Gravy Train was formed in St. Helens in Lancashire, England in 1969. The original line-up had a considerable pool of talent from which to draw. Liverpool-born John Hughes had been a classically trained pianist. As a teenager, he played saxophone, self-taught, with various Merseybeat groups in the 1960s. O'Regan quotes him from an e-mail interview in March 2006 as saying: "Playing with a big soul band, Spaghetti House, I met bassist Les . We formed a progressive rock band, where I played mainly flute and recruited Norm whom Les knew."