The Motivation, 1967, left to right: Bryan Stevens, Malcolm Tomlinson, Jimmy Marsh, Mick Ketley, Chris Rodger and Martin Barre All photos of the band courtesy of Bryan Stevens
Jimmy Marsh (lead vocals) Martin Barre (lead guitar, saxophone) Mick Ketley (keyboards, backing vocals) Bryan Stevens (bass) Chris Rodger (saxophone, trumpet) Malcolm Tomlinson (drums, backing vocals)
1966
October The group evolves out of Bognor Regis group, The Noblemen, which was formed in late 1964 to back South African singer Beau Brummell (aka Mike Bush). Bass player Bryan Stevens (b. 14 November 1943, Laha Datu, North Borneo) and keyboard player Mick Ketley (b. 1 October 1947, Balham, London) have been with the band from the outset. After splitting from Brummell in April 1966, the Noblemen undergo a significant change in personnel when most of the members leave in June. The following month, Stevens and Ketley reorganise The Noblemen bringing in a new singer, Jimmy Marsh (b. 9 April 1941, Carmarthen, Wales). Marsh first met Stevens and Ketley in mid-1964 at the Top Hat in Littlehampton when they were playing with The Detours and he was fronting The Del Mar Trio.
When The Noblemen’s drummer Bernie Smith opts to take up a more regular job, Marsh suggests his former colleague Malcolm Tomlinson (b. 16 June 1946, Isleworth, Middlesex) as his replacement. Tomlinson has worked with Marsh in The Del Mar Trio and James Deane and The London Cats. Before that, he was a member of Jeff Curtis and The Flames. Stevens advertises for a new sax player in the 23 July issue of Melody Maker, which hits the newsstands on 16 July. Former Moonrakers members, Chris Rodger (b. 16 October 1946, Solihull, Warwickshire) and Martin Barre (b. 17 November 1946, Kings Heath, Birmingham) respond to the advert after missing out on a job with Screaming Lord Sutch. On 22 July, Barre buys a saxophone at Sound City in London’s Shaftsbury Avenue for the audition three days later. Both Rodger and Barre are hired for the new line up as sax players, with Rodger doubling up on trumpet and Barre doubling up on lead guitar. In September, the new Noblemen line up moves up to London and shares a flat in Chelsea (and later Gloucester Road). They sign to the Roy Tempest Agency and start backing up visiting US soul acts.
Motivation on Bognor Regis station, late 1966 – left to right: Bryan Stevens, Martin Barre, Mick Ketley, Malcolm Tomlinson, Chris Rodger and Jimmy MarshBognor Regis station, late 1966, left to right: Jimmy Marsh (white top), Martin Barre, Bryan Stevens, Mick Ketley, Chris Rodger and Malcolm Tomlinson
November (1-2) Having supported The Vibrations, The Drifters, Lee Dorsey, Edwin Starr and Alvin Robinson as The Noblemen during September-October, the group adopts the more ‘Mod’ sounding name Motivation (although they are sometimes still billed as The Noblemen, at least until early December). As The Motivations, the band plays with Alvin Robinson at the Club Cedar in Birmingham for two nights. Soon after, The Motivations back Robinson at Newcastle University (quite possibly 3 November).
Motivation, Hyde Park, late 1966
(4) Billed as The Noblemen, they begin backing The Coasters with a show at the King Mojo Club in Sheffield with Sonny Childe & The TNT. The Coasters will perform at the Starlite Ballroom in Greenford, west London on 11 November with The Mode but no support group is listed (unless it was The Mode).
(12) Having changed their name to (The) Motivation, they perform at the Oasis club in Manchester with The Coasters and Hari Kari.
(13) The Coasters are billed playing at Tiles on Oxford Street in central London (most likely with Motivation in support). Two days later, The Coasters appear at the Whisky A Go Go. It is around this time that Mike Ketley and Malcolm Tomlinson take up The Coasters’ offer to attend a party where Jimi Hendrix (who had previously played with The Coasters’ support band) is in attendance. The Jimi Hendrix Experience are launched to the British press on 25 November.
(20) After playing at the Cavern in Liverpool with The Coasters the previous day (where they are billed as The Noblemen), Motivation join the soul singers for two shows in Greater Manchester, starting with the Domino Club in Openshaw and culminating with a second gig at the Princess Theatre in Chorlton. A riot takes place at the second venue after disturbances between The Coasters and the rowdy crowd.
(25) Billed as The Noblemen, they support The Coasters at the New Yorker Discotheque in Swindon, Wiltshire. The previous day The Coasters performed at the Whisky A Go Go in Wardour Street, Soho, central London but no support band is listed.
(26) Motivation appear at the Starlight Room at the Boston Gliderdrome, Lincolnshire with The Coasters. Also on the bill are Ronnie Jones & The Blue Jays and Heart & Souls. On the same day, the group supports The Coasters at the Burlesque in Leicester.
(27) The Coasters perform at Kirklevington Country Club in Kirklevington, North Yorkshire. The advert doesn’t list Motivation but presumably they were the backing band.
Syon Park, early 1967
December (4) Having finished supporting soul acts for the Roy Tempest Agency, Motivation begin to work under their own name. On this day, they perform at the Hotel Leofric in Coventry. Motivation are also billed to play at the Stoke Hotel in Guildford on this day with Whisker Davies. It’s not clear if this is the same group; it might have been the Norbury version, which split up in late 1966.
(9) The band appears at the New Yorker Discotheque in Swindon, Wiltshire.
(10) Billed as The Motivations, they play at the Gala Ballroom in Norwich.
Thanks to Peter Ellis for the scan and date
(16) Billed as Lee Dorsey’s backing band, the group appears at the Koo-Koo Byrd Discotheque, Cardiff, Wales.
(17) Motivation perform at the Britannia Rowing Club in Nottingham.
(20) The group appears at the Concorde at the Basset Hotel in Southampton, Hampshire.
(22) A band called The Motivation plays at the Co-Operative Hall in Nuneaton, Warwickshire with The Orange Pips. This may have been the same group as Warwickshire was Martin Barre’s home turf.
(24) The Motivation appear at the Lion Hotel in Warrington, Cheshire with The Fix and The Undertones.
(31) The group heads to Ashford, Kent to see how the year at the ‘2 ‘B’s’ Club with The Suspects.
1967
January (1) The Motivation start the new year with an appearance at the Tavern Club in Dereham, Norfolk.
(6) After playing a gig in Acton, west London on 2 January, The Motivation travel to the southwest and appear at the Winter Gardens Ballroom in Penzance, Cornwall with The Modesty Blues.
(7) Billed as Brian Stevens and The Motivation they appear at the Blue Lagoon in Newquay, Cornwall with The Accoustics.
(8) The band performs at the Bure Country Club in Mudeford in Dorset with The Tension and Lavina Lavells. Rodger says that the club closed after this evening’s show.
(9) The Motivation make an appearance at the New Spot in Thorngate Halls, Gosport, Hampshire. The next day, they play a venue in Portsmouth, most likely a naval base.
(14) They were listed as playing in Bradford, West Yorkshire the previous day, after which The Motivation move south to appear at the New Yorker Discotheque in Swindon, Wiltshire with supporting acts.
(20) The group appears at the Bromel Club in Bromley, Kent.
(21) Motivation travel to Norfolk and play a show at the Royal Links Pavilion in Cromer with Soul Concern.
(24) Having played a gig in the Bournemouth area on 22 January, the band performs a show at the Concorde at the Basset Hotel, Southampton, Hampshire. Before the end of the month, they appear at a club in Ashford, Kent.
February (3) Not listed in Bryan Stevens gig diary, The Motivation play at the Kingfisher Hall in Redditch, Worcestershire. This might have been another version of The Motivation but it’s close to Martin Barre’s home town.
(4) Another gig that is not listed in Stevens’ gig diary is a show at Maidstone Corn Exchange in Maidstone, Kent with The Blues System. However, on the same day the band does return to the ‘2 ‘B’s’ Club in Ashford, Kent so perhaps they played both on the same day as the towns are close together.
(5) The group travels back to Norfolk to play the Tavern Club in Dereham on a bill that also features The Barry Lee Show.
(6) The Motivation play their first show at the famous Marquee club, opening for The Herd.
(7) The band appears at Kodak Hall, Harrow, west London with The Beachcombers.
(9) The Motivation play at the New Central Ballroom, Aldershot, Hampshire with Ziggy Turner Combo.
(10) The group travels to the Birmingham area and performs at the Carlton Ballroom in Erdington, billed as The Fantastic Motivations. The next day, they head to the Southwest and play a venue (possibly the town hall) in Exeter, Devon.
(13) The band appears at the Steering Wheel in Weymouth, Dorset. The next day, The Motivation travel to Portsmouth and make an appearance at a venue in the city (possibly another naval gig).
(16) The Motivation head to Oxfordshire and perform for the Royal Air Force at RAF Benson.
(17) The day after, the band returns to London and appears at the Cooks Ferry Inn in Edmonton with John Evan Smash (who will morph in to Jethro Tull, a band that Barre will join in December 1968). There is a gap in the bookings until 25 February when The Motivation play an Oxford University college. The day after, they perform in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
March (1) Not listed in Bryan Stevens’ gig diary, the group appears at the Royal Ballrooms, Boscombe Royal Arcade, Boscombe, Dorset, which is a venue they will return to a lot over the next year.
