Tony McPhee, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
Anthony Charles McPhee (born 23 March 1944) is an English guitarist, and founder of the blues rock band Groundhogs. An early version of this band backed Champion Jack Dupree and John Lee Hooker on UK concerts in the mid-1960s. He is often credited as 'Tony (T.S.) McPhee'. He was given this name by the producer Mike Vernon who suggested adding 'T.S.' to his name when McPhee released a duet single with Champion Jack Dupree in 1966 called "Get Your Head Happy!, in order to make it look more like an official blues name. It stands for Tough Shit.The Groundhogs evolved into a blues-rock trio that produced three UK Top 10 hits in the UK Albums Chart in the early 1970s. Although they have continued to play in various line-ups to the present day, McPhee officially retired from the band in 2015.Solo album The Two Sides of Tony (T.S.) McPhee was released in 1973. Side A of this record is blues rock and Side B is a single psychedelic art rock electronic composition in four movements, featuring Arp 2600 Synthesizers, Electric Piano and The Rhythm Ace Drum Synthesizer. Entitled The Hunt, it explores McPhee's strong stance against Fox and Stag-Hunting. McPhee has also released many other solo acoustic blues records, as well as duets with Jo Ann Kelly.Apart from the Groundhogs, McPhee has played with Herbal Mixture, the John Dummer Band, Hapshash and the Coloured Coat, Tony McPhee's Terraplane, Tony McPhee's Turbo, the Tony McPhee Band and Current 93.In 2009, McPhee suffered a stroke which affected his speech and ability to sing.McPhee's definitive biography, written by Paul Freestone was published in 2012.