into Mott the Hoople. 1973-1974 After Ian "Ernie" Williams left Sam Gamgee, Chesh, Kelvin and Tic joined forces with the remnants of Karakorum (a well-respected Hereford progressive rock band), James Williams (guitar & vocals), Richard Edwards (guitar) and Martin Chambers (drums) (later of the Pretenders) to form Karakorum Mk III, which lasted only briefly. Chesh then joined up with CRL as lead guitarist and vocalist as well as becoming the third songwriter in the band, while Martin and Kelvin hooked up with Verden Allen, Mott The Hoople's recently departed organist, to form Cheeks, the line up of which was completed by James Honeyman-Scott (also later of The Pretenders). During this period CRL played gigs locally and increasingly worked further a field in the Midlands and occasionally London. The regular rehearsal venue was Will and Mike's old school at Tupsley where the headmaster Wally Davies, whose house was on the school site, stoically put up with highly amplified music three nights a week. CRL with the six piece line up, then recorded more demos at Pathway Studios in London. From these four songs, Soft Spot Rest and Something are included on Better Late than Never. Helen Hardy also provided backing vocals on the Pathway sessions. Helen had moved from Dorset to Hereford in 1972 and started singing with another local band, Helen Heavens, also featuring Chesh on lead guitar. CRL by then used the same rehearsal space in Hereford - Norman Rose's Bridge Street Studios. Despite interest from various record companies CRL remained unsigned. Their most notable gig of this period was the Windsor Free Festival where Pete Farndon roadied and the CRL set on the main stage was played to the accompaniment of police helicopters buzzing the running skirmishes between the police and the hippies. 1974-1976 In the summer of 1974 Mike and Griff after some soul searching left CRL to go to Reading University and Sussex University respectively, although Mike continued to contribute lyrics for Phil's melodies for the next few years. The obvious choice for replacement bass player was Pete Farndon who, after playing with Phil in Carcass and hanging out on the London and Hereford scene, had been inspired to take up playing bass again after seeing both Thin Lizzy and the Sensational Alex Harvey Band at Malvern Winter Gardens. Consequently, his choice of bass was a Rickenbacker. Pete was playing in a band with Tic and