(4) The musicians return to London and perform at Tiles on Oxford Street with C Jam Blues and Malcolm Magaron.
(6) The Motivation head back to the Marquee for a second show supporting The Herd. On 8 March, the band leaves for Rome, Italy to hold down a four-week residency at the Piper Club. After driving for 60 hours, they arrive on 11 March and start that night. Gigs at the Imperial Club, Redditch, Worcestershire (as The Motivations) on 26 March and 9 April would have been cancelled.
(11) – April (13) The band plays at the Piper Club for four weeks. While playing at the club, Ray Charles’s dancers come in one evening and dance to the band’s set. Some of The Rolling Stones’ entourage visit the club while The Motivation are playing. The Rolling Stones are playing in Rome on 6 April and there is talk about getting the band on the Stones’ tour as a warm up act. No commitment comes from the discussions. Jimmy Marsh punctures his vocal chords and returns home. Marsh drops out of the music business, only resurfacing briefly in the early 1980s with the short-lived west London band, A Touch of Gold. Marsh died on 13 April 2020.
By the river near Syon Park, spring 1967, left to right: Chris Rodger, Martin Barre, Mick Ketley, Jimmy Marsh, Malcolm Tomlinson and Bryan Stevens
(14) With Ketley assuming lead vocals, they head for Livorno to play at the Piper Club there for three consecutive weekends. Various gigs advertised in England this month are cancelled, including the New Yorker Discotheque in Swindon.
(15-16) The Motivation play at the Piper Club in Livorno this weekend.
(22-23) The band performs at the Piper Club in Livorno this weekend.
(29-30) The Motivation play at the Piper Club in Livorno this weekend.
May (1) The musicians return to Rome for further gigs. Numerous English gigs billed to The Motivation are subsequently cancelled while the group remains in Italy.
(2-14) The Motivation appears at the Cabala Club in Rome. While there Lord Snowdon comes up to the stage one night and requests the band plays Sandie Shaw’s “Puppet on a String”.
(27) Having arrived back in England the previous week and taking a week off, The Motivation appear at the Playboy Club on Park Lane, central London. It is Rodger’s final gig and he leaves the band.
June Stevens and Ketley remember a talented singer from Liverpool band, The Clayton Squares, who had shared the stage with Beau Brummell & The Noblemen in West Germany in March 1966 – Denny Alexander (b. 10 March 1946, Liverpool). The Clayton Squares have recorded two brilliant singles for Decca before splitting in late 1966. Alexander, who has gone on to sing with The Thoughts, is invited to join The Motivation and fulfil outstanding dates. The group rehearses new material at the Shoreline Club in Bognor Regis.
(27) The new line-up appears at the Royal Ballrooms, Boscombe Royal Arcade, Boscombe, Dorset.
July(1) In what is one of their most high-profile shows, The Motivation support Cream at the Upper Cut in Forest Gate, east London.
(3) The group returns to the Royal Ballrooms, Boscombe Royal Arcade, Boscombe, Dorset.
(7) The Motivation plays at the Warwick Arms, Redditch, Worcestershire with Hedgehoppers Anonymous.
August (4) The group plays at Caesar’s Place, the Mulberry Tree in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire with The Agency.
(5) The Motivation travel to the Birmingham area and appear at the Carlton Ballroom in Erdington, which is followed by a second show on the same night at the Elbow Room in Aston.
(6) The group appears at the Casablanca Club in the Sportsman’s Arms, Allesley, Coventry.
(11) The band plays at the Beeches Barn Theatre in Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
(19) They return to the Royal Ballrooms, Boscombe Royal Arcade, Boscombe, Dorset.
(20) The next day, the band plays at the Indigo Vat in Southsea, Hampshire.
(25) The Motivation play at Chateau Ipney in Droitwich, Worcestershire. The band’s stax/soul sound is becoming increasingly outdated as the psychedelic scene blossoms. The Motivation return to Bognor Regis and rehearse a new act, introducing Alexander’s strong original material into the set and changing name to The Penny Peep Show.
Sources:
Flying Colours by Greg Russo, Crossfire Publications, 2009. The South Coast Beat Scene of the 1960s by Mike Read, Woodfield Publishing, 2001.
Many thanks to Bryan Stevens, Mick Ketley, Chris Rodger, Jimmy Marsh, Malcolm Tomlinson, Martin Barre, Denny Alexander, Dave Allen, Nigel Norman, Mick Capewell, Chris Bishop and Sylvia Stephen.
Thank you Bryan for The Motivation gig listing for January/February 1967 and Ian Green for some additional dates.
Disclaimer: Concert adverts have been sourced from a number of music magazines and regional newspapers listed below. They have been reproduced fairly for research purposes and are not to be copied for any other use.
Additional concert listings sourced from Melody Maker, Nottingham Evening Post, the Liverpool Echo, the Manchester Evening News, Birmingham Evening Mail, Bournemouth Evening Echo, Southern Evening Echo, Portsmouth Evening Argus, Portsmouth News, Sheffield Star, Coventry Evening Telegraph, Harrow Observer, Cornish Guardian, The Cornishman, the Lincolnshire Standard and Eastern Evening News. The comments section below also lists some additional gigs.
I have tried to ensure the accuracy of this article but I appreciate that there are likely to be errors and omissions. I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who can provide any additions or corrections. Email: Warchive@aol.com
The Noblemen, January 1965. Left to right: Mike Turnill, Bernie Smith, Bryan Stevens, Mick Ketley and Chuck Fryers
Chuck Fryers (guitar, vocals) Mick Ketley (keyboards, vocals) Bryan Stevens (bass) Bob Pettit (sax) Bernie Smith (drums)
1964
December The group evolves out of Bognor Regis group, The Detours, which was formed in early 1960 by bass player Bryan Stevens (b. 14 November 1943, Laha Datu, North Borneo). The Detours have gone through numerous personnel changes over the years with singer Johnny Devlin (real name: Johnny Hobbs, not the New Zealand singer) joining in early 1962. His arrival prompts a name change to Johnny Devlin & The Detours. Shortly afterwards, Stevens recruits former Soundtracks keyboard player Mick Ketley (b. 1 October 1947, Balham, London). Later that year, he also brings in former Cruisers guitarist Alan Paul “Chuck” Fryers (b. 24 May 1945, Bognor Regis, West Sussex) and adds sax player Bob Pettit from a Chichester abattoir. In 1963, Bernie Smith, another former Soundtracks member, takes over the drum stool. Johnny Devlin & The Detours sign to Pye in November and record two tracks – “Sometimes” and “If You Want Someone”, which are coupled for a single, released in January 1964. Despite a group appearance on TV show Thank Your Lucky Stars, the single fails to chart and Devlin leaves. Pete Townshend and John Entwistle see Devlin’s band on the TV show and decided to change their band’s name from The Detours to The High Numbers, which will subsequently become The Who. The group carries on with singer John Read and plays venues on the south coast like Littlehampton’s Top Hat and Worthing’s Mexican Hat. Bob Gaitley, who runs both clubs, invites The Detours to back a new singer, South African Mike Bush, who is launching himself as Beau Brummell. The group accepts and changes name to The Noblemen. EMI producer Bob Barrett signs Beau Brummell and The Noblemen and takes them into Abbey Road to record a single – Beau Brummell Esquire and His Noblemen’s “I Know, Know, Know” backed by a version of “Shopping Around” from Elvis’ film GI Blues.
1965
January Mike Turnill briefly joins on sax taking over from Pettit, who returns to work in an abattoir and plays with Johnny Devlin in Act IV.
Photo: Evening Argus, 9 January 1965
(4) The new line up appears on Granada Television in Manchester. Despite an appearance by Brummell on TV show Ready Steady Go, his debut single, released on Columbia, does not chart.
Brighton Crescent, spring 1965, from left: Bryan Stevens, Chuck Fryers, Mick Ketley, Bob Lomas, Malcolm Randall and Bernie Smith
February Bob Lomas replaces Turnill. The group also takes on a second sax player Malcolm Randall, who has placed an advert in Melody Maker after playing with Jeff Curtis & The Flames, and joins The Noblemen in time for a short trip to West Germany, where they play at the Storyville Jazz Club in Cologne before returning to the UK that spring. The Noblemen are photographed in Brighton wearing regency clothes.
April(25) Beau Brummell & The Noblemen perform at the Whitehall, East Grinstead, West Sussex with The Dagoes.
Bob Lomas and Malcolm Randall, West Germany, spring 1965
May(1) Beau Brummell and His Noblemen appear at the California Ballroom in Dunstable with The Downsiders and The Richochets.
(9) The band appears at the Majestic Ballroom in Luton, Bedfordshire with Randall’s former group, Jeff Curtis & The Flames.
(14) Beau Brummell is listed appearing at the Carlton Ballroom in Erdington, West Midlands with The Chucks.
(22) Beau Brummell & The Noblemen perform Malborough Hall, in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
(29) The band plays at the Assembly Hall, Mold, Flintshire, Wales with The Denims.
May (16) Billed as Beau Brummell with his Exclusive Noblemen Orchestra, the group appears at Cubiklub in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
June (13) The Noblemen plays at the Downs, Hassocks, West Sussex.
(19) The group appears at the New Cornish Riveria Lido in St Austell, Cornwall with The Guild.
July (2) Billed as Beau Brummell & The Nobles, they perform at the Guildhall, Axminster in Devon.
(3) The Noblemen appear at Torquay Town Hall, Torquay, Devon with Johnny Carr and The Cadilacs and The Vicarage Five.
