When I heard the Loose Ends “Hey, Sweet Baby” / “I Love You, Baby”, I thought this might be a rural southern single. I was surprised to find a suburban Connecticut address on the labels.
“Hey, Sweet Baby” by Robins and Douglas has a fuzz blues riff that hardly varies the entire song. There are breaks, not for guitar solos, but screams and hoots. Great drumming too. The hand claps towards the end of the song show the group was loose indeed.
The flip “I Love You, Baby” by Robins is a fine ballad with an extended reverb guitar solo.
Released on Meadow Brook Records MB-0069, the labels have an address of 27 Carousel Drive, Nichols, CT (now would be Trumball, CT), northeast of Bridgeport. The labels spell it Carrousel.
Produced by MBR Productions, and published by Loose Ends Music BMI. This is a Rite pressing from October, 1969.
The Loose Ends seem to be a dead end, as I can’t find any leads past the info on the label.
My name is Gary Jedlicka, I was the drummer in the band The NYTE:
Sandy Pantaleo – lead vocals Bill Stevenson – lead guitar and vocals Ben Ninnman – Hammond B3 with a Leslie and a piano bass, vocals. Gary Jedlicka – drums and vocals
Second-to-last poster for the Other Place, with the Franklin Freight Train, The Genesis and The Nyte
The NYTE organized in Greenville, North Carolina, sometime in 1967 as we were all students at East Carolina College (at that time, University now). I was, and still am, from New Jersey, Bill was from New Jersey, Sandy was from Long Island, and Benny was from Virginia. Strange how a bunch of Yankees got together and started a rock-n-roll band in North Carolina.
We played The Other Place in Nags Head, NC, on August 23-25, 1968. We may have been one of the last 2 or 3 bands to rock that place before it closed. I still have that awesome poster in perfect condition hanging on my wall near my original set of 1965 Grey Oyster Pearl Ludwig drums.
We established ourselves as a pretty good rock band and eventually got picked-up by Bowie Martin of Bomar Productions. He booked us at a lot of cool places relatively close to Greenville and we had a lot of great gigs. The Other Place was certainly one of them. We stayed in NC throughout the summers, playing gigs instead of heading up North after the last semester. The NYTE eventually broke up early 1969 because members moved onto other adventures in our lives.
The Lemon Sandwich released the very cool “Give Me Love” on La Salle Records L-371, backed with “I Must Be Dreaming”. Eddie Hileman wrote both songs.
Tommy Burke used the Lemon Sandwich’s exact recording of “Give Me Love” for his 45 on Lauren L-2513 backed with “I Don’t Want to Be Your Keeper”, with writing credit for both songs to Tommy Burke.
Eddie T. Burke then released the Lemon Sandwich’s “I Must Be Dreaming” on E.T.B. Records ETB-113. I’m not sure if this was the same recording as the Lemon Sandwich or not, but with LA SALLE CE 15/16 cut into the dead wax, I believe it probably is. The flip is the Taboos “So Sad” but with Eddie Burke doing new vocals. For this release Eddie Hileman is given writing credit for both songs, even though the Taboos was by Brennan and Palazzo.
Phil Fallo contacted me about the Lemon Sandwich:
I was lead guitarist in the Lemon Sandwich back in 1968-69. When I joined, they were a quartet, Ed Hileman was the sole guitarist. I was brought in to play lead guitar and we became a 5 piece. The bassist was Tom Davis, the drummer was Mike Kritsky and the organist was named Al. We were all from New Jersey.
I believe that single predates me – maybe early 1968. We were very successful in Greenwood Lake, NY where we were house band at “Mother’s”, the largest club on the lake for an extended period. We played other places on the lake like the Long Pond, Big Daddy’s and TA’s East. We broke up in 1969.
At the time the drinking age was 18 in NY and 21 in NJ and all these clubs were located just over the Jersey line on the NY side of the lake. Flocks of teens from NJ would come up to the lake to be able to drink. When the drinking age changed, most of those clubs burned down killing the scene.
That was probably the most successful band I was in. After that played in a number of bands that worked the northern New Jersey circuit or in Greenwich Village. Syren, Apollon, Buck Scrub, St. Jack. Also played in a band led by Tom Feher, who had been in the Left Banke, and another led by Paul Klein who prior to my time had a band called the Wind in the Willows. My last band broke up in 1978-79.
I wonder how a fast, wah-heavy version of the Rokes “Che Colpa Abbiamo Noi” got its only release on a Philadelphia label known for a handful of local pop artists.
Whoever put the label together changed Gli Angeli to Gil’ Angeli, and misspelled the Italian title (as “Che Colba Abbia Mo Noi”), as well as several songwriter names.
Although there is an English title, “What Faults Do We Have?”, the song is sung in Italian. “Che Colpa Abbiamo Noi” was an Italian version of Bob Lind’s “Cheryl’s Goin’ Home”, and was a hit for the Rokes in 1966. The Mogol song credit is Giulio Rapetti Mogol who often adapted English lyrics into Italian.
I put together a video of the song for youtube, but as I was uploading it, an automatic copyright claim popped up. Some faceless company would “allow” the upload but monetize it for their own profit. There’s a good chance this company doesn’t even have the rights to claim copyright, and I never monetize my uploads. So I decided not to upload it at all. The world will do without.
The flip also gets an English title, “Don’t Cry Tonight”, but it’s sung in Italian too, and is a cover of Don Backy’s 1967 ballad, “Non Piangere Stasera”. Mainstay Music Inc. is listed as publisher.
