Graham Oliver

Graham Oliver (born 6 July 1952, Mexborough, South Yorkshire) is an English guitarist.

Career

He played with the heavy metal band Saxon from 1977 to 1994. After leaving the band he initially reformed his old band Son of a Bitch with former Saxon bassist Steve Dawson and drummer Pete Gill. SOAB released the largely ignored, album "Victim You" with Thunderhead singer, Ted Bullet.

Bullet left the band, and Gill disappeared after the release of the album. They were replaced by vocalist John Ward and another former member of Saxon, Nigel Durham on drums. Oliver and Dawson changed the name of the band to Oliver-Dawson Saxon, and continue to live up to the legacy of Saxon, playing smaller venues to appreciative crowds.They also undertook a full U.K tour on Ronnie James Dio 'Killing the dragon 'tour. Graham also duetted with Doug Aldrich on 'RAINBOW IN THE DARK'on the last gig at Plymouth. They initially performed under the Saxon name before being halted by legal action taken by the version of Saxon featuring Biff Byford.

Oliver has also released the solo album "End Of An Era", five of the tracks were written and performed by rock indie band Bullrush, for whom Graham' son Paul Oliver plays drums for with Steve Tudberry and Scott Howitt. Also appearing on the album were Pete Gill, Steve Dawson, Kev Moore, Paul Johnson, Phil Hendriks, Richard Spencer ( The Widdler ) from Zephyr and Chris Archer.

Since 2003, Oliver sometimes plays with former Marc Bolan band members who still tour carrying on the T. Rex banner. This opportunity materialised after Graham played "Get It On" with Rolan Bolan at a special show in Bradford. He has also recently gained an endorsement from British guitar company Indie.

As of 2005, he plays in Oliver-Dawson Saxon, Graham also did a session for Tempest rock band)in the U.S.A Graham maintains that the real 'Saxon' would the one that had all the original founding members still playing together. The current band line up of ODS contains two of the five original founders and one member from the 1980s line up.

Discography

axon

tudio Albums

* (1979) "Saxon"
* (1980) "Wheels of Steel"
* (1980) "Strong Arm of the Law"
* (1981) "Denim and Leather"
* (1983) "Power & the Glory"
* (1984) "Crusader"
* (1985) "Innocence Is No Excuse"
* (1986) "Rock the Nations"
* (1988) "Destiny"
* (1990) "Solid Ball of Rock"
* (1992) "Forever Free"
* (1995) "Dogs of War"

Live Albums

* (1982) "The Eagle has Landed"
* (1989) "Rock 'n' Roll Gypsies"
* (1990) "Greatest Hits Live"
* (1999) "BBC Sessions"
* (2000) "Live at Donnington 1980"

on of a Bitch

* (1996) "Victim You"

Oliver/Dawson Saxon

* (2000) "Re://Landed"
* (2003) "It's Alive"
* (2003) "The Second Wave: 25 Years of NWOBHM"

Tempest

(2006) "Goodbye to Yesterday"

olo

(2001) "End of an Era"

Links

* [http://www.myspace.com/httpwwwmyspacecomods Oliver/Dawson Saxon Myspace Site]
* [http://www.oliver-dawson-saxon.com/ Oliver/Dawson Saxon Site]