(9-11) With a new sax player called John replacing Bob Lomas, Beau Brummell & The Noblemen play at the Star Club in Hamburg. Immediately afterwards, the band plays at the Storyville Jazz Club in Duisberg (most likely from 12-15 July) and Randall jumps ship to join The Manchester Playboys back in England.
(16) Beau Brummell & The Noblemen play a double-nighter in Greater Manchester, starting off with a show at the Domino Club in Openshaw with Lulu & The Luvvers and then the Princess Club, Chorlton with Julie Grant.
(19) The group plays at the Manor Lounge, Stockport, Greater Manchester. This may have been Randall’s final gig as The Manchester Playboys are performing in nearby Bolton this evening and are based in the Greater Manchester area.
(24) The group, billed as The Beau Brummell Band, appears at Shefford Hardwicke in Bedfordshire.
(30) Billed as Beau Brummell & his exclusive Noblemen Orchestra, the musicians perform at the New Embassy Club, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
August (14) The band appears at the New Cornish Riviera Lido, St Austell, Cornwall with The Road Runners. Immediately afterwards, John, the temporary sax player, also departs. Back in England, The Noblemen take on new sax players Keith Gemmell (b. 15 February 1948, Hackney, London) and former Gene Vincent sideman, Jeremy “Jem” Field.
(20) Beau Brummell and His Noblemen Orchestra appear at Cheltenham Town Hall in what is one of the first shows by the new formation.
(21) Beau Brummell and The Noble Men play at the Galaxy Club in Basingstoke, Hampshire.
(22) The band appears at the Mexican Hat in Worthing with The Beat Merchants.
(23) The group plays at the Majestic Ballroom, Newport, south Wales with The Cellar Set.
Oslo National Park, Norway, 1965: Chuck Fryers, Mick Ketley, Bryan Stevens, Bernie Smith, Keith Gemmell and Jem Field
September The band travels to Scandinavia to play some gigs in Norway and Sweden.
(18) Beau Brummell & The Noblemen arrive in Oslo. According to Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, the band opens at the city’s Rondo Club, possibly for a week’s residency, with The Dukes, featuring singer Ingerid Marie.
Photo: Aftenposten. Thanks to Christopher Hjort for the photo
(26) Returning from Norway, The Noblemen join The Beat Merchants for another show at the Mexican Hat in Worthing. The Worthing Gazette advert notes that this is the band’s final British appearance for six weeks. Immediately afterwards, the band head to Rome, Italy to play at the Piper Club.
The Noblemen at the Piper Club, Rome in October 1965 Left to right: Chuck Fryers, Mick Ketley, Keith Gemmell and Jem Field
October(1) Beau Brummell and The Noblemen start working at the Piper club for a six-week stand, travelling through the city in an open carriage drawn by four white horses. During their stint at the club, the band meets actor Vincent Price and George Harrison’s parents who have won a holiday to Rome. While playing at the Piper club, the band is invited to play at the coming-out dance of the daughter of the millionaire, Prince Ruspoli. They also meet a female American singer called Kathy, who sets up a gig for the band at the Big Apple Club in Munich (where she lives) for the following May.
November After completing a six-week season, Beau Brummell and The Noblemen perform in Milan for 10 days and record four tracks in a studio that was formerly a church. These include the powerful sax-driven “Jezebel” and the Brummell composed, “I’m In Love”, a slow lilting number, neither of which are released. The group then heads south to Naples to play further dates before returning to Rome where The Noblemen sans Brummell record the tracks “Jump Back Baby” and “Ecstasy” with Chuck Fryers on lead vocals. Columbia releases Brummell’s third single (and second with the band) – “A Better Man Than I”, a spoken number, backed by “Teardrops”, which is credited to Brummell’s “Noblemen Orchestra” but it does not chart.
December Beau Brummell and The Noblemen play in Ostend in Belgium before returning to the UK.
(12) The Noblemen appear at the Mexican Hat in Worthing with The Look.
(17) The group returns to the continent to play in Turin. An engagement in St. Moritz is announced but the band do not play there.
(25-31) Beau Brummell and The Noblemen play at a club in Turin through to the new year and share the bill with Mussolini’s son Romano who plays piano with his jazz group. During January 1966, Brummell briefly splits from The Noblemen to return to Rome and tries to get into the film industry.
The Noblemen, early 1966. Clockwise from centre: Bryan Stevens, Bernie Smith, Keith Gemmell, Jem Field, Chuck Fryers and Mick Ketley
1966
January Columbia releases a final Brummell single, a cover of Ray Donner’s “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got” backed by “Take Me Like I Am”, but it fails to chart.
Photo: Worthing Gazette
(7) Back in England, The Noblemen appear at the Top Hat in Littlehampton, West Sussex. The advert in the Worthing Gazette notes that they have just returned from Italy.
(8) Beau Brummell & The Noblemen play at the Shoreline Club in Bognor Regis, West Sussex.
February(27) The Noblemen are a late addition to an all-nighter show at the original Cavern in Liverpool, which closes after tonight’s performance. Also included on the bill are Rory Storm and The Hurricanes and The Big Three among many others. The Cavern will officially reopen on 23 July.
March The Noblemen perform at the Storyville Jazz Club in Duisberg before moving on to Cologne.
(7-10) Beau Brummell rejoins The Noblemen briefly to share a week-long residency at the Storyville Jazz Club in Cologne with The Clayton Squares. The Squares’ singer Denny Alexander will reunite with Ketley and Stevens in The Motivation in June 1967. While in Cologne (this may have been spring 1965 trip instead), the group meets English group The Loving Kind featuring guitarist Noel Redding, who will join The Jimi Hendrix Experience in September. After playing at the Storyville Jazz Club in Cologne, the band holds down a residency at Frankfurt’s Storyville Jazz Club with Rory Storm and The Hurricanes and Johnny Guitar Watson.
(19) The Noblemen appear at the Flamingo Ballroom in Redruth, Cornwall with The Misfits.
The Noblemen in Pisa, Italy, April 1966, left to right: Mick Ketley, Bryan Stevens, Jem Field, Keith Gemmell and Chuck Fryers
April The Noblemen split from Brummell who returns to South Africa and records further singles (and later owns a naturist valley in the Northern Transvaal). The Noblemen accept a short residency at the Livorno Club in Pisa, Italy.
May(20) Thanks to the American singer they met in Rome last October, the group opens for The Spencer Davis Group at the Big Apple Club in Munich and both performances are recorded for German TV. Fryers has to borrow Spencer Davis’s guitar as his own was stolen while playing in Italy.
with the Spencer Davis Group, Big Apple Club
(21) Field leaves the band and returns home by train. Stripped down to a quintet, The Noblemen play some US air bases in West Germany with singing group, The New Faces. Gemmell does not stay long and returns home with The New Faces a few weeks later. Gemmell will find success in the late 1960s/early 1970s with the progressive rock outfit, Audience and also plays with Sammy.
June On the way home, the remaining members back country and western singer/comedian Don Bowman, who invites Fryers to return to Nashville as his guitarist. The Noblemen then play at the Star Club in Hamburg before arriving back in the UK. Fryers, Ketley, Smith and Stevens decide to carry on as The Noblemen and bring in a new singer, Jimmy Marsh (b. 9 April 1941, Carmarthen, Wales). Marsh first met the group members in 1964 at the Top Hat in Littlehampton when they were The Detours and he was fronting The Del Mar Trio. When Bernie Smith opts to take up a more regular job, Marsh suggests his former colleague Malcolm Tomlinson (b. 16 June 1946, Isleworth, Middlesex) as drummer. Tomlinson has worked with Marsh since 1964 in The Del Mar Trio and James Deane and The London Cats. Before that, he was a member of Jeff Curtis and The Flames. Bernie Smith will later reunite with Mick Ketley in Bognor Regis group, The Concords in 1969.
July (3) The Noblemen are billed to play at the Royal Ballrooms in Boscombe, Dorset with Karl & The Rapiers. This might be one of the last gigs with Bernie Smith or one of the first with Jimmy Marsh and Malcolm Tomlinson.
(16) Stevens advertises for a new sax player in the 23 July issue of Melody Maker, which hits the newsstands on this day. Former Moonrakers members, Chris Rodger (b. 16 October 1946, Solihull, Warwickshire) and Martin Barre (b. 17 November 1946, Kings Heath, Birmingham) respond to the advert after Rodger misses out on a job with Screaming Lord Sutch. Rodger has joined Syndicate 1 in 1963 after leaving school in Dorset but meets Barre in Midlands band The Moonrakers in January 1965.
(22) Barre buys a saxophone at Sound City in London’s Shaftsbury Avenue for the audition three days later. On the same day, the band is billed to perform at the Cricketers Inn in Southend, Essex but it’s not clear if the current five-piece (sans saxes) perform.
(23) The Noblemen are advertised to appear at the Waterfront in Southampton, Hampshire for an evening show followed by a second gig at Le Disque A Go Go in Bournemouth, Dorset with a midnight performance leading into the 24th.
(24) Both Rodger and Barre are hired for the new line up as sax players, with Rodger doubling up on trumpet. Rodger recalls that their debut takes place at a US service club (most likely Douglas House) in Lancaster Gate at 4pm this afternoon. After the gig, they all return to Bognor Regis to rehearse at the Shoreline Club but Fryers leaves before the week is out.