Usually a record like this would have been released in Italy or somewhere else first, but as far as I can tell, this was not released in any other country. The Bats did a version of “Che Colpa Abbiamo Noi” but it does not sound like this one.
It’s possible this was recorded in Philadelphia, and was not taken from a demo or international release. The label says produced by Ricky Layne, who produced at least a couple other releases on Star-Line Records, on S. Eleventh St. in Philadelphia, PA. Possibly an Italian group was touring the US, and cut this 45 in a quick session to sell at their shows.
The dead wax FC-1A/B F/W indicates Frankford-Wayne mastering.
There was a Gli Angeli from Abruzzo who did “Butta La Corda” backed with an Italian version of the Who’s “I’m a Boy” as “Dove Vuoi”, but they didn’t have a vocalist named Franco. Gli Angeli Di Trieste are another possibility, but the recording I heard of them is much more polished pop than this.
I’d appreciate any leads on who this Gil Angeli & Franco could be.
The Mad Lads were a popular Belfast R&B group who took over Them’s residency at the Maritime Club when Van Morrison’s band moved to London in the second half of 1964. Singer Ken McDowell later assumed Morrison’s place as lead singer in Them in late 1966.
Cityweek, 5 March 1965
The group were featured regularly in Belfast publication Cityweek, most notably its 5 March 1965 issue, which contained a detailed column and colour photo. According to the article, promoter Eddie Kennedy picked them out of dozens of applications for the Maritime’s resident spot and he became their manager in December 1964.
Despite playing three nights a week at the Maritime, The Mad Lads found time to travel to Dublin in late February 1965 and perform some gigs, according to the article.
During May, The Mad Lads travelled over to London and recorded three tracks at Decca’s studio with Them’s producer Bert Berns – “I Went out with My Baby Tonight”, “So Long” and “Answer the Phone” with session players Andy White (drums) and Phil Coulter (keyboards). This website has more information on The Mad Lads’ recordings and personnel changes.
Cityweek’s 9 July 1965 issue noted that The Mad Lads had left their Maritime residency and signed with the Solomon Agency in London.
On 31 July, The Mad Lads played at the Red Rooster Club in Bangor, Northern Ireland, a venue they would return to again in the future.
However, one of their most notable gigs was opening for folk singer Donovan at Ulster Hall in Belfast on 20 September 1965.
Cityweek’s 23 September issue noted that The Mad Lads were about to change their name to Moses K & The Prophets to avoid confusion with US soul act The Mad Lads, who were about to start a British tour. Also, Decca was going to release their debut single – “I Went out with My Baby Tonight” c/w “So Long” on 1 October under this name. According to the same article, Ken McDowell had travelled alone to London in the summer to double track his lead vocals on the tracks on 31 August at Regent Sound Studios in Denmark Street.
In early November, Moses K & The Prophets appeared at the Overend Club in Mount Merrion, Dublin in front of 1,200 fans, which Cityweek’s 11 November issue noted was a record for an Irish R&B group.
The Belfast publication’s 23 December issue reported that Moses K & The Prophets would top a seaside bill with a return to the Red Rooster Club in Bangor on 7 January 1966. The following week, they were due to appear in Larne.
However, not long afterwards, manager Eddie Kennedy sacked the musicians and kept McDowell for a new version which never took off.
Cityweek‘s 17 February 1966 issue reported that McDowell was due to record a solo 45 as Moses K (see below).
While the others subsequently reformed The Mad Lads in March 1966, the singer later replaced Van Morrison in Them.
We’d love to hear from anyone who can add more information about The Mad Lads in the comments below
The Straitjackets in the Star-Telegram, February 10, 1961
Straitjackets at the Red Devil Lounge, January 17, 1958Delbert McClinton formed the Straitjackets in sometime in 1957. Early members included Art Holland on lead guitar, Robert Harwell on guitar, Billy Cox on sax, Ralph Dixon on bass, and Ray Clark on drums.
The first printed notice I’ve found in the Fort Worth Star Telegram was from January 17, 1958, an ad for the group’s appearance at the Red Devil Lounge at 2541 N.E. 28th.
The ad also notes “The Straightjackets are appearing on Teenage Downbeat – WBAP-TV, Channel 5, Tuesday, Jan. 21.”
Another one on February 28, 1958 calls the group “recording stars” though I don’t believe they had made any records yet. Early ads through 1960 give a different spelling for the group, the Straightjackets, and sometimes list Delbert as featured vocalist. He had turned seventeen years old a few months before.
On February 25, 1960, the Straightjackets played a battle-of-the-bands with the Twisters at Crystal Springs Ballroom. They regularly played at Jack’s Place on Mansfield Road.
The Star Telegram ran items on March 26 and April 10, 1960 with the first lineup I can find for the group in print:
Talent Hunt Ends in Tie for 2 Combos
Two five-man combos, one from Fort Worth and the other from Victoria, finished in a tie for first in the area finals of the Talentsville, U.S.A. contest Saturday afternoon at Casa Manana.
The Fort Worth entry, “The Straitjackets,” was composed of Billy Cox, Delbert McClinton and Ronnie Kelly, Technical High School Students, Jim Dinsmore [Jimmy Densmore] of Arlington Heights and Bob Jones of Paschal.
The Victoria entry, billed as “Dads of Dixie” …
The two groups won trophies and the right to compete in the division finals in Houston May 7.
