Les Humphries – keyboards/vocals
Mart Jenner – lead guitar/vocals
Dave Green – bass/vocals
Vic Gillam – saxophone
Brian ‘Rocky’ Browne – drums
Harmony pop/rock band The Summer Set had its roots in south coast beat groups, The Javelins, Count Downe & The Zeros and Peter & The Headlines.
Jenner, Green and Gillam had been there from the outset and were joined by former Royal Marine musician Humphries in The Headlines.
Renamed The Summer Set, they auditioned for Marquee boss Harold Pendleton and were signed to Marquee Artists Agency, playing at the Marquee and making 12 appearances.
According to Dave Green’s book The Wonder Years: a rock ‘n’ rollercoaster, the club booked them into a weekend at the Golf Drout in Paris around late October/early November 1965, shortly after which their original drummer departed.
Around mid-November, Brian ‘Rocky’ Browne came on-board from Norfolk outfit, Boz & The Boz People, another regular at the Marquee. While with that band, he played alongside soon-to-be Small Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan.
The Marquee Artists Agency also booked The Summer Set into popular clubs like the Cromwellian in South Kensington, where they played regularly in late 1965 through to mid-1966. They also began to play the university circuit.
21 October 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Graham Bond Organisation (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
5 November 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with David Bowie & The Lower Third (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
12 November 1965 – King George’s Hall, Esher, Surrey with The Beat System (Surrey Comet)
Brian ‘Rocky’ Browne joined around now
19 November 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with David Bowie & The Lower Third (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live/Melody Maker)
20 November 1965 – Silver Blades, Streatham, southwest London (Beckenham & Penge Advertiser/Norwood News)
25 November 1965 – ABC Regal Cambridge, Cambridge with Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, Inez and Charlie Foxx, Paul and Barry Ryan, The Scaffold and The Mark Leeman Five (Cambridge News)
26 November 1965 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)
27 November 1965 – Granada East Ham, East Ham, east London with Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, Inez & Charlie Foxx, Paul & Barry Ryan, The Scaffold and The Mark Leeman Five (Southend Standard)
29 November 1965 – Northampton ABC, Northampton with Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, Inez & Charlie Foxx, Paul & Barry Ryan, The Scaffold and Mark Leeman Five (Northampton Chronicle)
2 December 1965 – Granada, Bedford with Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, Inez & Charlie Foxx, Paul & Barry Ryan, The Scaffold and The Mark Leeman Five (Boyfriend magazine)
3 December 1965 – Colston Hall, Bristol with Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, Inez & Charlie Foxx, Paul & Barry Ryan, The Scaffold and The Mark Leeman Five (Boyfriend magazine)
4 December 1965 – ABC Plymouth, Plymouth, Devon with Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, Inez & Charlie Foxx, Paul & Barry Ryan, The Scaffold and The Mark Leeman Five (Boyfriend magazine)
5 December 1965 – ABC Exeter, Exeter, Devon with Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, Inez & Charlie Foxx, Paul & Barry Ryan, The Scaffold and The Mark Leeman Five (Boyfriend magazine)
In December, The Summer Set made their first visit to West Germany and played at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg where they were extremely popular. The group would return on multiple occasions.
While there, the band recorded two LPs’ worth of material as the Top Ten All Stars and backed singer Isabella Bond.
They also recorded a 45, a cover tune “Pim Pim Pim” backed by Les Humphries and Vic Gillam’s “Hey Daddy”, which was released in January 1966, by which point they were back in Hamburg for a second visit to the Top Ten Club.
3 March 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
4 March 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)
10 March 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Mark Leeman Five (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
18 March 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Gary Farr & The T-Bones (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
22 March 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Small Faces (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
25 March 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)
Around April, The Summer Set returned to Hamburg to play at the Top Ten Club for a third time.
21 May 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)
9 June 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Tony Rivers & The Castaways (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
12 June 1966 – Mr McCoys, Middlesbrough with Wynder K Frog (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
18 June 1966 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire with The Shamed (Evening Sentinel)
24 June 1966 – Coronation Ballroom, Ramsgate, Kent with Justin Hayward Group and The Sonics (Herne Bay Press)
1 July 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Wishful Thinking (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
6 July 1966 – Beachcomber Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)
9 July 1966 – Birdcage, Eastney, Hampshire (Dave Allen research)
14 July 1966 – Pier Ballroom, Hastings, East Sussex (Fabulous 208)
15 July 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Majority (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
16 July 1966 – Bowes Lyon House, Stevenage, Herts (Fabulous 208)
17 July 1966 – Agincourt Ballroom, Camberley, Surrey (Aldershot News/Camberley News)
18 July 1966 – Royal Pier Ballroom, Aberystwyth, Wales (Fabulous 208)
21 July 1966 – Thorngate Ballroom, Gosport, Hampshire (Portsmouth News) Replaced by Bluesology
Around now, the band record their debut 45, a cover of Brian Wilson’s “Farmer’s Daughter” backed by Humphries and Gillam’s “What are You Gonna do?” for Columbia Records, which was subsequently released on 28 October 1966.
