Remember the Sutherland Brothers & Quiver?

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Iain Sutherland is second from R

Iain Sutherland and Gavin Sutherland were brothers, who hailed from Aberdeenshire, Scotland. In 1972, while in their twenties, they earned a recording contract as a folk group, the Sutherland Brothers Band, with Iain on vocals, guitar and keyboards. After only modest success, including the release of a Gavin Sutherland composition, “Sailing,” they combined with a local rock band, Quiver, and billed themselves as the Sutherland Brothers & Quiver.

The group immediately earned minor success with the Iain Sutherland composition, “(I Don’t Want to Love You But) You Got Me Anyway,” which reached #48 on the Hot 100 in 1973.

Related: The biggest radio hits of 1973

In 1975, Rod Stewart recorded their song, “Sailing,” to enormous international success, including four weeks at #1 in the U.K.

The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver continued to record, and earned acclaim with such songs as 1976’s “Arms of Mary,” a #5 U.K. hit, but true success evaded them.

Several of Quiver’s members went on to bigger things: Tim Renwick became Al Stewart’s lead guitarist, and Bruce Thomas became Elvis Costello’s bass guitarist in the Attractions. Willie Wilson drummed on David Gilmour’s first solo album and worked briefly with Pink Floyd.

After the group disbanded, Iain Sutherland, born on November 17, 1948, released several solo albums. Many of his songs have been recorded by other artists. He died at age 71 on November 25, 2019. His death, following an undisclosed illness, was revealed on his Facebook page.

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7 Comments so far

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  1. Dogtired93
    #1 Dogtired93 29 November, 2019, 18:59

    Canadian rock band Chilliwack reached no67 on billboard in 1978 with Arms of Mary

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  2. colmac
    #2 colmac 27 November, 2020, 04:59

    Thank you for including this item about Sutherland Bros and Quiver. They deserve to be remembered.

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    • LowPlainsGrifter
      LowPlainsGrifter 26 November, 2023, 00:15

      I sure do remember
      The SUTHERLAND
      BROTHERS and
      QUIVER
      Their wonderful
      back to back releases
      Lifeboat & Dream Kid
      in the early 1970’s on
      the Island record label
      were magical sounding
      to this listener’s young ears,and I still own them
      and play them,
      as well as know the lyrics still to this day.

      Reply this comment
      • 9ballnan
        9ballnan 19 June, 2024, 01:09

        Yes, agreed on your comments for those albums, as well as the rest of them, really. Here in the US, I had to buy them all as imports. It’s a shame they never truly made it to be more widely recognized as the true talents they were. RIP Iain, and carry on Gavin, you still sound good!

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  3. amsterdammike
    #3 amsterdammike 20 June, 2021, 02:38

    Saw Quiver at Selwyn College in 1972. And a fine evening it was too.

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    • chuck
      chuck 26 November, 2022, 07:14

      Sutherland Brothers and Quiver toured in 1974 with Elton John in support of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” They played Dayton, Ohio at the University of Dayton arena

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    • Django Foo
      Django Foo 26 November, 2022, 10:50

      Quiver guitarist Cal Batchelor moved back to B.C. and released several very good discs. Sadly he passed away in Dec. 2015

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