Prelude

Prelude was a trio consisting of Brian Hume (vocals, guitar), his wife Irene Hume (vocals) and Ian Vardy (guitars, vocals). Based in England, the group was midway between Peter, Paul & Mary and Crosby, Stills & Nash, with harmonies that rivaled the latter for sweetness and quiet elegance. They became favorites on England's folk circuit; their recording career began with the 1973 release How Long Is Forever on Dawn Records, and continued right into the end of the decade, although their last widely distributed album was Back Into the Light, for Pye, in the middle of the decade. The trio's rendition of Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" charted in both the British and American Top 30 and Top 40, respectively, and Prelude toured the United States in the mid-1970s. They also recorded for Island during this period. Vardy left in the 1980s, and the group was reduced to a duo for a time, before expanding to a trio. The Humes were once again performing as a duo in the late 1980s and early 1990s.