they had swapped Wright for a new manager, Brian Lane, who also managed Yes. Former Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman, also a student at the Royal College of Music, had introduced the band to Lane and suggested they be signed to an American label. Released in December 1974, the album was their first released in the US, through Bell Records. Gryphon toured the album across the US, Canada, and the UK as the opening act for Yes between November 1974 and May 1975 (with bass guitarist/flute player Malcolm Bennett replacing Philip Nestor). The tour was a breakthrough for the group, performing in large venues and crowds nationwide and joining Yes on stage for some encores. Following Gryphon's fourth album, 1975's Raindance (which featured far more song material and David Oberlé beginning to concentrate on singing as well as drumming), Malcolm Bennett and Graeme Taylor both left the band and went on to form Precious Little, which Taylor hoped would be "a British beat combo with the improvisational freedom of The (Grateful) Dead." Taylor and Bennett were replaced on guitars and bass by Bob Foster and Jonathan Davie respectively, with Alex Baird recruited as kit drummer to allow Oberlé to focus fully on singing and lighter percussion. This lineup recorded a fifth, even more rock-oriented album, Treason, which was released on Harvest Records in 1977. Gryphon split up later in 1977, after the release of Treason, due to the band members feeling that the band's momentum had been lost and that the advent of punk had sidelined their style of music. Another factor was that Richard Harvey's projects outside the band (in folk