(ProgRock) Jim Pembroke - Pigworm (1974) (Wigwam) Finland - 1974, FLAC (tracks)

Originally from London's northern suburbs, Jim Pembroke (b. 27.1.1946) arrived in Finland for the first time in April 1965. Pembroke, a qualified designer, came to see his Finnish girlfriend whom he had met in England. The visit would last longer than he expected.

Back in England Pembroke, a devoted rhythm and blues enthusiast, had been singing in the Runaways and the Taverner's Guild. In his girlfriend's home town, Varkaus, he soon came across Finnish pop musicians, and manager Jorma Weneskoski, who scented the money that could be made with this British boy in a country overwhelmed by the Renegades (a Birmingham band who operated in Finland) craze. Pembroke performed a few songs in the Boys' (a popular Finnish band) Varkaus gig, and ended up on the books of Weneskoski's agency. He toured summer 1965 with the Beatmakers (another Finnish band, later named Jormas after Weneskoski!), singing a couple of pieces a night as second vocalist. His first single If You Need Me/Say Yeah was recorded with the Boys as the backing-group.

In late 1965 a band called the Pems were formed around Pembroke, featuring in their changing line-ups, among others, guitarist Hasse Walli, drummer Ronnie Österberg, and bassist Måns Groundstroem. The Pems were a starting point for Pembroke's and Österberg's musical partnership which lasted for 15 years, almost without a break. With the Pems Pembroke recorded in 1966 a single I Don't Mind, I Got Mine/Anyday which was the first to consist of his own compositions. In autumn 1966 the Pems split up and Pembroke returned to England.

In early 1967 Pembroke came back to Finland, joining Blues Section, who were then being formed, as a vocalist. He also wrote a large part of the band's recorded songs. After leaving the band in spring 1968, Pembroke worked at the Love Records office, until he joined Wigwam in early 1969. In autumn 1969 Wigwam played in the Svenska Teatern's (Helsinki Swedish Theatre) Hair musical in which Pembroke had a minor role. He also composed music for the film Kesäkapina (Summer Rebellion), directed by Jaakko Pakkasvirta, which was premiered in January 1970.

Although Wigwam were a beloved band for Pembroke, he had no chance to fully realise all his ideas when recording in a band context. During the Wigwam years Pembroke released three solo albums, the first one, Wicked Ivory, being released under the pseudonym Hot Thumbs O'Riley in summer 1972. Using a pseudonym gave the sense of freedom Pembroke felt he needed in order to achieve this versatile work. ("Hot Thumbs" comes from Pembroke's piano technique which he then thought was defective). Wicked Ivory features Wigwam members Ronnie Österberg, Mats Hulden, Pekka Pohjola, Måns Groundstroem and Jukka Gustavson as the backing-group. The album is like a live broadcast from some club with announcer and murmur of voices, each piece being sung by an extraordinary character but all performed by Pembroke.

The second solo album, Pigworm, was issued in spring 1974. Again, the album features the Wigwam line-up (Gustavson, Pohjola, Groundstroem, Rekku Rechardt), supported by a horn section. In terms of the form and contents, Pigworm is more conventional than Wicked Ivory, and in its time the album was received with a slight disappointment. However, the strong melodies and tasteful arrangements are of such a timeless quality that it is wrong to regard the album as any kind of a flop.

In spring 1977 Pembroke released his next album, Corporal Cauliflowers Mental Function, which like Pigworm was produced by Groundstroem and Österberg. This time the cast consisted of Österberg, Rechardt and Hessu Hietanen (on one track only) of Wigwam, bassist Paavo Maijanen, Swedish guitarist Coste Apetrea, saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen, in addition to whom a horn section was used. Corporal Cauliflower... features Pembroke at his finest. The album combines the best parts of his previous works even with excellent sounds. Despite critical acclaim, like the other albums, this record didn't become a commercial success. In fact, Virgin, to whom Wigwam and Pembroke were signed in the UK, refused to release the album as they wanted a Wigwam album for the British market.

Often featuring humorous elements, Pembroke's solo albums appear more relaxed and easy-going than Wigwam albums. However, they were played for the most part by the Wigwam personnel and the band also performed many of Pembroke's solo songs in their concerts. In the early days of Wigwam Pembroke often felt a bit of an outsider on stage because, while Gustavson and Pohjola played their long solos, he had little to do but wait in the wings doing practically nothing. With his own songs Pembroke could stand out more, and after beginning to play electric piano on gigs, became more self-confident in his performance.

