DORIS BRENDEL

The Violet Hour ''The Fire Sermon'' 1991

Doris Brendel's first seminal album with The Violet Hour. Released by Sony in 1991, The Fire Sermon was produced by Pete Brown. The music proved very hard to define – a mixture of progressive rock, pop rock, containing folk influences especially with the proliferation of Doris B.’s flageolet; reminiscent of the psychedelia of the 60s, the pomp of the 70s and 80s, yet descibed by many as being ahead of it’s time. Loosely compared to All About Eve, TVH toured with Marillion extensively in 1991 and gained a small following across Europe.

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Musical and personal differences prompted the split of the band, which is why this album was their only release.

With a resurgence of interest, the 'The Fire Sermon' was re-released in 2009 including the B-sides of the singles and is exclusively available from Sky-Rocket Records.

Doris Brendel ''If'' Recordings - 1992-3

Following her departure from the the Violet Hour, Doris Brendel had written many songs which were recorded once again with Pete Brown in demo format and were not released at the time.

Again hard to define, the 20 tracks include funk, rock, blues, jazz and folk with a large element of progressive pop. Featuring musicians Sam Brown, Alvin Lee, Joe Brown, Neil Conti, Herbie Flowers and Kevin Robinson (trumpet player from Incognito), among many others, the songs have been remixed and released for the first time in 2009.

Doris Brendel ''Acoustic'' Recordings - 1993-4

This marked a period of Doris B. going back to her roots – the acoustic scene. Though this time she wasn’t alone. Using a selection of wonderful singers, she embarked upon a series of a capello concerts and with acoustic guitar; sometimes with double bass and percussion too.

The Acoustic CD was once again recorded by Pete Brown and was set down live in Joe Brown's studio. The outfit featured regularly at the Borderline and the Jazz Café in London and on GLR radio with live sessions.

Though the record companies were intrigued by the project, they didn't know how to categorise and consequently market it.

Holy Cow - 1994-6

A project funded by Russ Conway from Polygram, Holy Cow was set to be a rock project and included to Geordie musicians, Davy Patton who had played in Hellenbach and a very talented bass player, Paul Kirkham. Together with drummer Richard Newman (Sam Brown, Rory Gallagher, Steve Marriott) they formed Holy Cow and produced one 7-track CD financed, though not signed, by Polygram.

Further demos ensued, 4 tracks of which have been remixed and added as bonus tracks on 2009 release.

1996-97

Several dance projects arranged by producer and manager John Brand (manager of stereophonics and producer of the Cult, Waterboys, Bros & many more). This inlcuded the piano house hit JJ Tribute (Ashah), which she then went on to front in clubs around the country having signed a deal with London records.

This was closely followed by a deal with Virgin for another dance project (Kyra – Easy to Love).

DB ''Driving'' - 2003

After years of session work Doris Brendel collaborated with guitarist and producer Dave Beeson, to write and record a series of songs. Their shared initials became the title of the ‘band’.

As they were both very busy with other projects there was no pressure or direction – just creativity. This produced an album of mixed genres yet held together by Brendels distinctive voice.

1996-2009 (in between projects)

Everyone has to earn some money and Doris B. was not short of offers for covers bands and session work. Various bands were joined, either temporarily or full time including Buzz, Planet Funk, Sister Act, Ladykillers and lastly the Bet Lynch Experience AKA Treacle who became the busiest party band in the UK. This latter band played so many gigs (1400 in 7 years) that they decided to take a year out from April 2009.

2010 Doris Brendel ''The Last Adventure''

After spending so many years on the road, the band decided to take a year out, and this saw the perfect opportunity for a new album project, resulting in the Last Adventure. Using many musicians Doris had worked with over previous years, including the welcome return of some of the singers from the acoustic album along with some new voices, and once again produced by Dave Beeson, the Last Adventure has become a highly valued addition to rock lovers' CD collections. Eclectic, live, retro yet original.

2012 Doris Brendel and Lee Dunham ''Not Utopia'

'Not Utopia' marks the first album produced by long-term band mate Lee Dunham, and the start of a long-term musical collaboration. Released in July 2012, 'Not Utopia' is highly experimental and very much a studio project. Eclectic as ever, songs and instrumentation are varied with plenty of prog elements to please all musos.

