This is the start of a short timeline covering the career of The Flowerpot Men, famous for the UK hit “Let’s Go To San Francisco”.
I’d like to thank Miguel Terol for helping to piece together the following timeline. I would welcome any input from anyone who can add or correct information below. The following sources were also very useful:
Neil Landon and Pete Nelson replace John Carter and Ken Lewis who sang on the single, ‘Let’s Go To San Francisco’.
+ Ged Peck – lead guitar (ex-Billie Davis & Quality)
+ Nick Simper – bass (ex-Billie Davis & Quality)
+ Billy Davidson – keyboards (ex-Freddie Mack & The Mack Sound)
+ Carlo Little – drums (ex-Billie Davis & Quality)
Notable gigs (most sourced from Melody Maker):
22 September 1967 – Broken Wheel, Retford (Derbyshire Times/Retford Times)
29 September 1967 – Floral Hall, Southport, Lancashire
Tour with Traffic, Tomorrow, Art, The Mindbenders and Vanilla Fudge:
1 October 1967 – Mr Smiths, Manchester
4 October 1967 – Finsbury Park Astoria, Finsbury Park, London
6 October 1967 – Rugby Benn Memorial Hall, Rugby, Warwickshire
6 October 1967 – ABC, Chesterfield, Derbyshire
7 October 1967 – City Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne
8 October 1967 – Empire, Liverpool
10 October 1967 – ABC Croydon, Surrey
11 October 1967 – Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham
12 October 1967 – Liberal Hall, Yeovil, Somerset (Western Gazette)
13 October 1967 – Colston Hall, Bristol
14 October 1967 – Gaumont, Wolverhampton
15 October 1967 – De Montfort Hall, Leicester
17 October 1967 – Gaumont, Ipswich, Suffolk
25 October 1967 – King’s Hall, Derby (needs confirmation)
28 October 1967 – St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley
4 November 1967 – Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire
14 November 1967 – King’s Hall, Derby (needs confirmation)
15 November 1967 – Locarno, Stevenage
19 November 1967 – Saville Theatre, London with The Bee Gees and The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
20 November 1967 – Stokley S&S Club
25 November 1967 – German TV Beat Club (most likely broadcast date)
NME announces in its 18 November issue that The Flowerpot Men have formed a four-piece backing group called The Sundial. The magazine reports that the group performs at the following venues:
November – Flowerpot Club, Birmingham (Saturday)
26 November 1967 – Week’s cabaret split between Latino, South Shields and Wetherall’s, Sunderland
The following gigs are from Melody Maker:
8 December 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable
9 December 1967 – Nottingham University
12 December 1967 – Keele University
16 December 1967 – St George Ballroom, Hinckley
23 December 1967 – Civic Hall, Nantwich, Cheshire with Sun Dial and Sound Society
30 December 1967 – German TV Beat Club
18 January 1968 – Whitcombe Club, Brockworth, Gloucestershire with Paper Blitz Tissue
Billy Davidson is ill and various keyboard players fill in, possibly John Carroll
+ Jon Lord – keyboards (ex-Artwoods)
3 February 1968 – California Ballroom, Dunstable
24 February 1968: Nick Simper and Jon Lord leave for Roundabout on this date
+ Tex Makins – bass
+ John Carroll – keyboards
24-30 March 1968 – La Dolce Vita, Birmingham
Early May 1968:
Tex Makins and John Carroll both leave. Carroll goes to Germany to play club in Essen for three months. Makins will reunite with Peck and Little shortly
+ Gordon Haskell – bass (ex-Fleur De Lyes)
12 May 1968 – NME awards (one of Haskell’s first shows)
12 May 1968 – Hatchetts Playground, Piccadilly, London
18 May 1968 – California Ballroom, Dunstable with O’Hara’s Playboys
Circa mid-July 1968:
Gordon Haskell leaves to join Cupid’s Inspiration
+ Tex Makins returns
11 July 1968 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall with Bystanders and Sam’s Brothers Band
Circa late July/early August 1968:
Ged Peck, Tex Makins and Carlo Little join David Garrick’s band in Switzerland
+ Mick Stewart – lead guitar (ex-James Royal Set)
Also another drummer and bass player
6-10 August 1968 – Excel, Middlesbrough
17 August 1968 – Baston Community Association, The Marquee, Baston Playing Fields, Baston, Norfolk with The Iveys and Muffin Bank
Circa late August 1968:
+ Carlo Little rejoins on drums after David Garrick show
30 September 1968 – Club Cavendish, Birmingham (play for a week?)
Circa early October 1968:
Mick Stewart leaves to rejoin James Royal Set. The bass player leaves too
+ Robin Box – lead guitar
+ Ricky Wolff – keyboards, flute and sax
+ Tony Hall – saxophone
+ Gordon Haskell – bass rejoins from Cupid’s Inspiration
8 March 1969 – Grand Hall, Kilmarnock, Scotland with Ambrose Slade
22 June 1969 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)
Many thanks to John Carroll and Gordon Haskell for providing information
GARAGE HANGOVER WOULD WELCOME ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS BELOW
Freddy Mack’s album recorded in 1967 (not 1966). Thanks to Dave Tedstone for image
Retired American light-heavyweight boxer Freddie Mack, sometimes spelt Freddy Mack and also known as Mr Superbad, relocated to the UK in 1965 and established a second career as a soul singer and disc jockey.
Between late 1965 and the mid-1970s, Mack fronted a succession of bands featuring a staggering number of notable British R&B and soul musicians.
Originally called The Mack Sound, the singer’s bands also worked under the names The Freddie Mack Sound, The Fantastic Freddie Mack Show and the Freddie Mack Extravaganza.
The first line-up of this band must have been formed in October 1965 because an advert in Melody Maker from October 1968 says that the group was due to play at the Whisky A Go Go in Wardour Street on 13 October 1968 to mark the band’s third anniversary.
Sometime in November, Freddie Mack was briefly paired with The Phil Wainman Band and female singer Cleo Sylvester (aka Sylvestre). The group’s line up at the time comprised lead guitarist Tony Sinclair; bass player Ron Thomas; organist Mick Fletcher; sax players Mel Wayne and Dave Mahoney; and drummer Phil Wainman.
According to Wainman, Mack was resident DJ at Dolly’s Club in Soho and they shared a brief residency there. The group was then lined up to play a Christmas/New Year show at Count Suckle’s Cue Club in Paddington with Mack.
Mel Wayne says that Mick Fletcher was staying with him in Twickenham and the pair had problems with the trains and arrived late. Mack was going to fine them but the rest of the band rallied and said they’d leave if he did.
Unfortunately, the show proved to be the end of their relationship and Wainman’s band went on to work with West End Promotions, backing a succession of Jamaican artists, including Millie Small, Owen Grey, Jackie Edwards and most notably Jimmy Cliff.
Around February 1966, Mack asked sax player Roger Warwick, who’d done some rehearsals with Phil Wainman’s band, to become part of a new, larger stage show that drew on musicians from two bands and subsequently became known as This ‘N’ That. The new formation retained singer Cleo Sylvester.
Mack had also asked American singer Ronald Bertram Greaves (aka Sonny Childe) to join the new stage show but Warwick doesn’t think he stuck around long.
Originally from Ealing, Warwick had attended Walpole Grammar School and was in the year below (and was friends with) John McVie. Studying sax under Don Rendell, he had previously played on The Tornados’ single “Early Bird”, produced by Joe Meek.
He then worked with Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages and played a few gigs with The Lower Third (with David Bowie on sax) before backing singer Bobby Rio on a German tour in December 1965 with future Mack Sound bass player Alan Cartwright.
Back in England, Warwick joined a short-lived group based in Fulham, which also included an Irish singer called Leon, tenor sax player Nobby Clarke and a Welsh Hammond organist, who was possibly Mike Vaughn-Jones. When Warwick joined Freddie Mack, Leon, Clarke and Vaughn-Jones also came onboard. (Ed. Hammond organist Paul Abrahams says he had played with Warwick previously and was involved with the band by early June.)
The other group that Mack drew on for musicians were Screaming Lord Sutch’s latest version of The Savages, Liverpool outfit, Derry Wilkie & The Others.
Lord Sutch had been using the musicians as a backing group for several months but by April 1966 the players were keen to break away from Sutch and try something new.
The entire outfit – singer Derry Wilkie; lead guitarist Ernie Hayes; tenor sax player Phil Kenzie; baritone sax player Ashton Tootell; bass player Derek Bond; and drummer Billy Adamson accepted Mack’s offer and signed up.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
Joining forces with Warwick’s Fulham players, the new formation debuted at the Ram Jam in Brixton on 22 April 1966 under the name Freddie Mack’s This ‘N’ That.
Warwick remembers that sax player Jimmy Jewell, a former member of Kris Ryan & The Questions, played some gigs with the band during this time.
Jewell confirms that he briefly played with Mack around April 1966 together with former Jimmy Powell & The Dimensions guitarist Martin Shaw and an American singer called Richard Lanham, who’d recently lived in Milan, Italy.
Jewell and Shaw did not stay long and would take part in a German tour with The Paramounts in September 1966 backing singer Chris Andrews.
The excellent Derry Wilkie website also lists a number of other players that became part of this larger show during mid-1966: singer Jo Baker; lead guitarist Geoff Krivit; trumpet player Mark Charig; and percussionist Eddie Lincoln.
Krivit, incidentally, had briefly been a member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers in 1965 and Julian Covey & The Machine in early 1966. He would go on to play with Dr K’s Blues Band. Charig meanwhile had been a member of The Sidewinders (recently playing at Count Suckle’s Cue Club in Paddington) and later worked with Bluesology (alongside Elton John).