Prolific Pembroke was involved in numerous other artists' records even during the Wigwam days. As instrumentalist he can be heard on e.g. Kaseva's (a pop band) and Tabula Rasa's (a prog-rock band) debute albums, and as singer on, amongst others, Otto Donner's album. He composed music and/or wrote lyrics for Maarit, Anki (female singers), and Kalevala (another prog-rock band), amongst others.

When Wigwam activities began to die down in spring 1977, Pembroke tried to co-operate with the Royals (a rock band) for some time. In 1978 he began to write lyrics and songs for the Hurriganes (a very popular rock'n'roll band), even acting as piano player on the band's gigs. In the same year Pembroke and Mike Westhues, an American born singer/songwriter, released a joint single Street Cafe/Jordanian Holiday. Long-term collaboration with soul-influenced singer Kojo began on the album So Mean in 1979, from which point onwards Pembroke composed songs for several Kojo LP's.

In summer 1979 Pembroke formed a band for his solo album, which included Österberg, Hasse Walli, and Make Lievonen on bass. The group only performed a few gigs and released a single, Hard Top Lincoln/Golden Days, before splitting up. However, the single aroused interest at United Artists, so Pembroke formed a new band, featuring Österberg, Mats Hulden, and guitarists Olli Haavisto, Timo Vakkilainen and Petteri Salminen. The group was nearly called Wigwam, but finally the name Jim Pembroke Band was adopted. In May 1980 the album Flat Broke was released, the music resembling Pembroke's earlier solo works. In the summer the band toured Finland and Sweden but soon broke up due to minimal success. In early 1981 Pembroke formed Jimbo featuring Hulden, Jukka Orma on guitar, and Affe Forsman on drums. In summer 1981 Pembroke released Party Upstairs, his fourth solo album, the atmosphere of which was affected by the sudden death of his friend, Ronnie Österberg, and his hero, John Lennon. Pembroke and Orma perform most tracks by themselves with Pedro Hietanen playing accordion on a few songs. Jimbo's only single 4 Million Telephones was released in autumn 1981. The band split up after Jukka Orma moved to Hassisen Kone (a popular new wave band). Later in the eighties Pembroke has bands called the Surfin' Pumpkins and Filthy Rich.

In the early eighties Pembroke gained attention with his compositions winning the Finnish national qualifying rounds for the Eurovision song contest for two successive years. Neither Reggae O.K., sung by Riki Sorsa in 1981, or Nuku pommiin (Bomb Out) by Kojo in 1982 enjoyed much success in the final contest, but Reggae O.K. became a minor hit in Central Europe, and Pembroke continued collaborating with Riki Sorsa, writing songs for several of his records. Pembroke has also regularly collaborated, as singer and songwriter, on Pedro's Heavy Gentlemen's (Wigwam's ex-keyboardist Hietanen's group) albums ever since their debut in 1980. Sung by Pembroke, Matushka - Mother became a minor national hit in 1983. In the mid-eighties Pembroke gave duo gigs with Kojo, and in 1985 they recorded a Finnish-language album Bee tai Pop. During the eighties Jim also made music for tv-films.

In 1990 Pembroke and Rekku Rechardt returned to some Wigwam pieces on their duo gigs (some of which were as far away as the USA). They also played with drummer Jan Noponen in the Royal Philharmonics (!) who backed female singer Heinäsirkka, until the group developed into the new Wigwam in summer 1991. After Wigwam activities once again faded, Pembroke continued gigging as a duo with Rechardt and performing in Remu's (ex-Hurriganes drummer/vocalist) band.

In 1995 Pembroke moved to Kansas City, USA, and worked with local musicians there. He visited Finland a couple of times during the late 1990s, giving various concerts such as with Pedro's Heavy Gentlemen and the re-formed Blues Section.

The beginning of the third millennium saw Wigwam reviving again. This was further facilitated by Jim's return to Europe with his wife Cady, found from Kansas City. They first settled in Bournemouth, England, in autumn 2000, then moved to Helsinki, Finland, in the summer of 2002.

- - Mikko Meriläinen (English translation of the original 1998 text checked by Mark Jones)