Alex Harvey (5 February 1935 – 4 February 1982) was a Scottish rock musician. With The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, he built a reputation as an exciting live performer during the 1970s glam rock era
Harvey was born in 1935 in the Kinning Park district of Glasgow, Scotland, a working-class neighborhood, where he spent his childhood and youth.[2] By his own account, he worked in a number of jobs, from carpentry to waiting tables at a restaurant to carving tombstones, before finding success in music. He first began performing in skiffle groups in 1954.
His musical roots were in Dixieland jazz and skiffle music, which enjoyed considerable popularity in England and Scotland during the late 1950s. From 1958-1965, he was the leader of Alex Harvey's Big Soul Band, playing blues and rock and roll songs and spending considerable time touring in the United Kingdom and Germany. He also won a competition that sought "Scotland's answer to Tommy Steele." Harvey became strongly identified with British rhythm and blues music, although he was equally able to play rock songs.
After leaving the Big Soul Band, he briefly tried for a solo career but with little success. By 1967, he found a positive direction for his career when he became a member of the pit band in the London stage production of the musical Hair. This band recorded the live album Hair Rave Up, which contained Harvey originals and other songs not from the stage show. In 1970 Harvey formed Rock Workshop with Ray Russell; their first, self-titled album contained an early version of "Hole In Her Stocking", later to appear on Framed. Harvey remained with Hair for five years.
Harvey was also instrumental in the formation of the band Stone the Crows by introducing his younger brother, Leslie Harvey, to singer Maggie Bell. Tragically, Les Harvey was electrocuted in a freak accident while performing with the band in 1972.
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