Guitarist Mick Abrahams formed Blodwyn Pig in his home town Luton, Bedfordshire in the first few weeks of January 1969 after leaving Jethro Tull in early December 1968.
Bass player Andy Pyle had previously been a member of Abrahams’ pre-Jethro Tull group, McGregor’s Engine while sax/flute player Jack Lancaster was from Manchester and was working with the group Sponge when he got the call.
The trio advertised for a drummer and Ron Berg who’d been working with White Rabbit (singer Linda Lewis fronted them at one point) answered and got the job.
In his autobiography, What is a Wommett?, Mick Abrahams says that Blodwyn Pig rehearsed for a week before making their debut at the Cooks Ferry Inn in Edmonton, north London.
Melody Maker lists this as 27 January and notes that the quartet was billed as The Mick Abrahams Blues Band. In fact, Abrahams’ new group was billed under his own name rather than Blodwyn Pig for its first few gigs.
The following is an incomplete gig list of Blodwyn Pig 1969 gigs which are all listed in Melody Maker unless otherwise noted.
I’d welcome any additions. The band is billed as Blodwyn Pig unless noted.
Notable gigs:
27 January 1969 – Cooks Ferry Inn, Edmonton, north London (debut) Billed as Mick Abrahams Blues Band
Melody Maker’s 1 February issue, page 4, reports the new band and name under its news extra section
1 February 1969 – Van Dike, Plymouth, Devon (Jonathan Hill’s book, Van Dike – The Life & Times of a Plymouth Club 1968-1972). Billed as Mick Abrahams Band
7 February 1969 – Bedford College, Regent’s Park, central London with Chicken Shack. Billed as Mick Abrahams Band
13 February 1969 – Red Lion, Leytonstone, east London. Billed as Mick Abrahams
Image may be subject to copyright
21 February 1969 – Blues Loft, Nag’s Head, High Wycombe, Bucks (Bucks Free Press)
Melody Maker’s 22 February issue, page 6, says the band made its Marquee debut last week but I have not found a listing elsewhere. Monday night (17 February) was audition night so this is the possible date
22 February 1969 – Mothers, Erdington, West Midlands with Keef Hartley
3 March 1969 – Cooks Ferry Inn, Edmonton, north London. Billed as Mick Abrahams
Image may be subject to copyright
15 March 1969 – London College of Printing, Elephant & Castle, south London with Chicken Shack and Jellybread. Billed as Mick Abrahams Band
22 March 1969 – Mothers, Erdginton, West Midlands with Led Zeppelin
28 March 1969 – Hornsey Wood Tavern, Hornsey Wood, north London. Billed as Mick Abrahams Blodwyn Pigg
29 March 1969 – The Village, Dagenham, east London with Killing Floor and Yellow Dog. Billed as Mick Abrahams
2 April 1969 – Rambling Jack’s Blues Club, the Railway Hotel, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts (Steve Ingless’ book The Day Before Yesterday – Rock, Rhythm and Jazz in the Bishop’s Stortford area from 1957 to 1969)
15 April 1969 – Fishmonger’s Arms, Wood Green, north London. Billed as Mick Abrahams Blodwyn Pig
18 April 1969 – The Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Circus (Tony Bacon’s book, London Live/Melody Maker)
19 April 1969 – London College of Printing, Elephant & Castle, south London with Climax Chicago Blues Band and Smiley
20 April 1969 – Mothers, Erdington, West Midlands with Dr K’s Blues Band
22 April 1969 – Bluesville ’69 Club’s Cherry Tree, Welwyn Garden City, Herts
23 April 1969 – Blues Loft, Nag’s Head, High Wycombe, Bucks (Bucks Free Press)
25 April 1969 – Northern Poly, Holloway Road, north London with Elmer Gantry
28 April 1969 – Wall City Jazz Club, Quaintways, Chester, Cheshire with Frankie & The Countdowns and Shady Lane (Liverpool Echo) Billed as Mick Abrahams Blues Band
29 April 1969 – The Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London (Tony Bacon’s book, London Live/Melody Maker)
Image may be subject to copyright
9 May 1969 – Bedford College, Regent’s Park, central London with Free
10 May 1969 – Luton College of Technology Students’ Union, Luton, Beds with The Spirit of John Morgan and Mechanical Bird (Blodwyn Pig concert Wiki site)
20 May 1969 – The Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Grail (Tony Bacon’s book, London Live/Melody Maker)
Image may be subject to copyright
30 May 1969 – The Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Sam Apple Pie (Tony Bacon’s book, London Live/Melody Maker)
2 June 1969 – Cooks Ferry Inn, Edmonton, north London
16 June 1969 – The Pavilion, Bath (Poster) Billed as Mick Abraham’s Blodwyn Pig
20 June 1969 – City Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear with Led Zeppelin and Liverpool Scene (Blodwyn Pig concert Wiki site)
22 June 1969 – Mothers, Erdington, West Midlands with The Taste
25 June 1969 – Derwent College, York, North Yorkshire with Bonzo Dog Band, John Mayall, Ronnie Scott & His Band, Eclection and Alexis Korner & Invaders Steel Band (Blodwyn Pig concert Wiki site)
26 June 1969– Guildhall, Portsmouth, Hants with Led Zeppelin and The Liverpool Scene (Blodwyn Pig concert Wiki site)
27 June 1969 – The Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Groundhogs (Tony Bacon’s book, London Live/Melody Maker)
28 June 1969 – Bath Festival of Blues, Recreation Ground, Bath with Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, John Mayall, Chicken Shack, Nice, Ten Years After and many, many others. Billed as Mick Abraham’s Blodwyn Pig
29 June 1969 – Albert Hall, Knightsbridge, central London with Led Zeppelin and The Liverpool Scene. Billed as Mick Abraham’s Blodwyn Pig
30 June 1969 – Cooks Ferry Inn, Edmonton, north London
6 July 1969 – Farx, the Northcote Arms, Southall, west London. Billed as Mick Abraham’s Blodwyn Pig
11 July 1969 – The Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Andromeda (Tony Bacon’s book, London Live/Melody Maker)
Image may be subject to copyright
11 July 1969 – Brunel University Students’ Union, Brunel University, London with The Soft Machine, Aaardvark and Good Earth. Billed as Mick Abraham’s Blodwyn Pig
14 July 1969 – Friars, Aylesbury, Bucks (Bucks Free Press)
25 July 1969 – The Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Circus (Tony Bacon’s book, London Live/Melody Maker)
2 August 1969 – Torquay Town Hall, Torquay, Devon (Torbay Express and South Devon Echo) Billed as Mick Abraham’s Blodwyn Pig
5 August 1969 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London with Wine
Melody Maker’s 9 August issue, p12, has a good write up entitled ‘Blodwyn Pig continue with the heavy sound’.
Photo: Possibly Gloucester Citizen. Image may be subject to copyright
9 August 1969 – Malvern Winter Gardens, Malvern, Worcestershire with Clouds (Poster)
10 August 1969 – 9th National Jazz, Pop, Ballads & Blues Festival, West Drayton, west London with The Nice, Family, Keef Hartley, Steamhammer and many others. Billed as Mick Abraham’s Blodwyn Pig
15 August 1969 – The Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Grail (Tony Bacon’s book, London Live/Melody Maker)
20 August 1969 – Rambling Jack’s Blues Club, the Railway Hotel, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts (Steve Ingless’ book The Day Before Yesterday – Rock, Rhythm and Jazz in the Bishop’s Stortford area from 1957 to 1969) Concert was cancelled due to summer recess
22 August 1969 – Blues Loft, Nag’s Head, High Wycombe, Bucks (Bucks Free Press)
25 August 1969 – King’s Hall, Romford Market, Romford, east London
29 August 1969 – The Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Samson (Tony Bacon’s book, London Live/Melody Maker)
Melody Maker’s 30 August issue, page 24 notes that the band missed some dates because Ron Berg was ill
16 September 1969 – Mothers, Erdington, West Midlands with King Crimson
18 September 1969 – Social Club, Aylesbury, Bucks
21 September 1969 – Farx, the Northcote Arms, Southall, west London. Billed as Mick Abrahams Blodwyn Pig
22 September 1969 – The Village of the Damned Blues Club, Aurora Ballroom, Brompton, Gillingham, Kent with support (Poster)
26 September 1969 – King’s Hall, Romford, east London with Stone The Crows
Image may be subject to copyright
29 September 1969 – Dunstable Civic Hall, Dunstable, Beds with Jesse Harper
30 September 1969 – The Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Ground (Tony Bacon’s book, London Live/Melody Maker)
Photo: Mike Fauré. Left to right: Alan Rowell, Richard Henry, US Flattop
This little known soul act was active from around spring 1967 through to the end of 1969 and had an extremely fluid line-up with tonnes of musicians coming and going.
I’d be grateful for any further personnel in the comments below as well as stories and notable gigs.
Photo: Woking Herald. US Flattop with The Soul System, October 1966. Photo may be subject to copyright
Judging by adverts in the music press, it looks like US Flattop first worked with the band The Soul System in 1966. When he left to form this new group, his former outfit became Ivan St Claire & The Soul System.
Flattop’s new band was billed as both The Cat Soul Packet and The Cat Road Show, but mainly the latter.
An early mention in Melody Maker from April 1967 reveals the group was initially a 14-piece act but on another UK tour in August that year, there were 12 members. A show in September 1969 lists only nine members.
Photo: Mike Fauré. Keith Bleasby and Jacqui, late 1967
As well as starring singer US Flattop, the band also featured several guest singers over the years, as well as dancers, including Lorna and Lesley in late 1967, Jacqui and Sue in summer 1968 and Leroy and Jacqui in late 1968.
Photo: Mike Fauré. Left to right: Carl Griffiths, Dave Coxhill, Mike Fauré and Jon Lee
Thanks to South African tenor sax player Mike Fauré, I’ve been able to piece together the group’s line up for mid-September to early November 1967.
Fauré kept a diary and very generously shared the tour dates and band photos shown here.
Photo: Mike Fauré. Left to right: Fred D’Albert, Alan Rowell and Tony Knight
When he joined the band in mid-September 1967, the group comprised the following musicians:
US Flattop – Lead vocals
Richard Henry – Lead vocals
Keith Bleasby – Spokesperson and percussion
Fred D’Albert – Guitar
Ted Fraser – Keyboards
Alan “James” Rowell – Bass
Dave Coxhill – Baritone sax
Mike Fauré – Tenor sax
Carl Griffiths – Tenor sax
Jon Lee – Trumpet
Tony Knight – Drums/Vocals
Jacqui – Dancer
Photo: Mike Fauré. Terry Knight
Mike Fauré says that he joined the band in time to play his first gig at the OVC Club in Earl’s Court.
Fred D’Albert, Tony Knight, Alan Rowell and Dave Coxhill all joined in September after Tony Knight’s Chessmen split up.
Jamaican Carl Griffiths had previously played with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds and Prince Buster & The Bees.
American Richard Henry, who hailed from Detroit, had first played with The Zig Zag Band when he came to England and then joined Timebox.
During 1967, he also led Tales of the City whose band opened for The Cat Soul Show in late August 1967 at the California Ballroom (see advert and gig listing below).
Photo: Mike Fauré. Richard Henry and Tony Knight
It is possible Keith Bleasby, Ted Fraser and Jon Lee had worked with the band on earlier tours in 1967.
After the 4 November date below, Mike Fauré joined the Paris-based Eddie Lee Mattison Soul Revue. He returned to South Africa in 1968 and briefly worked with The Square Set and Freedom’s Children before moving to the US where he continues to perform.
Photo: Mike Fauré. Left to right: Carl Griffiths, Mike Fauré and Ted Fraser
I believe that Carl Griffiths may have rejoined The Bees, which changed name to The Pyramids. However, he may have remained with The Cat Soul Packet longer.
Richard Henry later recorded some solo material.
Fred D’Albert and Tony Knight stuck together in The Magicians. D’Albert later played with Sweetwater Canal.
Alan Rowell joined The Simon Raverne Trio during 1968 while Dave Coxhill joined Freddie Mack & The Mack Sound around February 1968. He later reunited with Carl Griffiths in Manfred Mann Chapter 3.