After leaving The Noblemen in late July 1966, Fryers joins Bognor Regis group, The Warren J Five with Colin Madeley (trumpet) and Geoff Prior (bass), formerly of The Treatment. The new group is completed with former Untamed/John Lee’s Groundhogs’ drummer Terry Slade and singer John Read from The Hustlers. The Warren J Five travel to Hamburg, Germany and play at the Top Ten Club with singer Tony Sheridan. During 1967, The Warren J. 5 travel to Rome and perform regularly at the Piper club. The band records an album in Italy entitled Rhythm & Blues for the Vedette label and a single, “Sto Con Te (Tell It to the Rain)” c/w “Se Hai Qualcosa Da Dire (Tell Me)” before splitting with Read. After a brief period as The Reflections, Fryers and Prior return to the UK and join Coventry group, The Sorrows.
The Noblemen, Bognor Regis Beach, summer 1966. Left to right: Mick Ketley, Martin Barre, Jimmy Marsh, Chris Rodger, Malcolm Tomlinson, Bryan Stevens
(30) Without Fryers, The Noblemen are billed to play at the Lion Hotel in Warrington, Cheshire with The Atlantics and The Atlanta Roots.
August (6) The group travels to the southwest and performs at the Budleigh Salterton Public Hall, Budleigh Salterton, Devon. They may well have played at the 400 Club in Torquay the day before.
(7) The Noblemen appear at the Royal Ballrooms, Boscombe, Dorset with Teak & The Smokey.
(13) The Noblemen start a weekly residency at the 400 Ballroom in Torquay, Devon.
(15-19) After taking the Sunday off, The Noblemen continue their weekly residency at the 400 Ballroom in Torquay, Devon.
(20) The group travels back to the southwest for a show at the Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth, Cornwall with The Blaizes.
(21) The next day, they play at the Park Ballroom’s Beat Centre in Plymouth, Devon.
(25) The Noblemen take part in the Big Beat Boat at Bournemouth, Dorset with The Mozzeletoft.
(27) Back in the southwest, they perform at the Blue Lagoon in Newquay, Cornwall with The Nite People.
(28) On the way up to London, The Noblemen perform at the Stoke Hole at the Stoke Hotel in Guidford, Surrey.
(29) The group appears to have seen out the month playing at the 2 ‘B’s’ Club in Ashford, Kent with The End.
September The new Noblemen move up to London and share a flat in Chelsea (and later Gloucester Road).
(2) The band appears at the Fiesta Hall in Andover, Hampshire.
(3) The Noblemen play at the Steering Wheel in Weymouth, Dorset. They sign to the Roy Tempest Agency and start backing up visiting US soul acts.
(10) The Noblemen back The Vibrations at the Starlight Room at the Boston Gliderdrome in Lincolnshire on a bill that also includes Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band and The Little People.
(11) The Vibrations (most likely supported by The Noblemen) appear at Toft’s in Folkestone, Kent.
(13) The Vibrations (most likely with The Noblemen backing) play at the Club Cedar in Birmingham.
(16) The Vibrations appear at the Domino club in Openshaw and the Princess Theatre in Chorlton, Greater Manchester with seven other acts (most likely with The Noblemen backing them).
(17) The Noblemen back The Vibrations at the new Cavern club in Liverpool. Also on the bill are Sooner or Later, Intent and Purpose, The Klubs, The Signs, The Times, The Tremas, The Dark Ages and Jimmy James and The Vagabonds.
(18) The Vibrations appear at Kirklevington Country Club in Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (most likely with The Noblemen backing them).
(18-19) Around this time, The Vibrations (backed by The Noblemen) appear at the Scotch of St James in Mayfair, central London. American soul legend Otis Redding, who has been touring the UK for the first time, turns up as does Mick Jagger. (On 18 September, Redding played a show at the Ram Jam Club in Brixton, south London. He played at Tiles in Oxford Street on 16 September; his only West End show).
(21) The Vibrations play at the Orchid Ballroom in Purley, Surrey but the support band is not listed.
(22) The Noblemen back The Vibrations at the Carlton Club in Erdington, West Midlands and also play another set at the Cedar Club. Later that evening, they play at the Cue Club in Paddington.
(23) The group backs The Vibrations at Toft’s in Folkestone, Kent. Former Loving Kind guitarist Noel Redding joins the musicians backstage after the show. Little does he know but his future band leader Jimi Hendrix is flying out from the USA tonight on route for London. (Redding will audition unsuccessfully for The Animals on 29 September but is picked up by Chas Chandler for The Jimi Hendrix Experience the same day.)
(25) The Vibrations are advertised to play at the Club West Indies in Stonebridge Park, northwest London but no backing band is listed. The previous evening the soul singers appeared at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester but the support group weren’t advertised.
(29) The Vibrations are booked to appear at the King Mojo Club in Sheffield for an All-nighter with London’s Ravers (who could well be The Noblemen). Also on the bill are The Amboy Dukes Big Band.
October Around early October The Noblemen back The Drifters (possibly for a one-off gig in London). The most likely date is at Tiles in Oxford Street on 7 October.
(15) Billed as (The) Motivation (a name they will change to next month), The Noblemen are billed to play at the Orford Cellar in Norwich. However, Rodger recalls The Noblemen went to play US air bases in West Germany for a week, travelling on German railway and were away on his birthday on 16 October. This means this gig didn’t happen. It seems most likely they left for West Germany around Sunday, 9 October.
(16) Around this time, the group starts to work with Edwin Starr. They are advertised to back him at the Beachcomber club in Nottingham with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers also on the bill. However, Alan Chamberlain, singer with The Guests, says it was his group that did the honours. Rodger confrims that the group played in West Germany on his birthday which is today.
(17) Rodger says that The Noblemen backed Lee Dorsey at Tiles on Oxford Street, central London. This is the date that Dorsey is advertised for that gig in Melody Maker. The group does work with Lee Dorsey around this time who also plays at the Saddle Room in London on 19 October. However, the advert does not list a support group for the Saddle Room date.
(21) The Noblemen play at De Montfort in Leicester backing Edwin Starr on a bill that also features The Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Alvin Robinson, Family and others. On the same day, Edwin Starr appears at Sleaford Mabern Club, Sleaford, Lincolnshire (backed by The Senate), Midnight City in Birmingham (with The Night People) and the New All-Star Club near Liverpool Street. However, it’s not clear if The Noblemen backed him at either of the latter two shows.
(22) Edwin Starr appears at Reading University but no backing group is listed. It is more likely that the group backs Alvin Robinson at the Blue Moon in Cheltenham as they start working with him around now.
(23) Edwin Starr is billed to play at the Starlite Ballroom in Greenford, west London. However, it’s not clear whether The Noblemen backed the singer. It’s possible they may have backed Lee Dorsey instead at the Club West Indies in northwest London today. Alvin Robinson appears at Kirklevington Country Club in Kirklevington, North Yorkshire on this date but he’s backed by another band (The Ziggy Turner Combo). However, Tomlinson remembers backing Robinson at Newcastle University which is not far away so it’s possible this gig is in a few days’ time. (28) The Noblemen works with Alvin Robinson, performing with the singer at the Dungeon club in Nottingham.
(29) The Noblemen back Alvin Robinson at the Starlight Room at the Boston Gliderdrome in Lincolnshire on a bill that also features The Alan Bown Set, John McCoy’s Crawdaddies and Listen (with a young Robert Plant on vocals). On the same day Alvin Robinson performs at the Burlesque in Leicester (most likely with The Noblemen).
(30) Alvin Robinson plays at the Jigsaw in Manchester.
(31) Robinson is billed to appear at the Whisky A Go Go in Wardour Street, Soho, central London. While it cannot be confirmed with any certainty that The Noblemen are the backing band for the 29-31 October dates, it is likely as they support Alvin Robinson for two shows in Birmingham on 1-2 November billed as The Motivations. However, Ketley has no recollections of ever playing at the Whisky A Go Go.
November(4) The Noblemen back The Coasters (and appear in their own right) at the King Mojo Club in Sheffield with Sonny Childe & The TNT.
(5) The Coasters (most likely backed by The Noblemen) appear at Rawmarsh Baths in Rawmarsh near Rotherham, West Yorkshire. Also on the bill are Brian Poole & The Tremeloes and The Dawley Crews Amblers. Around this time, they change name to The Motivation but are often billed as The Motivations (and sometimes still The Noblemen).
(9) Advertised as The Noblemen, the group supports The Coasters at the Mecca Ballroom on the Royal Pier, Southampton, Hampshire.
(10) Chris Rodger says the group supported Ben E King at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, which took place today.
(19) Billed as The Noblemen, the musicians back The Coasters at the Cavern in Liverpool. Also on the bill are The Hideaways, The Kids, The Love Trade and The Escorts. After an all-nighter show, The Coasters perform (presumably backed by The Noblemen) at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester.
(25) The Noblemen support The (Original) Coasters at the New Yorker Discotheque, Swindon. They continue as (The) Motivation throughout the rest of 1966 and into 1967 before evolving (through various line up changes) into The Penny Peep Show, The Penny Peeps and Gethsemane. Martin Barre will join Jethro Tull in December 1968. Malcolm Tomlinson will move to Canada in January/February 1969 and form Milkwood. Ketley will join The Concords on bass, reuniting with former Noblemen drummer Bernie Smith. Smith later opens a music shop and drum school in Chichester.