The Dads of Dixie would win the regionals in Houston along with the Blue Notes of Witchita, KS, winning spots for the finals in New York.
A short profile in the Star Telegram from February 10, 1961 announced their first record and included a photo of the band. Jim Densmore was no longer with the group, while Ray Clark and Ralph Dixon had joined. It also listed Delbert as “Mac Clinton”, a pseudonym that would appear on their first single, “Wake Up Baby” / “That Cat” on Le Cam Records 714.
Six graduates of Fort Worth high schools who work together as a band – The Straitjackets – this week have released their first record.
The disk presents a Straitjacket arrangement of “Wake Up, Baby,” a 1955 tune by Sonny Boy Williams.
On the reverse side, also arranged by the group, is “That Cat.” The release is on the Le Cam label.
“We think ‘Wake Up, Baby’ will sell readily,” said Mac Clinton, leader of the group and former Arlington Heights High School student.
The band was last year’s city competition winner in the Talentsville U.S.A. contest. However, the group was defeated in state competition.
Band members include Ronnie Kelley, Bob Jones and Ray Clark, who were graduated from Paschal High School; Ralph Dixon from Polytechnic, and Billy Cox from Heights.
On the Le Cam label, “That Cat” shows owner Major Bill Smith as writer. In 1962, “That Cat” would appear again on the flip side to versions of “Gigolo” / “I Ain’t Got Nobody” on United Artists UA 453, with the Straitjackets listed as the artist this time.
The Straitjackets and Ray Sharpe at the Skyliner, February 1962
The Straitjackets kept busy in 1962 with shows at the Skyliner Ballroom with Ray Sharpe and the Trebles, and a June 3 show at the Stork Club following the John Griffin, Jr. Band.
In June 1962, Del McClinton toured the UK with Bruce Channel, to reprise his harmonica playing on Channel’s smash “Hey! Baby”. There he famously met the Beatles.
While in London, Delbert cut four songs. “Dunkirk” / “Angel Eyes” came out only in the U.S. on London 45-LON 9544 with Del McClinton listed as the artist. “Hully Gully” / “Baby Heartbreak” came out in the UK on Decca F.11541, using his full name Delbert McClinton, with later issues in Italy and Greece. Earl Guest was music director, and Mike Smith did production.
By 1963, Delbert had formed the Ron-Dels with Ronnie Kelley, and would go on to cut a number of singles on Bill Smith’s labels like Shalimar, Brownfield, Le Cam and Shah, as well as a couple on Smash. Members of the Rondels would include Dahrell Norris on drums, Jimmie Rodgers on guitar and bass, and Billy Wade Sanders on guitar, piano and vocals.
December 1962 shows with the Capris
The Straitjackets continued, possibly without Delbert. Ray Torres was drummer on “Hey! Baby” and mentioned being a drummer with the Straitjackets, but other than him, I don’t know who was in later lineups. They had shows at the Skyliner Ballroom in December 1962, and New Year’s Eve with the Capris at the Ridglea Palladium Ballroom.
I find two later notices, one for Sonny and the Straightjackets at the Stork Club in August 1966, and another for the Straight-Jackets at the Tropicana Club in January 1967, but these may be different groups altogether.
In the ’80s, Le Cam released two LPs released titled Very Early Delbert McClinton with the Ron-Dels that may contain some recordings done with the Straitjackets as early as 1960. (I would like to hear these records if anyone has them for a reasonable price.)
Further reading: Lee Cotten’s interviews with Delbert and Major Bill Smith in Discoveries October 1996 issue.
A Kingston-upon-Thames area band that formed in 1962, The Cavedwellers featured future Thane Russal & Three guitarist Martin Fisher and bass player Jack Brand who later formed The Factory. Apparently, Liverpool singer Freddie Starr fronted the group sometime in 1966.
We’d love to hear from anyone who can add more information in the comments below
Photo: Kingston & Malden Borough News
The Cavedwellers were featured in the Surrey Comet’s 19 June 1965 issue (see below)
Photo: Bryan Stevens/Mick Ketley. The Penny Peeps (not long before becoming Gethsemane). Clockwise from bottom left: Martin Barre, Denny Alexander, Malcolm Tomlinson (centre), Bryan Stevens and Mick Ketley
Blues-rock aggregation Gethsemane was the final version of a group that guitarist Martin Barre (b. 17 November 1946, King’s Heath, Birmingham) had first joined in July 1966 before landing the “gig of his dreams” with Jethro Tull.
Bass player and leader Bryan Stevens (b. 13 November 1941, Lha Datu, North Borneo) and keyboard player/singer Mick Ketley (b. 1 October 1947, Balham, London) were there from the outset, having been integral members of Beau Brummell & The Noblemen from late 1964 to June 1966.
Photo: Bryan Stevens/Mick Ketley. The Noblemen, early 1966. Mick Ketley (far right) and Bryan Stevens (front centre)
Returning to England after touring Europe, Stevens and Ketley had decided to put together a new version of The Noblemen, adding new musicians, including drummer Malcolm Tomlinson (b. 16 June 1946, Isleworth, Middlesex; d. 2 April 2016) from west London and Martin Barre.
All four musicians survived the group’s evolution from Mod/soul outfit Motivation through to psychedelic pop band The Penny Peep Show/Penny Peeps.
