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.

Thanks to tenor sax player Geoff Driscoll, it’s possible to pin down the line-up for Freddie Mack’s band from about early March 1968 through to around February 1969.

According to Driscoll, drummer Colin Davy left shortly before he joined (later playing with Joe Cocker among many others). The band, he adds, had just returned from playing the Blow Up Club in Munich (from mid-to-late March) which Davy’s replacement Pete Hunt had played.

When Driscoll hooked up with Freddie Mack around early April, the band comprised:

Freddie Mack – lead vocals

Tony Morgan – lead vocals

Sonny Gibbons – lead vocals

Tony St Clair (Sinclair) – lead guitar

Roy Davies – organ

Alan Cartwright – bass

Sonny Corbett – trumpet

Phil Kenzie – tenor saxophone

Dave Potter – tenor saxophone

Geoff Driscoll – tenor saxophone 

Dave Coxhill – baritone saxophone

Pete Hunt – drums (took over from Colin Davy in mid-to-late March in time for Munich trip)

Of the new line-up, Pete Hunt came from the Southampton area and had worked with a number of bands, most notably The Quik, The Meddyevils and The Soul Agents.

Tony St Clair, who came from Hackney, had joined Phil Wainman’s band literally a few weeks after they’d played the Christmas/New Year show with Freddie Mack in 1965. He would remain with Wainman’s band as it became The New Generation and backed Jimmy Cliff during 1966. The formation then joined forces with Gary Hamilton and became The Hamilton Movement. When St Clair left in late 1967, it’s reported that he played with Lace.

Phil Kenzie of course had worked with Freddie Mack in 1966 and had gone on to play with Sonny Childe & The TNT, Tuesday’s Children and PP Arnold & TNT in the interim.

Dave Coxhill had played with Tony Knight’s Chessmen and would also spend time with The Cat Soul Packet in late 1967 (and possibly early 1968).

According to the band’s roadie Martin James Lumley, Nigerian conga player Jimmy Scott was also a member during this period.

Geoff Driscoll recalls that the new line-up soon returned to the Blow Up Club in Munich via a gig in Belgium and then travelled to Rome to play at the famous Piper Club for three weeks. Some of the band met an RCA record executive who informed the musicians that the label was about to release a single by an actor that was going to be an enormous hit – it was Richard Harris’ “MacArthur Park”.

However, after nearly a year of playing with Mack and moaning about not getting paid, the band split from the singer (around February 1969) whereupon they were approached by Dave Hadfield to work as the house band (The Breed) at his Maximum Sound Studio on the Old Kent Road. The Breed backed a few reggae singers on Hadfield’s label before Manfred Mann got involved and lured the horn section away for Manfred Mann Chapter 3.

While Dave Coxhill and Sonny Corbett remained with Manfred Mann Chapter 3, Geoff Driscoll and Phil Kenzie reunited with Roy Davies and Alan Cartwright in Sweet Water Canal. Pete Hunt later worked with The Jess Roden Band among many others.

Selected gigs:

Melody Maker notes in its 2 March issue that the group was playing in Salisbury (not Alex’s Disco unless they replaced the advertised act) and Tony Morgan was taken to hospital with a knife wound.

8 March 1968 – Bradford University, Student Union with The Attack, The Quick Selection and The Collection

15 March 1968 – 400 Club, Torquay, Devon

16 March 1968 – Impsella Club, Chateau Impney, Droitwich, Worcestershire

16 March 1968 – Loughborough University, Loughborough with The Nice (The Pretty Things don’t show)

It was around now that Pete Hunt replaced Colin Davy on drums (not clear if it was before or after the Munich gigs below). Davy would reunite with former member Dave Tedstone in Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band in mid-August 1968.

Del Paramor says his group The Warren Davis Monday Band finished at the Blow Up Club in Munich (see Driscoll’s comment above) on 17 March and that Freddie Mack took over. The residency was probably for two weeks, starting on 18 March.

22 March 1968 – Park Hall Hotel, Goldthorn Park, Wolverhampton, West Midlands (unlikely considering Munich gig)

Norwich newspaper The Eastern Evening News notes that the group is in Germany the week that they are due to play a show on 27 March at the University of East Anglia (which is rearranged for 15 June). 

31 March 1968 – Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands (may not have happened if they were still in Germany)

Geoff Driscoll would have joined The Mack Sound around the first week of April.

5 April 1968 – Grand Ballroom, Leicester with Chalky & The Decoys

6 April 1968 – Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Herts

9 April 1968 – Maidstone Corn Exchange, Maidstone, Kent

12 April 1968 – Flamingo Ballroom, Penzance, Cornwall (listed as 7-piece Mac Sounds)

13 April 1968 – Winter Gardens Ballroom, Penzance, Cornwall

14 April 1968 – Flamingo Ballroom, Penzance, Cornwall (listed as 15-piece)

15 April 1968 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall with The Vigilantes (listed as 15-piece)

19 April 1968 – Top Rank Suite, Leicester with Johnny Wollaston and His Band

25 April 1968 – Flying Fox Club, Cottesmore, Rutland with Symbolin and A Mystery Group

It’s probably around late April that the band plays in Belgium on its way to a second residency at the Blow Up Club in Munich.

The group would probably have started its three-week residency at the Piper Club in Rome around 6 May, heading back to the UK around the last week of May.

