Stone the Crows

Scottish rock band

the band

Stone the Crows were a Scottish blues rock band formed in Glasgow in late 1969. They are remembered for the onstage electrocution of guitarist and founding member Les Harvey.

The band were formed after Maggie Bell was introduced to Les Harvey by his elder brother Alex Harvey. After playing together in the Kinning Park Ramblers, their next band Power was renamed Stone the Crows (after a British/Australian English exclamation of surprise or shock) by Led Zeppelin's manager, Peter Grant. The band was co managed by Grant and Mark London. London was associated with Lulu as the co writer of her signature song, "To Sir With Love" and was also married to Lulu's manager, Marion Massey. London had also managed the predecessor band Cartoone, in which Peter Grant had a financial interest and featured Les Harvey on guitar.

McGinnis and Dewar left the band in 1971 and were replaced by Ronnie Leahy and Steve Thompson. Harvey received a jolt of electricity as he reached for a microphone while his fingers touched the metal strings on his guitar. His body reportedly flew into the air and came to rest with his guitar in contact with the microphone stand. Bandmates who tried to rescue him reportedly got shocked themselves and it wasn't until someone kicked his guitar away that medical personnel were able to render aid. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Jimmy McCulloch would subsequently replace the main songwriter Harvey as lead guitarist, following Harvey's death.

Stone the Crows ultimately broke up in June 1973, Jimmy McCulloch joined Paul McCartney's group Wings, in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1974.