Photo may be subject to copyright. Image from Melody Maker
I have found the following gigs from Melody Maker (unless otherwise noted) and would welcome any additions:
Photo: Birmingham Evening Mail. Photo may be subject to copyright
20 May 1967 – Iron Curtain Club, Small Heath, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as Cats Soul Packet with US Flattop
15 June 1967 – Public Hall, Epping, Essex
16 June 1967 – Hemel Hempstead Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead, Herts
Photo: Birmingham Evening Mail. Photo may be subject to copyright
17 June 1967 – Iron Curtain Club, Small Heath, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as The Cat with US Flattop
18 June 1967 – Blue Room, Edmonton, north London
Photo: Birmingham Evening Mail. Photo may be subject to copyright
22 July 1967 – Iron Curtain Club, Small Heath, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as The Cat with US Flattop
29 July 1967 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Leicester Daily Mercury)
Photo: Melody Maker. Photo may be subject to copyright
4 August 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, central London Billed as Flat Top and The Cat Band
5 August 1967 – Tin Hat, Kettering, Northamptonshire (Dave Clemo research) Billed as The Cat with USA Flattop
Photo: Lincolnshire Standard/Spalding Guardian. Photo may be subject to copyright
12 August 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Zany Woodruff Operation, Katch 22 and Ray Bones (Lincolnshire Guardian) Billed as The Cat with US singer Flattop
Photo may be subject to copyright
25 August 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Beds with Richard Henry’s Tales of The City
Photo: Mike Fauré. Left to right: Tony Knight, Mike Fauré, Fred D’Albert and Dave Coxhill
21 September 1967 – OVC Club, Earl’s Court, west London (Mike Fauré’s diary)
23 September 1967 – College of Further Education, Eastbourne, East Sussex (Mike Fauré’s diary)
26 September 1967 – Town Hall, High Wycombe, Bucks (Mike Fauré’s diary)
28 October 1967 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall (Mike Fauré’s diary)
Photo: Mike Fauré. Left to right: Ted Fraser, US Flattop, Keith Bleasby, Carl Griffiths and Mike Fauré
3 November 1967 – Town Hall, Selkirk, Scotland (Mike Fauré’s diary)
4 November 1967 – Hotel, Galashiels, Scotland (Mike Fauré’s diary)
Photo: Mike Fauré. Left to right: Fred D’Albert, Mike Fauré, Dave Coxhill, Tony Knight, Alan Rowell
14 November 1967 – Industrial Club, Norwich, Norfolk (Eastern Evening News) Billed as Cat Soul Package with US Flat Top
Photo: Eastern Evening News. Photo may be subject to copyright
18 November 1967 – Starlight Room, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Lunar 2 and The Late and Granny’s Intentions (Spalding Guardian) Billed as The New Cat Soul Packet
Photo: Lincolnshire Standard. Photo may be subject to copyright
24 November 1967 – 400 Ballroom, Torquay, Devon (Herald Express)
10 December 1967 – Central R&B Club, Central Hotel, Chatham, Kent (Chatham, Rochester & Gillingham News)
16 December 1967 – Civic Hall, Nantwich, Cheshire with The Vibrations (Nantwich Chronicle)
Photo: Lancashire Evening Post. Photo may be subject to copyright
16 December 1967 – Twisted Wheel, Manchester with The Vibrations (Lancashire Evening Post) Billed as Cat Soul Package
Photo: Eastern Evening News. Photo may be subject to copyright
26 December 1967 – Industrial Club, Norwich, Norfolk (Eastern Evening News) Billed as Cat Soul Package with US Flat Top
Fred D’Albert remembers that trumpet player Pat Higgs worked with the group. Higgs had previously played with Bluesology (with a young Elton John), Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement and Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band
6 January 1968 – Starlight Room, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with The Tremeloes, Legay and Ray Bones (Lincolnshire Standard) Billed as T.H.E Cat Soul Package with Flattop
7 January 1968 – Co-op Hall, Warrington, Cheshire (Runcorn Guardian)
21 January 1968 – Britannia Rowing Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post) Says US Flattop and Richard Henry
22 January 1968 – Carlton Club, Warrington, Cheshire (Warrington Guardian) Billed as T.H.E CAT
Photo: Woking Herald. Photo may be subject to copyright
2 February 1968 – Riverside Club, Chertsey, Surrey (Woking Herald) Billed as The Cat Soul Show with US Flatop
10 February 1968 – Big C, Farnborough, Hampshire (Aldershot News) Billed as The Cat Soul Show featuring Ricky, Henry, Flattop
12 February 1968 – Belfry, Wishaw, near Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands with The Monopoly (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as US Flat Top & The Cat Soul Packet
Photo: Herald Express. Photo may be subject to copyright
24 February 1968 – 400 Ballroom, Torquay, Devon (Herald Express) Billed as Cat Soul Show
25 February 1968 – Britannia Rowing Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post)
26 February 1968 – British Legion Hall, Slough, Berkshire (Windsor & Eton Express)
Photo: Leicester Mercury. Photo may be subject to copyright
1 March 1968 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Leicester Mercury)
15 March 1968 – Rendevous Club, Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent (East Kent Times & Mail)
Photo: Evening Sentinel. Photo may be subject to copyright
2 May 1968 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire with JJ Jackson (Evening Sentinel)
15 June 1968 – Civic Hall, Guildford, Surrey (Surrey Herald)
22 June 1968 – La Bamba, Tunbridge Wells, Kent
28 June 1968 – Hemel Hempstead Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead, Herts
29 June 1968 – 400 Ballroom, Torquay, Devon (Herald Express)
Photo: Western Gazette. Photo may be subject to copyright
6 July 1968 – Alex Disco Club, Salisbury, Wiltshire (Western Gazette) Billed as The Cat Road Show with US Flattop
30 August 1968 – City Hall, St Albans, Herts with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and Pakka Jax Billed as Cat Road Show
31 August 1968 – Middle Earth, Torquay Town Hall, Torquay, Devon With US Flatop
2 September 1968 – Richmond Athletic Ground, Richmond, west London
Thanks to Dave Clemo for the photo
7 September 1968 – Tin Hat, Kettering, Northamptonshire with Taste) (Dave Clemo research) Billed as The Cat Roadshow with US Flattop
Photo: Western Gazette. Photo may be subject to copyright
14 September 1968 – Glastonbury Town Hall, Glastonbury with Stormy (Central Somerset Gazette/Western Gazette) Billed as The Cat Road Show featuring US Flattop
26 September 1968 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Devon with The Provokers (Cornish Guardian)
12 October 1968 – Union Rowing Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post) Billed as Cat Road Show
26 October 1968 – Alex Disco, Salisbury, Wiltshire (Salisbury Journal/Western Gazette) Billed as The Cat Road Show starring US Flattop
Photo: Warrington Guardian. Photo may be subject to copyright
10 November 1968 – Beat Discotheque Club, Co-Op Hall, Warrington, Cheshire (Warrington Guardian) Billed as The Cat Show featuring US Flat-Top
15 November 1968 – Newmarket Discotheque, Bridgwater, Somerset (Bridgwater Mercury)
16 November 1968 – Lion Hotel, Warrington, Cheshire with Katch 22 (Warrington Guardian) Billed as The Cat Road Show
Photo: Warrington Guardian. Photo may be subject to copyright
18 November 1968 – Carlton Club, Warrington, Cheshire (Warrington Guardian) Billed as The Cat Road Show
14 December 1968 – Tin Hat, Kettering, Northamptonshire ) (Dave Clemo research) Billed as The Cat Roadshow featuring US Flattop
24 December 1968 – Flamingo, Redruth, Cornwall with The Rick ‘N’ Beckers and Ray Williams & The Grenades (West Briton & Cornwall Advertiser)
Photo: Western Gazette. Photo may be subject to copyright
26 December 1968 – Alex Disco Club, Salisbury, Wiltshire (Western Gazette) Billed as T.H.E Cat Road Show with US Flattop
Photo: Woking Herald. Photo may be subject to copyright
31 December 1968 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey (Woking Herald) Billed as The Cat Road Show starring US Flatop
Nick Ronai (trombone) and Brian Spibey (trumpet) played with The Cat Soul Packet after their band The Fulson Stillwell Band broke up. They didn’t stay long and soon formed Swegas.
25 January 1969 – Imperial College, South Kensington, southwest London (Melody Maker) Billed as The Cat Road Show featuring US Flattop
Photo: Melody Maker. Photo may be subject to copyright
14 February 1969 – Cue Club, Paddington, central London
21 February 1969 – Pavilion, St Albans, Herts
Photo: Warrington Guardian. Photo may be subject to copyright
22 February 1969 – Lion Hotel, Warrington, Cheshire with White Rabbit (Warrington Guardian) Billed as the Cat Road Show
Photo: Melody Maker. Photo may be subject to copyright
1 March 1969 – Savoy, Catford, southeast London
Photo: Melody Maker. Photo may be subject to copyright
15 March 1969 – Burton’s, Uxbridge, west London
22 March 1969 – Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Duster Bennett and Elijah & The Goat (Lincolnshire Standard)
Photo: Melody Maker. Photo may be subject to copyright
2 May 1969 – The Crown, Marlow, Bucks (Melody Maker) Billed as US Flattop and The Cat Road Show
10 May 1969 – Burton’s, Uxbridge, west London (Uxbridge Weekly Post)
8 June 1969 – Railway, Wealdstone, northwest London
Photo: Bucks Free Press. Photo may be subject to copyright
18 July 1969 – The Crown, Marlow, Bucks (Bucks Free Press) Billed as US Flattop Soul Show
Photo: Birmingham Evening Mail. Photo may be subject to copyright
27 October 1969 – Belfry, Wishaw, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
Huge thanks to Mike Fauré for the use of his photos.
This historically important Birmingham group is best known for featuring future Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham and bass player Dave Pegg, who went onto Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull among others.
The Way of Life #1 (June 1966-September 1966)
Reg Jones – lead vocals, harmonica Chris Jones – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals Mick ‘Sprike’ Hopkins – lead guitar, vocals Tony Clarkson – bass, vocals John Bonham – drums, vocals
Singer Reg Jones had started out as front man with local outfit, The Counts while his younger sibling Chris played guitar with The Chantelles in the early 1960s. Reg Jones later joined his brother in The Chantelles.
In 1963, Chris Jones joined future The Way of Life member Danny King’s band, Danny King & The Jesters, which also featured bass player Chris ‘Ace’ Kefford, who went on to The Move and drummer Barry Smith (aka Barry St John), who joined The Way of Life in 1968.
In 1965, the Jones siblings reunited in The Chucks. However, after nearly 18 months together, The Chucks split up after returning from West Germany in April 1966.
The siblings next decided to form a new band. They had already asked lead guitarist Mick ‘Sprike’ Hopkins and bass player Tony Clarkson to join.
Hopkins was something of a local legend, having previously worked with Gerry Levene & The Avengers (with Roy Wood and Graeme Edge), The Diplomats and The Nicky James Movement among others.
Clarkson also had an impressive, local pedigree; he’d worked with Guitars Incorporated, The Wild Cherries and The Nicky James Movement (where he met Hopkins). He’d also briefly played with drummer Bugsy Eastwood in a short-lived outfit called The Hooties that became The Exception in late 1966.
One Sunday (either 12 or 19 June but the latter is more likely), the quartet auditioned about 20 drummers at the Club Cedar where the new outfit had a gig that night.
John Bonham, who’d worked with Clarkson and Hopkins in The Nicky James Movement, turned up and landed the job.
Nicky James Movement with Tony Clarkson (left), John Bonham (second left) and Mick Hopkins (right)
Bonham had worked with a number of West Midlands bands during the early-mid 1960s, including Terry Webb & The Spiders, The Blue Star Trio, The Senators and Steve Brett & The Mavericks before signing up with The Nicky James Movement in late 1965 (where he met Clarkson and Hopkins). Bonham then briefly gigged with Pat Wayne & The Beachcombers before turning up at the Club Cedar for the audition.
The Way of Life was augmented for its first few gigs by Nicky James on second lead vocals but he did not stay long.
Notable gigs
19 June 1966 – Club Cedar, Birmingham, West Midlands (debut)
21 June 1966 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands
24 June 1966 – Sydenham Pub, Sydenham, West Midlands
25 June 1966 – Hereford Lounge, Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands
1 July 1966 – Hereford Lounge, Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands
8 July 1966 – Hereford Lounge, Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands
9 July 1966 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands with The Falling Leaves
14 July 1966 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands
15 July 1966 – Sydenham Pub, Sydenham, West Midlands
16 July 1966 – Hereford Lounge, Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands
23 July 1966 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands with The Times
28 July 1966 – Bel Air Club, Castle Bromwich, West Midlands
29 July 1966 – Sydenham, West Midlands
30 July 1966 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands
2 August 1966 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands
5 August 1966 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands with Little People
12 August 1966 – Hereford Lounge, Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands
20 August 1966 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands with Long Stack Humphries
22 August 1966 – Hereford Lounge, Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands
10 September 1966 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands with The Outer Limits
17 September 1966 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands with The Uglys
21 September 1966 – Mackadown, Kitts Green, West Midlands with The Modernairs
23 September 1966 – Bolero Club, Wednesbury, West Midlands
24 September 1966 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands
The Way of Life #2 (September 1966-January 1967)
Reg Jones – lead vocals, harmonica Chris Jones – lead guitar Mick ‘Sprike’ Hopkins – lead guitar, vocals Tony Clarkson – bass, vocals Malc Poole – drums
John Bonham was sacked for playing too loudly and his friend Malc Poole, who’d worked with the Jones brothers in The Chucks from January-April 1966, took his place behind the drum kit. Poole has also played with The Incas and The Seed during 1966.
In December 1966, The Way of Life signed with the Rik Gunnell Agency and recorded some tracks in London.
However, the following month John Bonham convinced the Jones brothers to re-employ him.
Poole subsequently joined The Hush (who shared the bill with The Way of Life at Tiles in London in mid-February 1967). Later, in 1968, the drummer replaced Cozy Powell in Youngblood.
The drummer moved down to London in 1969 and worked with a succession of outfits, including Warhorse and The Foundations. He later played with Rick Wakeman but died on 21 May 2015.
Notable gigs
30 September 1966 – Bell Hotel, Northfield, West Midlands (Poole’s debut)
Photo from Leicester Mercury
4 November 1966 – County Arms, Blaby, Leicestershire with The Justin Brothers
5 November 1966 – Mews, Moseley, West Midlands with Locomotive
25 November 1966 – Midnight City, Digbeth, West Midlands with Elkie Brooks and The End
27 November 1966 – Ship & Rainbow, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with New Station Road
2 December 1966 – Mad House, Friendship Hall, Erdington, West Midlands
3 December 1966 – Civic Hall, Nantwich, Cheshire with The Times
4 December 1966 – The County Arms, Blaby, Leicestershire
9 December 1966 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands
10 December 1966 – Hereford Lounge, Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands
11 December 1966 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands
Mid December 1966 – the band opened a new club in Liege, Belgium (most likely the New Inn Club)
24 December 1966 – Bolero, Wednesbury, West Midlands with Thernays Fugitives
31 December 1966 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with The Quiet Five
4 January 1967 – Hereford Lounge, Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands
5 January 1967 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands
7 January 1967 – Winter Gardens, Banbury, Warwickshire with The Methods
9 January 1967 – The Belfry, Wishaw, West Midlands with The Lemon Line
11 January 1967 – Heartbeat, Birmingham, West Midlands (possibly Mac Poole’s final gig)
There is a good article on The Way of Life in the Bedworth & Foleshill News, 13/1/1967, page 2
Bedworth & Foleshill News
The Way of Life #3 (January-February 1967)
Reg Jones – lead vocals, harmonica Chris Jones – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, vocals Mick ‘Sprike’ Hopkins – lead guitar, vocals Tony Clarkson – bass, vocals John Bonham – drums, vocals
Tony Clarkson’s younger brother had gone to school with Birmingham-born, Canadian-raised siblings, Ed and Brian Pilling, who had returned to the West Midlands from Toronto to form a group. Introduced to Clarkson, the trio decided to put together The Wages of Sin and lined up gigs in West Germany.
Clarkson enticed Mick Hopkins away from The Way of Life. John Bonham was also invited but decided to stay with the Jones brothers.
Mick Hopkins (left) and Tony Clarkson (second left) with The Wages of Sin, February 1967.
The Wages of Sin would become Yellow Rainbow and then Zeus, becoming Cat Stevens’s backing band. Clarkson would subsequently play with The World of Oz among others, while Hopkins would play with The Lemon Tree, Copperfield, The Idle Race, Fludd and Quartz among others.
