Gypsy

When the roots of the band first came together back in 1965, they went under the uninspiring name of Legay, after their drummer, the unusually named Legay Rogers. They changed the name in 1969 because, as band member John Knapp says, though ‘it was a really strong name’ (no, it really wasn’t), they felt it was giving people the impression that they were, well, gay. He goes on to say that he’s not sure why that should have happened, but considering this was the less than enlightened late ’60s and, frankly, the name, it shouldn’t have come as a shock! Anyhow, understandably, given – once again – 1969 and the prevailing times, they changed the name. Legay Rogers was gone by then in any case, so the name no longer had any relevance anyway. The new drummer Dave Smith was nicknamed ‘Moth’ for some reason (perhaps he had a problem with stage lights!), and they came up with Gypsy Moth, which actually was a strong name. They ended up shortening it to the less distinctive Gypsy, and risking confusion over the fact that another Gypsy existed in the US, but so it was…