songs written by Cole. The tracks on these albums were included on a two-disc anthology, Velvet Mountain (Eclectic/Cherry Red), issued in 2013. Cochise folded in 1972, but through it Cole came into contact with a wide range of active and high-profile musicians, including Andy Fairweather Low and Steve Marriott. He went on to carry out recording sessions with all of them, but his breakthrough moment came in 1971, when he played steel guitar on Elton John's "Tiny Dancer", included on the album Madman Across the Water. 1970s Throughout the 1970s, Cole was greatly in demand as a session musician, appearing with artists including: Humble Pie (Cole played on three of their albums, including Eat It of 1973), Roger Daltrey (Daltrey, 1973), Man (Christmas at the Patti, 1973), Kiki Dee (Loving & Free, 1973, and I’ve Got the Music In Me, 1974), Procol Harum (Exotic Birds and Fruit, 1974), T. Rex (Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow, 1974), the Walker Brothers (No Regrets, 1975), Uriah Heep (Return to Fantasy, 1975), Andy Fairweather Low (La Booga Rooga, 1975, including "Wide Eyed and Legless"), Joan Armatrading ("Down to Zero", 1976), Roy Harper ("One of Those Days in England", 1977), Gerry Rafferty (City to City, 1978), and Cat Stevens (Back to Earth, 1978). Cow Pie Records and the Hank Wangford Band In 1976, Cole went to America for the first time, and returned to England full of excitement and enthusiasm about the music he had heard. His contacts at United Artists – who had signed Cochise – suggested he start a record label to encourage British country artists, and the result was Cow Pie, founded in 1977. Records issued by the label included Nancy Peppers’ Leaving for Better Times (1978). Cole's search for new British country performers brought him into contact with the singer-songwriter Hank Wangford (the stage name of Dr Sam Hutt), and in 1980 Cow Pie Records issued Wangford's first album, Cowboys Stay on Longer, featuring Cole on pedal steel as well as various friends and fellow musicians including guitarist Andy Roberts and singer Melanie Harrold. Around the same time, Cole (given the stage name ‘Manley Footwear’) was a founder member of the Hank Wangford Band, which Roberts and Harrold joined. The band proved very popular, performing regularly at gigs and festivals. Cole remained a member until 1983, around a year after the demise of Cow Pie. He rejoined Hank's