1968
Former Noblemen guitarist, Chuck Fryers records an album with The Sorrows in Italy entitled Old Songs New Songs for the Miura label. After a handful of singles on the Pye and Miura label, Fryers joins Electric Heart. In 1969, he marries his girlfriend in Chichester and returns to Italy. Over the next few years, he plays with Treves Blues Band. During the 1970s, Fryers performs with The Baker Street Band and then forms his own group, which records a CD Fryers and Friends First. He currently lives in Milan and has released a solo CD That’s It?
Sources:
Bognor Regis Post, 9 January 1965 and 18 December 1965. Flying Colours by Greg Russo, Crossfire Publications, 2009. Music Echo – Liverpool, week ending 12 March 1966. The Best of Cellars – The Story of The Cavern Club by Phil Thompson, Bluecoat Press, 2007. The South Coast Beat Scene of the 1960s by Mike Read, Woodfield Publishing, 2001. The Tapestry of Delights Revisited by Vernon Joynson, Borderline Productions, 2006.
Many thanks to Bryan Stevens, Chuck Fryers, Mick Ketley, Bernie Smith, Jim Marsh, Malcolm Tomlinson, Keith Gemmell, Chris Rodger, Nigel Norman and Sylvia Stephen.
Live dates sourced from Melody Maker, New Musical Express, Nottingham Evening Post, the Liverpool Echo, the Manchester Evening News, Sheffield Star. Other newspaper sources are listed in the comments below.
I have tried to ensure the accuracy of this article but I appreciate that there are likely to be errors and omissions. I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who can provide any additions or corrections. Email: Warchive@aol.com
Jeff Curtis & the Flames, circa spring 1963. From left to right: Malcolm Randall, Louis McKelvey, Dave Wigginton, Keith Gardiner, Malcolm Tomlinson and Jeff Curtis
Revised February 2018
Jeff Curtis & The Flames #1 (circa May 1961-May 1962)
Jeff Curtis – lead vocals
Mick Cartwright – lead guitar
Robin “Jesse” James – rhythm guitar
Gary Wheeler – bass
Derek “Dell” Saville – drums
Twickenham born insurance salesman Jeff Curtis (born David Myers; 20 June 1940) had ambitions to be a singer/performer and reportedly put together the original Flames around mid-1961 after singing in a choir.
Little is known about the early Flames. However, according to drummer Dell Saville, Curtis approached him to join a version with three Whitton musicians in mid-1961. These comprised lead guitarist Mick Cartwright, rhythm guitarist Robin “Jesse” James and bass player Gary Wheeler. Curtis ran a short-lived club, the JC Rock Club in the New British Legion Hall on Long Lane, Hillingdon Circus and the musicians played there often, debuting on 26 July 1961. Around May 1962, however, the musicians went their separate ways and Saville joined Ray Dell & The Rocking Deacons. James joined The Downliners briefly.
Advert in Uxbridge Post, 8 November 1961
Curtis started to piece together a new version of The Flames in late 1962/early 1963, starting with Hounslow-based bass player Dave Wigginton (b. 25 February 1943, Isleworth, Middlesex), who held a senior position at an import/export warehouse at London (later Heathrow) Airport during the day, and was working with Twickenham outfit, Johnny & The Pursuers, who played at the JC Rock Club. Thanks to Wigginton’s connections, the new Flames would use the warehouse to rehearse in the evenings. The bass player quickly recommended fellow Pursuers’ guitarist Louis McKelvey (b. 31 October 1943, Killorglin, County Kerry, Eire).
Born above a pub Louis McKelvey came from an artistic background; his mother and father worked in theatre. After boarding at Silverlands House in Chertsey, he attended school in Twickenham, Middlesex, where he was classmates with Don Craine, later of The Downliners Sect fame. McKelvey’s first band was local outfit Johnny & The Pursuers.
Soon after, Curtis recruited rhythm guitarist Keith Gardiner (b. September 1942). In late 1957, when he was 15 years old, Gardiner had befriended 10-year-old drummer John “Mitch” Mitchell at Tudor Rose Youth Club in Southall, Middlesex and had formed a rudimentary band together with guitarist Pete Ross, who subsequently went on to Ealing band, The Flexmen. At the time, Mitchell was attending Jim Marshall’s shop in Hanwell, Middlesex where he was taking drum lessons while Gardiner was taking guitar lessons from top session player, the late Big Jim Sullivan among others.
Wiggington recommended Malcolm Tomlinson (b. 16 June 1946, Isleworth, Middlesex) on drums around December 1962 after seeing him at a local youth club playing with The Panthers. Tomlinson was brought up in Cranford, near London Airport, where his parents worked for British Airways.
A talented musician, who later became a multi-instrumentalist, Tomlinson had attended Spring Grove Grammar School in Isleworth where he was classmates with fellow drummer Mick Underwood, who went on to work with The Outlaws with Ritchie Blackmore among others, and guitarist Tony Bramwell (see later entry). Initially a guitarist, Tomlinson started playing drums in late 1962 and soon proved his natural ability on the kit.
The new formation debuted at Curtis’s Hillingdon club but it soon closed down.
Keith Gardiner says the band opened for The Rolling Stones a couple of times at the Station Hotel in Richmond during February-March 1963 before the club was renamed the Crawdaddy. They also played at the Ealing Club during this period a few times.
Louis McKelvey, Dave Wigginton, Malcolm Tomlinson (partially obscured), Keith Gardiner and Jeff Curtis. Photo: Dave Wigginton
Around March 1963, the musicians completed the new formation with jazz enthusiast, Harrow-on-The-Hill-based sax player Malcolm Randall (b. October 1942, Hendon, Middlesex), who later earned the nickname C B (current bun). Randall’s debut was a gig in Brighton.
Competing with The Rolling Stones, another Ealing Club regular, for local area gigs, Curtis’s band started to travel further afield, including the Whisky A Go Go in Manchester.
During 1963, they backed singer Roly Daniels for a show in Catford in Southeast London.
Wigginton remembers playing a club on Jermyn Street in central London in the early days. He also says the band performed at Chiswick Polytechnic, Wandsworth Polytechnic and Chiswick Town Hall during this period.
After working with a manager who also looked after local group Pete Nelson & The Travellers, Jeff Curtis & The Flames signed to Bob Potter’s agency and started working around the Surrey/Hampshire area, including the Agincourt Ballroom in Camberley.
During this time, they opened for Freddie & The Dreamers at Botwell House in Hayes, Middlesex and Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers at Kew Boathouse among others.
Jeff Curtis & The Flames #2 (Circa December 1962-December 1963)
Jeff Curtis – lead vocals
Louis McKelvey – lead guitar
Keith Gardiner – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Malcolm Randall – saxophone (joined around March 1963)
Dave Wigginton – bass
Malcolm Tomlinson – drums/backing vocals
Jeff Curtis & The Flames, Walthamstow, north London, January 1963. Interestingly Jeff Curtis is playing the piano. This was before Malcolm Randall joined.
On 1 June 1963, Jeff Curtis & The Flames played their most high-profile gig to date, appearing with a number of local West London bands on the “Rock Twist Jive Channel Crossing”, a rock extravaganza that took place on-board the Channel ferry, the M V Royal Daffodil, which sailed from Southend, Essex to Boulogne. The billing included Tomlinson’s future band leader, Fulham-based singer Jimmy Marsh and his former Spring Grove class mate, Mick Underwood who was playing with The Outlaws and backing the show’s headline act, Jerry Lee Lewis.
Jeff Curtis & the Flames, 1963. Photo courtesy of Keith Gardiner. Left to right: Louis McKelvey, Keith Gardiner, Jeff Curtis, Malcolm Tomlinson, Dave Wigginton and Malcolm RandallJeff Curtis & the Flames, 1963. From left: Keith Gardiner, Louis McKelvey, Malcolm Tomlinson, Malcolm Randall, Dave Wigginton and Jeff Curtis (front)Poster for the Channel Crossing, 1 June 1963. Image courtesy of Keith Gardiner
On 4 October 1963, Jeff Curtis & The Flames were given the opportunity to record some demos. The band (minus Malcolm Randall) cut a four-track acetate at Lansdowne Recording Studios on Lansdowne Road in Holland Park, which comprised covers of Chuck Berry’s “Bye Bye Johnny” and “It Don’t Take But A Few Minutes” (with Lenny Hastings on drums); Robert Allen and Richard Adler’s “Everybody Loves a Lover”; and Bobby Troup’s “Route 66”.
Two tracks were allegedly readied for release as a single for HMV but when this did not happen, Gardiner departed and dropped out of the music scene, although he did briefly sub for Ken Lundgren in The Outlaws at a few gigs.
Years later he formed his own band The Keith Gardiner Band (KGB), which performed around the Shepperton, Middlesex area.
Acid Jazz Records subsequently used one of the recordings for its Rare Mod CD series.