Photo: Bryan Stevens/Mick Ketley. Motivation, early 1967. Left to right: Chris Rodger, Martin Barre, Mick Ketley, Jimmy Marsh, Malcolm Tomlinson and Bryan Stevens
However, despite garnering plenty of work on the club scene in the first half of 1968, the emerging blues explosion headed up by Fleetwood Mac was starting to make psychedelic rock bands redundant.
That July, Canadian group The Band’s Music from Big Pink had been given a UK release and had turned musicians’ heads, The Penny Peeps included.
After playing at Nottingham’s Beachcomber Club on Saturday, 13 July; Leicester Rowing Club, two Saturdays later; and the Swan in Yardley, the West Midlands on Saturday, 3 August, the musicians realised another change in style was required.
The decision was influenced in part by the audience’s response at one particular gig (possibly the Walgrave in Coventry on Sunday, 4 August) where the group’s performance was poorly received.
In the interval, the band’s current singer Denny Alexander suggested that the band play some blues numbers in the second set and with Mike Ketley and Malcolm Tomlinson also helping out with lead vocals, the fresh approach went down a storm.
Taking on a new name, In the Garden of Gethsemane, which was soon shortened to Gethsemane, the group began to plough a more blues-based direction.
The decision to adopt a new style may also have been prompted by the Eighth National Jazz and Blues Festival held at Kempton Park racecourse in Sunbury-on-Thames on Sunday, 11 August.
Malcolm Tomlinson had attended and was blown away by Jethro Tull and its enigmatic front-man Ian Anderson whose mastery of the flute made an impression on the drummer. Both he and Martin Barre had recently started to play flute and Tomlinson came back raving about the group to Barre, urging the guitarist to check out Anderson’s inspirational group.
Around this time, however, Denny Alexander dropped out to pursue a non-musical career.
Reduced to a quartet, the new musical direction that Gethsemane took gave the band an opportunity to be more creative and to stretch out during live performances. One of the “features” of the band’s stage show during this period was a flute duet featuring Barre and Tomlinson.
Mike Ketley believes the genesis of Gethsemane began when the musicians played an (unadvertised) all-nighter at the Gunnell brothers’ Flamingo in Wardour Street around mid-to-late August.
“What I remember is Malc Tomlinson on drums, Bryan on bass, Martin Barre on guitar and me on Hammond. We were definitely a four piece there and by then Malc had decided to take up the flute. Martin by this time was becoming a much better flute player than he was a sax player.
“One of our set numbers was ‘Work Song’ made famous by Cannonball Adderley plus others. After we had played the main theme twice through with some ad lib from me and Martin, Malc said play some percussion rhythm on the keys and he came out from behind the drums flute in hand and between him and Martin, who by then had realised this was something completely spontaneous, we played some pretty bizarre stuff, completely unrehearsed with two flutes talking to each other, while Bryan did his own thing on bass in line with me just using the percussion tabs and hitting the keys to make a tempo. Having lost Denny Alexander it was almost like the start of a new direction for us.”
One of the first advertised gigs with the new name (albeit it as Gethsemane Soul Band) was at the Royal Lido Ballroom in Prestatyn, north Wales on Saturday, 24 August.
The next day, the group played the first of several shows at Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, west London. The popular island hangout had closed briefly in September 1967 and only reopened on 31 July. Ketley distinctly recalls opening for The Nice at the venue (who were billed to play there on Wednesday, 28 August).
One of the most significant dates during this period was Saturday, 31 August when Gethsemane (misspelt as Gethsemanie) opened the Van Dike Club in Plymouth, Devon, playing first before headliner Jethro Tull. It was the first opportunity that Martin Barre had to check out his future employers.
Interestingly, an advertised gig at the Cobweb at St Leonards in East Sussex on Saturday, 7 September (see above) reveals that the group was still occasionally billed as The Penny Peeps, which raises the question of whether Denny Alexander was still a member at this point. (Ed: Ketley says that Alexander had definitely left the band once they had redefined the music they wanted to play and chosen the name Gethsemane.)
Like the previous incarnations, Gethsemane had a busy diary, which increasingly took in blues clubs and the burgeoning university circuit.
On Sunday, 8 September, the quartet performed at the Aurora Hotel in Gillingham, Kent. That Saturday (14 September), the group (billed as Geth Semane) played one of its most prestigious shows – the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm on a bill that also featured The Scaffold, David Bowie, Junior’s Eyes and The Edgar Broughton Band.
DJ John Peel apparently was a huge fan and recorded the band’s set, which he played the following week on his radio show.
On Saturday, 28 September, Gethsemane played at the Stage Club in Oxford.
The following Saturday (5 October), the group landed an important gig, opening for blues trailblazers Fleetwood Mac at the Links in Borehamwood, Herts.
Without Alexander to front the group, the vocals were shared between Malcolm Tomlinson and Mike Ketley.
“Malc always had a great voice,” says Stevens. “We were doing cover versions of The Band as we had got hold of an early copy of Music from Big Pink. If I remember right, Malc sang ‘the Weight’ and ‘Chest Fever’. It was really good.”
Two days after the Fleetwood Mac support gig, the band headed for south Wales to play at the Landland Bay Hotel in Swansea (billed as Gethsemaney).
A few weeks later, on Wednesday, 16 October, the band (billed as Geth Semane) appeared at the Railway Hotel in Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. The group would return to play there on Wednesday, 6 November.
