Wonderful News! The Bolton Iron Maiden, the band that set Bolton’s rock scene alight during the early-mid seventies have finally achieved commercial release for their ‘history of the band’ album, Maiden Flight. Spanish label Guerssen Records have taken the plunge and delivered a product that the band and its still-loyal army of followers will treasure forever.

Release Date: 20th June 2025

Label: Guerssen Records

Format: Vinyl

THE SEEDS OF THE BOLTON IRON MAIDEN

Let’s get one thing straight, for starters. The Bolton Iron Maiden are not, nor have they ever been, a tribute band. They just happened to chose the same name as a group of slightly younger chaps who convened in Leyton, East London, in 1975, and who went on to redefine heavy metal with albums like The Number Of The Beast and to travel the world in their own customized Boeing 757 jet. The guys from Bolton might have chosen the name first, but they didn’t get to experience all that stuff. But, maybe they could, and should, have done.

The seeds for the boltonbandcalledironmaiden were sown in September 1967, when drummer-in-search-of-employment Paul O’Neill was introduced to aspiring bassist Derek Austin and his mate, a super-guitarist-in-waiting, Ian Boulton Smith. Fans of bands like John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, the trio dabbled with 12-bar blues and latched onto the new sounds that were emerging from bands like Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and, slightly later, Led Zeppelin and Mountain. You’ll notice that these were all single-guitar outfits and that’s the route that Paul, Derek and Ian chose to follow as the band that was to become The Bolton Iron Maiden blossomed. In a line-up like that, each player has to be good; and these guys were…

ORIGIN OF THE NAME

As for the name, the nascent trio tried on a few hats – Ways ‘n’ Means, Kincade’s Wood and Birth were all tried and, eventually, rejected before Derek, also a fan of Californian hard rockers Iron Butterfly, came up with the name Iron Maiden. It fitted. It stuck.

For the bulk of their active life, Iron Maiden (or, let’s call them BIM from here onwards to avoid risk of confusion or worse…) were a three piece band, but they did occasionally veer from that path. Paul was, and remains, an excellent vocalist but, let’s face it, singing drummers are so and far between that they’ve never had the chance to become fashionable. So the chaps brought in the occasional vocalist. With a single exception, the vocalists never stayed long and the vocal duties always reverted to Paul. That’s the way BIM went,. and their settled lineup – the one that garnered such a loyal following around Bolton, South-East Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria and even over over the Yorkshire border was: Paul O’Neill – drums and lead vocals, Derek Austin – bass and backing vocals and Ian Boulton Smith (or ‘Beak’ as he was affectionally named) – lead guitar.

FROM COVERS TO ORIGINAL MATERIAL

A typical BIM setlist would include well-observed covers of popular songs of the day such as The Groundhogs’ Cherry Red, Glass Menagerie’s Do You Ever Think (the usual set-opener), Black Cloud and Jury from the Trapeze album Medusa, Moutain’s Mississippi Queen, Spirit’s Fresh Garbage and the Hendrix song, Stone Free. They’d usually finish a show with a storming blast through Steppenwolf’s Born to Be Wild. Every version was as good as good as – and often more exciting than – the original.

But, as time went on, BIM – each member made his contribution – began to write more and more of their own material until, by around 1973, it was the band’s own songs that dominated their live performances, And it’s that aspect of BIM that provides the material for for Maiden Flight.

MAIDEN FLIGHT

During their lifespan, BIM never had the good fortune to win a recording contract, though, heaven knows, they came so very close – most notably, perhaps when they were ‘watched’ by Tony Iommi and Norman Hood, respectively Black Sabbath’s lead guitarist and manager, at a Wigan gig in June 1972.