Notable gigs:
Photo: Walthamstow GuardianPhoto: Dave Wigginton. The Flames at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, January 1963
19 January 1963 – Walthamstow Assembly Hall, Walthamstow with The Gallions and Paul & The Alpines (billed as The Flames)
9 March 1963 – Hillingdon Club, Sevenoaks, Kent
Photo: Harrow Observer
20 March 1963 – British Legion Hall, South Harrow, Middlesex
Photo: Surrey Comet
3 May 1963 – St Peter’s Hall, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey with The Sinners (billed as The Flames) First time in Kingston
Photo: Woking Herald
10 May 1963 – Weybridge Hall, Weybridge, Surrey
1 June 1963 – Rock Twist Jive Channel Crossing with Jerry Lee Lewis & The Outlaws, The Four Whirlwinds, The Del-Lormes, Johnny Angel, Nero & The Gladiators, Dane Robert, Vicki Rowe, Ricky Valance, The Fabulous Fleerekkers, Colin Chapman and Jimmy Marsh
Photo: Surrey Comet
14 June 1963 – St Peter’s Hall, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey with Tony Clayton & The Impalas (billed as The Fabulous Flames with saxophone backing)
20 July 1963 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
At Silver Blades Ice Rink, The Streatham News, August 2, 1963
2-3 August 1963 – Silver Blades, Streatham, London
28 September 1963 – Agincourt Ballroom, Camberley, Surrey with Allen & The Blue Diamonds (billed as The Flames) According to Keith Gardiner who is in touch with the guitarist from Tommy Bruce’s band, The Flames actually played on 29 September as the opening act
Photo: Walthamstow Guardian
12 October 1963 – Walthamstow Assembly Hall, Walthamstow with Mel James & The Meltones and Jimmy Ritchie Combo (billed erroneously as Jess Curtis & The Flames)
30 November 1963 – Walton Hop, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
Jeff Curtis & The Flames #3 (December 1963-July 1964)
Jeff Curtis – lead vocals
Louis McKelvey – lead guitar
Ray Soper – organ
Malcolm Randall – saxophone
Dave Wigginton – bass
Malcolm Tomlinson – drums/backing vocals
Jeff Curtis replaced Keith Gardiner with Putney, Surrey-based organist Ray Soper (b. 9 May 1941, Battersea, London), who would play with The Flames on several occasions over the next two years, venturing off to perform with various other local groups. Soper had gone to Sir Walter St John Grammar School in Battersea, south London and started playing classical piano at six years of age. In 1959, when he was 18 years old, Soper began working with local rock groups in the Chelsea area.
Around February 1964, the band did a demo session with Decca Records in West Hampstead but nothing came from it.
After leaving Bob Potter’s agency, Jeff Curtis & The Flames got work with the Roy Tempest agency. The new line up continued to gig widely but Tomlinson started to get bored.
In mid-summer the drummer took up an offer from former Fairlanes lead singer Jimmy Marsh, who he’d met on the cross Channel gig the previous summer, to join his new band, The Del Mar Trio. Tomlinson subsequently went on to play with The Noblemen, The Motivation, The Penny Peeps and Gethsemane before immigrating to Canada in January 1969 and continuing his musical career there. He subsequently worked with the likes of Bill King and Rick James among others and cut two solo albums in the late Seventies.
Notable gigs:
1 February 1964 – Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Herts with The League of Gentlemen and The Dyaks
Photo: Walthamstow Guardian
29 February 1964 – Walthamstow Assembly Hall, Walthamstow with Pat McQueen Combo and The Preachers
Opening for the Rattles, March 14, 1964
14 March 1964 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Lincolnshire with The Rattles (billed as Geoff Curtis & The Flames)
26 March 1964 – Ealing Club, Ealing, Middlesex
2 April 1964 – Ealing Club, Ealing, Middlesex
4 April 1964 – King’s Hall, Aberystwyth, Wales
5 April 1964 – Southall Community Centre, Southall, Middlesex with The Rattles
9 April 1964 – Ealing Club, Ealing, Middlesex
16 April 1964 – Ealing Club, Ealing, Middlesex
23 April 1964 – Ealing Club, Ealing, Middlesex
30 April 1964 – Ealing Club, Ealing, Middlesex
2 May 1964 – Silver Blades, Streatham, London
14 May 1964 – Rocky Rivers Top 20 Club, Conservative Club, Bedford
18 June 1964 – Majestic Ballroom, Luton, Beds with Peter’s Faces
Jeff Curtis & The Flames #4 (July 1964-January 1965)
Jeff Curtis – lead vocals
Louis McKelvey – lead guitar
Malcolm Randall – saxophone
Ray Soper – keyboards (left around September 1964)
Dave Wigginton – bass
Pete Burt – drums
+
Jeff Lake – saxophone (joined around September 1964)
The band’s new drummer was Pete Burt (b. 20 August 1946, Redhill, Surrey), younger brother of Mick Burt, sticks man with Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers, who answered an advert in the music press. Brought up in South Harrow, Middlesex where he attended Roxeth Manor School, Burt had previously played with a non-professional band that started life at Botwell House, Hayes backing singer Robert (Bob) Chambers.
In an amazing twist of fate, the lead guitarist in the band was Tony Bramwell, Pete Burt’s predecessor Malcolm Tomlinson’s former class mate from Spring Grove Grammar School in Isleworth. The band played a couple of gigs before splitting up around mid-1964. Bramwell then went on to play with local bands, The Fantoms, The Fantom Creed, The Sheratons and The Hum Drum Band.
Sometime in August, the band auditioned for Joe Meek for the first time.
Clockwise from bottom left: Dave Wigginton (bass), Malcolm Randall (sax), Pete Burt (drums), Jeff Curtis (vocals), Jeff Lake (sax) and Louis McKelvey (guitar). Photo: Dave Wigginton
Around late September 1964, Ray Soper was sacked and Malcolm Randall introduced his friend, sax player Jeff Lake. Soper immediately found work with Buddy Britten & The Regents alongside future Deep Purple bass player Nick Simper. He would then work with Cyrano & The Bergeracs, where he reunited with Simper in 1965 but would remain on the fringes of The Flames.
Shortly after Jeff Lake’s arrival, the band returned to Lansdowne Recording Studios in October 1964 to record a two-track demo that included a cover of Solomon Burke and Bert Berns’ “Down In The Valley”.
McKelvey, however, was also growing restless and departed in early January 1965. On the afternoon of his wedding day (most likely in June 1965), he headed to Germany to reunite with former Jeff Curtis & The Flames drummer Malcolm Tomlinson, who was working with James Deane & The London Cats. The guitarist gigged with The London Cats for about a month before returning to London.
Then, around September 1965, McKelvey travelled to South Africa and ended up recording with The Upsetters and The A-Cads. In April 1966, The A-Cads moved to the UK to work with producer Mickie Most but when nothing happened, the guitarist moved to Montreal in September. Based in Canada, McKelvey recorded with Our Generation and Influence before returning to the UK in July 1968 briefly.
Back home he reunited with former Jeff Curtis & The Flames drummer Malcolm Tomlinson. The pair relocated to Toronto in January 1969 where they formed Milkwood and recorded an unreleased album with legendary producer, the late Jerry Ragavoy for Polydor Records. McKelvey would subsequently work with Toronto bands, Damage (alongside Tomlinson) and Powerhouse and record with Marble Hall. He currently lives in Toronto.
Notable gigs:
2 July 1964 – Majestic Ballroom, Luton, Beds with The All Stars
10 July 1964 – Berkhamsted Town Hall, Berkhamsted, Herts
11 July 1964 – Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Herts with Clouds
18 July 1964 – Marcam Hall, March, Cambridgeshire
1 August 1964 – The Gaiety, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Swinging Sounds
6 August 1964 – Rocky Rivers Top 20 Club, Conservative Club, Bedford, Bedfordshire
29 August 1964 – Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Herts with Kit & The Saracens
8 October 1964 – Majestic Ballroom, Luton, Beds with The Roulettes
5 December 1964 – Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Herts with The Midniters
8 December 1964 – Floral Hall, Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk
19 December 1964 – Ealing Club, Ealing, Middlesex with The Hobos
2 January 1965 – St George’s Hall, Exeter, Devon with Roger & The Sabres (billed as The Flames)
3 January 1965 – Majestic Ballroom, Luton, Beds with The Mojos
Jeff Curtis & the Flames, late ’64. From left: Louis McKelvey, Jeff Curtis, Dave Wigginton, Pete Burt (front on drums), Jeff Lake and Malcolm Randall.
Jeff Curtis & The Flames #5 (January-February 1965)
Jeff Curtis – lead vocals
Dave Caralambous (aka Dave Carol) – lead guitar
Jeff Lake – saxophone
Malcolm Randall – saxophone
Dave Wigginton – bass
Pete Burt – drums
Dave Marcus Theos Michael Caralambous aka Dave Carol (b. Dave Charalambous, 14 January 1949, Isleworth, Middlesex) was brought up in nearby Twickenham. His first band was The Drovers, which he joined around 1962 and also included rhythm guitarist Richard Allen and drummer Geoff Coxon, who would feature in The Flames’ history in later years when they changed name to The Kool.
In late 1963, The Drovers changed name to The Smokestacks after lead singer Mike Smith joined and Brian Hosking from Twickenham band, The Legend, joined on bass. The Smokestacks became resident band at the 51 Club in central London. In the summer of 1964, Carol joined Hounslow band, The Valkeries and remained with them until January 1965 when he joined The Flames. He was also in the same class at school as McKelvey’s younger sister. Carol says he made his debut at the Locarno Ballroom in Swindon.
The changes, however, didn’t end there. Sax player Malcolm Randall left in early February and subsequently joined Bognor Regis band Beau Brummell & The Noblemen for about six months. In July 1965, he jumped ship to join Manchester’s Playboys.
While with that band, Randall appeared on an excellent soul single for Fontana – “I Feel So Good” c/w “I Close My Eyes”. In an incredible twist of fate, during late 1966, Malcolm Randall was playing with Manchester’s Playboys at Liverpool’s Cavern Club when he saw the latest version of The Noblemen on stage and was amazed to see his former Jeff Curtis & The Flames compatriot Malcolm Tomlinson playing drums!