Later that month, Gethsemane appeared at popular blues haunt the Nag’s Head in Battersea on Monday, 21 October and then two days later returned to Eel Pie Island to share the bill with Alan Bown.
Around this period, Gethsemane piqued the interest of Bee Gees producer Robert Stigwood, and through this association signed with Dick James Music (Northern Songs). While the idea was to record an album, the band soon ran into problems in the studio.
“I have an acetate of Elton John. It’s just him playing at the piano singing ‘Lady Samantha’ which is all about a ghost,” says Ketley.
“Dick James Music, Elton’s publisher gave us a recording to try and do our own version but Elton paid a visit one recording session and said he didn’t like what we were doing with his song so it never went ahead.”
“Musical differences” erupted between the group, Northern Songs and Robert Stigwood. It seems the producer was looking for something much more “poppy” from the group, who also cut a version of “Grease Monkey”, allegedly with future Average White Band member Alan Gorrie providing the bass and lead vocals. At the time, Gorrie’s band Hopscotch were flat mates with Gethsemane.
The decision to cut Elton John’s “Lady Samantha” seemed a rather unusual choice for a blues band. Perhaps the decision was made following an Elton John radio session, taped on 28 October at BBC’s Agolin Hall.
On that occasion, John recorded three tracks – “Lady Samantha”, “Across the Havens” and “Skyline Pigeon”, abetted by a studio group comprising long standing guitarist Caleb Quaye, session bass player Boots Slade (formerly of the Alan Price Set) and Malcolm Tomlinson on drums. The three songs were played on BBC’s Stuart Henry Show the following week.
Whatever the reason, the disappointment and frustration surrounding the LP sessions, together with an aborted attempt to record with guitarist Jeff Beck (the most plausible recording date is 18 September), appears to have been a major factor in driving the band apart.
During November 1968, the band ploughed on but was soon running out of steam. After a show at the Industrial Club in Norwich on Friday, 8 November, the group travelled to Reading the following Wednesday to play at the Thing-A-Me-Jig before moving on to Wolverhampton the next evening (14 November) to play the Club Lafayette (billed as Gethsemany).
Back in London, the group landed a gig at the Hornsey Wood Tavern in Finsbury Park the following evening (Friday, 15 November), sharing the bill once again with Jethro Tull. Aware that Mick Abrahams was leaving, Martin Barre auditioned for the guitar spot but it didn’t go well and he worried he’d missed out on his dream job.
With a show at the Crown Hotel in Birmingham on Tuesday, 26 November, Gethsemane began winding down operations, agreeing to split that Christmas.
A highly memorable gig at Dundee College of Art on 12 December opening for headliners, Pink Floyd, followed before Gethsemane returned to London to fulfil a few final engagements, including a show at the Pheasantry on the Kings Road, before dissolving.
“The last gig we ever did was at a college in Brook Green, Hammersmith and a guy from Island Records asked if we would be interested in signing up,” says Stevens.
“We didn’t want to know. We had had so many people saying so many times, ‘sign here and we will make you famous!’ Anyway, by that time, we had all decided to go our separate ways.”
Martin Barre has different recollections about Gethsemane’s final gig. “Terry Ellis form Chrysalis approached me to invite me to audition for Tull, which I did a few days later. It was the first one… it took two [to get the position]. He had been sent by Tull to find me and wasn’t interested in the band.”
Having discovered that Mick Abrahams’ replacement Tony Iommi had been dismissed after only a month in the band, Barre phoned Jethro Tull’s singer Ian Anderson to see if he could try out a second time for the band. [Ed – Tomlinson also auditioned at the same time.]
Stevens continues the story: “He didn’t have a very good guitar at the time and mentioned he desperately wanted a Les Paul Gibson for the audition. The guy in the flat below us in our Chiswick flat offered to lend him the £500 – pretty good considering that was quite heavy money in the late ’60s.”
Invited round to Anderson’s flat for a second audition, Barre got the “gig of his dreams”. The rest as they say is history. But what about his former band mates?
Having led a succession of groups from Johnny Devlin & The Detours through to Gethsemane, Bryan Stevens decided to sell his bass and used the money to help finance his studies. Returning to college, he later became a surveyor and currently lives in Chiswick.
Mike Ketley meanwhile returned to the south coast. Switching from keyboards to bass, he joined forces with a several former Noblemen and for a couple of years worked in a local band called The Concords. He later abandoned live work and after leaving music retail, worked for the Hammond Organ Company, then joined Yamaha Music UK retiring as MD after 32 years.
Stevens and Ketley have remained firm friends and in June 2002 re-joined former band mates in a Johnny Devlin & The Detours reunion held in Bognor Regis. Among the guests at the reunion was former Soundtracks guitarist Ray Flacke, who later went on to play with Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler. Ketley has also re-recorded “Model Village” with his son’s band called The Vybe.
Johnny Devlin and The Detours got together again in 2003 to headline a gathering of ’60s groups from Bognor for a sell-out night in aid of the hospice that looked after Barry Benson (P J Proby’s hairdresser) who had died of cancer a few months earlier. Called “Back to the ‘60s” such was its popularity that the annual event lasted for 10 years and raised nearly £70k for local charities in and around the Bognor Regis area.
Stevens and Ketley were involved in another significant reunion – after over 35 years, they finally met up with Penny Peeps singer Denny Alexander over the Christmas 2004 period. Another reunion took place on 29 March 2009.
