Motown legend Edwin Starr’s growing popularity in Britain encouraged promoter Roy Tempest to bring the singer back for a second British tour in 1968. It appears that for most of (if not all) the gigs, The State Express were hired to back the singer.
John Ogden has written extensively about this obscure band at his excellent site on the Kinema Ballroom, Dunfermline.
Originally from the Midlands, Ogden lists the band’s personnel as John Crutchley (guitar), Jim Hickman (bass/vocals), Barry Fletcher (Hammond organ/vocals) and Johnny West (drums) plus two saxophone players.
It’s not clear how long the band had been around but there is a listing for The State Express for 21 May 1967 when they opened for The Troggs at the Starlite Ballroom in Greenford in west London (presuming this is the same outfit).
After working on this tour, The State Express apparently worked with other soul artists that Roy Tempest brought over and also gigged under their own name.
For example, the Buckinghamshire Examiner advertises The State Express playing at the Town Hall, High Wycombe on 28 September 1968 with The Wages of Sin, noting: “The Group that backed American singer Edwin Starr on his recent British tour 8-piece group includes gorgeous girl singers”.
Melody Maker has them also playing at the New Pink Flamingo in Wardour Street, Soho, central London on 6 September 1968.
I have found the following gigs for the Edwin Starr tour but I am sure others are missing.
I am pretty certain all of these are with The State Express but would welcome any comments from readers.
Gig calendar:
10 May 1968 – Impsella Club, Chateau Impney, Droitwich, Worcestershire (Redditch Indicator)
10 May 1968 – Tabernacle Club, Stockport, Greater Manchester (Melody Maker)
11 May 1968 – Twisted Wheel, Manchester (Melody Maker/Poster)
12 May 1968 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London (Melody Maker)
12 May 1968 – Rasputin’s, New Oxford Street, central London (Melody Maker)
13 May 1968 – Carlton Ballroom, Warrington, Cheshire (Melody Maker)
14 May 1968 – College of Commerce, Manchester (Melody Maker) New Century Hall?
16 May 1968 – Assembly Hall, Worthing, West Sussex (Melody Maker/Poster)
16 May 1968 – Scotch of St James, Mayfair, central London (Mick Capewell’s Marmalade Skies website)
17 May 1968 – City Hall, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Melody Maker)
17 May 1968 – Nottingham Tech College, Clifton, Nottinghamshire (Melody Maker)
18 May 1968 – Co-op Hall, Warrington, Cheshire (Fabulous 208)
18 May 1968 – Clockwork Orange, Chester, Cheshire with The Executives (Melody Maker/Cheshire Observer)
18 May 1968 – Civic Hall, Nantwich, Cheshire (Crewe Chronicle)
19 May 1968 – Sloopy’s, Manchester (Melody Maker)
19 May 1968 – Warmingham Grange Country Club, Warmingham, Cheshire (Fabulous 208)
20 May 1968 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel) Three gigs on the same night seems unlikely but not impossible
20 May 1968 – Orchid Ballroom, Purley, Surrey (Melody Maker)
20 May 1968 – Bag O’Nails, Kingley Street, Soho, central London (Fabulous 208)
22 May 1968 – Pier Avenue Ballroom, Southampton, Hampshire (Fabulous 208)
22 May 1968 – Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire (Melody Maker)
23 May 1968 – Victorianna Club, Liverpool (Melody Maker)
24 May 1968 – Top Rank Plymouth Suite, Plymouth, Devon (Melody Maker)
25 May 1968 – Gala Ballroom, Norwich, Norfolk (Melody Maker)
25 May 1968 – Royal Links Pavilion, Cromer, Norfolk with Kiss (Julie Fielder book: What Flo Said Next)
26 May 1968 – Starlite Ballroom, Greenford, northwest London (Melody Maker)
26 May 1968 – Frolicking Kneecap, Market Harborough, Leicestershire (Melody Maker)
27 May 1968 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire (Melody Maker)
28 May 1968 – Brave New World, Portsmouth, Hampshire (Melody Maker)
29 May 1968 – Hemel Hempstead Pavilion, Hemel Hempstead, Herts (Fabulous 208)
29 May 1968 – Hatchetts, Piccadilly, central London (Melody Maker)
30 May 1968 – Mistrale Club, Beckenham, south London with The Evolution (Melody Maker)
31 May 1968 – South Bank Jazz Club, Grimsby (Melody Maker)
1 June 1968 – Leicester University, Leicester (Melody Maker)
1 June 1968 – Beachcomber, Nottingham (Melody Maker)
2 June 1968 – Redcar Jazz Club, Coatham Hotel, Redcar, North Yorkshire with Chicken Shack (Dennis Weller, Chris Scott Wilson and Graham Lowe’s book)
3 June 1968 – Queen’s Hall, Leeds, West Yorkshire with The Small Faces, Bill Haley & The Comets, The Fantastics, Gospel Garden, Clockwork Orange, The Herd, Alan Bown, The Amboy Dukes and Turquoise (Fabulous 208/Poster)
We’d welcome any comments from readers below.