Notable gigs
12 January 1967 – London gig (according to Birmingham Evening Mail)
13 January 1967 – Penthouse, Birmingham, West Midlands
16 January 1967 – Caravelle Club, Observation Lounge, Birmingham Airport, Birmingham, West Midlands
20 January 1967 – Royal Oak, Hockley Heath, West Midlands
21 January 1967 – Elbow Room, Aston, West Midlands
21 January 1967 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands with The Nobles
26 January 1967 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands
28 January 1967 – Penthouse, Birmingham, West Midlands with The Eight Feet 4
28 January 1967 – Ship & Rainbow, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with The Confederates
29 January 1967 – Gotham City, Birmingham, West Midlands
30 January 1967 – Heartbeat, Birmingham, West Midlands
31 January 1967 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands
4 February 1967 – Le Carnaby Club, Leicester, Leicestershire
The Way of Life #4 (February-September 1967)
Reg Jones – lead vocals, harmonica Chris Jones – lead guitar Danny King – bass, lead vocals John Bonham – drums, vocals
Chris Jones assumed the lead guitar role and Danny King was brought in on bass and second lead vocals.
Danny King was a respected singer on the local scene and had led a succession of groups since the early 1960s starting with Danny King & The Dukes. After fronting Danny King & The Royals and Danny King & The Jesters (with Chris Jones), he formed Danny King & The Mayfair Set. During 1966, King left to sing with Locomotive.
Shortly after joining The Way of Life, the quartet traveled down to London and played the Bag O’Nails in Soho.
During the summer of 1967, The Way of Life, added Bugsy Eastwood from The Exception as a second drummer, but he did not stay long.
Notable gigs
18 February 1967 – Tiles, Oxford Street central London with The Hush and The Question
25 February 1967 – The White Bicycle, Maple Ballroom, Northampton with Premier Slam Band
11 March 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with The Quiet Five and The Essex Five
13 March 1967 – The Belfry, Wishaw, West Midlands with Manchester’s Playboys (billed as The New Way of Life)
17 March 1967 – Graven Hill Theatre, Bicester with The Methods
25 March 1967 – The Mews, Moseley, West Midlands
5 April 1967 – Mackadown, Kitts Green, West Midlands with The Exception (billed as The New Way of Life with Danny King)
8 April 1967 – Ettingham Park Hotel, Alderminster, Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire
The Express & Star advertised a gig with Idle Race, Sight and Sound and Chicago Hush, which related to Monday 17/4/67
25 April 1967 – Watersplash Night Club, Walsall Wood, West Midlands
20 May 1967 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands
21 May 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Bearwood, West Midlands with The Gravy Train and The Fugitives
16 June 1967 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands
17 June 1967 – Handsworth Plaza, Handsworth, West Midlands with The Kinks
19 June 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Bearwood, West Midlands
21 June 1967 – Hen & Chickens, Langley, West Midlands with The ‘N’ Betweens and Priority
5 July 1967 – Industrial Club, Norwich, Norfolk
22 July 1967 – Sydenham Discotheque Club, Small Heath, West Midlands
31 July 1967 – Holly Bush, Quinton, West Midlands
1 August 1967 – Bolero Club, Wednesbury, West Midlands
4 August 1967 – Ringway Club, Birmingham
4 August 1967 – Old Crown & Cushion, Perry Barr, West Midlands
5 August 1967 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands
7 August 1967 – Queen’s Beat Club, Erdington, West Midlands
18 August 1967 – Caesar’s Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire with The Idle Race
19 August 1967 – Penthouse, Birmingham with Finders Keepers
21 August 1967 – Holly Bush, Quinton, West Midlands
26 August 1967 – Elbow Room, Aston, West Midlands
30 August 1967 – Tyburn House, Erdington, West Midlands
2 September 1967 – Ringway Club, Birmingham
2 September 1967 – Queen’s Beat Club, Erdington, West Midlands
3 September 1967 – Frank Freeman Dancing Club, Kidderminster, Worcestershire with Small Change
5 September 1967 – Bolero Club, Wednesbury, West Midlands
9 September 1967 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands
The Way of Life #5 (September-October 1967)
Reg Jones – lead vocals, harmonica Chris Jones – lead guitar Dave Pegg – bass, vocals John Bonham – drums, vocals (replaced briefly by Phil Brittle)
After Danny King left, Dave Pegg came in from The Exception, a band that had shared the stage with The Way of Life at least once earlier in the year.
Pegg had an impressive pedigree, having previously worked with The Trespassers, Dave & The Emeralds, The Crawdaddies and Roy Everett & The Blueshounds before backing Jimmy Cliff for a few months from November 1965-February 1966.
He then hooked up with The Uglys in mid-February 1966 before joining The Exception later that year.
Laurie Hornsby’s book Brum Rocked On!, notes that the new line up rehearsed at the Warstock pub.
Dave Pegg’s diary notes that the line-up’s first gig took place at the Swadley Youth Club. The bass player recalls that he played about 20 gigs with Bonham before the drummer left.
According Harry Barber’s book on The Band of Joy, drummer Phil Brittle took over briefly before leaving to join the fourth line up of The Band of Joy in late September. He only stayed a very short while however, before John Bonham took his place and met his future Led Zeppelin colleague, Robert Plant.
Notable gigs
15 September 1967 – Swadley Youth Club, Swadley, West Midlands (Dave Pegg’s debut)
17 September 1967 – Crown & Cushion, Perry Barr, West Midlands
18 September 1967 – Holly Bush, Quinton, West Midlands
23 September 1967 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands
24 September 1967 – Ritz Ballroom, King’s Heath, West Midlands
25 September 1967 – Queen’s Beat Club, Erdington, West Midlands
28 September 1967 – Cofton Country Club, Rednal, West Midlands with The Rest
29 September 1967 – Bolero Club, Wednesbury, West Midlands
1 October 1967 – The Belfry, Wishaw, near Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands with The Light
5 October 1967 – Ringway, Birmingham
8 October 1967 – Ritz Ballroom, King’s Heath, West Midlands
9 October 1967 – Holly Bush, Quinton, West Midlands
14 October 1967 – Queen’s Beat Club, Erdington, West Midlands
16 October 1967 – Holly Bush, Quinton, West Midlands
18 October 1967 – BRS, Charles Russell Square, Erdington, West Midlands with Jo Jo Cook & The Rackets
21 October 1967 – Caesar’s Place, Mulberry Tree, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
23 October 1967 – Queen’s Head, Erdington, West Midlands (Dave Pegg’s final gig)
The Way of Life #6 (October 1967-circa January 1968)
Reg Jones – lead vocals, harmonica Chris Jones – lead guitar Jon Fox – lead guitar, vocals Danny King – bass, vocals John Panteney – (Pank) drums
Dave Pegg left in late October 1967 to join The Ian Campbell Folk Group and later found fame with Fairport Convention and Jethro Tull.
The Jones siblings brought back Danny King to replace Dave Pegg on bass and recruited Jon Fox on second lead guitar and vocals.
Fox had started out with his own outfit, Jon Fox & The Hunters in the early 1960s. He subsequently became a member of Johnny Neal & The Starliners before forming The Varsity Rag in 1967.
The Way of Life also found a new drummer, John Panteney, who had worked with The Chantelles (after the Jones siblings had moved on) in the mid-1960s. He then played with several other local acts before agreeing to join The Way of Life.
However, it was yet another short-lived version. By early 1968, Fox had moved on to form Cathedral while Panteney joined Paradox with future Magnum singer Bob Catley.
Notable gigs
28 October 1967 – The Woolpack, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with The Crew
7 November 1967 – Industrial Club, Norwich, Norfolk
21 November 1967 – Bolero, Wednesbury, West Midlands
27 November 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Bearwood, West Midlands with Lynda and The Blend
1 December 1967 – Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands
2 December 1967 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands
11 December 1967 – Holly Bush, Quinton, West Midlands
16 December 1967 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands with The Fading Colours
21 December 1967 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands with The Idle Race and The Fading Colours
4 January 1968 – Birdland, The Raven, Castle Bromwich, West Midlands with The Idle Race (Birmingham Evening Mail)
6 January 1968 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
12 January 1968 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
19 January 1968 – Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
28 January 1968 – Bolero, Wednesbury, West Midlands
29 January 1968 – Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
The Way of Life #7 (January-November 1968)
Reg Jones – lead vocals, harmonica Chris Jones – lead guitar Danny King – bass, lead vocals Barry Smith – drums
The Jones brothers rebuilt the group by bringing in drummer Barry Smith, who’d worked with them previously in The Chucks during 1965.
Smith had started out with former The Way of Life bass player/singer Danny King in his early 1960s band, Danny King & The Royals. Later on, he worked with Danny Burns & The Phantoms.
The final incarnation recorded some material for Polydor Records before splitting up in late 1968.
The Jones brothers continued to play live on the local scene. Reg Jones died in 2004 and Chris Jones passed away in March 2014.
Notable gigs
1 February 1968 – Queen’s Beat Club, Erdington, West Midlands with Danny King and The Jones Boys (Birmingham Evening Mail)
3 February 1968 – Casino, Leicester
3 February 1968 – Industrial Club, Norwich, Norfolk
17 February 1968 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands with Traffic (Birmingham Evening Mail)
23 February 1968 – Chesterfield Club, Castle Bromwich, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
24 February 1968 – Staffs Volunteer, Bushbury, Wolverhampton, West Midlands
2 March 1968 – Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands
3 March 1968 – Queen’s Beat Club, Erdington, West Midlands
9 March 1968 – Crown and Cushion, Perry Barr, West Midlands with Capital Systems
17 March 1968 – Crown & Cushion, Birmingham with The Peeps
21 March 1968 – Queen’s Beat Club, Erdington, West Midlands
23 March 1968 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands
25 March 1968 – Holly Bush, Quinton, West Midlands
27 March 1968 – Chesterfield Club, Castle Bromwich, West Midlands
31 March 1968 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands
1 April 1968 – Bulls Head, Yardley, West Midlands
9 April 1968 – Chalet Country Club, Rednal, West Midlands with Fanny Flickers
13 April 1968 – Willenhall Baths Assembly Hall, Willenhall, West Midlands with Lovin’ Kind
18 April 1968 – Station Inn, Selly Oak, West Midlands
Sources: most of the West Midlands gigs were sourced from the Birmingham Evening Mail, which is an amazing resource for music journalists. Other magazine/newspaper sources included Melody Maker, Eastern Evening News, Express & Star, Coventry Evening Telegraph, Banbury Guardian, Stratford upon Avon Herald and Leicester Mercury.
Thanks to Dave Pegg and Mac Poole (who both shared dates from their diaries), Mick Hopkins, Tony Clarkson, Jon Fox, Harry Barber, Laurie Hornsby and John R Woodhouse, who runs the Brumbeat website.
Mick Bonham’s book John Bonham: The Powerhouse behind Led Zeppelin was another great resource.
Huge thanks to Jason Barnard who originally posted this article on the Strange Brew website. This is a significantly updated version.
The Wages of Sin, early 1967. Left to right: Mick Hopkins, Tony Clarkson, Ed Pilling, Brian Pilling and Jimmy Skidmore
1966
December English-born, Canadian raised brothers, singer Ed Pilling (b. 13 January 1948, Kingstanding, Birmingham, England) and guitarist Brian Pilling (b. 26 December 1949, Kingstanding, Birmingham, England) return to their place of birth to form a rock group. Having first emigrated in 1957, the Pillings have moved back and forth between Birmingham and Toronto several times as the family finds it hard to settle.
Eldest brother, Ed Pilling, who returns to Kingstanding, Birmingham on his own in 1964 and stays with an aunt, witnesses the exploding rock scene in the Midlands and decides to take up drums.
Ed Pilling, early 1967
Returning to Toronto in mid-1965, he spends a year playing in high school band, The Pretty Ones with brother Brian Pilling and bass player Greg Godovitz.
Determined to make it in their country of birth, the brothers return to England but Ed is forced to leave his drums behind due to the transportation costs.
Brian Pilling, early 1967
Back in Birmingham, Ed Pilling reunites with an old school friend from Kingstanding, Ted Clarkson, whose older brother is rhythm guitarist Tony Clarkson (b. 15 July 1945, Kingstanding, Birmingham, England).
Tony Clarkson, early 1967
Clarkson has been active on the local scene since 1962 when he started playing rhythm guitar with Guitars Incorporated (aka The GIs). The following year he joins The Wild Cherries, whose singer is the late Nicky James.
After playing in several local groups, Clarkson joins James’s new group, The Nicky James Movement in January 1965 where he meets former Diplomats guitarist Mick “Sprike” Hopkins (b. 3 January 1946, Great Barr, Birmingham, England).
Mick Hopkins, early 1967
Hopkins’s first notable group is Gerry Levene & The Avengers, which features future Move guitarist Roy Wood and future Moody Blues drummer Graeme Edge, and is signed to Decca Records. While Hopkins is a member, the group records enough material for an album (but it is never released) although Decca does issue a lone single, Dr Feelgood, backed by It’s Driving Me Wild (featuring only Levene).
In May 1964, however, Hopkins replaces Denny Laine in his group, The Diplomats when Laine forms The Moody Blues and they record some demos. As members of The Nicky James Movement, Clarkson and Hopkins appear on a lone single for Columbia Records – Stagger Lee backed by I’m Hurtin’ Inside, released in November 1965.
Clarkson leaves to play bass guitar in several local bands, including The Hooties, but reunites with Hopkins in June 1966 when the pair form a new group, The Way of Life with brothers, singer Reg Jones and guitarist Chris Jones, former members of The Chucks.
Another Nicky James Movement member, future Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham completes the line up and The Way of Life become a popular live attraction in Birmingham.
Around December 1966 Ted Clarkson brings the Pilling brothers round to the family home and, impressed by their charisma and musical abilities, Clarkson agrees to form a new band with them called The Wages of Sin.
1967
January Clarkson recommends his The Way of Life cohort Mick Hopkins as a lead guitarist. When Ed Pilling is unable to get hire purchase to buy a drum kit and decides to concentrate on lead vocals, Clarkson and Hopkins try and entice John Bonham to join the fledgling group but he prefers to stay with The Way of Life and will subsequently join Robert Plant in The Band of Joy in 1967.
Clarkson contacts drummer Jimmy Skidmore, who has been playing in local group, The Delmore Lee Sound with keyboard player Norman Haines. Skidmore agrees to join on drums when Haines leaves to take up an offer with Locomotive, whose line up, at one point, includes future Traffic member, Chris Wood.