Bryan Stevens, Mick Ketley and Denny Alexander, 2009
They also renewed contact with Malcolm Tomlinson, who, aside from Martin Barre, was the only member of the band to maintain a significant musical profile.
After Gethsemane’s demise, Tomlinson reunited with his former Jeff Curtis & The Flames cohort Louis McKelvey and in February 1969 moved to Toronto, Canada where the pair formed Milkwood with future Celine Dion backing singer Mary Lou Gauthier. (McKelvey, incidentally, had also been one of the hopefuls who auditioned for Ian Anderson and the guitar slot in Jethro Tull).
Milkwood, 1969. Left to right: Ron Frankel, Jack Geisinger, Louis McKelvey, Mary Lou Gauthier and Malcolm Tomlinson
During his first few months in the city, Tomlinson was called on to play drums and flute on ex-A Passing Fancy guitarist and singer/songwriter Jay Telfer’s ambitious solo album, Perch but unfortunately the recording was subsequently shelved, as was Milkwood’s own album, cut in New York that summer for the Polydor label with legendary producer Jerry Ragavoy.
However, Tomlinson did make a notable session appearance on label mate, Life’s eponymous lone album recorded in late 1969, providing a superb flute solo to the Terry Reid cover “Lovin’ Time”.
Milkwood’s greatest claim to fame was appearing at Toronto’s famous Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival concert on 13 September, just before John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band. Yet despite garnering praise from Jimi Hendrix in Cashbox magazine after he’d spotted the quintet playing at the Penny Farthing club in Yorkville Village, Milkwood imploded shortly after a show in Ottawa in late October.
Next up, Tomlinson briefly played with McKelvey in the short-lived biker group, Damage. One of the band’s most high profile shows was an appearance at the Toronto Rock Festival on 26 March 1970, appearing on the bill with Funkadelic, Luke & the Apostles, Nucleus and Leigh Ashford among others.
When that group folded in late 1970, Tomlinson briefly teamed up with former Elektra Records band, Rhinoceros before joining Syrinx in October 1971 and recording material for True North Records under the name, JFC Heartbeat.
He then worked with Toronto-based groups, Rambunkshish and Zig Zag alongside Toronto blues guitarist Danny Marks, before signing up with Bill King’s band during 1972.
Zig Zag, 1971 with Malcolm in white
More impressive, in 1973, he recorded an album’s worth of material with Rick James and the original Stone City Band, which is still to see a release.
Versatile as ever, Tomlinson subsequently played drums with Jackson Hawke, did sessions for Jay Telfer and then joined Bearfoot before recording two solo albums for A&M Records in 1977 and 1979 entitled Coming Outta Nowhere and Rock ‘N’ Roll Hermit. He dropped out of the recording scene during the ’80s and ’90s.
Malcolm Tomlinson 2004
However, in 2007, Tomlinson sang on Toronto group The Cameo Blues Band’s latest album. In June of that year, he played drums with ’60s folk-rock group, Kensington Market to celebrate the “Summer of Love” and also doubled up with Luke & the Apostles. Tomlinson died on 2 April 2016.
Louis McKelvey and Malcolm Tomlinson, Toronto, 2004
Denny Alexander has also passed away. He died on 6 December 2018 and both Mike Ketley and Bryan Stevens were pall bearers at his funeral in January 2019.
Thanks to Bryan Stevens, Mike Ketley, Martin Barre, Denny Alexander and Malcolm Tomlinson.
The Penny Peeps 1968. Clockwise from front: Martin Barre, Denny Alexander, Malcolm Tomlinson, Mick Ketley and Bryan Stevens
Aficionados of UK freakbeat will be familiar with The Penny Peeps’ Who-inspired rocker “Model Village”, which graced the ‘B’ side of the band’s debut single “Little Man with a Stick” for Liberty Records in February 1968.
With its swirling organ, driving guitar and powerful lead vocal, the track is justifiably revered as a minor ’60s classic and has turned up over the years on a number of compilations, most notably the Rubble series and the box set Acid Drops, Spacedust & Flying Saucers.
Little is known about the Penny Peeps, aside from the fact that they recorded two hopelessly obscure, yet highly collectable singles for Liberty Records, which today can fetch astronomical sums of money.
Collectors may be surprised to learn, however, that The Penny Peeps’ guitarist was none other than future Jethro Tull axe man Martin Barre (b. 17 November 1946, King’s Heath, Birmingham).
Perhaps more surprising is news that The Penny Peeps recorded around 15 demos for the label in early 1968, including the marvellous “Meet Me at the Fair”, the band’s preferred choice as ‘B’ side for “Model Village”. The infectious soul-tinged rocker was subsequently dropped in favour of the more commercial “Little Man with a Stick”.
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As fate would have it both “Little Man with a Stick” and its follow up single, “I See the Morning” sank without a trace and the group’s lead singer and song-writer, Denny Alexander, departed during August 1968. The group briefly continued as a quartet under the name Gethsemane before the musicians went their separate ways that December.
While Barre subsequently “landed on his feet” joining highly respected blues band, Jethro Tull, the music he recorded with his pre-Tull bands has often been overlooked.
Martin Barre, who’d previously played with Midlands bands The Dwellers and The Moonrakers, had joined the group that would become The Penny Peeps in July 1966.
Known as The Noblemen at the time, the group also comprised singer Jimmy Marsh; guitarist Chuck Fryers; bass player Bryan Stevens (b. 13 November 1941, Lha Datu, North Borneo); keyboard player Mike Ketley (b. 1 October 1947, Balham, London); sax player Chris Rodger; and drummer Malcolm Tomlinson (b. 16 June 1946, Isleworth, Middlesex; d. 2 April 2016).