After leaving Manchester’s Playboys in mid-1968, Malcolm Randall moved to Cambridgeshire and ended up working with Red Express during the 1970s, which later morphed (after Randall had left) into Shakatak. He then worked with Sindy & The Action Men among others.
In need of a replacement, Jeff Lake introduced his friend from Harrow – George Russell.
Notable gigs:
11 January 1965 – Locarno Ballroom, Swindon, Wiltshire with Sonny Childe & The Elders Consolidated
22 January 1965 – Majestic Ballroom, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear
23 January 1965 – Marcam Hall, March, Cambridgeshire with The Fourmost
28 January 1965 – Majestic Ballroom, Luton, Bedfordshire with Johnny Thunder & The Thunderbirds
13 February 1965 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Lincolnshire with The Searchers and Rodgers Lodgers (possibly one of George Russell’s first gigs)
Jeff Curtis & the Flames listed as one of the Roy Tempest Organisation’s Top 20 for 1965
Jeff Curtis & The Flames #6 (February-April 1965)
Jeff Curtis – lead vocals
Dave Caralambous (aka Dave Carol) – lead guitar, vocals
Jeff Lake – saxophone
George Russell – saxophone
Dave Wigginton – bass
Pete Burt – drums
With two of the early band members gone, including his former band mate from Johnny & The Pursuers, Louis McKelvey, Dave Wigginton handed in his notice and agreed to work until mid-April. His replacement was Ray Brown (b. 1944, Hayes, Middlesex), who ended up buying Wigginton’s pink Fender Precision bass. Having rehearsed with Jeff Curtis’s band since January, Brown made his debut with Jeff Curtis & The Flames at Walthamstow Assembly Hall on 24 April.
Photo: Walthamstow Guardian
Brown started with the Sky Blue Skiffle Group in 1956 and two years later appeared on BBC TV’s Carol Levis Junior Discoveries. In 1961-1962, he worked with Hayes band The Preachers and also spent a brief period in a short-lived group with Nick Simper. Soon after joining The Flames, Brown and his school friend Steve Reading from the Sky Blue Skiffle Group wrote and sang backing vocals on “Heart Full of Sorrow” by Heinz, which was released on Columbia in November 1965.
Notable gigs:
28 February 1965 – Olympia, Cromer, Norfolk with Circuit Five
5-6 March 1965 – Boulevard, Tadcaster, North Yorkshire with The McCoys
At the Starlight Room, Boston, April 3, 1965 with the Barron Knights
3 April 1965 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Lincolnshire with The Barron Knights
9 April 1965 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with The Escorts and Beaux Maverix (billed as Geoff Curtis & The Flames)
10 April 1965 – Floral Hall, Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk with Confessors
17 April 1965 – The Gaiety, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Sons of Adam
Jeff Curtis & The Flames #7 (April-July 1965)
Jeff Curtis – lead vocals
Dave Caralambous (aka Dave Carol) – lead guitar, vocals
Jeff Lake – saxophone
George Russell – saxophone
Ray Brown – bass
Pete Burt – drums
The new line up gigged around the country and on 9 May appeared on the same bill as Beau Brummell & The Noblemen (featuring former member Malcolm Randall) at the Majestic Ballroom in Luton.
A few days after a gig at Clacton Town Hall with Cops ‘N’ Robbers in late June, Jeff Lake and George Russell took a holiday (a trip to Frankfurt to visit former member Malcolm Randall who was playing with Beau Brummell & The Noblemen), which didn’t go down well with singer Jeff Curtis.
Curtis had a band rule that the musicians all had to take a two-week summer holiday at the same time, usually in August. On their return in July, the two sax players were told their services were no longer needed.
Lake subsequently played with a number of local bands before reuniting with former Jeff Curtis & The Flames member Malcolm Randall as road manager for Manchester’s Playboys, which included their Swedish trip in September 1967. On his return, he joined Tommy Bishop & The Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival Show and appeared on the 1968 Decca single “Midnight Train” c/w “Oh Boy”.
Russell joined Hayes, Middlesex band, The Satellites in mid-1966, who changed name to The Army later that year. The band also included future Sweet bass player Steve Priest and cut two recordings in 1967 – covers of the Joe Tex hit “Sugar” and Sam & Dave’s “You Don’t Know Like I Know”. Russell remained with The Army until late 1968/early 1969. He subsequently gigged with Orange Rainbow before moving to Australia. He later returned to live in Hertfordshire.
Notable gigs:
Ray Brown’s first gig with the band, April 24, 1965
24 April 1965 – Walthamstow Assembly Hall, Walthamstow, London
29 April 1965 – Rocky Rivers Top 20 Club, Conservative Club, Bedford (back by demand)
1 May 1965 – Carfax Ballroom, Oxford with The Gangbusters
3 May 1965 – Radlett (most likely Radlett Centre), Hertfordshire
7-8 May 1965 – Silver Blades, Streatham, London
9 May 1965 – Majestic Ballroom, Luton with Beau Brummell & The Noblemen (former member Malcolm Randall on sax with The Noblemen)
15 May 1965 – Malvern Winter Gardens, Malvern, Worcestershire with Eric Benson & Orchestra
22 May 1965 – Manor Lounge, Stockport, Greater Manchester with The Thingumajigs (Stockport County Express) Gig cancelled
29 May 1965 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Lincolnshire with The Hollies and The Red Squares
11 June 1965 – California Ballroom, Dunstable (replaced one of the billed acts)
12 June 1965 – Rivoli Ballroom, Brockley, London
18 June 1965 – USAF base, South Ruislip, London
25 June 1965 – USAF base, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
26 June 1965 – Clacton Town Hall, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex with Cops ‘N’ Robbers (last gig with Jeff Lake and George Russell)
1 July 1965 – Ealing Club, Ealing, London (reduced to four piece)
3 July 1965 – Hermitage Ballroom, Hitchin, Hertfordshire with Peter Fenton & The 3,000
4 July 1965 – Woodhall Community Centre, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
August 1965, from left: Jeff Curtis, Ray Soper, Dave Carol, Pete Burt and Ray Brown. Photo courtesy Ray SoperWhen they were just being billed as The Flames. Photo courtesy Ray Soper. From left: Ray Soper, Dave Carol, Pete Burt, Ray Brown and Jeff Curtis
Jeff Curtis & The Flames #8 (July 1965-May 1966)
Jeff Curtis – lead vocals
Dave Caralambous (aka Dave Carol) – lead guitar, vocals
Ray Soper – keyboards
Ray Brown – bass
Pete Burt – drums
On 5 July, Jeff Curtis auditioned two sax players to replace Jeff Lake and George Russell but decided against keeping the horns and instead invited former member Ray Soper to re-join the band on keyboards. Soper had been playing with future Deep Purple bass player Nick Simper in Cyrano & The Bergeracs for several months and then a group formed by the lead singer of The Gobbledegooks but had helped out at the auditions in January 1965, which had brought in Carol and Brown.
Ray Brown had a prearranged week’s holiday from 10-17 July and his predecessor Dave Wigginton returned to honour engagements in his absence, which included a gig at the Ticky Rick Club in Basingstoke, Hants on 17 July. With Brown back from his holiday, the five-piece rehearsed on 21 July before playing their first gig together at Luton’s Majestic Ballroom where there was a bomb scare.
Often billed as simply “The Flames”, the new line up lasted nearly a year (although Soper left in November briefly to work with a Casino band on the Isle of Man, which lasted a week before he returned).
Pete Burt, who worked as a window cleaner when The Flames weren’t gigging, got a window cleaning job with British rock ‘n’ roll legend, Johnny Kidd, who had split from his longstanding backing band, The Pirates on 19 April 1966. Kidd offered The Flames some work to fulfil his outstanding dates.
During late April/early May 1966, The Flames spent about a week backing the singer, including playing a gig at Chatham Dockyard Naval base, but the arrangement did not suit either party.
Around this time, The Flames returned to Lansdowne Studios to cut two original recordings – the David Myers/Ray Brown collaborations, “Room at the Top” and “I Ain’t The Fool”. The former was later cut by the band’s new identity, The Kool, in the summer of 1967. They also did a second audition with Joe Meek.
After Ray Soper was ousted from The Flames in May, he decided to stick with Kidd and formed a new version of The Pirates. The New Pirates (as they were called) supported Johnny Kidd throughout the summer but Soper stopped playing with the band in August. Two months later, he joined Bristol band, The Denims who were playing US bases in France. After working in Strasbourg for two months as The Headline News, he returned to the UK in April 1967.
Three months later, Soper found work playing in a band on the Cunard Cruise liner Carmania, which travelled between Southampton and Montreal on a six-week passage. Marrying a Canadian, he subsequently immigrated to Canada in 1970 and until recently played with The Dusty Roads Band from his home in Ontario. He also works as a film extra.