FebruaryThe Wages of Sin sign to John Singer’s Agency and he lines the band up with a month’s worth of work in West Germany, playing at the Palleten club in Fulda, which is near an American army base. While there, the group records for the local Palleten label and cuts a version of Hey Joe (recently made famous by The Jimi Hendrix Experience) backed by a cover of Cream’s N.S.U. The single becomes a rare collector’s item and is only released in West Germany.
MarchBack in the West Midlands at the start of the month, The Wages of Sin begin to work around the local area, appearing regularly at top venues like the Morgue, the Carlton Club (aka Carlton Ballroom) and the Cedar Club.
(13)The group appears at the Hereford Lounge in the Bull’s Head in Yardley.
(16)The Wages of Sin perform at the Station Inn in Selly Oak.
(21) They play at the Carlton Club, Erdington.
(22) The Wages of Sin support John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers with The Finders Keepers at Queen’s Ballroom, Wolverhampton
(24) The band makes an appearance at the Selly Park Tavern in Selly Park.
(27-28) The Wages of Sin play two nights at the Hereford Lounge in the Bull’s Head, Yardley.
April (1) They open for London band, The Neat Change at the Carlton Club, Erdington.
(2) Travelling to nearby Coventry, they perform at the Sportsman’s Arms, Allesley.
(3) The Wages of Sin play at the Hereford Lounge in the Bull’s Head, Yardley.
(6) The group appears at the Station Inn, Selly Oak.
(11) They open for The Montanas at the Cedar Club, Birmingham.
(14)The musicians appear at the Bolero Club, Wednesbury, West Midlands
(17) The Wages of Sin open for Lulu and The Luvvers at the Cedar Club.
(24) The band appears at the Hereford Lounge in the Bull’s Head, Yardley.
(29) The group performs at the Bulls Head, Hanford, Staffordshire.
May (1) The Wages of Sin appear at the Bull’s Head in Hay Mills.
(4) The band plays at Station Inn in Selly Oak.
(7) The musicians appear the Carnaby Club in Coventry, West Midlands.
(12) The Wages of Sin perform at the Hereford Lounge at the Bull’s Head in Yardley.
(15) The group makes an appearance at the Holly Bush pub in Quinton. The same night singer/songwriter Cat Stevens performs at Birmingham’s Cedar Club and this may be the evening that he first hears about the group with whom he works with later in the year.
(20) The band appear at the Black Horse in Kidderminster, Worcestershire.
(24) The Wages of Sin play at the Hen and Chickens in Langley, West Midlands with The Ugly’s.
(25) The next night, the band plays at the Station Inn in Selly Oak.
(27) The musicians appear at the Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire with The Powerhouse.
(30) The Wages of Sin perform at the Bolero Club, Wednesbury, West Midlands.
June (3) They return for another show at the Station Inn in Selly Oak. The group is also billed to perform at the Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire with The Powerhouse.
(5) The Wages of Sin perform at the Holly Bush pub in Quinton. Soon afterwards, The Wages of Sin return to Germany to play a second residency at the Palleten club in Fulda. The group begins to introduce more psychedelic material, including a cover of The Beatles’ Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.
July (1) The band returns to the West Midlands and plays at the Station Inn in Selly Oak.
(5) The Wages of Sin appear at the Mackdown in Kitts Green with The Modernaires.
(7) They perform at the Hereford Lounge in the Bull’s Head, Yardley.
(10) The group appears at the Holly Bush pub in Quinton. Soon afterwards they start using the name Yellow Rainbow for some gigs because there is another band from Cambridge called The Wages of Sin.
(15) Billed as The Yellow Rainbow, the musicians appear at the Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich, West Midlands with The Uglys.
(16) Billed again as Yellow Rainbow, the band performs at the Beloro Club, Wednesbury, West Midlands.
(17) The Wages of Sin perform at the Regent Club in Langley Green with The Ugly’s and The Stax Movement.
(21) The musicians appear at the Hen and Chickens in Langley Green with The Wellington Kitch Jump Band.
(22) The Wages of Sin perform at Gotham City in the Crown and Cushion in Perry Barr with The Second Thoughts. On the same evening, they appear at the Elbow Room in Aston, West Midlands.
(25) The Wages of Sin play at the Bolero Club, Wednesbury, West Midlands.
(28) The group plays at the Bull’s Head in Yardley. Aware of the more progressive musical scene emerging and to avoid confusion with the other group called The Wages of Sin, they change their name Yellow Rainbow, which inspires Hopkins’s former Gerry Levene & The Avengers band mate, Roy Wood to write a song for The Move using the same title.
August (7) Yellow Rainbow play at the Holly Bush pub in Quinton, West Midlands.
(10) The band performs at the Queen’s Beat Club, Erdington, West Midlands.
(12) They appear at the Queen’s Beat Club in Erdington.
(14) The band plays at the Regent Club in Langley Green with The Montanas.
(18) Yellow Rainbow (still billed as The Wages of Sin) appear at the Penthouse in Birmingham with Strictly for The Birds.
(26)Billed as The Wages of Sin, they play at the the Co-op in the Rainbow Suite, Birmingham with The Age.
(28) Billed once again as Yellow Rainbow, they appear at the Boar’s Head in Perry Barr, West Midlands.
(30) Yellow Rainbow perform at the Hen and Chickens in Langley Green.
September (2)The Wages of Sin play at the Blackhorse, Kidderminster, Worcestershire (but not clear if it’s the same band).
(4) The band appears at the Holly Bush in Quinton.
(14)Yellow Rainbow make an appearance at the Queen’s Beat Club in Erdington.
(16)The group plays at the Station Inn in Selly Oak, West Midlands.
(25) Yellow Rainbow appear at the Boar’s Head in Birmingham.
(30) They play at the Bull’s Head in Yardley, West Midlands.
October (2) Yellow Rainbow play at the Holly Bush pub in Quinton. This may be the evening that Cat Stevens’s brother and manager David Gordon approaches the musicians and invites them to London to record and work as Cat Stevens’s backing band. Despite having a year’s worth of bookings in Birmingham, the group accepts and is put on a retainer. Before moving to London, Yellow Rainbow fufil a number of local bookings.
Melody Maker, 18 November 1967
(3) The musicians perform at the Bolero in Wednesbury, West Midlands.
(7) They appear at the Swan in Yardley Green with Chances Avenue.
(8) One of the band’s final gigs in the West Midlands is at the Crown and Cushion in Perry Barr. Soon afterwards, Yellow Rainbow relocate to London where Cat Stevens renames them Zeus.
November (10) Zeus plays a solo set at Middle Earth with The Soft Machine and Sensory Armada. They spend the next few days rehearsing at the Marquee with Stevens in preparation for a forthcoming show in France.
(17-18) Backing Cat Stevens, Zeus performs at the Palais des Sports in Paris on a show that also features The Spencer Davis Group, The Soft Machine, Dantalion’s Chariot, Keith West and Tomorrow. The show is recorded and broadcast on French TV.
December Back in the UK, Stevens records and produces Zeus covering two of his compositions at Pye Studios, which are subsequently shelved.
(18)Zeus appears at the Marquee in London, opening for The Nice.
(31)Zeus sees in 1968 with a show at the New Bagatelle Club, Ettington Park Hotel, Alderminster, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire.
1968
January (20) Cat Stevens and Zeus appear at the Winter Gardens Weston-Super-Mare.
Within weeks, Stevens contracts TB and is forced to lay low while he recuperates.
Although the band is on a retainer, there is little work and in February the Pilling brothers decide to return to Toronto where they will subsequently form Fludd with former Pretty Ones bass player Greg Godovitz. Fludd record their debut album for Warner Brothers in August 1971 and will have several notable Canadian hits in the early 1970s, including Turned 21.
The Pilling brothers’ departure scuppers the band. Skidmore subsequently joins The Norman Haines Band while Clarkson responds to an advert in NME and becomes a member of The World of Oz, whose debut single is released on 14 August 1968.
The band records three popsike singles for Deram between 1968-1969, including the catchy The Muffin Man and an eponymous lone album. A fourth single appears in the Netherlands where The World of Oz is a popular attraction. When the group breaks up, Clarkson briefly becomes a roadie for The Moody Blues, working part of their 1971 world tour.
Hopkins, meanwhile, joins Birmingham group, The Lemon Tree in June 1968 and appears on their second Parlophone single It’s So Nice To Come Home, which is produced by Andy Fairweather-Low.
He then forms Copperfield who record two singles in 1969-1970. The first, Any Old Time, is for the Instant label and is produced by Andrew Loog Oldham, while the second, I’ll Hold Out My Hand, is for Parlophone. Kenny Jones of The Small Faces plays drums on Any Old Time.
In January 1971, Hopkins replaces Jeff Lynne in The Idle Race and appears on the group’s final single for Regal Zonophone, Dancing Flower, and a lone album, Time Is.
1971
December Hopkins answers a call from the Pilling brothers to fly to Toronto and join Fludd. He appears on one single, Get Up, Get Out and Move On, which reaches #34 on the Canadian charts, before returning home to Birmingham after six months to put together Barefoot, resident band at the Rum Runner in Birmingham.
Hopkins later finds a degree of fame with heavy rock band, Quartz. Hopkins later records in his own studio in Birmingham with friends from his 1960s group, Copperfield.
Fludd, meanwhile, enjoyed further Canadian hits with Cousin Mary and What An Animal among others before Brian Pilling succumbs to cancer on 28 June 1978, aged just 29.
The group later evolves into Saga. Ed appears with a new version of Fludd in Toronto on 30 April 2009 with Foot In Cold Water.
My personal thanks go to Ed Pilling, Mick Hopkins and Tony Clarkson for helping to pull the story together.
The live dates were taken from many different sources, including Melody Maker and The Birmingham Evening Mail, the Express & Star, the Evening Sentinel, Kidderminster Times and Stourport News and Coventry Evening Telegraph.
Thank you also to Vernon Joynson and his excellent book, The Tapestry of Delights and Laurie Hornsby’s Brum Rocked On!
Dennis Lascelles (keyboards) replaced by Mick Fletcher
Terry Hewitt (bass)
Pete ? (drums)
This short-lived band was called The Rifle and was the brainchild of former Carl Douglas & The Big Stampede guitarist Del Grace, who put together an earlier line up in late 1967 to play a lucrative ski resort gig in Verbier, Switzerland over the Christmas period.
The Rifle, Verbier
Malcolm Magaron had started out fronting Malcolm Magaron & The Blueshealers who were regulars at the Bag O’Nails in late 1966, which is probably where he first met Del Grace as Carl Douglas’ band worked there extensively during the same period.
The original keyboard player Dennis Lascelles went on to play with Fat Daughter but at the time was a member of Herbie & The Royalists who ended up recording a lone LP for Saga Records in 1968.
The Rifle, 1968 with Mick Fletcher (left)
Mick Fletcher, who’d worked with Del Grace in The Epitaph Soul Band during 1963-1965 period, replaced Dennis Lascelles in early 1968 after working with Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement.
When the band split up, Del Grace did some recordings for Liberty Records. Mick Fletcher joined The Amboy Dukes and Malcolm Magaron sang with The Les Humphries Singers.
We’d love to hear from anyone who can add any additional information in the comments section below.
Dave Whittaker (aka Chet Mason) (lead vocals/congas)
Del Grace (lead guitar)
Bruce Duckworth (rhythm guitar)
Mick Kinzett (bass/manager) replaced by Mick Holland (bass)
Mick Fletcher (keyboards)
Dave Rolfick (baritone sax)
Mick Lye (tenor sax)
Rodney Peters (aka Karl Lee) (drums)
Formed as Karl Lee & The Epitaphs in Welling, southeast London in January 1963, they changed name to The Epitaphs in 1964 and then The Epitaph Soul Band in 1965.
Most of the group’s members were from the Sidcup/Bexley area although Lye came from Battersea and Rolfick was from Streatham.
The group often played at the Black Prince Hotel in Bexley. Len Fletcher who ran the club was their manager.
Del Grace says the band’s line-up was fluid with musicians coming and going. The spelling may not be correct for some of the players listed above.
Bruce Duckworth didn’t stay long and they stuck with only one guitarist after he departed.
Mick Holland joined on bass in 1964 so that Mick Kinzett could assume road management duties.
The band’s van was involved in a horrific crash on Rochester Way in October 1964 (see newspaper clipping below) and two of the members were hospitalised. Mick Holland was so badly injured that he couldn’t continue with the group.
Bexley Heath & Welling Observer and Kentish Times, 26 February 1965, page 12
The group was put on hold until early February 1965 when it was reformed with the following musicians:
Dave Whitaker (aka Chet Mason) (lead vocals/congas)
Del Grace (lead guitar)
Mick Fletcher (keyboards)
John James (bass) (possibly also known as John Porter)
Dave Rolfick (baritone sax)
Mick Lye (tenor sax)
Rodney Peters (aka Karl Lee) (drums)
The new formation played at the Black Prince Hotel in Bexley on Sunday, 21 February and began working as the resident band at the Last Chance Club in Oxford Street, central London.
Bexley Heath & Welling Observer and Kentish Times, 26 February 1965, page 12Bexley Heath & Welling Observer and Kentish Times, 26 February 1965, page 12
Towards the end of 1965 Del Grace’s friend Andy Clark came in on baritone sax.
Soon after Mick Fletcher joined The Sound System who backed Jimmy Cliff before working with Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement, The Rifle (reuniting with Del Grace) and The Amboy Dukes.
Around the same time Del Grace joined The Big Wheel, who later recruited Andy Clark and Mick Holland.
Grace joined Carl Douglas & The Big Stampede in 1966 while Andy Clark later worked with The Fenmen, Sam Gopal Dream, VAMP, Clark-Hutchinson and Jeff Beck among many others.