24 July 1966 – Tavern Club, Dereham, Norfolk with The Sullivan James Band (North Norfolk News) This may have been cancelled
28 July 1966 – Adam & Eve, Southampton, Hants (Southern Evening Echo) This may have been cancelled
According to Green’s book The Wonder Years: a rock ‘n’ rollercoaster the musicians decided to dispense with Les Humphries without his knowledge and hired two new musicians to play at the upcoming festival in Windsor, which proved to be a disaster.
30 July 1966 – 8th National Jazz & Blues Festival, Windsor, Berkshire with The Who, The Yardbirds, Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, Chris Barber, Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds, Gary Farr & The T-Bones, Louis Nelson, The Move, Kid Martyn, Alex Welsh and Julian Covey & The Machine (Reading Evening Post)
On 31 July, the musicians (minus Humphries who’d taken a week’s holiday as he had been told the group had no bookings), headed back to Hamburg and started to play at the Top Ten Club. They also recorded a third LP, which was never released.
However, at the end of the week, Humphries, who’d discovered what had happened, told EMI that the group had split up and assumed ownership of the name, turned up at the Top Ten Club and told them he was the legal owner of The Summer Set name.
With no possibility of continuing with the name, the musicians all returned to England.
Humphries, who’d retained Brian ‘Rocky’ Browne, put together a new version of The Summer Set with:
Alan Spriggs – lead vocals
Les Humphries – keyboards/vocals
Mick Jarvis – lead guitar/vocals
Dave Brien – bass
Brian ‘Rocky’ Browne – drums
15 September 1966 – Thorngate Ballroom, Gosport, Hampshire (Portsmouth News)
23 September 1966 – Royal Pier, Pavilion, Southampton, Hampshire with The Embers (Southern Evening Echo)
The band returned to Hamburg to play the Top Ten Club around October 1966.
5 November 1966 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire with The Jimmy Brown Sound and John McCoy’s Crawdaddies (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
18 November 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
25 November 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Sands (Tony Bacon’s book: London Live)
23 December 1966 – Ricky Tick, Hounslow, west London with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds (David Else’s research)
26 December 1966 – Tavern Club, Dereham, Norfolk with The Ram Jam Band and The Eyes of Blonde (Lynn News)
27 December 1966 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey (Woking Herald)
In February 1967, The Summer Set performed in Hamburg at the Top Ten Club.
4 March 1967 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with The Fancy Bred (East Kent Times & Mail)
11 March 1967 – Chelmsford Corn Exchange, Chelmsford, Essex (Essex Chronicle)
14 March 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire with Neat Change (Poster)
24 March 1967 – Glenlyn Ballroom, Forest Hill, southeast London (South East London Mercury)
26 March 1967 – Cromer Olympia, Cromer, Norfolk (North Norfolk News)
9 April 1967 – Dereham Tavern Club, Dereham, Norfolk with The South Side Move (North Norfolk News)
25 May 1967 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)
28 May 1967 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)
Sometime in 1967, the group recorded the unreleased acetate “Listen The World is Crying” at Regent Sound, London.
4 June 1967 – Tiles, Oxford Street, central London (Melody Maker)
On 16 June 1967, Columbia released The Summer Set’s second 45, Les Humphries and Dave Brien’s “Overnight Changes” backed by Humphries’ “It’s a Dream”.
25 June 1967 – Britannia Rowing Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)
8 July 1967 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly, central London (Evening Standard)
29 July 1967 – Elbow Room, Aston, West Midlands with The Stormsville Shakers (Birmingham Evening Mail)
29 July 1967 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
During September, the band play at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg with The Berkley Squares.
2 September 1967 – Star Palast, Kiel, West Germany with Paul Raven & The Boston International Showband and The Chimes of Freedom (Rolf Hannet’s research)
9 September 1967 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with Episode Six (Thanet Times)
10 September 1967 – Rendezvous Club, Margate, Kent (Thanet Times)
During October, Fontana in Germany released the band’s cover of The Flower Pot Men’s “Let’s Go to San Francisco” backed by Les Humphries and Dave Brien’s “Cos It’s Over”.
Sometime in early 1968, Humphries left the band high and dry near Berlin and the remaining members returned home to the UK.
To read the band’s fascinating career in depth, this Strange Brew article offers an excellent account.
Copyright © Nick Warburton. All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior permission from the author.