Notable gigs:
17 July 1965 – Ricky Tick Club, Carnival Hall, Basingstoke, Hants (Dave Wigginton fills in for Ray Brown)
22 July 1965 – Majestic Ballroom, Luton, Bedfordshire (RayBrown returns and Ray Soper’s first gig back with the band)
24 July 1965 – Locarno Ballroom, Swindon, Wiltshire with The Rising Sons
Photo: Leicester Mercury
25 September 1965 – Il Rondo, Leicester
Photo: Windsor, Slough & Eton Express
2 October 1965 – Adelphi Ballroom, Slough, Berkshire
30 October 1965 – Woodhall Community Centre, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire
Photo: Surrey Comet
11 November 1965 – Byron Hotel, Greenford, London with The Keystones (billed as The Flames)
Jeff Curtis & The Flames were featured in the Surrey Comet‘s 13 November 1965 issue but it was full of factual errors (above)
9 December 1965 – Byron Hotel, Greenford, London with the Harmonies
16 December 1965 – Ealing Club, Ealing, London
18 December 1965 – Adelphi Ballroom, Slough, Berkshire
24 December 1965 – Woodstock Roadhouse, North Cheam, London
1 January 1966 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Lincolnshire with The Nashville Teens and The Game
13 January 1966 – Woodstock Roadhouse, North Cheam, London (billed as The Flames)
22 January 1966 – Locarno Ballroom, Swindon, Wiltshire with Plain and Fancy
12 February 1966 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with Goldie & Dave Antony’s Moods and The Game
17 February 1966 – Byron Roadhouse, Greenford, London with The Mode (billed as The Flames)
31 March 1966 – Byron Roadhouse, Greenford, London with The Legends (billed as The Flames)
Photo: Windsor, Slough & Eton Express
23 April 1966 – Adelphi Ballroom, Slough, Berkshire
7 May 1966 – Locarno Ballroom, Swindon, Wiltshire with The Ying Yongs and The Cotswold Stones (one of Ray Soper’s final gigs)
Publishing contract for “Room at the Top” and “I Aint the Fool”, May 1966 courtesy of Ray BrownHeadline News, circa late 1966. Ray Soper is second from left
Jeff Curtis & The Flames #9 (May 1966-August 1967)
Jeff Curtis – lead vocals
Dave Carol – lead guitar, vocals
Jet Hodges (aka Richard Hodgins) – keyboards, vocals
Ray Brown – bass
Pete Burt – drums
The remaining members brought in Richard Hodgins, a keyboard player from Shepperton, Surrey, who used the stage name, Jet Hodges. Originally a bass player, Hodges had taken up music full time after training to be an architect.
Increasingly, the band moved away from using the name, Jeff Curtis & The Flames for live shows and often went by the name, The Jeff Curtis Set or just The Flames. One of the highlights from this period was opening for Ike & Tina Turner when they played at the California Ballroom in Dunstable.
In late 1966, rock promoter and entrepreneur Mervyn Conn, started to represent the band. In December 1966, he added Jeff Curtis & The Flames to a Who concert in Sunderland and renamed the band The Kool for this one-off gig, although the group didn’t appear at the venue.
After signing to CBS Records, Conn decided that The Kool was more representative of the band’s evolving sound and renamed them as the band’s debut single hit the shops.
Notable gigs:
11 June 1966 – Corby Civic Centre, Corby, Northamptonshire with Two of Each (billed as The Flames)
20 August 1966 – Locarno Ballroom, Swindon, Wiltshire with The Showmen
Photo: Paul Quinton
2 September 1966 – Woodstock Roadhouse, North Cheam, London (billed as The Flames)
3 September 1966 – Maple Ballroom, Northampton with Sexion A (billed as The Flames)
18 September 1966 – White Lion, Edgware, London (billed as The Flames)
24 September 1966 – Drill Hall, North Cheam, London with The Fourtunes
Photo: Paul Quinton
2 October 1966 – Prince of Wales, Kinsbury, London
22 October 1966 – California Ballroom, Dunstable with Ike & Tina Turner Revue & The Ikettes (with others)
24 October 1966 – Tiles, Oxford Street, London with Edwin Starr
Photo: Paul Quinton
30 October 1966 – Woodstock Roadhouse, North Cheam, London (billed as The Flames)
5 November 1966 – Locarno Ballroom, Swindon, Wiltshire with The Undertakers and Some Other Guys. Billed as The London Flames (Jeff Curtis)
10 November 1966 – Byron Roadhouse, Greenford, London with The Boots (billed as The Flames)
Photo: Paul Quinton
12 November 1966 – Drill Hall, North Cheam, London with 5 Steps Beyond (billed as The Flames)
Photo: Windsor, Slough & Eton Express
13 November 1966 – Adelphi Ballroom, Slough, Berkshire
18 November 1966 – Woodstock Roadhouse, North Cheam, London (billed as The Flames)
10 December 1966 – Empire Theatre, Sunderland, County Durham with The Who, Dave Berry, She Trinity, The Slade Brothers and The Peddlers (billed as The Kool but band did not appear)
18 December 1966 – Woodstock Roadhouse, North Cheam, London (billed as The Flames)
15 January 1967 – White Lion, Edgware, London (billed as The Flames)
28 January 1967 – Queens Hall, Watton, Norfolk with The Eyes of Blond and The Bohemians
19 February 1967 – Kingsway Theatre, Hadleigh, Essex (billed as Flames)
9 March 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, Essex with The Style (billed as Jeff Curtis Set)
27 March 1967 – Woodstock, North Cheam, London with The Starfires (billed as The Flames)
9 June 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with Allen Bown Set (billed as Geoff Curtis Set)
The Keith Gardiner Band, July 2011
Many thanks to Dave Wigginton, Keith Gardiner, Louis McKelvey, Malcolm Tomlinson, Pete Burt, Dave Carol, Malcolm Randall, Ray Soper, Jeff Lake, Ray Brown, George Russell, Jimmy Marsh, Ian Hannah, Brian Hosking, Richard Bennett and Tony Bramwell.
Concert adverts taken from a number of newspapers including the Ampthill News & Weekly Record, Lincolnshire Standard, the Luton News, the Streatham News, the Surrey Comet, Walthamstow Guardian, Exeter Express & Echo, Cambridgeshire Times, Yarmouth Mercury, Middlesex County Times and West Middlesex Gazette, Hertfordshire Express, Hants & Berkshire Gazette, Hounslow Post, NME, Sevenoaks Chronicle, Westerham Courier and Kentish Advertiser and Melody Maker.
Huge thanks to Dave Wigginton, Keith Gardiner, Louis McKelvey, Malcolm Randall, Jeff Lake, Ray Brown and Ray Soper for photos.
I have tried to ensure the accuracy of this article but I appreciate that there are likely to be errors and omissions. I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who can provide any additions or corrections.
Page 3 of the Jerry Lee Lewis Channel Crossing ProgrammePage 6 of the Jerry Lee Lewis Channel Crossing ProgrammePage 7 of the Jerry Lee Lewis Channel Crossing Programme
Neil Sheppard (Producer) line up AB Michael Ship (Keyboards, Vocals) line up AB Marty Simon (Drums, Keyboards, Vocals) line up AB Danny Zimmerman (Bass) line up AB Jean Pierre Lauzon (Guitar) line up AB Barry Albert (Guitar) line up AB
Clockwise from top: Danny Zimmerman, Marty Simon, Mike Ship and Barry Albert
Neil Sheppard (real name Neil Ship) was a Brill Building songwriter who was trying to get his songs promoted with a group. Sheppard wrote all of the songs and produced Life’s lone album, released in spring 1970.In the early 1960s, Simon and Zimmerman had worked together in Montreal group, Marty Simon and The Capris and The Humdingers before forming The Scene.
Formed from the ashes of The Scene, the original line up was completed with Sheppard’s brother Michael Ship on keyboards and lead vocals, guitarist J P Lauzon (ex-Carnival Connection) and former Bartholomew Plus Three guitarist Barry Albert. Lauzon and Albert alternated lead guitar and rhythm on the band’s recordings.
The group’s debut single, a cover of The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever”, with an arrangement by Marty Simon, was a fascinating record with jazzy feel and featured Lauzon’s exquisite flamenco guitar solo. However, it did not do much chart wise (entered RPM on May 9, 1970, reached number 83 and charted for 5 weeks). Its follow up, “Hands of The Clock”, featuring Albert’s lead guitar intro, was the band’s only hit, reaching #19 on the RPM chart in August 1969, and charted for 12 weeks.
Life played at the First Montreal Bi-Cultural Pop Festival in June 1969, which was held at the Montreal Forum and featured Triangle, Robert Charlebois and headliner Steppenwolf.
The group’s lone album, which features contributions from Englishman Malcolm Tomlinson on flute from Milkwood, was recorded on four-track and then transferred to the first eight track in Canada by Andre Perry.
Towards the end of 1969, Simon left Life and moved to Los Angeles to work with a new group. The rest of the band carried on as After Life but split up in early 1970.
Simon and Lauzon reunited in Mylon Le Fevre. Simon later moved to the UK and formed Sharks with former Free bass player Andy Fraser.
Recordings 45 Strawberry Fields Forever/Come Into My Life (Polydor 540-005) 1969 45 Hands of The Clock/Ain’t I Told You Before (Polydor 540-009) 1969 45 Sweet Lovin’/Desire (Polydor 540-013) 1970 45 Needing You/Loving Time (Polydor 540-017) 1970 LP Life (Polydor 2424-001) 1970
RPM, April 14, 1969RPM, April 21, 1969RPM, May 5, 1969CFCF, April 25, 1969CFCF, May 9, 1969CFCF, July 4, 1969CFCF, July 11, 1969Life on the cover of RPM, July 14, 1969CFCF, August 8, 1969CFCF, November 7, 1969RPM, November 29, 1969
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
16 December 1965 – Ealing Club, Ealing, London