Thanks to Ian Kinzett for the clipping
Notable gigs:
2 May 1964 – Beat Group Contest, Wickham Hall, West Wickham, Kent with The Blackhawks, Chris Finn & The Solents, The Sonics, The Melvin Toole Combo, The Original Deltones, The Electrons, The Copains, The Consorts and Paul & The Playboys (Beckenham & Penge Advertiser) Billed as The Epitaphs
February 1965 – Last Chance Club, Oxford Street, central London (Bexley Heath & Welling Observer and Kentish Times)
21 February 1965 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London with The Graham Bond Organisation (Bexley Heath & Welling Observer and Kentish Times)
1 June 1965 – 100 Club, Oxford Street, central London with The Bo Street Runners (Melody Maker)
5 June 1965 – Wimbledon Odeon, Wimbledon, southwest London with Beat Unlimited (Kingston & Malden Borough News) Advert says The Epitaphs are from Streatham so may be another band
17 June 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (Melody Maker)
19 June 1965 – Jazz & Blues Festival, Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London with The Dutch Swing College, Solomon Burke, Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band, Unit 4 Plus 2, The Spencer Davis Group, The Downliners Sect, Alan Elsdon’s Jazzband, Brian Green New-O-Stompers and The Loose Ends (Bexley Heath & Welling Observer and Kentish Times)
Festival review in the same newspaper, 25 June 1965, page 12
30 June 1965 – Bromley Court Hotel, Bromley, southeast London (Melody Maker)
25 July 1965 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London with The Spencer Davis Group (Melody Maker)
Jo Jo Gunne, late 1965/early 1966. Left to right: Don Bax, Renwick MacDonald, Alan Townsend, Doug Gordon, Ronny Butterworth and Pete Pennycate. Photo: Ronny Butterworth
Readers will be familiar with the American early 1970s rock band Jo Jo Gunne, helmed by former Spirit members Jay Ferguson and Mark Andes.
However, the first band to use the name Jo Jo Gunne was in fact a little known British R&B outfit, formed at Debrome school in Feltham, Middlesex in early-to-mid 1965.
The original line up comprised:
Ronny Butterworth – lead vocals
Simon Spackman – lead guitar
Don Bax – rhythm guitar
Alan Townsend – bass
Doug Gordon – drums
However, later that year the musicians made the decision to move in a more soul direction and took on a new lead singer, Pete Pennycate, to accommodate the new configuration.
Spackman moved from lead guitar to keyboards to allow newcomer Renwick MacDonald to join from local rivals Themselves. Butterworth and Townsend focused on trumpets and Bax took up the bass.
By early 1966, Jo Jo Gunne comprised:
Pete Pennycate – lead vocals
Renwick MacDonald – lead guitar
Simon Spackman – organ
Don Bax – bass
Alan Townsend – trumpet and trombone
Ronny Butterworth – trumpet
Doug Gordon – drums
During June 1966, the band won Melody Maker’s National Beat Competition, which was held at Brighton’s Regent Ballroom. Also, during August, they took part in the London Palladium competition.
Over the next 18 months, this line up (minus Butterworth who dropped out around November 1966 to play with Twickenham band, The All Night Workers) played the following gigs:
Photo: Middlesex Chronicle. Image may be subject to copyright
5 October 1965 – Nurses Club, Jolly Gardeners, Isleworth, west London with The Road Agents
25 February 1966 – Cavern Club, Burnley, Lancashire with The Fruitdrops May not be the same band
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
19 March 1966 – London Cavern, Holland Park, west London with supporting group
25 March 1966 – Cellar Club, Kingston upon Thames, southwest London
2 April 1966 – Cellar Club, Kingston upon Thames, southwest London
12 April 1966 – 100 Club, Oxford Street, central London with The Pretty Things
17 April 1966 – Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire with The Generation
14 May 1966 – Cellar Club, Kingston upon Thames, southwest London
28 May 1966 – Zeeta House, Pontiac, Putney, southwest London
11 June 1966 – Cellar Club, Kingston upon Thames, southwest London
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
18 June 1966 – Zeeta House, Pontiac, Putney, southwest London with The Roger Harris Show
Photo: Bletchley District Gazette. Image may be subject to copyright
22 July 1966 – Bletchley Young Conservatives, Coronation Hall, Bletchley, Buckinghamshire
Photo: Middlesex Chronicle, 15 July 1966. Image may be subject to copyright
6 August 1966 – Cellar Club, Kingston upon Thames, southwest London
12 August 1966 – Cellar Club, Kingston upon Thames, southwest London
Photo: Bletchley District Gazette. Image may be subject to copyright
13 August 1966 – Bletchley Carnival Week, Bletchley, Buckinghamshire with The Future Set
17 September 1966 – Borough Assembly Hall, Aylesbury, Bucks with The Future Set
10 October 1966 – Borough Assembly Hall, Aylesbury, Bucks with The Future Set and The Choozey Beggars (this needs confirmation as this may be December instead)
11 November 1966 – Chesham Co-op Hall, Chesham, Bucks
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
6 January 1967 – Tiles, Oxford Street, central London with Alvin Cash & The Crawlers (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
13 January 1967 – The Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Derek Savage Foundation (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
Photo: Brackley Advertiser. Image may be subject to copyright
27 January 1967 – Brackley Town Hall, Brackley, Northamptonshire
Photo: Northampton Chronicle. Image may be subject to copyright
28 January 1967 – White Bicycle, Maple Ballroom, Northampton with The Crew (billed as Jo-Jo-Gunn)
Photo: Newham, East and West Ham, Barking and Stratford Express. Image may be subject to copyright
17 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The New Pirates and The Afex (billed as Jo-Jo Gunns)
18 February 1967 – Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The All Night Workers
22 February 1967 – St Michael’s Youth Centre, Sydenham, southeast London (billed Jo Jo Gun)
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
24 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with David Essex and Mood Indigo (billed as The Jo-Jo Gunns)
25 February 1967 – Rub-a-Dub, Reading, Berkshire
5 March 1967 – New Yorker Discotheque, Swindon, Wiltshire with The Iveys and The Inspiration
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
10 March 1967 – The New All Star Club, 9a Artillery Passage, E1, east London
According to an article in the Hounslow, Brentford and Chiswick Post, dated 5 May, Jo Jo Gunne split up in late April with Simon Spackman joining McDonald’s former band Themselves in early May while Pete Pennycate went solo.
The newspaper’s 16 June issue adds more information. It notes that bass player Don Bax was working with The Penny Blacks, the same band that would feature soon-to-be-joining members Alan Barratt, Paul Maher and Tom Marshall.
In late August 1967, Jo Jo Gunne reformed with Alan Barratt replacing Pete Pennycate on lead vocals.
The Penny Blacks, 1967. Alan Barratt (second left), Paul Maher (second right) and Tom Marshall (far right).
Barratt had started out singing with The Penny Blacks, which also included lead guitarist Tom Marshall; rhythm guitarist John Day; bass player Dave Arnold; and drummer Paul Maher.
When Barratt joined Jo Jo Gunne that summer he also brought Paul Maher with him (who took over from Doug Gordon) and recent recruit Don Bax.
Simon Spackman and Renwick MacDonald joined the new version (presumably both from Themselves, who soon changed name to Virgin Sleep). Original member Alan Townsend also rejoined.
According to Alan Barratt, the new version debuted on 8 September 1967 at the California Ballroom in Dunstable, Bedfordshire.
In late 1967, Jo Jo Gunne signed a deal with Don Arden’s Starlight Agency after Amen Corner’s singer Andy Fairweather-Low recommended the band to the infamous promoter.
Amen Corner and Jo Jo Gunne had shared a billing at the California Ballroom in Dunstable on 29 September 1967 alongside rival west London band, The All Night Workers.
The All Night Workers would maintain a close link with Jo Jo Gunne and several musicians would play with both bands.
The first of these was original member, trumpet player Ronny Butterworth, who re-joined Jo Jo Gunne from The All Night Workers around late September/early October 1967.
The revamped line up now comprised:
Alan Barratt – lead vocals
Renwick MacDonald – lead guitar
Simon Spackman – organ
Don Bax – bass
Alan Townsend – trumpet and trombone
Ronny Butterworth – trumpet
Paul Maher – drums
However, around late October lead guitar player Renwick MacDonald left and another former Penny Blacks member, lead guitarist Tom Marshall joined the line up for the rest of 1967 and into spring 1968.
Jo Jo Gunne, Hampton Court Palace, circa October 1967. Left to right: Tom Marshall, Alan Barratt, Alan Townsend, Ronny Butterworth, Paul Maher, Simon Spackman and Don Bax. Photo: Tom Marshall
When Marshall left around February/March 1968 to join The Playground (and subsequently Harmony Grass and Capability Brown), Spackman moved from organ to lead guitar and keyboard player Ken Carroll joined Jo Jo Gunne.
Carroll had spent the past few months playing with a band called Deep Purple, which had been formed in late 1967, some six months before the more famous version (although there were a few other local groups across England that used the name before 1968).
The following concert dates are taken from this period:
8 September 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with James and Bobby Purify and The Yum Yum Band
Photo: Berkhamsted Gazette and Tring and District News. Image may be subject to copyright
23 September 1967 – Hemel Hempstead Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead, Herts with The Chris Allen Band
29 September 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with Amen Corner and The All Night Workers
Photo: Crawley Advertiser. Image may be subject to copyright
1 October 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with The Move (spelt Jo Jo Gun)
14 October 1967 – Luton Boys Club, Luton, Bedfordshire with The Vistas (spelt Jo Jo Gunn)
15 October 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with The Jimi Hendrix Experience (they may have been replaced by The Doves at short notice)
20 October 1967 – Pavilion, Southend, Essex with The Mindbenders and Tiles Big Band (Southend Standardlists this gig as 21 October 1967)
21 October 1967 – Wimbledon Palais, Wimbledon, southwest London with Tony Rivers and The Castaways (possibly one of MacDonald’s final gigs)
27 October 1967 – London School of Economics, central London with Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera (possibly one of Marshall’s first gigs)
Photo: Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph. Image may be subject to copyright
5 November 1967 – Kettering Working Men’s Club, Kettering, Northamptonshire with The Barry Lee Show (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
11 November 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with The Symbols and The Fifth Dynasty (spelt Jo Jo Gunn)
12 November 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with Modes Mode
17 November 1967 – Southlands College, Roehampton, southwest London with The Nashville Teens
Photo: Eastbourne Herald Gazette. Image may be subject to copyright
18 November 1967 – The Catacombe, Eastbourne, East Sussex
24 November 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with The Shevelles and The Crew
Photo: Stratford upon Avon Herald. Image may be subject to copyright
25 November 1967 – Bagatelle Club, Ettington Park Hotel, Alderminster, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
8 December 1967 – Boston Gliderdrome, Lincolnshire with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds and Reformation (billed as Jo-Jo Gun Band)
Photo: Woking Herald. Image may be subject to copyright
16 December 1967 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
19 December 1967 – Boston Gliderdrome, Lincolnshire with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, Reformation and Ray Bones (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
Photo: Crawley Advertiser. Image may be subject to copyright
24 December 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with The Exits
31 December 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with Precisely This
Photo: Woking Herald. Image may be subject to copyright
9 January 1968 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
21 January 1968 – Starlite Ballroom, Greenford, west London with Ronnie Jones & The Q Set
26 January 1968 – Elbow Room, Aston, West Midlands
28 January 1968 – Carlton Club, Erdington, West Midlands with Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds
Photo: Crawley Advertiser. Image may be subject to copyright
10 February 1968 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with The Doves
11 February 1968 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with The Who
13 February 1968 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
24 February 1968 – Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, Essex with The Human Instinct and Almond Marizpan (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
25 February 1968 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with The Human Instinct
28 February 1968 – Hemel Hempstead Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead, Herts with The Herd
Photo: Possibly Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph. Image may be subject to copyright
2 March 1968 – Nags Head, Motown Club, Wollaston, Northamptonshire with Mick’s Soulotek (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
9 March 1968 – Locarno Ballroom, Swindon, Wiltshire (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
9 March 1968 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with Modes Mode
10 March 1968 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with The Fabulous Temptations (this is The Fantastics)
23 March 1968 – Feltham R&B Club, Feltham, Middlesex
Photo: Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph. Image may be subject to copyright
25 March 1968 – Kettering Working Men’s Club, Kettering, Northamptonshire with The Crusaders (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
Photo: Derby Evening Telegraph. Image may be subject to copyright
30 March 1968 – Clouds, Derby (billed as Jo-Jo Gunn Group)
30 March 1968 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
31 March 1968 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with The Original Drifters (Paul Maher filled in for The Original Drifters’ ill drummer)
11 April 1968 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
Photo: Derby Evening Telegraph. Image may be subject to copyright
13 April 1968 – Clouds, Derby (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
Photo: Woking Herald. Image may be subject to copyright
15 April 1968 – Ship Hotel, Weybridge, Surrey
Photo: Berkhamsted Gazette and Tring and District News. Image may be subject to copyright
8 May 1968 – Hemel Hempstead Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire with Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band
Photo: Greenford Post. Image may be subject to copyright
25 May 1968 – Starlite Ballroom, Greenford, west London
1 June 1968 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
3 June 1968 – Hatchetts Playround, Piccadilly, central London
Having signed to Decca Records, Jo Jo Gunne recorded their debut single, R & H Barter’s “Every Story Has An End” c/w Don Bax and Alan Townsend’s “Should Live Like That” (Decca F 12807), which was released on 12 July 1968 but failed to chart.
Just after the recording, Carroll introduced a second singer in to the band, Mick Wheeler, who’d previously worked with Ronny Butterworth in The All Night Workers during 1966-1967 and then in Carroll’s short-lived Deep Purple in late 1967-early 1968. When Wheeler joined, he also doubled up on congas.
Jo Jo Gunne, spring 1968, just before Mick Wheeler joined. Left to right: Simon Spackman, Alan Barratt, Ronny Butterworth, Ken Carroll, Alan Townsend, Paul Maher and Don Bax
The revised line up comprised:
Alan Barratt – lead vocals
Mick Wheeler – lead vocals, congas
Simon Spackman – lead guitar
Ken Carroll – organ
Don Bax – bass
Alan Townsend – trumpet and trombone
Ronny Butterworth – trumpet
Paul Maher – drums
Around mid-July, Jo Jo Gunne were offered the opportunity to play some gigs in Saint-Tropez in France but Ronny Butterworth didn’t participate and dropped out just before the continental trip.
The line-up on the band’s debut single before Mick Wheeler joined. Photo: Record Mirror. Image may be subject to copyright
From 2 August to 5 September 1968, the band (minus Butterworth who has since died) played a nightly residency at the Club St Hilaire de la Mer in Saint-Tropez before returning to the UK.
On their return Ken Carroll left the band and went on to play with Johnny Johnson & The Bandwagon. He currently works with Samtana.