7 June 1968 – Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with Dual Purpose

8 June 1968 – Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands

9 June 1968 – Cosmo, Carlisle, Cumbria with Jasper Stubbs Gloryland Band

10 June 1968 – Quaintways, Chester, Cheshire with Shady Lane

15 June 1968 – East Anglia Rag, University of East Anglia’s Student Union, Norwich, Norfolk (originally booked for 27 March but rearranged as they were in Germany)

16 June 1968 – Mothers, Erdington, West Midlands

17 June 1968 – Park Hall Hotel, Goldthorn Park, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with Barmy Barry

19 June 1968 – Mistrale Club, Beckenham, London

25 June 1968 – Droitwich Winter Gardens, Droitwich, Worcestershire with Breakdown

26 June 1968 – Top Rank Birmingham Suite, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)

30 June 1968 – Mistrale Club, Beckenham, south London

30 June 1968 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London with Keef Hartley

4 July 1968 – Concorde, Basset Hotel, Southampton, Hampshire

6 July 1968 – The Swan, Yardley, West Midlands with Soul Express

19 July 1968 – Torquay Town Hall, Torquay, Devon with The Emotions

20 July 1968 – Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth, Cornwall (the group may have played gigs in Europe immediately after this date)

Melody Maker‘s 27 July issue, page 20,  says that the band is back after a series of continental gigs. 

28 July 1968 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London

8 August 1968 – Fishmonger’s Arms, Wood Green, London

14 August 1968 – Winter Gardens Ballroom, Penzance, Cornwall

15 August 1968 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall with Fire and Sons and Lovers

16 August 1968 – Pavilion Ballroom, Bournemouth, Dorset with Jamies Jyg Saw

17 August 1968 – New King’s Bay, Herne Bay, Kent

23 August 1968 – The Factory, Birmingham, West Midlands

24 August 1968 – Tin Hat, Kettering, Northamptonshire

25 August 1968 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London

31 August 1968 – St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire

2 September 1968 – Bluesology Festival, Chateau Impney, Droitwich, Worcestershire with Fleetwood Mac, Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds, Family, The Move and others

7 September 1968 – Princess Pavilion, Falmouth, Cornwall with The Mood

10 September 1968 – Black Horse, Kidderminster, Worcestershire

23 September 1968 – Quaintways, Chester, Cheshire with Cleo’s Mood and Systems Five

25 September 1968 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London (cancelled due to illness)

26 September 1968 – Blue Pacific, Bristol Hotel, Gloucester

28 September 1968 – Civic Hall, Guildford, Surrey

Around this time, the band was joined by Jamaican singer Owen Grey.

3 October 1968 – Samantha’s, New Burlington Street, London

5 October 1968 – Walsall Town Hall, Walsall, West Midlands with John McFlare Band

6 October 1968 – Bull’s Head, Yardley, West Midlands

6 October 1968 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London (this was pushed back to 13 October)

13 October 1968 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London (this was pushed back from 6 October and marks the group’s third anniversary)

19 October 1968 – Shrewsbury Music Hall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire

24 October 1968 – Concorde, Basset Hotel, Southampton, Hampshire

25 October 1968 – Spinning Wheel Discotheque, Great Hall, Isle o Ely College, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire

25 October 1968 – Victoriana, Liverpool (9.30pm) and then Mardi Gras Club, Liverpool (11.30pm)

26 October 1968 – The Factory, Birmingham, West Midlands

30 October 1968 – Elbow Room, Aston, West Midlands

1 November 1968 – Queen Mary’s College, Mile End Road, London with Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Fairport Convention, Blossom Toes, The Web and Black Cat Bones

2 November 1968 – Chelmsford Corn Exchange, Chelmsford, Essex

4-6 November 1968 – Hatchettes Playground, Piccadilly, London

9 November 1968 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with The Sweetshop

15 November 1968 – Shrubbery Hotel, Ilminster, Somerset with Fascination

16 November 1968 – Elms Court, Botley, Oxford

22 November 1968 – Co-op Hall, Nuneaton, Warwickshire with Legay

13 December 1968 – The Factory, Birmingham, West Midlands with The Gun

14 December 1968 – Glastonbury Town Hall, Glastonbury, Somerset with Sandy’s People

16 December 1968 – Park Hall Hotel, Goldthorn Park, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with Barmy Barry

21 December 1968 – The Swan, Yardley, West Midlands

By January 1969, the band was starting to be billed as The Freddy Mack Extravaganza.

17-18 January 1969 – Birmingham’s First 1969 Extravaganza, Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham, West Midlands with The Locomotive, The Fantastics, The Flirtations, The Californians, Ivan Chin Steel Band, Liz Christian and The Ebonites

23 January 1969 – Club Cedar, Birmingham with ‘Fat Boy’ Billy Stewart

23 January 1969 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, London

27 January 1969 – Shipley Boat, Shipley, Eastwood Nottinghamshire with Fatboy Billy Stewart (this is probably one of the final gigs by the current formation)

Melody Maker‘s 8 March issue notes that Freddie Mack is forming a new 11-piece band to debut on 11 April in Bristol at the New Market Hotel.

GARAGE HANGOVER WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM ANYONE THAT CAN PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE 1969-1970 PERIOD.

I would personally like to thank Geoff Driscoll for helping to piece together this part of the band’s story. Thanks also to Greg Russo and Bruce Welsh.

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 the sources that include:

The Cornish Guardian, Derby Evening Telegraph, Evening Sentinel, Melody Maker, Gloucester Citizen, West Briton & Royal Cornwall Gazette, Lincolnshire Guardian, Birmingham Evening Mail, NME, Northwich Chronicle, Sheffield Star, Warrington Guardian, Wrexham Leader, Express & Star, Nottingham Evening Post

Copyright © Nick Warburton. All Rights Reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced or transmitted in any from or by any means, without prior permission from the author. To contact the author, email: Warchive@aol.com or nick_warburton@hotmail.com