Billed as This ‘N’ That, the line-up recorded a lone single, “Get Down With It/I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” c/w “I Care About You” for the Strike label, which was released on 10 June 1966.
Judging by an advert printed in 11 June 1966 edition of Melody Maker, the single features singers Derry Wilkie, Sonny Childe, Cleo Sylvester and Leon plus “the explosive sound of TNT and Mack Sound”.
The Redbridge & Ilford Recorder lists the band playing at Oscar’s Grotto in Ilford, east London on 11 June 1966.
Photo: Redbridge & Ilford Recorder. Image may be subject to copyright
The same newspaper also lists the band, billed as The TNT Show with The Youth (born Trevor Sutherland and later future reggae artist IJahman Levi), Derek and Cleo playing at the same venue on 9 July 1966.
Most of the musicians left immediately afterwards to work as Sonny Childe & The TNT. According to Ernie Hayes, when Sonny Childe returned to the US around August 1967, the guitarist, plus organist Mike Vaughn-Jones and drummer Billy Adamson joined forces with bass player Jet Harris and singer Pete Gage for a few months. Phil Kenzie meanwhile joined Tuesday’s Children for four months.
In November 1967, Ernie Hayes, Mike Vaughn-Jones, Billy Adamson and Phil Kenzie reunited in TNT to back American singer PP Arnold with former Creation’s member Eddie Phillips on bass. Adamson later played with The Searchers while Kenzie returned to Freddie Mack’s band in spring 1968 (see entry).
In the meantime Roger Warwick helped Freddie Mack put together a new version of The Mack Sound, retaining Cleo Sylvester, The Youth and Derry Wilkie. He brought in his old friend Alan Cartwright on bass plus some new players.
The band rehearsed extensively that summer and Warwick remembers the new line up playing a day long show at Douglas House at Lancaster Gate with Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames (Ed. Fame played here on 29 May 1966 but this would have been too early in the timeline unless Warwick meant an earlier version.)
Photo: Redbridge & Ilford Recorder. Image may be subject to copyright
The Redbridge & Ilford Recorder lists the band, billed as The Mac Sounds, playing at Oscar’s Grotto, Ilford, east London with The TNT on 30 July 1966.
Youth photo. Fabulous 208, 12 November 1966 issue. Image may be subject to copyrightPhoto: Fabulous 28, 12 November 1966 issue. Image may be subject to copyright
Around this time, Warwick and Cartwright were among the musicians who backed The Youth on a lone single for Polydor Records, a cover of Smokey Robinson’s “As Long As There Is Love” backed by Otis Redding’s “Your One and Only Man” at Abbey Road.
Freddie Mack live. Thanks to Miguel Terol for sharing this image sent to him by Ged Peck I would be grateful if anyone can identify any of the musicians shown here.
Drawing on a number of web sources, and accounts from several musicians, it looks like the new line up’s formation, which signed to Dumont Associates (as advertised in Melody Maker’s 15 October 1966 issue), comprised the following players at some point between September 1966 and January 1967:
Freddie Mack – lead vocals
Derry Wilkie – lead vocals
Tony Morgan – lead vocals, congas
Kenneth Harry – lead vocals
Kookie Eaton – lead vocals
Ged Peck – lead guitar
Billy Davidson – organ
Alan Cartwright – bass
Roger Warwick – baritone saxophone
Clarence Jackson (aka JJ Johnson) – trombone
Bernie Wehrman – tenor saxophone
Chris Burdett – alto saxophone (possibly joined later in 1966)
Eddie Thornton – trumpet (joined October 1966)
B J Wilson – drums (replaced by Roger Truth in November 1966)
Clarence Jackson was a member of Otis Redding’s touring band when the singer had made his UK debut in September 1966, so it’s probably safe to assume he joined after the tour had finished.
Eddie Thornton, however, was still working with Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames until October 1966, and therefore it’s possible that another trumpet player was there before.
Thanks to recollections from Ged Peck, it appears that the first keyboard player was Billy Davidson (who later worked with The Flowerpot Men among others) but he was replaced by Art Regis at some point in early 1967 (possibly start of February).
Unknown horn players, Ged Peck (guitar) and Billy Davidson (keyboards). Thanks to Miguel Terol for sharing this image sent to him by Ged Peck
Of the other musicians listed above, lead guitarist Ged Peck had been a member of The Favourite Sons before briefly playing with Chris Lamb & The Universals.
Ged Peck far right in the early 1960s. Thanks to Miguel Terol for sharing this image sent to him by Ged Peck
B J Wilson had played with The Paramounts and George Bean & The Runners. He was an old friend of Alan Cartwright’s.
BJ Wilson centre with Alan Cartwright (left). Thanks to Miguel Terol for sharing this image sent to him by Ged Peck
One thing is clear from tracing Freddie Mack’s bands during the 1960s, the line-ups tended to be pretty fluid and (particularly) horn players appeared to come and go on a regular basis, making pinning down definitive formations almost impossible. There were often around 15 musicians in the group at one time.
Throughout this period, musicians appear to have come and gone on a regular basis. According to Nick Simper’s excellent website, Roger Truth, who had played with the future Deep Purple bass player in Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, took over the drum stool from B J Wilson in late November 1966.
Roger Warwick left in December 1966 while the band were playing at the Upper Cut in Forest Gate, east London. Warwick moved to Turin, Italy to join a band being formed to back Lebanese singer Patrick Samson.
He remembers that when he left, singer Richard Lanham was with the band.
Roger Warwick (back left with white shirt) with The Patrick Samson Set
West Indian trumpet player Sonny Corbett joined during early 1967 as did English trumpet player Chris Dawe.
In January 1967, it’s possible The Mack Sound comprised the following (plus other unknown musicians):
Freddie Mack – lead vocals
Derry Wilkie – lead vocals
Tony Morgan – lead vocals, congas
Kenneth Harry – lead vocals
Kookie Eaton – lead vocals
Ged Peck – lead guitar
Billy Davidson – organ
Alan Cartwright – bass
Clarence Jackson – trombone
Bernie Wehrman – tenor saxophone
Chris Dawe – trumpet
Sonny Corbett – trumpet
Eddie Thornton – trumpet
Roger Truth – drums
Hammond organist Art Regis, who’d previously performed with Mel Turner & Rupert and The Red Devils, Dutch band The Defenders, The Arthur Brown Union and Ralph Denyer & The Uptown Band, remembers Derry Wilkie, Tony Morgan, Kookie Eaton, Dick Morrisey, Bernie Wehrman, Clarence Jackson and Eddie Thornton being in the band at the same time as him.
Art Regis recalls Freddie Mack coming to his flat in Portobello Road and discussing the possibility of forming “an extravagant international soul show”. The Hammond organist also remembers playing at Silver Blades Ice Rink in Streatham and a trek down to Cornwall to play an air sea rescue base in Falmouth.
More importantly, Art Regis also recalls performing with Freddie Mack at Billy Walker’s The Upper Cut in Forest Gate, which opened on 21 December 1966. According to Melody Maker, Mack’s band was the resident support band at this notable venue until early February 1967.
The New Pirates in February 1967. Mick Stewart (far left) who played with Mack in December 1965 and Nick Simper (second from right) who briefly played with Mack in early 1967. Photo: John Kerrison
Nick Simper also spent a week with the band when it was resident support act at the Upper Cut (most likely mid-January 1967) after working with Bobby Hebb’s touring band. However, Alan Cartwright was soon back and Simper formed The New Pirates the following month.
During the first few weeks of February Roger Truth dropped out briefly to reform The New Pirates with Simper but had a change of mind and returned to Freddie Mack after some early rehearsals. B J Wilson filled the drum stool in the interim.
Art Regis would reunite with Nick Simper and Ged Peck in June 1967 in Billie Davis & The Quality before working briefly with Engelbert Humperdinck. Regis confirms that he then joined Jimmy James & The Vagabonds on 27 July 1967.
The Loose Ends in 1966 with Roy Davies (far left). Photo: Alan Whitehead
Another keyboard player that is often associated with Freddie Mack during this time is future Gonzalez member Roy Davies, who’d previously been a member of Southeast London band, The Loose Ends. It looks most likely that Davies came on-board when Art Regis left (around mid-February).
In late February 1967, B J Wilson joined Sands and then Procol Harum. Roger Truth returned to the drum stool.
Ged Peck playing live. Thanks to Miguel Terol for sharing this image sent to him by Ged Peck
Ged Peck certainly was gone sometime in late March 1967 and joined Nick Simper in Billie Davis & The Quality that May before going on to a number of notable acts, including Warhorse (alongside Simper). His temporary replacement was former Tornados and Echoes guitarist Stuart Taylor.
Lead guitarist Dave Tedstone, who had previously been a member of The Doc Thomas Group, remembers going to Eel Pie Island to see Freddie Mack’s band and subsequently joined. Tedstone also recalls that Stuart Taylor was on guitar at the time. Thanks to Pete Watt’s excellent research this gig can be confirmed as 4 April 1967.