The following gigs were advertised with the above line up:
12 June 1968 – Samantha’s, Bournemouth, Dorset (possibly one of Wheeler’s first gigs)
15 June 1968 – Clouds, Derby (billed as Jo-Jo Gunn Group)
22 June 1968 – Locarno Ballroom, Swindon, Wiltshire with Hoffman’s Biscuits (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
28 June 1968 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly, central London
29 June 1968 – Broken Wheel, Retford, Nottinghamshire
Image may be subject to copyright
6 July 1968 – St Albans City Hall, St Albans, Hertfordshire with The Rocky
Photo: Possibly East Kent Times & Mail. Image may be subject to copyright
12 July 1968 – Supreme Ballroom, Ramsgate, Kent (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
Photo: Possibly Newbury Weekly News. Image may be subject to copyright
19 July 1968 – Soul Club, Plaza, Newbury, Berkshire with J J Bender & SOS
Photo: Eastbourne Herald Chronicle. Image may be subject to copyright
20 July 1968 – Eastbourne Town Hall, Eastbourne, East Sussex with The Soul Stars
27 July 1968 – Red Cross Hall, East Grinstead, West Sussex
28 July 1968 – Beau Brummel Club, Nantwich, Cheshire with The Scorpions (billed as Jo Jo Gunn) (one of Butterworth’s final gigs)
3 August 1968 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey (unlikely to have happened if they went to France)
Photo: Chester Chronicle. Image may be subject to copyright
10 August 1968 – Clockwork Orange, Chester, Cheshire with Headline News (billed as Jo Jo Gunn) (unlikely to have happened if they went to France)
11 August 1968 – Victorian Club, Liverpool (unlikely to have happened if they went to France)
31 August 1968 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey (unlikely to have happened if they went to France)
7 September 1968 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey (one of Carroll’s final gigs)
Photo: Redbridge & Ilford Recorder. Image may be subject to copyright
12 September 1968 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
13 September 1968 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
18 September 1968 – Samantha’s, New Burlington Street, central London (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
20 September 1968 – Victoria Hall, Falkirk, Scotland (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
22 September 1968 – Kinema Ballroom, Dunfermline, Scotland (this needs confirmation) (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
2 October 1968 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly, central London
6 October 1968 – Drokiweeney, Manchester (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
12 October 1968 – St Albans City Hall, St Albans, Hertfordshire
26 October 1968 – Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Herts
Around mid-November 1968, Simon Spackman also left (and has since died) and west London guitar hero Dave Wendels (ex-Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers, Lulu’s backing band, The Luvvers, Tom Jones’s backing band, The Squires and The Krew) joined the band.
This new line up transformed the group and played dozens of successful gigs around the UK, including Mr Smiths in Manchester, Bournemouth Winter Gardens, Pantiles in Bagshot, Surrey plus London venues like Hatchetts Playground in Piccadilly, the Valbonne Club, Samantha’s, the Scotch of St James and Sibylla’s.
They also supported Three Dog Night on a Scottish tour. In Scotland they supported Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band, as well as playing The Electric Garden (Radio 1 club) in Glasgow.
The new line up played the following:
3 November 1968 – Cosmo, Carlisle, Cumbria with Pete Kelly Solution (Paul Maher says it was cancelled)
5 November 1968 – Sibylla’s, central London (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
7 November 1968 – 100 Club, Oxford Street, central London with PP Arnold (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
7 November 1968 – Willesden College of Technology, Willesden, northwest London with PP Arnold (possibly one of Spackman’s final gigs)
9 November 1968 – Clouds, Derby
11 November 1968 – Bamboo Club, Wilmslow, Cheshire (billed as Jo-Jo Gunn)
16 November 1968 – Fellowship Inn, Eltham, southeast London (possibly one of Wendels’ first gigs)
Photo: Redbridge & Ilford Recorder. Image may be subject to copyright
22 November 1968 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London
Photo: Eastern Evening News. Image may be subject to copyright
23 November 1968 – Cromer Links Pavilion, Cromer, Norfolk with Kiss (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
Re: North Norfolk News. Image may be subject to copyright
24 November 1968 – Crystal Palace Hotel, Crystal Palace, south London
25 November 1968 – Sibylla’s, central London (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
8 December 1968 – Mr Smith’s, Manchester (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
14 December 1968 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
16 December 1968 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly, central London
Photo: Possibly Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph. Image may be subject to copyright
23 December 1968 – Corby Civic Centre, Corby, Northamptonshire with Size Seven and State Express (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
Photo: Woking Herald. Image may be subject to copyright
24 December 1968 – Walton Hop, Walton on Thames, Surrey (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
29 December 1968 – Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
However, around January 1969 longstanding member Alan Townsend departed (and has since died) and Dennis Fisher came in on trumpet from the group, Mothers Ruin.
Townsend spent several months working with The All Night Workers before subsequently working with The Roy Young Band later in the year and doing a multitude of sessions.
Clockwise from top left: Dennis Fisher, Dave Wendels, Paul Maher, Mick Wheeler, Alan Barratt, Don Bax.
By now, the line up comprised:
Alan Barratt – lead vocals
Mick Wheeler – lead vocals, congas
Dave Wendels – lead guitar
Don Bax – bass
Dennis Fisher – trumpet
Paul Maher – drums
This configuration recorded the band’s second single – Potter and Dee’s “Beggin’ You Baby” c/w “Bad Penny” (Decca F 12906), which was released on 25 April 1969.
The band played the following dates:
4 January 1969 – Clouds, Derby
7 January 1969 – Whisky a Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
11 January 1969 – Royal Lido Ballroom, Prestatyn, Wales with Strawberry Cartoon (billed as Jo Jo Gunn Soul Band)
15-16 January 1969 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly, central London
25 January 1969 – St Albans City Hall, St Albans, Hertfordshire
27-28 January 1969 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly central London
1 February 1969 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall with The Vigilantes
17 February 1969 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly central London
18 March 1969 – Alex’s Disco, Salisbury, Wiltshire
27 March 1969 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly central London
5 April 1969 – Le Metro, Birmingham (billed as Jo Jo Gunn Soul Show)
5 April 1969 – St Albans City Hall, St Albans, Hertfordshire
When “Beggin’ You Baby” flopped, Jo Jo Gunne split with Don Arden. According to Barratt, the singles were too poppy and did not represent the band’s live set, which was funkier/soul orientated material.
After the band proposed an album of its own material and Decca turned the opportunity down, Jo Jo Gunne split from the label.
Around Easter, Jo Jo Gunne signed with Laurie O’Leary who landed them a three-month residency in Freeport, Grand Bahamas, where they played nightly in the House of Lords club, returning in July. Wheeler has kept the outgoing flight from England, which was on the 10 April.
The following dates were advertised but were not possible as they weren’t in the UK:
9 May 1969 – Rush Common House, Abingdon, Oxfordshire with Status Quo and Fire (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
24 May 1969 – Il Rondo, Leicester
25 May 1969 – Railway, Wealdstone, northwest London
26 May 1969 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly, London
5 June 1969 – Blaises, Kensington, west London (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
11 June 1969 – Revolution, central London (billed as Jo Jo Gunn)
21 June 1969 – Pavilion Ballroom, Bournemouth, Dorset with Finnians Fogg
3 July 1969 – Revolution, central London
Photo: Redbridge & Ilford Recorder. Image may be subject to copyright
6 July 1969 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London
10 July 1969 – Blaises, Kensington, west London
Left to right: Dave Wendels, Alan Barratt, Dave Booker and Mick Wheeler, summer 1969
On their return in early-to-mid July, Dennis Fisher and Don Bax departed and the remaining quartet of Alan Barratt, Mick Wheeler, Paul Maher and Dave Wendels formed a short-lived version with Manchester bass player Dave Bowker (now David Booker) who’d previously worked with Ivan Meads, The Richard Kent Style, Kirk St James and Sponge among others. Booker had met the musicians in the Bahamas while playing with Sponge.
Left to right: Mick Wheeler, Alan Barratt, Dave Wendels and Dave Booker
The group travelled to Cologne in July/August and played the Storyville Club but on their return, Wendels and Booker both left and played with Billy J Kramer, a week-long engagement at Batley Variety Club.
Left to right: Dave Booker, Dave Wendels and Mick Wheeler, Cologne, summer ’69. Photo: Mick Wheeler
Wendels then joined The Roy Young Band while Booker joined O’Hara’s Playboys after auditioning unsuccessfully for Badfinger (Joey Molland got the job).
The short-lived line-up played the following dates:
23 August 1969 – Marine Court, St Leonards, East Sussex with Sunshine Sky
Photo: Surrey Advertiser. Image may be subject to copyright
6 September 1969 – Civic Hall, Guildford, Surrey with Marshall Hammond
Photo: Redbridge & Ilford Recorder. Image may be subject to copyright
12 September 1969 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London
19 September 1969 – Winter Gardens, Penzance, Cornwall
Longstanding lead singer Alan Barratt was offered a backing vocal spot with The Roy Young Band but declined. He also departed around this time and later went on to sing with The Good Old Boys with Nick Simper from the original Deep Purple.
Mick Wheeler and Paul Maher then put together an entirely new version of Jo Jo Gunne.
Mick Wheeler – lead vocals
George Williams – lead guitar
Barney Barnes – organ
Billy Ball – bass
Paul Maher – drums
In early 1970, Wheeler’s former band mate from The All Night Workers, Malcolm Randall briefly took over the drum stool before Phil Chesterton came in full-time.
This new line up continued into the early 1970s and returned to Saint-Tropez for a residency. The group subsequently morphed into a later version of The Love Affair, long after its lead singer Steve Ellis had left.
Pantiles, Bagshot, Surrey, 1971. Photo: Martin H Samuel
Huge thanks to Alan Barratt, Paul Maher, Mick Wheeler, Ken Carroll, Tom Marshall, Ronny Butterworth, David Booker and Dave Wendels for their help in piecing the story together.
I’d like to thank Alan Barratt, Tom Marshall, Mick Wheeler and Paul Maher for providing photos.
Thanks also to Jason Barnard at Strange Brew who originally posted this article. This is a substantially revised and updated version.
Concert dates were taken from a number of sources, mainly local and regional newspapers. Thanks to Alan Barratt for providing some live dates from late 1967-early 1968 from his personal diary. Most of the London dates were taken from Melody Maker.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica on 5 July 1939, Owen Gray (aka Grey) is one of the true reggae and ska greats but was also the author of a handful of superb soul/mod 45s, recorded in the UK and France between 1965-1969.
Very little is known about this period and so we’d welcome any additional information that readers can provide in the comments section below, particularly around the recording of these individual singles, any unreleased recordings and the personnel on the tracks.
Owen arrived in England in May 1962 and was a prolific recording artist. Like Jimmy Cliff, he’s best known for his reggae recordings but he was an exceptionally gifted soul performer and worked with some top British musicians during the mid-to-late 1960s. His backing bands included The Sound System, The Krew, Tony Knight’s Chessmen and Maximum Breed.
His first venture into soul appears to have been with two singles on the small Aladdin label (see below).
Image may be subject to copyright
Released on 12 March 1965, Owen Gray’s “Gonna Work Out Fine” c/w “Dolly Baby”, was the first of two 45s on the label, the first produced by Denny Cordell.
Advert from New Musical Express
His second release “Lindy Lu” was backed by a great version of “Can I Get a Witness”, which has since become a Northern Soul favourite.
Image may be subject to copyright
In mid-to-late 1965, he moved labels and to Island Records for three singles. The first coupled “Shook, Shimmy & Shake” with “I’m Going Back” and was followed by “Paradise” c/w “Bye Bye Love”. Little is known about the background to both of these releases and the personnel on the recordings.
Image may be subject to copyright
Initially, the singer worked with The Soul Sets, including a gig at the Cue Club in early January 1966.
Photo: Melody Maker
However, in January/February 1966, Chris Blackwell linked Owen with west London Mod outfit, The Sound System.
Photo: Melody Maker
The band had morphed out of The All-Nite Workers and featured guitarist Tony St Clair; bass player Ron Thomas; keyboard player Mick Fletcher; sax players Mel Wayne and Dave Mahoney; and drummer Phil Wainman, who later went on to produce The Sweet among others.
Together, they backed Owen on a lone 45, a rousing version of “You Don’t Know Like I Know” backed by “Take Me Serious”, which appears to have been penned by Ron Thomas, who later went on to work with The Heavy Metal Kids, among others.
Image may be subject to copyright
Owen Gray & The Sound System also gigged around the London club circuit in the first few months of 1966 before Blackwell linked them up with Jimmy Cliff and renamed them The New Generation. Later that year, the group became singer Gary Hamilton’s second version of The Hamilton Movement.
Photo: Melody Maker
Left without a band, Owen joined forces with The Krew who’d just lost their two lead singers Beryl Marsden and Steve Aldo.
Led by scouser and future Wings sideman Howie Casey on sax, the group also featured fellow Liverpudlian Tommy Murray on lead guitar (who was later replaced by Ted Tunnicliffe); Glaswegian Archie Legget; Yorkshireman Eddie Sparrow on drums; and Londoner Alan Reeves on keyboards.
Photo: Alan Reeves. Left to right (back), Eddie Sparrow, Archie Legget, Howie Casey, Alan Reeves. Front, left to right: Owen Gray and Tommy Murray
Owen Gray and The Krew moved to France in April 1966 and played several clubs in the ski resorts, notably the Bus Palladium in Courcheval, before landing a residency at exclusive Paris nightclub Le Bilboquet.
While playing in Paris in July that year, the musicians recorded an EP for Barclay Records’ subsidiary label, Riviera, comprising popular soul covers and strong Owen Gray originals, “Everything’s Alright” and “Somebody Stole My Girl”.
However, by the end of 1966, Owen Gray was back in London and back on the soul circuit, playing the clubs that were popular with the burgeoning Caribbean community such as Paddington’s Cue Club.
Back on Island Records, he recorded one of his finest soul outings, the stupendous “Help Me” coupled with “Incense”, which were produced by Chris Blackwell and Jimmy Miller respectively.
Issued in January 1967, the single should have been a massive hit but inexplicably it failed to chart and is now a much sought-after collectors’ item.
Image may be subject to copyright
A few months later, Owen was back with another London band, this time Tony Knight’s Chessmen, led by drummer Tony Brown. The singer remained with the group until about September 1967.
During Owen’s time with The Chessmen, the musicians passing through included noted sax players Dave Coxhill and Stan Sulzmann and future John Mayall’s Bluesbreaker Keith Tillman.