However, Fryers dropped out soon afterwards (later to join The Sorrows) and after a few months, the band changed name to Motivation (sometimes billed as The Motivation – see earlier entry).
Motivation, spring 1967
During a trip to Italy in March-May 1967 singer Jimmy Marsh departed followed soon after by sax player Chris Rodger when the group returned home. With Ketley handling lead vocals in the short-term, the band started to look for a new front man.
Former Clayton Squares and Thoughts singer Denny Thomas Alexander (b. 10 March 1946, Liverpool, Lancashire, d. 6 December 2018) answered the call and joined in early June 1967.
With a Cheshire version of The Motivation increasingly active (they opened for The Jeff Beck Group at Nantwich Civic Hall on 24 June 1967) and yet another group billed as The Motivation signing and later recording with Direction Records, the musicians decided to become The Penny Peep Show in August 1967.
One of the first advertised shows under this name was at the Gala Ballroom in Norwich on 15 and 16 September (Friday and Saturday). On the Sunday, they travelled over to Birmingham to appear at the Swan in Yardley.
Other dates that month included a return to the Royal Ballrooms in Boscombe on Saturday, 23 September and an appearance at the Belfry in Wishaw, near Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands two days later, with The Sight & Sound.
The Penny Peep Show were back in the Birmingham area early the next month for a show at the Penthouse in the city centre with New Zealand group The Human Instinct on Saturday, 7 October (they would return here on Friday, 3 November).
It was possibly this same weekend that Stevens met his future wife Beth.
“We played at Birmingham University for the Fresher’s Dance, which is where I met Beth. I definitely remember that gig. Beth lived in Hersham, near Walton-on-Thames and she used to go to Walton Hop where we played some months later [in May 1968]”.
The following weekend, the musicians headed down to the southwest for a show at the Flamingo Ballroom in Penzance on Saturday, 14 October and headed home via Dorset to appear the Weymouth’s Steering Wheel on the following Saturday evening (21 October).
Throughout the next month, the band continued to crisscross the country, playing at venues like Birmingham’s Ringway Club on Saturday, 4 November; the Carnival Hall in Basingstoke, Hampshire on Thursday, 9 November; Coventry’s Tudor Club at the Mercers Arms on Sunday, 19 November; and the 76 Club in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire on 24 November.
Newspaper adverts reveal that during December, The Penny Peep Show returned to play shows at Weymouth’s Steering Wheel, the Royal Ballrooms in Boscombe (returning in early January) and the Swan in Yardley, closing the year with a show at the Wellington Club in Dereham, Norfolk on Saturday, 30 December.
Through Pete Hockham, formerly one of Bob Gaitley’s agents at the Beat Ballad and Blues agency and now working for Brian Epstein’s NEMS agency, the band signed up with NEMS around January 1968 and gained regular work in the London area.
One of the group’s first London dates took place on Thursday, 8 February, opening for Brighton band The Mike Stuart Span (who shared the same agency) at the famous 100 Club in Oxford Street.
The next day, the group played at the Nottingham Boat Club. Over the next year, the musicians would regularly perform in the city and its surrounding area.
That same month, the group signed a deal with Liberty Records and got to work recording over an album’s worth of material, most of which comprised demos.
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Interested listeners can hear early demos of the four tracks that made up The Penny Peeps’ two singles plus unreleased tracks online. Acetates of “Model Village”, “I See the Morning”, “Curly, The Knight of The Road” and “Meet Me at the Fair” reveal just how powerful these demo versions were.
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“When The Penny Peeps got the Liberty contract, I also got a song writing contract with them from Metric Music, which was on Albermarle Street at the time,” says Alexander.
“When I went to sign my contract there was also a duo who were part of band called the Idle Race. One turned out to be Jeff Lynne later of ELO fame and fortune. A third person sitting in the corner very quietly and looking very shy and school boyish turned out be Mike Batt!”
“The contract required a certain amount of songs in a certain period,” continues Alexander “and the band used to act as session men – and therefore got paid which helped when gigs were scarce. Most songs were recorded at the Marquee studio at the back of the old Marquee club in Wardour Street. I probably wrote about 15 or 16 songs.”
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Some of these songs, such as “Helen Doesn’t Care” and “Into My Life She Came”, which features Martin Barre on flute, are gems. So is “Meet Me at The Fair”, which the group had envisaged would be coupled with Alexander’s organ and guitar driven rocker “Model Village” for the band’s debut single. Instead, Liberty chose to go with the poppy Les Reed-Barry Mason collaboration, “Little Man with a Stick”.
“I remember how pissed off we all were when Liberty insisted that ‘Little Man with a Stick’ should be the ‘A’ side as it was not us and none of us liked it,” says Stevens. “I suppose it was the usual case of the record company wanting to use their in-house song writers.”
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Released on 16 February, under the new name, The Penny Peeps, “Little Man with a Stick” c/w “Model Village” failed to chart, although it did gain some radio exposure. (Ed – mint copies of this single will set you back a hefty price.)
11 February 1968 gig
“Little Man with a Stick” received a lukewarm welcome in the music press, with NME reporting: “A new British number by Les Reed and Barry Mason. It’s good fun with a strong novelty content, but not one of the duo’s most memorable compositions. Competent performance.”