Selected gigs:
Photo: Aldershot News. Image may be subject to copyright
2 September 1966 – Carousel Club, Farnborough, Hants. Billed as Freddie Mack Sounds and His Show
9 September 1966 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire. Billed as The Mack Sound (ten-piece band)
10 September 1966 – The Cavern, Liverpool with Eddie Cave & The Fix, The Kop, The Hideaways, The Seftons and The Rocking Vicars
Photo: Evening Sentinel. Image may be subject to copyright
16 September 1966 – Beachcomber, Nottingham
22 September 1966 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire Billed as The Mack Sound
1 October 1966 – Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth, Cornwall with The Jaguars
13 October 1966 – Burton Manor, Stafford, Staffordshire
15 October 1966 – Drill Hall, Dumfries, Scotland with The Misfits
Photo: Birmingham Evening Mail. Image may be subject to copyright
19 October 1966 – Elbow Room, Aston, West Midlands. Billed as The Mac Sound
Photo: Birmingham Evening Mail. Image may be subject to copyright
20 October 1966 – Black Horse, Northfield, West Midlands with The Visuals Billed as Mack Sound (11-piece)
Photo: Birmingham Evening Mail. Image may be subject to copyright
21 October 1966 – The Royal Oak, Hockley Heath, West Midlands Billed as Mack Sound (11-piece)
Photo: Birmingham Evening Mail. Image may be subject to copyright
22 October 1966 – Bromsgrove Baths, Bromsgrove, West Midlands with The Exchequers
Photo: City Week. Image may be subject to copyright
28 October 1966 – Cavalier Club, Belfast, Northern Ireland with Tony G Ford & The Crescendos. Billed as Derrie Wilkie & The Mack Sound
29 October 1966 – Cavalier Club, Belfast, Northern Ireland with The King Bees. Billed as Derrie Wilkie & The Mack Sound
City Week, 27 October 1966. Image may be subject to copyright
5 November 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester with Alan Bown Set
8 November 1966 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire Billed as Mack Sound (ten-piece with Derrie Wilkie)
Image may be subject to copyright
26 November 1966 – Toft’s, Folkestone, Kent
27 November 1966 – Toft’s, Folkestone, Kent
4 December 1966 – Douglas House, Lancaster Gate, Central London (listed as 13-piece band) with Herbie Goins & The Nighttimers
5 December 1966 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, central London
10 December 1966 – King’s Hall, Stoke-on-Trent with In-Betweens and Lonnie’s Few
11 December 1966 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire (Staffordshire Weekly Sentinel article, dated 16 December, page 13, lists 16 band members)
11 December 1966 – Esquire Club, Sheffield with The Orginators Creed, The Hobo Flats and The Chicago Line
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
16 December 1966 – Tofts, Folkestone, Kent
17 December 1966 – Hotel Leofric, Coventry
21 December 1966-12 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London:
Image may be subject to copyright
21 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Who
22 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Easybeats
23 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch
24 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Eric Burdon & The Animals
26 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Jimi Hendrix Experience (day)
26 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Pretty Things (evening)
27-29 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
30 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Spencer Davis Group
31 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band (This may not have happened if gig below took place)
Photo: Dumfries and Galloway Standard. Image may be subject to copyright
31 December 1966 – Assembly Rooms, Dumfries, Scotland
1 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The Move (This may not have happened if above gig took place)
Photo: Wigtownshire Free Press & Galloway Advertiser. Image may be subject to copyright
2 January 1967 – Newton Stewart, Galloway, Scotland Second Scottish gig suggests not all Upper Cut shows in January happened
2-5 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London (This may not have happened due to Scottish tour)
6 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The Small Faces
7 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The Bitter End Singers
8 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The Mindbenders (Nick Simper’s website says Pink Floyd replaced The Mindbenders. Simper attended and saw Syd Barrett’s group perform. He filled in for Alan Cartwright for a week at this venue, possibly the following week)
9-12 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London (possibly with Nick Simper
13 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Four Pennies (possibly with Nick Simper)
14 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Terry Lightfoot’s Jazzmen (possibly with Nick Simper)
15-19 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
20 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Sounds Incorporated
21 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The Fourmost
22-26 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
27 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds
28 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Jimi Hendrix Experience
29-31 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
Possible that Art Regis took over from Billy Davidson around about now. Not long after Roger Truth dropped out to reform The New Pirates with Nick Simper. B J Wilson returned to the drum kit.
1-2 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
3 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Winston’s Fumbs (now listed as 15-piece band)
4 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Herbie Goins & The Night-Timers, The Satin Dolls and The Avalons
5-9 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
10 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The Rockin’ Berries
11 February 1967 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Fire Flies
12 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
It’s possible that Roy Davies took over from Art Regis around about now
13 February 1967 – Winter Gardens Ballroom, Penzance, Cornwall with The Jaguars (The Sheffield Star says they also play the Esquire in Sheffield in South Yorkshire on this day which seems more likely with the Cleethorpes gig later this week)
14 February 1967 – Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth, Cornwall with The Dissatisfied (this was probably cancelled in light of the northern gigs)
15 February 1967 – The Village, Cleethorpes
16 February 1967 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire
18 February 1967 – Beachcomber, Nottingham with The Children (10-piece band)
After this gig, Roger Truth returned when B J Wilson left to join Sands
22 February 1967 – The Village, Cleethorpes
23 February 1967 – Black Horse, Northfield, West Midlands
25 February 1967 – Toft’s, Folkestone, Kent
8 March 1967 – Cromwell Club, Chesford Grange, Kenilworth, Warwickshire with Umpteenth Time
9 March 1967 – Concorde, Southampton, Hants
10 March 1967 – Beachcomber, Nottingham
13 March 1967 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire (back by demand)
17 March 1967 – Domino Club, Openshaw, Greater Manchester and Princess Theatre, Chorlton, Greater Manchester
Photo: Lincolnshire Standard. Image may be subject to copyright
18 March 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with The Kool Combination, The Bone and The Caribbean Steel Band and Ray Bones
Photo: Leicester Mercury. Image may be subject to copyright
18 March 1967 – Nite Owl, Leicester with The Executives
19 March 1967 – Britannia Rowing Club, Nottingham
23 March 1967 – The Village, Cleethorpes
24-25 March 1967 – Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch, Unit 4 Plus 2, Screaming Lord Sutch and The Roman Empire and The New Pirates
27 March 1967 – Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch, Unit 4 Plus 2, Screaming Lord Sutch and The Roman Empire and The New Pirates
Ged Peck left around about now and Stuart Taylor took over lead guitar duties for a week. Possible Art Regis may have done the Cornwall gigs below
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
I would personally like to thank the following for helping to piece this story together: Mel Wayne, Phil Wainman, Roger Warwick, Art Regis, Dave Tedstone and Nick Simper.
PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS BELOW TO ADD/CORRECT INFORMATION
Live gig sources:
During my research on Freddie Mack from 1965-1969, I have found gigs from many newspapers. Here are some of the sources:
The Cornish Guardian, Derby Evening Telegraph, Evening Sentinel, Melody Maker, West Briton & Royal Cornwall Gazette, Lincolnshire Standard, Birmingham Evening Mail, NME, Northwich Chronicle, Sheffield Star, Warrington Guardian, Wrexham Leader, Grimsby Evening Telegraph, Aldershot News, Manchester Evening News & Chronicle, Nottingham Evening Post, Dumfries and Galloway Standard, Stafford Newsletter and Cambridgeshire Times
Pete Frolich – guitar (replaced original guitarist)
Martin Woodward – keyboards
Dave Moses – bass
Chic – drums
This five-piece harmony band was formed at Warlingham School in Surrey during 1968. The group recorded two singles for NEMS, kicking off with “Like the Sun” c/w “Florence”, which was released in September 1968. Both sides were produced by guitarist Pete Gage, who co-wrote “Like the Sun” with the band. “Florence” was written by Mike Hutson with a school friend.
A second single, “Heart and Soul” c/w “Who Wants Happiness” came out on 24 January 1969 by which point the band had split up. Produced again by Pete Gage, “Heart and Soul” was composed by R MacDonald and M Green while Dave Moses penned “Who Wants Happiness”. Pete Gage made the decision that Pete Frolich rather than Mike Hutson should sing on “Heart and Soul”.
Martin Woodward joined The Fantastics’ backing group, The House of Orange and later recorded with Aquila before working with the Tommy Hunt Band. Mike Hutson subsequently took up a post in promotions at United Artists and RCA.
Thank you Martin Woodward for providing information about this band and also to Pete Gage. Garage Hangover would be interested to hear from anyone that can add more information about the group.
Comprised of singers John Cheatdom, Jerome Ramos, Donald Haywoode and Richard Pitts and originally known as The Velours, US soul band, The Fantastics had enjoyed US chart success before being brought to the UK by promoter Roy Tempest in late 1967.
Billed as the “Fabulous Temptations” (even though there was no connection with the more famous Motown act), the group’s debut British tour took place in August/September 1967.
The Sovereigns, circa 1966. Sitting on elephant, left to right: Mich Tomich, Freddie Tillyer, Pip Williams and Keith Franklin. Standing: Roy St John-Foster (pic: Pip Williams)
To support the soul act on the road, Roy Tempest’s agency hired west London band, The Sovereigns, who had been formed in mid-1965 and comprised singer Roy St John-Foster, lead guitarist Pip Williams, bass player Mick Williams, tenor sax player Freddie Tillyer (ex-Eddie King & The Chequers) and drummer Keith Franklin.
When the band turned professional, Pip’s brother Mick dropped out and Mick Tomich took over on bass. In October 1966, the band supported US soul singer Alvin Robinson on some British gigs.
In late 1966, The Sovereigns were signed to King Records and recorded a lone 45 which was issued in January 1967. The release combined Freddie Tillyer and Pip Williams’ “Bring Me Home Love” with a cover of “That’s the Way Love Is”.
Just before the band got picked up by Roy Tempest’s agency, Scotsman Brian Johnson, keyboard player in The Senate came on board.
Billed as The Clockwork Orange (although this may well be another band), the musicians appear at Barnsley Civic Hall, Barnsley, West Yorkshire with The Discounts.