Photo: Fred D’Albert. Left to right: Terry Ede, Dave Coxhill (hidden), Owen Gray, Tony Brown (hidden), Keith Tillman and Fred D’Albert in Italy.
In July 1967, the band travelled out to Italy to play the Piper Club in Viareggio.
Photo: Melody Maker, 1967
Little is known about his soul projects from this point on, although he did work with singers Ruby and Youth backed by The Shell Shock Show during late 1967 and early 1968.
However, during 1968, he started to do studio work on the Old Kent Road with producer David Hadfield.
Image may be subject to copyright
For the recordings, he was backed by Freddy Mack’s former band, The Mack Sound, who were going by the name Maximum Breed.
Future Butts Band and Gonzalez keyboard player Roy Davies was among the musicians in this talented band.
Several singles were issued during this period, including “Sitting in the Park” and “Dream Lover” but by now, Owen was starting to focus his efforts on the reggae audience.
I have tried to ensure the accuracy of this article but I appreciate that there are likely to be errors and omissions. I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who can provide any additions or corrections. Email: Warchive@aol.com
West London band Wainwright’s Gentlemen are most notable for containing several musicians who went on to fame and fortune in the late 1960s and early 1970s – Ian Gillan (Deep Purple) and Brian Connolly and Mick Tucker (The Sweet).
Formed as Unit 4 in early 1963, the band’s original formation comprised lead guitarist Jim Searle, rhythm guitarist Alfred Fripp (who had previously played with Hayes, Middlesex high school band, Paul & The Alpines) and bass player/singer Jan Frewer. Soon after, the trio were joined by lead singer Chris Wright and drummer Phil Kenton.
Paul & The Alpines, 1963 with Alf Fripp far right. Photo: John Kerrison
Taking on Jan’s father, John, as the group’s manager, the musicians began gigging at youth clubs and social clubs in the Hayes, Harrow and Wembley areas.
During late 1963, however, the band changed name to Wainwright’s Gentlemen after the musicians discovered that there was another Unit 4 on the west London scene (future Brinsley Schwartz Ian Gomm’s group).
In early 1964, Wainwright’s Gentlemen became resident band at Hayes Beat Club in Hayes, Middlesex and also landed a residency at two coffee bars in London’s West End – Le Chat Qui Peche in Regent Street and the Cave St Germain in Poland Street.
Having entered the Mecca Dancing and Walls Ice Cream nationwide Beat Group contest, Wainwright’s Gentlemen appeared at Hammersmith Palais on 9 January 1964 in their area competition, beating several groups, including The Detours, who later became The Who.
Wainwright’s Gentlemen returned to the Hammersmith Palais on 6 February for the ‘Hall Final’, which the band won.
Photo: Daily Sketch cutting, 2 April 1964
Unfortunately, when the national finals were held at the Lyceum on the Strand on 4 May, the group finished fifth out of 13 bands.
Later that year, Wainwright’s Gentlemen secured a recording test at Jackson Sound Studios in Rickmansworth but the session was not successful.
In mid-October, the band added Annette Culley as a second singer. She may have been the same Annette who sang with The Keymen.
Wright, who worked at Dawe Instruments in Acton, Middlesex, invited tenor sax player Dave Brogden from The Midnites to join the group in early November 1964 but the very night he auditioned and joined Wainwright’s Gentlemen, Wright had a falling out with Jan Frewer’s father and departed.
Selected gigs:
9 January 1964 – Mecca Dancing and Walls Ice Cream’s nationwide Beat Group Contest, Hammersmith Palais, Hammersmith, west London
10 January 1964 – Bedsitter Club, Holland Park, west London
11 January 1964 – Le Chat qui Peche, Regent Street, central London
6 February 1964 – Hall Final of Mecca Dancing nationwide Beat Group Contest, Hammersmith Palais, Hammersmith, west London
21 February 1964 – Bedsitter Club, Holland Park, west London
28 February 1964 – Bedsitter Club, Holland Park, west London
1 March 1964 – Beat contest at Watford Town Hall, Watford, Herts with others The group came third
7 March 1964 – The Scene, Florida Room, Brighton, West Sussex
9 March 1964 – Bedsitter Club, Holland Park, west London
30 March 1964 – Hi-Fi Hop, Walton Playhouse, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
30 April 1964 – Bedsitter Club, Holland Park, west London
2 May 1964 – Long’s Ballroom, Bishop Stortford, Herts with The Marauders
4 May 1964 – Mecca Dancing nationwide Beat Group Contest finals, Lyceum Ballroom, Strand, central London with others
23 May 1964 – Hi-Fi Hop, Walton Playhouse, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
6 June 1964 – Assembly Hall, Walthamstow, north London with Johnny Lonesome & The Travellers adn Keith Young & The Skyways
9 June 1964 – Hi-Fi Hop, Walton Playhouse, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
12 June 1964 – Long’s Ballroom, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire with Manfred Mann
27 June 1964 – Hi-Fi Hop, Walton Playhouse, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
6 July 1964 – Attic Club, 1a High Street, Hounslow, Middlesex with Rory Blackwell & His Monsters
25 July 1964 – Assembly Hall, Walthamstow, north London with The Four Zodiacs and The Nu-Trons
31 July 1964 – Whitehall, East Grinstead, West Sussex with The Shades
8 August 1964 – Bedsitter Club, Holland Park, west London
13 September 1964 – Attic, Hounslow, Middlesex
25 September 1964 – Attic Club, 1a High Street, Hounslow, Middlesex with Ken Gordon & The Downsiders
29 September 1964 – Kodak Hall, Wealdstone, Middlesex with The Dolphins and The Beachcombers
4 October 1964 – Kihoty Club, Guildford, Surrey with The Aces and The Shieks
24 October 1964 – Witham Public Hall, Witham, Essex (Billed as Annette with Wainwright’s Gentlemen)
Ian Gillan – lead vocals
Annette Cully – lead vocals
Jim Searle – lead guitar
Alfred Fripp – rhythm guitar
Dave Brogden – tenor saxophone
Jan Frewer – bass, vocals
Phil Kenton – drums
Within days of Dave Brogden joining on tenor saxophone, Wainwright’s Gentlemen brought in Chris Wright’s replacement – Ian Gillan, lead singer with Hayes, Middlesex group, The Javelins.
The new formation remained steady until early March 1965. Brogden’s diary shows that the musicians traveled to Jackson Sound Studios in Rickmansworth on a number of dates in February (3rd, 10th, 15-16th, 19th and 28th) presumably to cut material. However, his original date sheet puts the recording dates for the three tracks that the band cut as 3rd, 8th and 15th March.
Wainwright’s Gentlemen recorded three tracks – “Ain’t That (Just Like Me)”, which has since surfaced on Acid Jazz’s Rare Mod 3 CD compilation; “Que Sera Sera”; and “Slow Down”.
Thanks to Dave Brogden for sharing
At the start of March, Dave Brogden gave three months’ notice that he was leaving Wainwright’s Gentlemen to join west London group Jean & The Statesides. His first contribution to his new band was at EMI Abbey Road studio on 17 June. He would remain with The Statesides until 26 September when Phil Kenton got in touch to join him in an Irish show band at an Irish dance hall in Balham, south London (see later entry).
Around the same time, Ian Gillan started to get itchy feet and covertly started his own band Ian & The Dragsters who gigged intermittently while he remained with Wainwright’s Gentlemen until late April. Dave Brogden played with Gillan’s band on nights when Wainwright’s Gentlemen weren’t gigging.
Selected gigs:
7 November 1964 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
8 November 1964 – La Dolphin Club, Baker Street, central London
12 November 1964 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, Middlesex
14 November 1964 – Dreamland, Margate, Kent with Tony Lindell & The Cruisers
15 November 1964 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
16 November 1964 – Seagull Hotel, Southall, Middlesex
21 November 1964 – Assembly Hall, Walthamstow, north London with The Mad Hatters and Brian Ford & The Sapphires
22 November 1964 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
25 November 1964 – USAF Ruislip, Ruislip, Middlesex
26 November 1964 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, Middlesex
29 November 1964 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
30 November 1964 – Seagull Hotel, Southall, Middlesex
1 December 1964 – Hammersmith Town Hall, Hammersmith, west London with The Grenades, The Impacts and The Fairlanes
3 December 1964 – Locarno Ballroom, Streatham, southwest London
6 December 1964 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
7 December 1964 – Seagull Hotel, Southall, Middlesex
10 December 1964 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, Middlesex
12 December 1964 – Hammersmith Town Hall, Hammersmith, west London
13 December 1964 – Start & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
17 December 1964 – Locarno Ballroom, Streatham, southwest London
18 December 1964 – Willesden Grammar School Youth Club, Willesden, northwest London
19 December 1964 – Hotel in Holborn, central London
20 December 1964 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
22 December 1964 – Overseas Visitors Club, Fulham, west London
23 December 1964 – Ventures Youth Club, Greenford, Middlesex
24 December 1964 – Plaza Ballroom, Guildford, Surrey with The Downsiders
26-27 December 1964 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
28 December 1964 – Seagull Hotel, Southall, Middlesex
31 December 1964 – Whitehall, East Grinstead, West Sussex
1 January 1965 – Ventures Youth Club, Greenford, Middlesex
2 January 1965 – Watford Town Hall, Watford, Herts
3 January 1965 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
7 January 1965 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, Middlesex
8 January 1965 – Ashford Golf Club, Ashford, Middlesex
9 January 1965 – Unknown venue in West Wickham, Kent
10 January 1965 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
11 January 1965 – Seagull Hotel, Southall, Middlesex
14 January 1965 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, Middlesex
15 January 1965 – London School of Economics, central London
16 January 1965 – Dreamland, Margate, Kent with Twinkle and The Gonks
17 January 1965 – Locarno Ballroom, Leicester
20 January 1965 – Ballroom in Dartford, Dartford, Kent
21 January 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, Middlesex
23-24 January 1965 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
27 January 1965 – Hall in Carpenter’s Park (this could be Carpenders Park, Watford)
28 January 1965 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, Middlesex
29 January 1965 – Hoover Social Club, Alperton, Middlesex
30 January 1965 – Hi-Fi Hop, Walton Playhouse, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
31 January 1965 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
1 February 1965 – Seagull Hotel, Southall, Middlesex
5 February 1965 – Ealing Club, Ealing, Middlesex with Unit 5
6 February 1965 – Annunciation Club, Wembley, Middlesex
7 February 1965 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
11 February 1965 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, Middlesex
13 February 1965 – Tottenham Town Hall, Tottenham, north London
14 February 1965 – Kodak Social Club, Hemel Hempstead, Herts
17 February 1965 – London School of Economics, the Strand, central London
18 February 1965 – BOAC Social Club, Northolt, Middlesex
20 February 1965 – Railway Hotel, Greenford, Middlesex
21 February 1965 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
22 February 1965 – Seagull Hotel, Southall, Middlesex
23 February 1965 – Kodak Social Club, Harrow, Middlesex
25 February 1965 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, Middlesex
25 February 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, Middlesex (advertised in newspaper)
26 February 1965 – Kookey Nook, Windsor, Berkshire
27 February 1965 – Whetstone Hotel, Finchley, north London
28 February 1965 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
Ian Gillan – lead vocals
Annette Cully – lead vocals
Jim Searle – lead guitar
Alfred Fripp – rhythm guitar
Dennis ??? – tenor saxophone (or Dave Brogden intermittently)
Jan Frewer – bass, vocals
Phil Kenton – drums
During early March 1965, Wainwright Gentlemen’s employed a tenor sax player called Dennis to cover for Dave Brogden, who was unable to commit to the band fully (he was working covertly and intermittently with Gillan’s band The Dragsters). Dennis, however, only lasted around a month until late March.
Even though he was leaving in mid-June to join Jean & The Statesides, Dave Brogden agreed with Jan Frewer to continue to perform with Wainwright’s Gentlemen from 1 April to 24 September whenever he was able to honour gigs (see gigs with *).
After a gig on 26 April, lead singer Ian Gillan left Wainwright’s Gentlemen to concentrate on his own group, Ian Gillan & The Dragsters. However, soon after performing a gig on 20 May with his band, Gillan joined Episode Six and later found fame with Deep Purple.
Alf Fripp (centre) with Jaymes Fenda & The Vulcans, December 1965. Photo: Alf Fripp
Alfred Fripp departed on the same date as Ian Gillan and joined south London band Jaymes Fenda & The Vulcans. Fripp would briefly return to Wainwright’s Gentlemen in January 1967 when Frewer was injured in a car accident and covered bass duties until Frewer recovered.
Selected gigs:
2 March 1965 – Kodak Hall, Wealdstone, Middlesex with The Gaylords and The Beachcombers
4 March 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, Middlesex
18 March 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, Middlesex
1 April 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, northwest London *
2 April 1965 – Leonian Hall, Harrow, northwest London *
3 April 1965 – Blythe Hotel, Sevenoaks, Kent *
4 April 1965 – Windsor, Berkshire (most likely Star & Garter)
5 April 1965 – Seagull Hotel, Southall, west London
8 April 1965 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, west London
9 April 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London
10 April 1965 – Scala, Dartford, Dartford, Kent *
11 April 1965 – Windsor, Berkshire (most likely Star & Garter)
12 April 1965 – Co-op Hall, Wealdstone, northwest London *
15 April 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, northwest London
16 April 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London
17 April 1965 – Cinema in Watford, Watford, Herts *
18 April 1965 – Kodak Social Club, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire
19 April 1965 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with Tony Rivers & The Castaways
22 April 1965 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, west London
23 April 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London
25 April 1965 – Southall Community Centre, Southall, west London
26 April 1965 – Seagull Hotel, Southall, Middlesex (Gillan and Fripp’s last gig)
Annette Cully – lead vocals
Jim Searle – lead guitar
Jan Frewer – bass, vocals
Phil Kenton – drums
+
Dave Brogden – tenor sax (intermittently)
The stripped back line-up played just over a week’s worth of gigs with Brogden helping out when he could make the commitment. However, around 10 May, Jan Frewer’s father brought in two new musicians – keyboard player Tyni Manning and new tenor sax player Robert Schole.
