Q&A ELMER GANTRY

Emerging from the mid-60s homegrown R&B/soul scene, rubbing shoulders with Pink Floyd along the way, Dave Terry (aka Elmer Gantry) and his Velvet Opera embraced the shackle-freeing ‘Summer of Love’ with both arms, transforming Willie Dixon-fixated chops into an undervalued psychedelic gem: Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera. Following on from an overdue three disc retrospective, we caught up with Gantry in reflective form – musing on a storied career.

What was it like being at the centre of a musical awakening?

There was a sense we could do anything. We’d come from a blues