Shagrat was a British supergroup formed by Steve Peregrin Took and Mick Farren in February 1970 after they split with Twink, their partner in the prototype Pink Fairies supergroup of late 1969. They recruited Larry Wallis (guitar, backing vocals) and Tim Taylor (bass), both formerly of The Entire Sioux Nation. Farren left the band shortly after its establishment and never recorded or performed with them (although he gave some press interviews on the formative band's behalf during this time). Shagrat then became Took's band outright with Wallis, Taylor, Phil Lenoir (drums), and later Dave Bidwell (percussion). As well as being an offshoot of the birth of the original Pink Fairies incarnation of 1970–1972, Shagrat set the template for Took's solo/frontman career (into which the band eventually mutated). Shagrat would also prove to be an ancestor of both the 1973 Pink Fairies incarnation which recorded the Kings Of Oblivion album and also the founding Motörhead incarnation which recorded On Parole, in both cases after Farren recommended Wallis, based on his guitar playing with Shagrat, respectively to the Fairies as a guitarist/singer and to Lemmy as a guitarist. Origin of the name The band was named after the Orc Shagrat from The Lord of the Rings and was a contraction of 'Shagrat The Vagrant', the name under which Steve Took had been credited on Mick Farren's album Mona – The Carnivorous Circus. In 1991, Larry Wallis gave an alternative explanation. "'Steve Took' was Steve Took's real name as far as we were concerned, so he decided to take on another persona, 'Shagrat' who was the guy with the slanty eyes, pointed beard and the suede shoes." Interviewed in 1972, Took himself offered yet another explanation: "I am gutter Rock, I'm a schneide. That's why I had Shagrat - it was a rat trip. Rats turn over at an amazing pace and they have a lot of kids. Not only do they eat the poison but they thrive on it and get bigger and they can still slip under doorways. It's the ecology trip. Do you know how many rats were killed in New York last year? 'Cos I don't! Hah! I can't remember my figures." Career At Strawberry Studios in Stockport, they recorded a session, produced by Wallis's father, consisting of three tracks, "Peppermint Flickstick", "Boo! I Said Freeze" and "Steel Abortion". Having been previously scheduled to appear at the May 1970