Selected gigs:
29 April 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, northwest London
30 April 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London
2 May 1965 – Windsor, Berkshire (most likely Star & Garter)
3 May 1965 – Wimbledon Palais, Wimbledon, southwest London * (this was mentioned in a newspaper cutting, dated 19 May)
6 May 1965 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, west London
7 May 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London *
8 May 1965 – Venue in Reading, Berkshire (possibly Olympia Ballroom) *
9 May 1965 – Windsor, Berkshire (most likely Star & Garter)
Annette Culley – lead vocals
Jim Searle – lead guitar
Tyni Manning – keyboards
Jan Frewer – bass, vocals
Robert Schole – tenor saxophone
Phil Kenton – drums
The new line-up was short-lived and could have only lasted a month or so (possibly until 4 June) despite being promoted (and photographed) in the Harrow Weekly Post on 19 May.
Selected gigs:
13 May 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, northwest London
15 May 1965 – St Mary’s College (most likely in Twickenham, west London)
16 May 1965 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
20 May 1965 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, west London
21 May 1965 – Old Lyon Hall, Harrow, northwest London (may have been Café de Artiste in Fulham, southwest London instead but was advertised in Harrow Observer & Gazette)
22 May 1965 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
23 May 1965 – gig in Mudeford (Dorset?)
27 May 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, northwest London
28 May 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London
29 May 1965 – Starlite (but was this Greenford, northwest London)
30 May 1965 – Windsor, Berkshire (most likely Star & Garter)
2 June 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, northwest London with Tony Rivers & The Castaways (Melody Maker says 3 June)
3 June 1965 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, west London
4 June 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London
Annette Culley – lead vocals
Jim Searle – lead guitar
Jan Frewer – bass, vocals
Phil Kenton – drums
+
Dave Brogden – tenor saxophone (intermittently)
As agreed with Jan Frewer, Dave Brogden continued to occasionally gig with Wainwright’s Gentlemen (see below gigs with*) when he wasn’t working with The Statesides, who he officially joined on 17 June. This agreement to sit in with Wainwright’s Gentlemen lasted until late September.
Dave Brogden (third from left). Photo: Dave Brogden
Brogden remembers that a few days after 26 September, Wainwright Gentlemen’s drummer Phil Kenton got in touch (possibly because there was a hiatus in Wainwright Gentlemen’s gigs) and said he’d been offered an extremely well paid gig with an Irish show band performing at an Irish dance hall in Balham. The group also needed a sax player and the residency, which guaranteed three nights a week, started on 1 October.
The sax player left The Statesides and Kenton departed Wainwright’s Gentlemen to join the Irish show band but Kenton only lasted the weekend before being replaced by an Irish drummer. Kenton briefly returned to Wainwright’s Gentlemen but was clearly getting itchy feet to move on.
Brogden meanwhile lasted a few more weeks before the Irish show band stopped working and he returned to The Statesides on 29 October.
Selected gigs:
5 June 1965 – Assembly Hall, Walthamstow, north London with The Prophets *
6 June 1965 – Windsor, Berkshire (most likely Star & Garter)
10 June 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, northwest London
11 June 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London *
12 June 1965 – LSE, Malden (Surrey?)
13 June 1965 – Windsor, Berkshire (most likely Star & Garter)
15 June 1965 – gig in Dagenham, Essex
17 June 1965 – Wistowe House dance hall, Hayes, west London
18 June 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London
19 June 1965 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire *
20 June 1965 – Star & Garter, Windsor, Berkshire
24 June 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, northwest London
25 June 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London
26 June 1965 – Kodak Hall, Hemel Hempstead, Herts
27 June 1965 – Windsor, Berkshire (most likely Star & Garter)
3 July 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London *
5 July 1965 – Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Herts
9 July 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London *
24 July 1965 – Hi-Fi Hop, Weybridge Hall, Weybridge, Surrey
6 August 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London *
13 August 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London *
21 August 1965 – Royal Star Ballroom, Maidstone, Kent (Kent Messenger)
21 August 1965 – The Savoy Rooms, Catford, southeast London with Trendsetters Ltd
28 August 1965 – Gari Ballroom, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk with John’s Court
11 September 1965 – Queen of Harts (location not known) *
18 September 1965 – Club de Dance, Colchester, Essex *
22 September 1965 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, northwest London *
24 September 1965 – Café des Artistes, Fulham, southwest London
Left to right: Jim Searle, Val Cockayne, Annette Cully, Jan Frewer, Phil Kenton and Peter Cockayne, circa late 1965. Thanks to Phil Cockayne for providing.
Annette Cully – lead vocals
Val Cockayne – lead vocals
Jim Searle – lead guitar
Peter Cockayne – keyboards
Jan Frewer – bass, vocals
Phil Kenton – drums
Around late September, the band appeared to have stopped gigging briefly, which was when Kenton landed the gig with the Irish show band. When that didn’t work out, he returned to Wainwright’s Gentlemen who had brought in a second (female) singer Val Cockayne and her husband Peter on keyboards during the drummer’s absence.
It isn’t clear how long the Cockaynes stayed with Wainwright’s Gentlemen but possibly until November-December (and long enough to be photographed).
Peter Cockayne recalls that Mick Tucker joined shortly before the couple departed Wainwright’s Gentlemen. However, it’s also plausible that Tucker just auditioned when Kenton left to work with the Irish show band and the group held on to his details as a future replacement when Kenton did finally depart sometime in late 1965.
Selected gigs:
9 October 1965 – Hi-Fi Hop, Weybridge Hall, Weybridge, Surrey
Annette Cully – lead vocals
Gordon Fairminer – lead guitar
Jim Searle – lead guitar
Tony Hall – tenor saxophone (joined slightly after Fairminer)
Jan Frewer – bass, vocals
Mick Tucker – drums
Gordon Fairminer (left) and Ian Gillan (centre) with The Javelins 1964. Photo: Tony Tacon
Lead guitarist Gordon Fairminer, who had played with Ian Gillan in The Javelins and who joined Wainwright’s Gentlemen immediately after the Cockaynes left, remembers that Mick Tucker came to see the group play at the Clay Pigeon in Eastcote on one occasion and that he replaced Kenton soon after. Tucker had started out in an instrumentals band with future Wainwright’s Gentlemen and Sweet guitarist Frank Torpey.
Shortly after Fairminer joined (circa November/December 1965), Wainwright’s Gentlemen also brought in tenor saxophone player Tony Hall, who had started out playing with early ‘60s west London band Peter Nelson & The Travellers. As Peter’s Faces, this group had made some recordings.
Fairminer and Searle began playing harmony solos on guitar, which was innovative for its time.
The new guitarist remembers that Wainwright’s Gentlemen had a regular Friday night residency at the Café des Artistes in Fulham from late 1965 through to 1967.
The new line up remained stable until around June-July 1966 when the musicians auditioned for another male singer and brought in Brian McManus (aka Connolly), who had previously sung with The Troop from Harefield, northwest London.
Selected gigs:
11 December 1965 – Acre Hall, Northwood, northwest London
25 June 1966 – Dorothy Ballroom, Cambridge with Bob Kidman & His Band, The Paramounts, Mood Indigo and The Astrobeats
Annette Cully – lead vocals
Brian McManus (aka Connolly) – lead vocals
Gordon Fairminer – lead guitar
Jim Searle – lead guitar
Tony Hall – tenor saxophone
Jan Frewer – bass, vocals
Mick Tucker – drums
Sometime around early November Annette Cully departed and the group continued with Brian Connolly as sole lead singer.
Selected gigs:
30 July 1966 – Borough Assembly Hall, Aylesbury, Bucks with The Reasons
24 September 1966 – Victoria Ballroom, Cambridge (featuring Annette)
1 October 1966 – Harrow County School for Boys, Harrow, London with The Stalkers
22 October 1966 – ABC North Harrow Bowling Centre, Moonlight Bowl, Harrow, London (featuring Annette)
Brian McManus (aka Connolly) – lead vocals
Gordon Fairminer – lead guitar
Jim Searle – lead guitar
Tony Hall – tenor saxophone
Jan Frewer – bass, vocals
Mick Tucker – drums
The remaining members – Brian Connolly, Tony Hall, Jim Searle, Gordon Fairminer, Jan Frewer and Mick Tucker – recorded two demo tracks at Regent’s Sound in late 1966/early 1967, which surfaced on an acetate – “You Look So Tame” and “One of a Kind”.
On 2 January 1967, Jan Frewer, Gordon Fairminer and Mick Tucker were involved in a car crash on the way home from a gig on the south coast, possibly in Brighton.
According to Fairminer, Frewer was driving his Singer Chamois when the incident happened. The guitarist was in the front passenger seat and Mick Tucker was in the back seat.
The car hit a tree at around 50-60 mph on a wet Mortlake Road. The guitarist broke both legs. Frewer fractured his pelvis and Tucker had some internal bleeding. The bass player and drummer were both hospitalised for about a week.
Former Wainwright’s Gentlemen guitarist Alf Fripp covered for Frewer while he recovered.
Fairminer had a full length plaster on his left leg for about four to five months and half length on his right leg for about a month. While he recuperated, Jim Searle carried all the lead guitar duties.
The guitarist remembers that after the plaster was removed from his right leg, he continued to gig with Wainwright’s Gentlemen and recalls a show at the Café Des Artistes in Fulham perched high at the front of the stage, with his straight plastered leg hanging over the edge of the stage with a very large black boot. Some of the audience scribbled messages on the plaster.
The Hounslow Post reported its 14 July 1967 issue, page 10, that Julie was singing with the band. However, Fairminer has no recollection of another female singer after Cully left.
Selected gigs:
12 November 1966 – Sperry FC, Bracknell, Berkshire
19 November 1966 – Winter Gardens, Banbury, Oxfordshire with The Cinette Sounds
4 March 1967 – Harrow Boys County School, Harrow, London with The Mustangs
8 April 1967 – Sperry FC, Bracknell, Berkshire with The Movement
10 June 1967 – Sperry FC, Bracknell, Berkshire with The Rite Amount
11 August 1967 – Les Jeux Interdits, Cambridge
2 October 1967 – Harrow County Boys School, Harrow, London with Two of Each
1 November 1967 – Les Jeux Interdits, Cambridge
8 November 1967 – Les Jeus Interdits, Cambridge
Brian McManus (aka Connolly) – lead vocals
Frank Torpey – lead guitar
Tony Hall – tenor saxophone
Jan Frewer – bass, vocals
Mick Tucker – drums
Around November 1967, former Tribe lead guitarist Frank Torpey came in for Gordon Fairminer. Jim Searle also departed at this point (if not earlier) and later became a classical guitarist.
However, Torpey (who’d started out in a band with Mick Tucker in 1962) only lasted a handful of months and by late January 1968, Frewer’s friend Robin Box had succeeded him on lead guitar. According to an article in the Harrow Observer, dated 24 October 1969, Box had previously played with The Phantoms and Five’s Company.
Torpey notes in his diary that his final gig took place on 20 January at a hospital but he doesn’t have any more details. The gigs below are from his diary (where he has firm details).
Selected gigs:
17 November 1967 – Bedford College, Regent’s Park, central London
18 November 1967 – London University, London
25 November 1967 – Gillingham, Kent (possibly Aurora Hotel)
2 December 1967 – Harrow County Boys’ School, Harrow, northwest London with Two of Each
9 December 1967 – Croydon, south London (no details)
15 December 1967 – Ealing Town Hall, Ealing, west London
23 December 1967 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, northwest London
31 December 1967 – Private party
Photo may need copyright. Wainwright’s Gentlemen, January 1968, left to right: Tony Hall, Robin Box, Mick Tucker, Jan Frewer and Brian Connolly
Brian McManus (aka Connolly) – lead vocals
Robin Box – lead guitar
Tony Hall – tenor saxophone
Jan Frewer – bass, vocals
Mick Tucker – drums
Photo may need copyright. Wainwright’s Gentlemen, January 1968
Tucker and Connolly weren’t happy with Torpey’s dismissal and in early February 1968 they left the band. The pair reunited with Torpey and together with bass player Steve Priest from another west London band, The Army, they formed The Sweet.
The Sweet, July 1968. Left to right: Steve Priest, Brian Connolly, Frank Torpey and Mick Tucker
Remaining members Robin Box, Jan Frewer and Tony Hall brought in drummer Roger Hills and, according to an article in the Harrow Observer from 24 October 1969, toured the northern clubs with Gordon Waller from Peter & Gordon.
They then toured Europe for three months, including playing at the P&N Club in Munich, West Germany as Rupert’s Spoon. Returning to the UK around late May, they toured the northern club circuit.
Selected gigs:
17 February 1968 – Ship Hotel, Weybridge, Surrey with The Effect
4 May 1968 – Harrow County Boys’ School, Harrow, northwest London with Orbit 5
1 June 1968 – Aurora Hotel, Gillingham, Kent with The Web and The Foundations
Minus Frewer, who later went on to roadie for The Sweet, Robin Box, Tony Hall and Roger Hills found work backing The Flowerpot Men whose members included Hall’s ex-colleagues from Peter’s Faces. They toured Europe as their backing band, Rupert’s Spoon.
Hall later left to join Simon K & The Meantimes before joining Geno Washington & The Ram Jam in mid-1970. In early 1971, however, he reunited with Robin Box and Roger Hills in White Plains.
In later years Hall went on to work with the Houseshakers, Screaming Lord Sutch, Flying Fox and Chas & Dave among others and also did session work for Shakin’ Stevens and Sheena Easton.
Huge thanks to Dave Brogden (who very kindly shared his diary entries), Jan Frewer, Alf Fripp, Val Cockayne, Phil Cockayne, Frank Torpey, Gordon Fairminer, Tony Tacon and Tony Hall for helping with the story. I’d also like to credit Mark Lay’s book on the band’s early years.
This is an extensively updated version of an article that was originally published on the Strange Brew website. I’d like to thank Jason Barnard for all of his help and support over the years.
Gigs above were sourced from many newspapers and magazines. This is not a complete list but includes Melody Maker, Middlesex County Times & West Middlesex Gazette, Walthamstow Guardian, Hayes Gazette, Yarmouth Mercury, Herts & Essex Observer, Hertfordshire Express, Harrow Observer & Gazette, Woking Herald, Cambridge News, Surrey Advertiser and Evening Argus.
I have tried to ensure the accuracy of this article but I appreciate that there are likely to be errors and omissions. I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who can provide any additions or corrections. Email: Warchive@aol.com
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
I am dedicated to making this site a center for research about '60s music scenes. Please consider donating archival materials such as photos, records, news clippings, scrapbooks or other material from the '60s. Please contact me at rchrisbishop@gmail.com if you can loan or donate original materials