Pip Williams, circa 1966. Photo: Pip Williams
Selected gigs (see end for other sources not listed here):
31 August 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
1 September 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Hertfordshire Billed as “Fabulous Temptations”
2 September 1967 – Nite Owl, Leicester with Pesky Gee (Leicester Mercury) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
2 September 1967 – Starlight Room, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with The Equals, The Sovereigns and The Rubber Band (Lincolnshire Standard) Billed as “Fabulous Temptations”
3 September 1967 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star) Billed as “Temptations”
5 September 1967 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, central London (Melody Maker) Billed as “Temptations”
6 September 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel) Billed as “The Temptations”
11 September 1967 – New Century Hall, Manchester with The New Rave (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) Billed as “The Temptations”
12 September 1967 – Dungeon, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post) Billed as “The Temptations”
Photo may be subject to copyright
16 September 1967 – The Place, Wakefield, West Yorkshire (Wakefield Express) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
16 September 1967 – The Hub, Barnsley, West Yorkshire (The Barnsley Chronicle & South Yorkshire News) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
17 September 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Handsworth, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as “The Temptations”
17 September 1967 – Club Cedar, Birmingham with The Ray King Soul Band (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as “The Temptations”
18 September 1967 – Ritz Ballroom, King’s Heath, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as “The Temptations”
19 September 1967 – Sloopy’s, Manchester with The Measles (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
Motown advert published in Melody Maker. Photo may be subject to copyright
After the first tour with The Fabulous Temptations (aka Fantastics), the band (now called The Clockwork Orange) backed US singer Garnet Mimms.
On 29 September 1967, The Clockwork Orange also played a solo gig at Princess Ballroom, Halifax, West Yorkshire.
According to Barnsley Chronicle & South Yorkshire News, Garnet Mimms played at the Hub, Barnsley, West Yorkshire on 8 October 1967. Although the support band isn’t listed, it is likely it was The Clockwork Orange.
Half way through the Garnett Mimms tour, Mick Tomich departed and Ron Thomas was brought in from Hamilton & Hamilton The Movement. Tomich went on to play with Pickettywitch among others.
Photo may be subject to copyright
They also did some gigs backing The Soul Sisters, including a show at the Boston Gliderdrome on 14 October.
Soon after, the group started to use the name The House of Orange (although they were also still billed as The Clockwork Orange occasionally).
On 22 October 1967, The House of Orange played two shows backing The Soul Sisters. These took place at the Hub, Barnsley, West Yorkshire with The Pitiful Souls and The Place, Wakefield, Barnsley, West Yorkshire with Randy Dandy Band.
Selected gigs (see end for other sources not listed here):
In November, The Fabulous Temptations (aka The Fantastics) returned for a second British tour.
12 November 1967 – Domino Club, Openshaw, Greater Manchester and Princess Club, Chorlton, Greater Manchester (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) Billed as “The Temptations” (backing band billed as The Senate) The Senate also backed Garnet Mimms
13 November 1967 – Bluesville ’67 Club, St Mathew’s Baths Hall, Ipswich, Suffolk with The Clockwork Orange (Ipswich Evening Star) Billed as The Fabulous Temptations
14 November 1967 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, northwest London (Harrow Weekly Post) Billed as “The Temptations”
14 November 1967 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, central London (Melody Maker) Billed as “Fabulous Temptations”
Photo may be subject to copyright
15 November 1967 – Savoy Ballroom, Southsea, Hampshire with Clockwork Orange and Nepenthe with The Trend (Portsmouth News)
17 November 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire Billed as “Fabulous Temptations”
18 November 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Old Hill, Bearwood, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as “The Temptations”
Photo may be subject to copyright
18 November 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Handsworth, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as “The Temptations”
Photo may be subject to copyright
19 November 1967 – The Hub, Barnsley, West Yorkshire with The Clockwork Orange and Nepenthe with her Soul Men backing group (most likely The Trend) (Barnsley Chronicle & South Yorkshire News) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
25 November 1967 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Gates of Eden (Cambridgeshire Times)
26 November 1967 – Purple Onion Club, Cleethorpes with The Roll Movement and The Clockwork Orange (Grimsby Evening Telegraph) Billed as “The Temptations”
27 November 1967 – King Mojo, City Hall Ballroom, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (The Sheffield Star)
30 November 1967 – Winter Gardens, Malvern, Worcestershire with The Clockwork Orange Billed as “Fabulous Temptations”
1 December 1967 – Palais Ballroom, Worksop, Worksop, Nottinghamshire with The Priscilla Juke Box with The Clockwork Orange (Doncaster Evening Post) Billed as “The Temptations”
2 December 1967 – New Century Hall, Manchester with other acts (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
2 December 1967 – Sloopy’s, Manchester with The Clockwork Orange (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
3 December 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with The Army Billed as “Temptations”
5 December 1967 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Melody Maker) Billed as “Fabulous Temptations”
9 December 1967 – Flower Pot Club, Digbeth, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as “The Temptations”
9 December 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Old Hill, Bearwood, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) (tour ends today?)
Photo may be subject to copyright
13 December 1967 – Steering Wheel, Weymouth, Dorset (House of Orange only gig)
During January 1968, The House of Orange gigged in its own right. They also backed Garnet Mimms on some gigs. Like this one:
19 January 1968 – King Mojo, City Hall Ballroom, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
In early February, The Fantastics returned for another tour
2 February 1968 – King Mojo, City Hall Ballroom, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
3 February 1968 – The Place, Wakefield, West Yorkshire with The House of Orange (Wakefield Express)
3 February 1968 – Plebians, Cheapside, Halifax, West Yorkshire (Huddersfield Daily Examiner) Says formerly known as “The Fabulous Temptations”
Photo may be subject to copyright
9 February 1968 – Clifton Hall, Rotherham, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star) Says ex-“Fab Temptations”
10 February 1968 – Tinned Chicken, Castleford, West Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
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11 February 1968 – The Hub, Barnsley, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
Photo may be subject to copyright
14 February 1968 – St Valentine’s Dance, Victoria Ballroom, Chesterfield, Derbyshire (Sheffield Star) Says ex-“Fab Temptations”
Photo may be subject to copyright
17 February 1968 – Princes Pavilion, Falmouth, Cornwall with Peace & Quiet (Cornish Guardian)
23 February 1968 – Big C Club, 1 Camp Road, Farnborough, Hampshire (Aldershot News) Billed as The Fantastics
24 February 1968 – Tavistock Town Hall, Tavistock, Devon with Cousin Jacks (Cornish Guardian)
25 February 1968 – Beau Brummel Club, Nantwich, Cheshire (bills backing group, The House of Orange) with The Jaytree Organisation
26 February 1968 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)
Photo may be subject to copyright
2 March 1968 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Gospel Garden, The Reformation (Lincolnshire Standard) (bills backing group, The House of Orange)
2 March 1968 – Brave New World, Portsmouth, Hampshire (billed but replaced by Mike Cotton & Lucas)
3 March 1968 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London (Melody Maker)
17 March 1968 – Beau Brummel Club, Nantwich, Cheshire (bills backing group, The House of Orange) with The Jaytree Organisation
Photo may be subject to copyright
18 March 1968 – King Mojo, City Hall, Ballroom, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star) Replaced The Impressions as no connection with Curtis Mayfield
Photo may be subject to copyright
24 March 1968 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
25 March 1968 – King Mojo, City Hall Ballroom, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star) Not sure if this happened as they stepped in the previous Monday. They may have played both Mondays
27 March 1968 – Bluesville ’68 Club, St Matthew’s Baths, Ipswich, Suffolk (Ipswich Evening Star) Says formerly The Fabulous Temptations
Photo may be subject to copyright
28 March 1968 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)
Photo may be subject to copyright
14 April 1968 – City Hall Ballroom, Barkers Pool, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
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15 April 1968 – Plebians, Cheapside, Halifax, West Yorkshire with The Clockwork Orange (Halifax Evening Courier and Guardian)
21 April 1968 – Clifton Hall, Rotherham, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
Photo may be subject to copyright
20 April 1968 – Glastonbury Town Hall, Glastonbury with The House of Orange and Chris Shakespere Globe (Somerset County Gazette/Western Gazette)
26 April 1968 – Clockwork Orange, Chester, Cheshire (bills backing group, The House of Orange)
27 April 1968 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London with The Duke Reid Sound (Melody Maker)
Photo may be subject to copyright
28 April 1968 – Central R&B Club, Central, Gillingham, Kent (Chatham, Rochester & Gillingham News)
5 May 1968 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
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6 May 1968 – Belfry, Wishaw, West Midlands with Immediate Pleasure (Birmingham Evening Mail)
Photo may be subject to copyright
10 May 1968 – Il Rondo, Leicester with House of Orange (Leicester Mercury)
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13 May 1968 – Cromwellian, South Kensington, west London (Melody Maker)
Photo may be subject to copyright
17 May 1968 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)
19 May 1968 – Wake Arms, Epping, Essex (Melody Maker)
19 May 1968 – Central R&B Club, Gillingham, Kent (Chatham, Rochester & Gillingham News)
25 May 1968 – Brave New World, Eastney, Hampshire
Photo may be subject to copyright
2 June 1968 – Clouds, Derby (Derby Evening Telegraph)
3 June 1968 – Queen’s Hall, Leeds with The Herd, Bill Haley & The Comets, Alan Bown, Edwin Starr, Amboy Dukes, Gospel Garden, The Clockwork Orange and others
Photo may be subject to copyright
3 June 1968 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall with The Action (Cornish Guardian) (unlikely with gig in Leeds on the same day but was advertised)
9 June 1968 – Starlite Ballroom, Greenford, west London (Melody Maker)
10 June 1968 – Carlton Club, Warrington, Cheshire (Warrington Guardian)
11 June 1968 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Melody Maker)
15 June 1968 – Bulmershe College of Education, Woodley, Berkshire
Photo may be subject to copyright
22 June 1968 – Wolverhampton College of Technology, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with The Scarab (backed by The House of Orange)
23 June 1968 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
Photo may be subject to copyright
8 July 1968 – Orchid Ballroom, Purley, Surrey
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13 July 1968 – Civic Hall, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with The Sun (Welwyn & Hatfield Advertiser)
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20 July 1968 – Spa Royal Hall, Bridlington, North Yorkshire with The Scarlet Farmyard and The Little Dedication (Scarborough Evening News)
30 July 1968 – Concorde, Southampton, Hampshire (Southern Evening Echo)
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3 August 1968 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)
5 August 1968 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
11 August 1968 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London (Melody Maker)
16 August 1968 – Fishmonger’s Arms, Wood Green, north London (Melody Maker)
22 August 1968 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Melody Maker)
Photo may be subject to copyright
23 August 1968 – New Market Discotheque, Bridgwater, Somerset (Bridgwater Mercury)
Photo may be subject to copyright
24 August 1968 – “Middle Earth”, Torquay Town Hall, Torquay, Devon (bills backing group, The House of Orange) with The Royals and Howard Stephen Shape
Photo may be subject to copyright
26 August 1968 – Orchid Ballroom, Purley, Surrey
Photo may be subject to copyright
31 August 1968 – Tees Pop ’68, Recreation Ground, Eston, Teesside with Traffic, Ben E King, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Alan Bown, Family, Amboy Dukes, Joe Cocker & The Grease Band, The Tramline, Rivers Invitation and Chelfont Line (Newcastle Evening Chronicle)
1 September 1968 –Queen’s Hall, Leeds with Ben E King, Clyde McPhattter, The Flirtations, (the former The Gypsys, booked as The Fabulous Marvelettes and backed by The Trend), Tim Rose, Timebox and The World of Oz