The single’s release coincided with a memorable show at the Brighton Dome Theatre on Thursday, 22 February where The Penny Peeps backed The Scaffold on a bill that also included The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and also played their own set. Back in London, the group appeared at London’s Speakeasy six days later.
Throughout this period, the group toured extensively, and even made a brief trip to Belgium to play some dates.
“We played in Belgium for an Embassy party on-board a ship tied up at the docks,” says Stevens.
Sean Connery and Bridget Bardot were in the audience that night and Ketley thinks they may have been celebrating after wrapping up filming on the movie they were in together called Shalako.
Penny Peeps, spring 1968. Clockwise from bottom left: Martin Barre, Denny Alexander, Malcolm Tomlinson, Bryan Stevens and Mick Ketley
On Friday, 8 March, The Penny Peeps returned to play a show at the Nottingham Boat Club.
A few weeks later, on Saturday, 23 March, they were back in the city to appear at the Beachcomber Club. The previous evening (billed as The Penny Peep Show), the musicians performed at the Fiesta Hall in Andover, Hampshire.
Closing the month, The Penny Peeps returned to Bournemouth for a show at the Linden Sports Club, a venue they would perform at regularly throughout the year.
31 March 1968 gig
Newspaper adverts for April reveal that The Penny Peeps performed regularly along the south coast.
Besides the usual trek to Weymouth to play the Steering Wheel (Wednesday, 3 April), the band also played at the Cobweb, situated at the Marine Court in St Leonards, East Sussex. The show (on Saturday, 20 April) found the band playing on the same bill as Tony Rivers & The Castaways, soon to morph into Harmony Grass.
On Thursday, 25 April (again billed as The Penny Peep Show), the musicians played at Hatchetts Playground, a flash club on Piccadilly Circus.
With the band’s original material going down a storm on the road, the group returned to Nottingham on Friday, 3 May for another show at the Nottingham Boat Club.
Later that month (Saturday, 18 May), The Penny Peeps played at the Walton Hop, situated in the Playhouse at Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, the UK’s first discotheque.
On Saturday, 15 June, The Penny Peeps returned to Nottingham for a show at the Beachcomber Club, returning home to Bognor Regis that evening to perform at the Linden Sports Club in Bournemouth the next day.
Six days later, the band’s second release Alexander’s “I See the Morning” c/w “Curly, The Knight of The Road” also failed to chart despite Tony Blackburn using the song to open his Radio 1 Breakfast show every morning for a week.
Beachcomber gig July 1968
Despite plenty of work, including a return to Nottingham’s Beachcomber Club on Saturday, 13 July; Leicester Rowing Club, two Saturday’s later; and the Swan in Yardley, the West Midlands on Saturday, 3 August, the emerging blues explosion headed up by Fleetwood Mac was starting to make psychedelic rock bands redundant.
25 July 1968 gig
That July, Canadian group The Band’s Music from Big Pink had been given a UK release and had turned musicians’ heads, The Penny Peeps included.
During a gig that month, possibly at the Walgrave in Coventry on Sunday, 4 August (see above) The Penny Peep Show/Penny Peeps’ current repertoire was met with an icy response and Alexander realised that drastic measures were needed.
In the interval, he suggested that the band play some blues numbers in the second set and with Ketley and Tomlinson also helping out with lead vocals, the fresh approach went down a storm.
Taking on a new name, In the Garden of Gethsemane, which was soon shortened to Gethsemane, the group began to plough a more blues-based direction.
The Penny Peeps before Denny Alexander left. Left to right: Martin Barre, Mick Ketley, Denny Alexander, Malcolm Tomlinson and Bryan Stevens
The decision to adopt a new style may also have been prompted by the Eighth National Jazz and Blues Festival held at Kempton Park racecourse in Sunbury-on-Thames on Sunday, 11 August.
Malcolm Tomlinson had attended and was blown away by Jethro Tull and its enigmatic front-man Ian Anderson whose mastery of the flute made an impression on the drummer. Both he and Martin Barre had recently started to play flute and Tomlinson came back raving about the group to Barre, urging the guitarist to check out Anderson’s inspirational group.
Around this time Denny Alexander dropped out to pursue a non-musical career.
Retiring from professional playing, he tried his hand as a trainee publican for a while but the venture didn’t last long. Back in Liverpool, he gathered together some friends who had a musical cabaret act and the sax player from The Undertakers and recorded six tracks in late 1972.
The songs: “Don’t Let It Rain (Wedding Day)”, “Crossroads of Life”, “My Last Goodbye to You”, “I’d Like to Get to Know You Girl”, “Your Alive” and “Babe I Love You” remain unreleased to this day.
The songs vary in style although some show touches of a country-rock influence. Like all of Alexander’s songs, the tracks are extremely melodic and a couple could have been huge hits in the hands of a more established artist.
With the recordings complete, Alexander turned his back on music and went into the financial services industry, retiring in the early 2000s. However, he did reunite with Bryan Stevens and Mick Ketley in the late 2000s.
Reduced to a quartet, the new musical direction that Gethsemane took gave the band an opportunity to be more creative and to stretch out during live performances.
To be continued:
Thanks to Bryan Stevens, Mike Ketley, Martin Barre, Denny Alexander, Malcolm Tomlinson, Mike Paxman, Vernon Joynson and Hugh MacLean. Thank you to Bryan Stevens and Mike Ketley for the band photos.
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
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