2015 Doris Brendel and Lee Dunham ''Upside Down World'

The long awaited album 'Upside Down World' hit the shelves on 20th April 2015. Reviewers hailed it as her best album yet and is the first album since 'the Violet Hour' to be released on vinyl. Lee Dunham's production is stunning and features an array of styles and instrumentation. As ever, a highly eclectic album, with a reviewer hailed as the new 'White Album'.

2017 Doris Brendel and Lee Dunham ''Eclectica''

Following in the footsteps of the previous album, Eclectica is a wonderfully diverse, progressive collection of songs and instrumental passages spanning and incorporating numerous styles. This album co-incided with major tours with Wishbone Ash and Fish.

2018 Doris Brendel and Lee Dunham ''Live at the Borderline''

This CD, released in 2018, features all of the Eclectica tracks played live at the Borderline in London in May 2017 for the album launch party. It’s the only time the band have played all tracks of the album live!

‘Live at the Borderline’ is the first in a series of 3 live albums, one of which will also be a DVD. All 3 albums feature specially commissioned artwork by Ian Foxon, which will form a bigger picture when put together.

2018 Doris Brendel and Lee Dunham ''Live DVD 2016''

The Live DVD 2016 is the bands’ first video offering and features mobile phone footage from their Autumn/ Winter 2016 UK tour with Wishbone Ash. The tour narrowly precedes the Eclectica album release in 2017 and features Lee Dunham, Sam White, Lincoln Spalding and Pete Davies. The DVD also includes a Q&A extras section with Lee and Doris.

‘Live DVD 2016’ is the second in a series of 3 live albums, with this one being the only DVD. All 3 albums feature specially commissioned artwork by Ian Foxon, which will form a bigger picture when put together.

2019 Doris Brendel and Lee Dunham ''Live in Hamburg Uncut''

This CD features the whole support set of Doris Brendel and her band taken from the Wishbone Ash tour January 2018 at the Fabrik in Hamburg. Translation of the German chat is included on the inside cover!

This is the 3rd in a series of collectors limited edition Live albums and only available on this site. This CD also includes a line drawing of all 3 Live covers.

2019 Doris Brendel ''Imaginary World''

Imaginary World is an acoustic side project for Doris Brendel. It contains 10 specially written acoustic guitar songs played and recorded by the artist herself and mixed by Jordan Brown. This album is exclusive to this website. Release date 2nd December 2019.

2020 Doris Brendel and Lee Dunham ''Mass Hysteria''

This album is Brendel & Dunham's 4th joint venture and was released 1st Sept 2020. 'Mass Hysteria' was mixed by John Mitchell (Lonely Robot) and available on Vinyl, CD which includes 3 bonus tracks, limited edition presentation box and download.

2020 Doris Brendel ''Glass House''

This is the 2nd instalment of Doris Brendel's acoustic albums. It contains 10 specially written guitar and piano songs played and recorded by the artist herself and mixed by Jordan Brown. This album is exclusive to this website. Release date 28th December 2020.

2021 Doris Brendel ''Mirror Mirror''

Mirror Mirror is Doris Brendel's third home recorded album featuring a mixture of songs from the whistful to the absurd. Once again the 10 songs are played and recorded by the artist herself and mixed by Jordan Brown. This album is exclusive to this website. Release date 1st November 2021.

2022 Doris Brendel ''Star Bright''

This is Brendel's 4th home recorded 'acoustic' album and her first ever concept album. 10 human stories in a celestial setting and set to music. Once again guitars, piano and vocals are recorded by the artist with additional instrumentation and production by Jordan Brown. This album is exclusive to this website. Release May 2022.

2023 Doris Brendel ''Facade''

Facade is Doris Brendel's 5th home recorded album and her second concept album. The theme is appearance and how what we wear can reveal, The 10 songs are played and recorded by the artist herself and produced by Chris Tortoioli. This album is exclusive to this website. Release date 1st June 2023.

2023 Doris Brendel & Lee Dunham ''Pigs Might Fly''

This album is Brendel & Dunham's 5th joint venture and with a release date of 11th September 2023. 'Pigs Might Fly' was mastered by John Mitchell (Lonely Robot) and is available on Vinyl, CD which includes 3 bonus tracks, limited edition presentation box and download.