2 September 1968 – Brave New World, Eastney, Hampshire
10 September 1968 – Concorde, Southampton, Hampshire (Southern Evening Echo)
22 November 1968 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire
23 November 1968 – Odeon Manchester (or was this Manchester Free Trade Hall?) with Diana Ross & The Supremes and others
24 November 1968 – London Palladium, central London with Diana Ross & The Supremes and others
29 November 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, central London (Melody Maker)
30 November 1968 – New Century Hall, Manchester (Manchester Evening News)
1 December 1968 – Princes and Domino clubs, Greater Manchester (Manchester Evening News)
3 December 1968 – The Place Club, Henley, Berkshire (could this be the Place, Hanley, Staffordshire?)
6 December 1968 – City Hall, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
7 December 1968 – Elms Court Ballroom, Botley, Oxford with Gentle Influence (Oxford Mail)
8 December 1968 – Crystal Palace Hotel, Crystal Palace, southeast London (South East London Mercury)
9 December 1968 – Ramsgate Coronation Ballroom, Ramsgate, Kent
Photo may be subject to copyright
10 December 1968 – Spa Lounge and Ballroom, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen/Stroud News)
12 December 1968 – Pavilion, Worthing, West Sussex
13 December 1968 – Top Rank, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
15 December 1968 – RAF Mildenhall
16 December 1968 – Tithe Farm, Harlow, Essex
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19 December 1968 – South Dorset Technical College, Students’ Association, Weymouth Pavilion, Weymouth, Dorset with Alan Bown (replaced Traffic) and The Package Deal (Dorset Evening Echo) Says backed by The Colourful Orange
20 December 1968 – Tabernacle, Stockport, Greater Manchester
21 December 1968 – Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, Essex
22 December 1968 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London
23 December 1968 – Golden Torch, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)
Photo may be subject to copyright
24 December 1968 – Soul Club, Plaza Ballroom, Newbury, Berkshire with The House of Orange, The Joyce Bond Show and Barley Mo (Reading Evening Post)
26 December 1968 – Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire
27 December 1968 – New Market Discotheque, Bridgwater, Somerset
28 December 1968 – Civic Hall, Nantwich, Cheshire with The Hideaways
29 December 1968 – Mercers Arms, Coventry, West Midlands (Coventry Evening Telegraph)
30 December 1968 – Belfry Hotel, Wishaw, West Midlands
31 December 1968 – Morecambe Pier, Morecambe, Lancashire
The Trend. Left to right: John Connolly, Peter Cole, Frankie Morgan and Norman Cummins
At the outset of the 1969 tours, Peter Cole (known as ‘Spam’) the bass player from The Trend, who had recently disbanded, became The Fantastics’ road manager.
5 January 1969 – New Revolution, Baths, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire (Nottingham Evening Post)
5 January 1969 – Clouds, Derby (Derby Evening Telegraph)
17 January 1969 – Birmingham’s first 1969 Extravaganza, Town Hall, Birmingham with Freddie Mack Show, The Locomotive, Ivan Chin Soul Band and Liz Christian
18 January 1969 – Town Hall, Glastonbury, Somerset
19 January 1969 – Surrey Oval Rooms, Kennington, south London
21 January 1969 – King’s Hall, Aberystwyth, Wales
24 January 1969 – White Lion, Edgware, north London
25 January 1969 – Winter Gardens Pavilion, Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset
26 January 1969 – Surrey Rooms, Kennington, south London
1 February 1969 – New Astoria Ballroom, Rawtenstall, Lancashire and Bin Lid Club, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
2 February 1969 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire
7 February 1969 – Nottingham Boat Club, Nottingham
14-15 February 1969 – Scene 2 Club, Scarborough
16 February 1969 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London
22 February 1969 – Cliff’s Pavilion, Southend, Essex
23 February 1969 – Good Companion’s Hotel, Slough, Berkshire
3 March 1969 – Orchid Ballroom, Purley, Surrey
In early March, Roy St John-Foster, Keith Franklin and Brian Johnson all departed. Pip Williams, Freddie Tillyer and Ron Thomas brought in drummer James Smith from The Nashville Teens and organist Martin Woodward from Tapestry.
Selected gigs (see end for other sources not listed here):
19 March 1969 – The Lyceum, the Strand, central London with The Move (debut show with new line up)
Photo may be subject to copyright
23 March 1969 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London
Martin Woodward and Peter Cole remember playing the following venues but they can’t recall the dates:
Civic Hall, Winsford, Cheshire
400 Ballroom Torquay (at least twice)
Scene 2 Club, Scarborough (two or three times)
The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire
Lyceum, Sheffield
Clouds, Derby
The Plaza Ballroom, Handsworth, Birmingham
The Penthouse, Birmingham
The Starlite Ballroom, (Greenford?) west London
The Skyline, Hull
The U.S.A.F. Base Alconbury near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
26 April 1969 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with The Candy Choir (Folkestone & Hythe District Herald)
27 April 1969 – Crystal Palace Hotel, Crystal Palace, south London (South East London Mercury)
18 May 1969 – Surrey Room, Kennington, south London (South East London Mercury)
24 May 1969 – Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone, Kent (Folkestone & Hythe District Herald)
25 May 1969 – Skegness Seaside Soul Festival, Skegness, Lincolnshire with Amen Corner, Inez and Charlie Foxx, Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band and Jimmy James & The Vagabonds
21 June 1969 – Broken Wheel, Retford, Nottinghamshire (Retford Times)
29 June 1969 – Surrey Room, Kennington, south London (South East London Mercury)
Ron Thomas, hotel, Frankfurt, 1969 (Pic: Peter Cole)
According to James Smith, The Fantastics had problems with UK work permits around this time and had to live and work outside of the UK for six months. While playing the US military air bases in and around Frankfurt Germany, Ron Thomas left later to play, most notably, with The Heavy Metal Kids.
Peter Cole, The Fantastics’ road manager (and known as “Spam”), who had started out as bass player with The Trend took over after playing rhythm guitar on the European gigs. The Trend had worked for the Roy Tempest Agency in the mid-1960s backing artists like The Drifters, Garnett Mimms and Ben E King, The Soul Sisters, Clyde McPhatter, The Flirtations (then The Fabulous Marvelettes), The Platters and Buddy Holly’s Crickets among others. When The Trend folded Spam became road manager for The Fantastics.
Jimmy Smith and Ron Thomas (just before Ron left) in Frankfurt, 1969 (Pic: Peter Cole)
July 1969 – US airbases in Germany (Ron Thomas departs in Frankfurt)
Pip Williams, who wasn’t long married and needed to return home, left while the band was in Naples and returned home, subsequently joining Jimmy James & The Vagabonds. Pip Williams later became a top session player, working with producer Phil Wainman among others. Later on, he became a successful producer, and is best known for producing Status Quo and The Moody Blues.
Peter Cole, Jimmy Smith and Martin Woodward in Cannes, France (photo: Peter Cole)
Initially, Peter Cole’s former band mate from The Trend, Norman Cummins took over to play the US air base gigs in Naples and after a subsequent return to Frankfurt stayed to play in a club in Cannes. Cummins then departed and moved to South Africa.
The rest of the band travelled to Majorca where former Tony Knight’s Chessmen and Magicians guitarist Fred D’Albert was flown over to join the remaining backing group. D’Albert had also played with Smith backing a soul act in Essen, West Germany during mid-1968 (possibly Owen Grey).
Selected gigs (see end for other sources not listed here):
July 1969 – NATO airbase in Naples, Italy (Pip Williams left and Norman Cummins joined as lead guitarist).