Maiden Flight is an album that was compiled ‘after the event’ and was originally released in CD form in 2006. The jewels in the album’s crown are, undoubtedly, four tracks that BIM recorded as demos at Sirius Recording Studios in Farnworth, near Bolton, in late 1972. Cracked Path, the album’s opening track, is a band composition, with a mildly druggy input from the band’s early vocalist, Tony Fearn. It’s a song with a science fiction theme and it’s a punchy, funky rock song that never failed to go down a storm at the band’s gigs.

For Crawl Crawl Night-time, Paul recalls the insomnia he would suffer as a child – and later as a working musician. These days, Paul readily admits that the song’s keystone riff was closely influenced by (and definitely not ‘lifted from’) the Focus track, Hocus Pocus. Who Cares, Crawl Crawl Night-time has the names of O’Neill, Austin and Smith running through it like a stick of seaside rock and it’s a wonderfully engaging rock song.

HYPOCHONDRIA & SCIENCE FICTION

Derek, the band’s in-house hypochondriac, inspired the lyric to Cell Debris, following a visit to his doctor, when he was informed that the floaters in his eye that were causing him distress were ‘cell debris.’ The lyrics go on to explore the concept of mortality – especially relevant, now that we’re all now 50 years older than we were when the song was written – and the tune brings in strains of Cream and Mountain – both big band influences, of course. Red Sky, the fourth and final of the salvaged demo tracks, is another cracker, a quickfire rock song with some absolutely amazing guitar from Beak. It’s another song with science fiction references, this time a John Wyndham-type story of a boy transported back through time from the year 2583 to 1963. He takes over the world, of course…

The remaining eight tracks on Maiden Flight are live recordings from gigs at The Seven Stars pub in Heywood in April 1975, at Kendal Rugby Club in December 1972 and at The Victory Hotel, Bolton in October 1974. The songs were recorded by BIM’s ‘Superfan’ and manic dancer, Sag, aka David Southworth on his treasured Alba R23 cassette tape recorder and, much later, touched-up by Paul, who overdubbed the barely-audible vocals using the same Shure Unidyne mic that he’d used at the actual gigs. And, now, Guersson have remastered the songs for vinyl to achieve a sound that is truly warm and welcoming. These songs, in this new format, will bring back great memories for everyone who enjoyed The Bolton Iron Maiden during their halcyon years of 1970-1976.

SOME ‘LIVE’ FAVOURITES

Derek Austin took the decision to leave BIM in late 1974 and his place on the bass was replaced by Noel Pemberton-Billing, and it’s Noel that features on the bulk of the live recordings on Maiden Flight. Everyone who knew the band will have their particular favourites amongst the live tracks – sadly, there hasn’t been room to include my personal faves – I’m to Blame (a country-flavoured song, inspired by Derek’s infatuation with New Riders Of The Purple Sage), Windwiper Freeway (a freewheeling song about life on the road as a travelling musician) and the epic The Naughtiest Girl Alive and Well. No matter, with re-polished songs like A Place Of My Own, Exchange Is No Robbery and Life Span, there’s still plenty to savour here, and many fond memories to re-live.

A TRULY BEAUTIFUL PRODUCT

This new vinyl version of Maiden Flight is a truly beautiful product and I’m so very, very pleased that this excellent band – my friends of many years – have finally achieved the commercial release that their work always deserved. In Paul’s own words: “I’m thrilled to bits. [The product is] amazing quality – the whole thing, from the weight of the [180-gram] vinyl to the quality of the sleeve and the inserts that Guersson have created.”

Calling Bolton, Calling Wigan, Calling Carlisle, Calling St Helens, Calling Hebden Bridge. Calling everywhere that The Bolton Iron Maiden are remembered with love and musical passion. This album is a product that isn’t to be missed!

Copies of the vinyl issue of Maiden Flight are available from Guersson Records via this link.

Listen to Cracked Path – the album’s opening track – below:

The Bolton iron Maiden online: Official Website / Facebook / Bandcamp

Keep up with At The Barrier: Facebook / X (formerly Twitter) / Instagram / Spotify / YouTube