The Impacts, 1964. Left to right: Tony Noble, Roy Stacey, Dave Terry (aka Elmer Gantry), John Reeves and Chris Allen
Dave Terry (later Elmer Gantry) (lead vocals)
John Reeves (lead guitar)
Tony Noble (rhythm guitar)
Roy Stacey (bass)
Chris Allen (drums)
This Barnes, southwest London band had started life as The Southbeats in early 1963.
As Roy Stacey notes, the group was part of the Bob Druce circuit with The High Numbers (later The Who) and performed regularly at The Goldhawk Social Club in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, Watford Trade Union Hall in Watford, Herts, the Railway Hotel in Wealdstone, Middlesex and the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill, southeast London.
Photo: Boyfriend magazine, October 1964
Changing name to The Impacts in November 1963, they appeared in The Contact, a small budget film for the Spastics Society, in January 1964. An early outing for John Hurt, Pauline Collins and Wendy Richard, the film included a cameo performance by the group playing live in one scene, which can be seen on You Tube.
Later that year, actor Hugh Halliday, who had starred in The Contact and also played drums, took over from Chris Allen (who may be the same musician who went on to play with The Attack and The Syn among others).
The Impacts appeared at the 100 Club in Oxford Street, most notably on 21 April 1964 when they opened for The Art Wood Combo and The Pretty Things.
Photo Roy Stacey. The Impacts audition for the Crawdaddy in Richmond, circa 1963. Only Roy (left), John (centre) and Tony (right) are in the shot
The group also played at Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, Middlesex (most likely in 1963/1964), supporting The Graham Bond Organisation on a Sunday. Stacey notes that John Platt’s book London Rock Routes features a photo of an unknown band who are in fact The Impacts.
“The shot shows Dave [Terry’s] old Vortexion pa amplifier,” he says. “Tony [Noble] was playing his early ‘50s blonde Fender Esquire.”
“The photo in the book is tiny and shows two of the band at a great distance,” adds Dave Terry (aka Elmer Gantry).
“Tony Noble on the left and Roy Stacey on the right. It’s a bit strange that guitarist John Reeves, the drummer and I are missing from the photograph. I don’t know why; you can’t even see the drum kit. Maybe Tony and Roy had just got on stage and were tuning up.”
The band also appeared at the Blue Moon, Hayes, Middlesex supporting Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds on 19 April 1964 and Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers on 26 April 1964.
Photo: Surrey Comet
The Impacts also played at the Jazz Cellar in Kingston upon Thames in Surrey, including on 29 July 1964 and 13 November 1964.
Stacey remembers that The Impacts were featured in the popular teen beat magazine Boyfriend on 10 October 1964 on its “Undiscovered British Groups” page.
Photo: Boyfriend Magazine, 10 October 1964Photo: Boyfriend magazine, 10 October 1964
That same month, the band participated in a two-day Belfast tour with Jerry Lee Lewis. Don Arden had booked The Impacts to back the rock ‘n’ roll legend and Stacey remembers they didn’t get paid.
“On the first night, Jerry Lee took a chunk out of my Precision Bass,” he recalls. “As he kicked his stool in my direction, whack! Then hammered the piano keys with his left foot.”
On 24 October 1964, the group joined fellow west London band The Second Thoughts for a show at Studio 51 in Leicester Square, central London.
Stacey says that back-up singer Heather Swinson became part of the group towards the end of 1964. Also, keyboard player Art Regis joined the line-up. He also remembers that Richard O’Sullivan jammed with The Impacts on organ at one point.
Art Regis had first joined Rupert & The Red Devils in 1963 replacing original keyboard player Mike Finney. Featuring future Spencer Davis Group guitarist Ray Fenwick and sax player Rupert Clahar (later in The Rick ‘N’ Beckers), Rupert & The Red Devils travelled to Nuremburg in West Germany to play some gigs that same year but broke up.
Regis then joined Dutch band The Defenders (later The T-Set) before returning to London and hooking up with The Impacts.
On 1 December, The Impacts joined The Grenades, The Fairlanes and Wainwright’s Gentleman for a show at Hammersmith Town Hall.
On 12 December 1964, The Impacts played at Studio 51 again, this time with The Loose Ends, returning for a second appearance on 16 January 1965 (also with The Loose Ends).
However, later that month (or in early February), The Impacts split up with Dave Terry/Elmer Gantry pursuing his blues/folk interests, working with guitarist Simon Lawrence. The duo landed a regular gig at Studio 51 in Leicester Square.
Photo: Melody Maker. Dave and Simon on 22 July 1965
Tony Noble meanwhile joined The Derek Savage Foundation while John Reeves formed John Brown’s Bodies, a Hammersmith group not to be confused with Keith Emerson’s Brighton band of the same name.
According to Stacey, John Reeves and Tony Noble would reunite in 1968 in Othello Smith & The Tobago Bad Boys and recorded the LP The Big Ones Go Ska for CBS Direction. Derek Savage was also a member.
Stacey meanwhile joined The Mike Leander Band for a tour. “It was pure chance that I got to meet Mike Leander at his apartment,” says the bass player. “He was a co-producer of the Drifters’ ‘Under the Boardwalk’ the first record I ever had. Mike Leander worked as a producer and arranger with Ben E. King and The Drifters at Atlantic Studios, New York.
“On that tour was black ex-G.I. Ronnie Jones of The Nightimers’ fame, who Herbie Goins replaced. Leander’s band did loads of Motown and featured two drummers and a big horn section. It also featured Paul Gadd (aka Gary Glitter), a Ready Steady Go dancer.”
During this period, Stacey also did some session work with Unit 4 Plus 2 thanks to Hugh Halliday, who’d joined the Hertfordshire group in 1965.
A short while later, the bass player joined Arthur Brown & The Machines on the recommendation of Art Regis who had joined this outfit when The Impacts split up (and just before Arthur Brown came on-board). Former Impacts back-up singer Heather Swinson also became a part of this group during 1965.
Thanks to Roy Stacey, Art Regis, Elmer Gantry (aka Dave Terry) and David Else for helping with the story
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.
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