Norman Cummins in Frankfurt before heading to Cannes (Pic: Peter Cole)
July – Frankfurt and then Cannes, France (Cummins leaves)
August 1969 – Sloopy’s, Palma, Majorca (for one month) (Fred D’Albert joins on guitar)
Fred D’Albert at Sloopy’s, Palma, Majorca (Pic: Peter Cole)
While in Majorca, the musicians met Tina (Christine Sykes) who danced with The House of Orange before The Fantastics came on stage. Tina at a later date joined up with Herbie Goins & The Night-Timers. The musicians returned to the UK afterwards but eventually split up. It’s not clear whether they backed The Fantastics on a spring 1970 tour. Fred D’Albert joined Sweetwater Canal in late 1969.
18 January 1970 – Broken Wheel, Retford, Nottinghamshire with J J Jackson & The Greatest Little Band In The Land and The United Nations (Retford Times)
Photo may be subject to copyright
9 March 1970 – Orchid Ballroom, Purley, Surrey with Booker T & The MGs, Johnnie Walker, The Globe Show and Blue Mink
13 March 1970 – Castle Soul Club, Tooting Broadway, southwest London
22 March 1970 – Broken Wheel, Retford, Nottinghamshire with James & Bobby Purify, Edison’s Phonograph, The Globe Show and Midnight Express (Retford Times)
Photo may be subject to copyright
24 March 1970 – Rebecca’s, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)
Martin Woodward in Rome
When the band folded in March 1970, Martin Woodward and James Smith formed Aquila who recorded a lone album. They then teamed up again in The Tommy Hunt Band. According to Woodward, The Fantastics tried to hire The Tommy Hunt Band but couldn’t afford them.
Aquila (L-R: Phil Childs, Ralph Denyer, George Lee, Martin Woodward, James Smith)
Peter Cole meanwhile replaced Philip Chen on bass in The Joyce Bond Review, who recorded an album, Winds of Change, as Joyce Bond and The Colour Supplement. Bond enjoyed number one hits in the West Indies on Island Records with “Do The Teasy” and a cover of The Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da”.
One early morning Tina met Pete Cole in the M1 services The Blue Boar after a gig with Herbie Goins. He invited Tina to join the Colour Supplement who undertook a tour in the West Indies. British Guiana, Surinam and Barbados.
Gig sources include:
Fabulous 208 Magazine, Lincolnshire Standard, Melody Maker, Crawley Advertiser, West Briton & Royal Cornwall Gazette, Birmingham Evening Mail, Northwich Chronicle, Sheffield Star, Warrington Guardian, Express & Star, Yorkshire Evening Post, Reading Evening Post
A huge thanks to Pip Williams, Martin Woodward, Ron Thomas, James Smith and Peter Cole for their help piecing the band history together. Thank you to Pip Williams for the Sovereigns photos and Peter Cole for the band images.
Formed in early 1967, the original line up played regularly at the Railway Hotel, Greenford on Sunday mornings. Tony Bramwell had previously played with The Fantoms.
The Hum Drum Band also performed regularly at the White Bear in Hounslow where they often ran into Dave Cousins who played there before The Strawbs became famous.
When John Iggleden left (possibly to join The Downliners Sect), the group subsequently brought in a sax player called Brian (Marshall?).
The Hum Drum Band broke up in 1969 and Steve Dunkley went on to play with several local bands before drumming on cruise ships. He later ran his own roofing firm.
Jon Guyett, who was an industrial chemist, went on to run his own business. Tony Bramwell, who subsequently married Jan Ball, qualified as chartered quantity surveyor.
Norman Rowe became a well-respected draughtsman in an architect’s practice.
Garage Hangover would be interested to hear from anyone who can provide more information on this group.
Thanks to Tony Bramwell for the information and photos.
The Sugar Band was formed in late 1966 out of the ashes of West London R&B/soul outfit, Colin Shane & The Shannons. Coxon had joined the outfit that summer after working with Hampton, Middlesex group, The Others.
Around September 1967, the group’s agent linked the band with Jamaican singer Delroy Williams and they worked initially as Delroy Williams & The Sugar Band before becoming The Delroy Williams Show. Go go dancers Una and Paula joined them on stage.
During late 1968, Dave Mumford and Dick Merrit departed and were replaced by new members.
However, a combination of poor management and artistic differences led to a split in early 1969 when Coxon left to join The Kool. He subsequently reunited with Dave Mumford in Calum Bryce alongside sax player Mel Wayne, who had been Colin Shane & The Shannons from 1962-1965.
Mumford had recorded the track ‘Love Maker’ under the name Calum Bryce and needed a group to tour to promote the single. The band recorded a second single, “In My Valley”, which was never released.
Notable gigs:
30 September 1967 – Hertford Corn Exchange, Hertford, Hertfordshire with Coloured Chicks (and 10-piece Sugar Band) (Welwyn Times) Billed as The Delroy Williams Show
8 October 1967 – Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, central London (Melody Maker)
14 October 1967 – High Wycombe Town Hall, High Wycombe, Bucks with Granny’s Show (Bucks Free Press) Billed as The Delroy Williams Show
20 October 1967 – Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, central London (Melody Maker)
25 November 1967 – Victoria Hotel, Forres, Scotland (Forres, Elgin & Nairn Gazette)
Photo may be subject to copyright
1 December 1967 – Ballerina, Nairn, Scotland with Keith Taylor (Forres, Elgin & Nairn Gazette)
25 December 1967 – Pink Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, central London (Melody Maker)
30 December 1967 – Garrison Theatre, Graven Hill, Bicester, Oxfordshire with The Amorous Prawns (Bicester Advertiser)
Photo may be subject to copyright
13 January 1968 – Gloucester Dance YMCA, Gloucester with The Intrepids (Gloucester Citizen)
19 January 1968 – Ritz, Bournemouth, Dorset (Bournemouth Evening Echo) Billed as The Delroy Williams Show
Photo may be subject to copyright
24 January 1968 – St Matthew’s Baths Hall, Ipswich, Suffolk with The Herd, James Brown, The Healers and The Stax (Ipswich Evening Star)
27 January 1968 – Sheridan Rooms, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire (Huddersfield Daily Examiner)
29 January 1968 – Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday)
2 February 1968 – Tiger’s Head, Downham, southeast London (South East London Mercury)
4 February 1968 – Sunday Club, Addlestone, Surrey (Woking Herald)
10 February 1968 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall with Spirit of John Morgan (West Briton & The Royal Cornwall Gazette) Billed as The Delroy Williams Show
1 March 1968 – Gig in Galashiels, Scotland
2 March 1968 – Gig in Glasgow, Scotland
3 March 1968 – Gig in Edinburgh, Scotland
4 March 1968 – Gig in Aberdeen, Scotland
5 March 1968 – Gig in Elgin, Scotland (probably Red Two Shoes)
6 March 1968 – Gig in Stonehaven, Scotland
7 March 1968 – Gig in Dundee, Scotland
8 March 1968 – Gig in Forfar, Scotland
9 March 1968 – Victoria Ballroom, Forres, Scotland (Forres Elgin & Nairn Gazette)
9 March 1968 – Gig in Edinburgh, Scotland
10 March 1968 – Gig in Glasgow, Scotland
11-16 March 1968 – Playboy Club, Park Lane, central London
17 March 1968 – Gig in Leytonstone, Essex
18-23 March 1968 – Playboy Club, Park Lane, central London
24 March 1968 – 76 Club, Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire (Burton Daily Mail)
25 March 1968 – Recording
26 March 1968 – Bournemouth, Dorset (probably the Ritz)
27 March 1968 – Catford, southeast London
28 March 1968 – Ealing, west London
29 March 1968 – Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, London
30 March 1968 – Gloucester, Gloucestershire
31 March 1968 – Gillingham, Kent
1 April 1968 – Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts with the D C Dancers (Steve Ingless book: The Day Before Yesterday)
11 April 1968 – Colchester, Essex (Melody Maker)
12 April 1968 – Eastbourne, East Sussex (Melody Maker)
Photo may be subject to copyright
13 April 1968 – Princes Theatre & Ballroom, Yeovil, Somerset with The Generation (Western Gazette)
14 April 1968 – Stockport, Greater Manchester (Melody Maker)
15 April 1968 – Leeds, West Yorkshire (Melody Maker)
16 April 1968 – Hanley, Staffordshire (Melody Maker)
17 April 1968 – Revolution, Mayfair, central London (Melody Maker)
18 April 1968 – Abingdon, Oxfordshire (Melody Maker)
19 April 1968 – Perton (Melody Maker)
20 April 1968 – Waddington (Melody Maker)
21 April 1968 – Silver Ends (Melody Maker)
22-23 April 1968 – London (Melody Maker)
26 April 1968 – Steering Wheel, Weymouth Pavilion, Weymouth, Dorset with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, The New Trend and The Continuity Big D Show (Dorset Evening Echo/Western Gazette) Billed as Delroy Williams and The Sugar Band
Photo may be subject to copyright
27 April 1968 – 400 Ballroom, Torquay, Devon (Herald Express)
29 April 1968 – London (Melody Maker)
4 May 1968 – Hastings Pier, Hastings, East Sussex with Unabridged Telephone Directory (Roger Bistow’s research at Dizzy Tiger Music website)
1 June 1968 – Savoy, Catford, southeast London (Melody Maker)
8 June 1968 – Town Hall, Clacton, Essex (Essex County Standard)
22 June 1968 – Savoy, Catford, southeast London (Melody Maker)
6 July 1968 – Roaring 20’s Club, Carnaby Street, central London (Melody Maker)
27 July 1968 – Roaring 20’s Club, Carnaby Street, central London (Melody Maker)
Photo may be subject to copyright
2 August 1968 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)
10 August 1968 – Princes Theatre & Ballroom, Yeovil, Somerset with Tomorrow’s Children (Western Gazette)
12 August 1968 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with The Cortinas (East Kent Times & Mail)
16 August 1968 – Ballerina Ballroom, Nairn, Scotland with The New Jacobeats (Forres Elgin & Nairn Gazette)
Photo may be subject to copyright
31 August 1968 – Blue Pacific, Bristol Hotel, Gloucester (Gloucester Citizen)
2 September 1968 – Weymouth Pavilion Theatre, Weymouth, Dorset with Unruly Members (Dorset Evening Echo)
Photo may be subject to copyright
14 September 1968 – Alex Disco Club, Salisbury, Wiltshire (Western Gazette)
Photo may be subject to copyright
23 November 1968 – Chard Guildhall, Chard, Somerset with The Storm (Western Gazette)
Photo may be subject to copyright
21 December 1968 – Bedford Corn Exchange, Bedford with Rudi’s Rock and Steve Young Sounds (Bedfordshire Times)
22 December 1968 – Central R&B Club, Central Hotel, Gillingham, Kent with The Amboy Dukes (Chatham, Rochester & Gillingham Evening Post)
Many thanks to Geoff Coxon for background information on the Sugar Band.
Garage Hangover would love to hear from anyone who can provide more information on the band and its members.
Johnny Eaton – lead vocals Dave Thompson – lead guitar Louis McKelvey – rhythm guitar Dave Wigginton – bass Alan Worrell – drums
Johnny & The Pursuers was a short-lived R&B outfit from Twickenham, Middlesex, formed around 1961. Drummer Alan Worrell had gone to Spring Grove Grammar School in Isleworth and was classmates with future Small Faces keyboard player Ian McLagan. They had previously worked together in a skiffle group with Terry Munro.
According to Worrell, Ian McLagan designed and produced the group’s business cards in black and silver (see bottom).
On 28 April 1962, the band took part in the Twickenham Rhythm contest alongside local rivals Colin Shane & The Shannons and The Bullets. They also played at Wimbledon Theatre for a week in the Tommy Trinder variety show.
In early 1963, Dave Wigginton and Louis McKelvey departed to join Jeff Curtis & The Flames while Worrell went on to play with Colin Shane & The Shannons.
Garage Hangover would be interested to hear more about this band and what happened to its members.
Thanks to Alan Worrell for the information and images.
E Biggs – vocals P Ravenill – lead guitar B Brown – rhythm guitar J Bennett – bass Keith McGregor – drums
The Bullets were a little known West London R&B band who participated in the 1962 Borough of Twickenham Rhythm contest on 28 April 1962 alongside Johnny & The Pursuers and Colin Shane & The Shannons.
Keith McGregor later played with Nightshift who had featured Jeff Beck on guitar before he had joined.
Garage Hangover would be interested to hear more about this band and what happened to its members.
London Beats in Poland, 1965. Left to right: John Carroll, Jimmy Smith, Peter Carney and Mick Tucker
The London Beats were the first Western rock band to tour behind the Iron Curtain, releasing an ultra-rare LP in Poland and three Polish-only EPs.
Significantly, its members also went on to such notable bands as Geno Washington’s Ram Jam Band, Fortes Mentum, Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement, The Flower Pot Men, The Nashville Teens, Aquila, Cressida and Tranquility.
Moonriders, left to right: Mick Godfrey, Simon Coaffee, Tony Terry, Mick Tucker and Tony Jones
Lead guitarist/singer Mick Tucker, rhythm guitarist/singer Tony Terry and bass player Simon Coaffee (aka Sam Clifton) first came together in Horley, Surrey outfit, The Moonriders, in early 1963, alongside singer Tony Jones and drummer Mick Godfrey. Not long after, the band changed name to The Pete Chester Combo after Chester took over the drum stool.
“For a while [Pete] became the band leader, because to us he was nationally famous,” explains Tucker. “His dad was a big radio star. Charlie Chester was a household name in the 1960s.”
Tony Jones, however, didn’t stay long and Mick Tucker poached lead singer Frank Bennett from local rivals, The Rockatones. Paired with producer Mickie Most, who introduced South African singer Jackie Frisco (later Gene Vincent’s wife) and his brother Dave Hayes as guest singers, The Pete Chester Combo recorded “Love Comes Only Once”, which was subsequently shelved.
Pete Chester Combo, 1963. Left to right: Tony Jones, Mick Tucker, Simon Coaffee, Pete Chester and Tony Terry
When Pete Chester retired that autumn, original sticks man Mick Godfrey briefly re-joined, just in time for an aborted six-day tour of Israel.
Reverting to The Moonriders, the quintet cut a private demo disc comprising five songs – “Da Doo Ron Ron”, “Every Day”, “Love Potion No 9”, “Memphis Tennessee” and “Talk About You”, and this landed the band a contract with Johnnie Jones’s London City Agency. The agent suggested a new name.
“The London Beats was his [Johnnie Jones’s] idea, particularly in Europe because it said where we were from and what sort of music we played,” explains Tucker.
London Beats, early 1964, left to right: Mick Tucker, Tony Terry, Frank Bennett, Jimmy Smith, Simon Coaffee
Jones arranged a six-month deal with a promoter in West Germany, kicking off in January 1964, but Mick Godfrey bailed. Shuffling the pack, Frank Bennett recommended drummer Jimmy Smith from Lewes band, The Shades.
The London Beats shortly after James Smith joined. Photo: Mid Sussex Times
“Frank used to turn up to quite a few late ’63 gigs; he’d come up on stage and do a few numbers with us,” says Smith. “I remember being really impressed by his R&B voice.”
Departing for Frankfurt in March 1964, The London Beats worked the German club scene and American bases until mid-December, by which point Tony Terry had returned home (later forming The Pack).
In London, Mickie Most played the musicians a pre-release master tape of The Animals’ “House of The Rising Sun”. “We knew straight away that it would be a hit record,” remembers Coaffee.
That December, the quartet recorded a cover of Ian Tyson’s “Four Strong Winds” with producer Terry Kennedy, possibly credited as Bennett Tucker.
According to Tucker, Kennedy was putting the final touches to ‘Funny How Love Can Be’ by The Ivy League, and ‘Catch The Wind’ by Donovan,” around the same time. He hired Simon Coaffee to play bass on The Ivy League’s “Tossin’ and Turnin’”.
Then, in January 1965, it was back to Germany for two months to play at the Funny Crow and Top Ten in Hamburg, the latter alongside Howie Casey’s band, Beryl Marsden and Paddy, Klaus & Gibson.
“We did some recordings at the Top Ten, which became a studio during the day,” remembers Tucker.
“Frank Bennett and I did some backing vocals for Isabelle Bond, the resident singer at the Top Ten club – German versions of ‘Bread and Butter’ and also ‘Downtown’. Klaus [Voorman] was also one of the backing singers.”
Back home, Jones offered them a three-month contract in Poland as part of a musician union exchange with the Polish Modern Jazz Quartet. However, Frank Bennett and Simon Coaffee weren’t interested.
“The Polish national agency wanted us because they’d heard through a third party at some trade fair in Poznan in Poland that we were making shed loads of money for our manager in Germany and so the Poles thought we’d like to get in on this,” explains Tucker. “They asked specifically for us even though they’d never heard of us.”
“My father wouldn’t let me go,” explains Bennett on his decision to bail out. “You couldn’t bring the money out, which was a problem. That was the reason. Also, I went back to Germany and joined The Statesmen, an American five-piece harmony band.”
In 1967, Bennett joined Fortes Mentum. The band later released three singles for Parlophone and enough material for an album, which has recently been issued on a CD with Pussy.
Keen to see behind the Iron Curtain, Tucker and Smith recruited an organist and bass player who would join them alongside a female vocalist, a specification in the Polish contract.
Through Melody Maker, they hired Hammond organist John Carroll, who recommended his band mate from Ealing group, The Flexmen – bass player Peter Carney.
Later on, Johnny Jones also recruited a female vocalist – Birmingham-based club singer Linda Crabtree (Linda Fortune) as a solo artist with her own contract.
The musicians headed to Poland in March 1965 and soon after recorded an ultra-rare LP for the Polskie Nagrania Muza label in a church hall in Wroclaw.
“The record company had trucked in a twin-track mobile studio from Warsaw because our itinerary was full and they didn’t want to wait,” says Smith.
“The equipment was pretty old and they didn’t seem to have any experience of recording rock/pop music, resulting in the sound quality and balance leaving a lot to be desired.”
Something of a collector’s item, the album features a fascinating choice of covers, including Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home To Me”, Buddy Holly’s “Maybe Baby” and Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Walk On By”.
The London Beats in Poland, 1965. Left to right: John Carroll, Jimmy Smith, Peter Carney and Mick Tucker
With the initial contract nearing its end, Pagart (the Polish agency) offered to extend the group’s stay.
“We negotiated our own contract with the Polish authorities because we were fed up with the London City Agency, which had done nothing really to help us,” confesses Tucker.
“In the whole three months we were there [initially] we didn’t hear from them once. We were a bit pissed off with that, so we negotiated the next thing, which is why the name slightly changed to The Original London Beat. That was just for legal reasons.”
Left to right: John Carroll, Peter Carney and Mick Tucker
The quartet returned to Poland in late June but after about two months, John Carroll and Pete Carney returned to home, both joining Tony Knight’s Chessmen.
Carney would subsequently become a long-standing member of Geno Washington’s Ram Jam Band while Carroll would hook up with Herbie Goins & The Night-Timers and later join The Flowerpot Men.
Also back in the UK, Mick Tucker recruited bass player Kevin McCarthy from Tolworth, Surrey outfits The Trends (later The 4 Degrees) and The Peasants, and Australian rhythm guitarist Tony Stanton.
“Mick Tucker contacted me, came over and told me about The London Beats,” remembers McCarthy. “I played him a recording of the 4 Degrees, which must have been good enough for him to consider me for the job. We got together at his house in Horley to rehearse, where I met the new singer Sterry Moore.”
New line up. Left to right: Mick Tucker, Tony Stanton, Kevin McCarthy and Jimmy Smith
The female singer (no relation to actor Roger Moore) was brought in to take over from Linda Crabtree on both the recording and touring front. However, as McCarthy points out, Tucker’s decision to bring in another guitarist was a last minute decision.
“He found [a keyboardist] in Melody Maker and we went to meet him. He had a brand new Vox Continental organ and he could really play it. This was Eddie Hardin, who later joined Spencer Davis. Alas, he did not want to go to Poland with The London Beats for six months.”
On 25 October 1965, the musicians flew to Warsaw where they were reunited with Jimmy Smith.
“We began rehearsals and the agency organised photos and posters,” continues McCarthy. “They took our names straight off our passports and printed them on the posters…
“Mick was a tall guy, well-built with very long hair. I’m 5 ‘2” and was still suffering from a butchered haircut I’d gotten for The Peasants so we must have looked very strange together. However, we were treated like VIPs.”
That winter, the reconfigured line up recorded 12 tracks on four-track at Polskie Nagrania Muza’s studio in Warsaw Old Town, which were released over the next six months over three EPs. In recording terms and quality they were far superior to the earlier recordings.
With singer Sterry Moore
The first EP, entitled The Original London Beat, and featuring Mick Tucker on all lead vocals, came out in late 1965 and comprised the tracks, “Walking The Dog”, “Wanna Walk In The Sunshine”, “Hang on Sloopy” and Scarlet Ribbons”.
This was followed in early 1966 by I’ll Go Crazy, which featured Mick Tucker on lead vocals on two tracks – “I’ll Go Crazy” and “If You Gotta Go, Go Now” and Polish singer Mira Kubansinka on the remaining tracks, “Walking In The Sand” and “You’re No Good”.
The final EP, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, also released in 1966, featured Sterry Moore on lead vocals on all four tracks – “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”, “I Had a Talk With My Man”, “The Biggest Players” and “Won’t Be Long”.
Joined by Mira Kubansinka (third left)
Joined by Mira Kubansinka for a nationwide tour, the musicians traversed the country in a bus, right in the dead of winter.
“Snow was often piled high on the side of the road,” remembers McCarthy. “In the country, there were horse-drawn carts everywhere and people working very hard to survive. Cities were stark, cold and old-fashioned with foreboding-looking statues and shrapnel damage still visible on the walls of buildings leftover from the war.”
McCarthy adds that while The London Beats were touring in Poland, other UK groups like The Hollies and Lulu & The Luvvers started arriving.
However, with the extended contract coming to an end in late January 1966, and the opportunities to work in Poland exhausted, the musicians lost interest.
On 15 March 1966, most of the band flew to London. No longer celebrities the musicians had to start from scratch.
“I was fed up with living out of a suitcase by then and we had no feeling of going forward,” admits Tucker.
“We’d been for want of a better word, big stars in Poland and wherever else we’d play from there on, we’d have to work from the bottom up again. After five or six years at it, I thought I’d quit and have some happy memories.”
Tony Terry and Mick Tucker
Tucker reunited with former member Tony Terry and worked the folk club circuit from 1967-1968.
The pair then set up a travel business driving mini buses all over Europe and North Africa. Tucker was offered the opportunity to return to Poland but declined.
Four Ovus, August 1966. Photo: Mid Sussex Times
Jimmy Smith, Sterry Moore and Kevin McCarthy formed Forovus with guitarist Ken Ali. Having started calling herself Mary McCarthy, Moore then recorded the single “People Like You” with singer Mickey Clarke, which was released on CBS in January 1967. She recorded two solo singles – “The Folk I Love” and “Happy Days and Lonely Nights”– that same year.
Jimmy Smith, who nearly joined The New Pirates (alongside John Carroll), replaced Phil Wainman in Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement. After a brief reunion with Carroll in Germany, a short spell with The Nashville Teens and The Fantastics, he recorded an album with Aquila in 1970.
Kevin McCarthy hooked up with R&B outfit, Ivan St Clair & System Soul Band, before landing on his feet: “Sometime in 1968 I answered an ad in Melody Maker and met John Heyworth and Angus Cullen; we would eventually become Cressida and record two albums for Vertigo with producer/manager Ossie Byrne.”
When Cressida split in November 1970, McCarthy joined Tranquility and appeared on two albums and some unreleased tracks before moving to Los Angeles in 1976. He has participated in several Cressida reunions and continues to play guitar and write songs.
“Interestingly, one of my songs recorded by another artist was ‘One Way Ticket’, which appeared on The Hollies’ Then, Now, Always, album released in 2010.”
The first reunion on 21 March 2015. Left to right: Mick Tucker, Simon Coaffee, Jimmy Smith and Tony Terry. Photo credit: Pam Terry
As for the original London Beats, Mick Tucker, Jimmy Smith, Simon Coaffee and Tony Terry reunited on 21 March this year with plans for a second reunion with Frank Bennett on 11 July.
Huge thanks to Mick Tucker, Jimmy Smith, Frank Bennett, Peter Carney, Simon Coaffee, John Carroll and Kevin McCarthy.
Big Wheel, Switzerland, late 1966, left to right: Paul Stroud, Del Coverley (front), Andy Clark (wearing glasses), Mick Holland and Ron Bryer (aka Ron Spence)
Paul Stroud – lead vocals
Del Grace – lead guitar (replaced by Ron Bryer)
Mike Manners – organ (replaced by Andy Clark)
Barry Nicholls – bass (replaced by Mick Holland)
Del Coverley – drums
Formed in southeast London in late 1965, the original line-up included former Epitaphs Soul Band guitarist Del Grace, who joined forces with longstanding lead singer Paul Stroud, bass player Barry Nicholls and organist Mike Manners after meeting at Music Land in Bexley Heath, a shop owned by Tom Jennings, founder of Jennings Musical Instruments Ltd.
Before the turn of the year, former Scimitars sticks man Del Coverley replaced the original drummer, Rick Dyett.
Photo: Del Grace. Left to right: Del Coverley, Barry Nicholls, Paul Stroud, Del Grace and Mike Manners, 1966
Big Wheel gigged incessantly around the London area and played regularly at the Black Prince Hotel in Bexley, working with notable acts like John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and The Graham Bond Organisation. In February 1966, the musicians played at Berlin Jazz Festival (see below).
Around April 1966, Mike Manners dropped out and Andy Clark from The Epitaph Soul Band took his place.
Photo: Del Grace. Left to right: Del Coverley, Andy Clark, Del Grace, Barry Nicholls and Paul Stroud, circa April 1966.
On 6 June, the new formation left England to tour Germany and Switzerland. On the band’s return, both Del Grace and Barry Nicholls both departed.
Photo: Del Grace. Left to right: Mike Manners, Mick Holland, Barry Nicholls, Del Coverley (car roof), Paul Stroud and Del Grace, spring 1966
Del Grace joined The Carl Douglas Set in July 1966, which morphed into Carl Douglas & The Big Stampede. Barry ‘Baz’ Nicholls, years later, joined heavy metal band, More, with whom he continues to gig.
With further gigs lined up in Switzerland, Andy Clark recommended former Carl Douglas Set guitarist Ron Bryer (aka Ron Spence), who’d previously worked with The Loose Ends and bass player Mick Holland from The Epitaph Soul Band.
The new configuration developed quite a following in Switzerland, playing at the Tanzrad in Basel before moving on to Zurich. Big Wheel even issued a hopelessly rare (Swiss-only) mod single, Andy Clark’s “Don’t Give Up That Easy” c/w “You’re Only Hurting Yourself”, released on the Eurex label in February 1967.
However, in early November 1966, Del Coverley left to join Del Grace and original Big Wheel organist Mike Manners in Carl Douglas & The Big Stampede.
It’s likely that the remaining Big Wheel members stayed in Switzerland until at least spring 1967 whereupon all of the musicians except Ron Bryer returned to the UK.
Bryer joined Berry Window & The Movements before forming Brainticket in 1968. The band cut a lone album “Cottonwoodhill” in 1971. Bryer later returned to the UK and briefly worked with One (led by his old Loose Ends singer Alan Marshall) but died of a drug overdose around 1973.
Back in the UK, Andy Clark reunited with Del Coverley in The Fenmen (aka Kindness). This proved to be short-lived and after working with Sam Gopal’s Dream and Vamp, he formed Dogs Blues (with Coverley) and then Clark-Hutchinson, which brought Coverley in for its 1970 and 1971 albums, “Retribution” and “Gestalt”. In the interim, Coverley had played with Fat Daughter during 1969.
Original member, Mike Manners would record two singles with Johnny Young in 1967 after leaving Carl Douglas in July 1967. Del Grace, meanwhile, would record solo material for United Artists and Liberty before moving to Spain and cutting solo CDs.
Many thanks to Del Coverley, Del Grace and Mike Manners for helping to piece this story together. Thanks also to Rolf at Feathered Apple Records in Switzerland for the use of the Eurex single scans
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
Around April 1966, Mike Manners dropped out and Andy Clark from The Epitaph Soul Band took his place.
