Born in Kingston, Jamaica on 5 July 1939, Owen Gray (aka Grey) is one of the true reggae and ska greats but was also the author of a handful of superb soul/mod 45s, recorded in the UK and France between 1965-1969.
Very little is known about this period and so we’d welcome any additional information that readers can provide in the comments section below, particularly around the recording of these individual singles, any unreleased recordings and the personnel on the tracks.
Owen arrived in England in May 1962 and was a prolific recording artist. Like Jimmy Cliff, he’s best known for his reggae recordings but he was an exceptionally gifted soul performer and worked with some top British musicians during the mid-to-late 1960s. His backing bands included The Sound System, The Krew, Tony Knight’s Chessmen and Maximum Breed.
His first venture into soul appears to have been with two singles on the small Aladdin label (see below).
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Released on 12 March 1965, Owen Gray’s “Gonna Work Out Fine” c/w “Dolly Baby”, was the first of two 45s on the label, the first produced by Denny Cordell.
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His second release “Lindy Lu” was backed by a great version of “Can I Get a Witness”, which has since become a Northern Soul favourite.
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In mid-to-late 1965, he moved labels and to Island Records for three singles. The first coupled “Shook, Shimmy & Shake” with “I’m Going Back” and was followed by “Paradise” c/w “Bye Bye Love”. Little is known about the background to both of these releases and the personnel on the recordings.
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Initially, the singer worked with The Soul Sets, including a gig at the Cue Club in early January 1966.
Photo: Melody Maker
However, in January/February 1966, Chris Blackwell linked Owen with west London Mod outfit, The Sound System.
Photo: Melody Maker
The band had morphed out of The All-Nite Workers and featured guitarist Tony St Clair; bass player Ron Thomas; keyboard player Mick Fletcher; sax players Mel Wayne and Dave Mahoney; and drummer Phil Wainman, who later went on to produce The Sweet among others.
Together, they backed Owen on a lone 45, a rousing version of “You Don’t Know Like I Know” backed by “Take Me Serious”, which appears to have been penned by Ron Thomas, who later went on to work with The Heavy Metal Kids, among others.
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Owen Gray & The Sound System also gigged around the London club circuit in the first few months of 1966 before Blackwell linked them up with Jimmy Cliff and renamed them The New Generation. Later that year, the group became singer Gary Hamilton’s second version of The Hamilton Movement.
Photo: Melody Maker
Left without a band, Owen joined forces with The Krew who’d just lost their two lead singers Beryl Marsden and Steve Aldo.
Led by scouser and future Wings sideman Howie Casey on sax, the group also featured fellow Liverpudlian Tommy Murray on lead guitar (who was later replaced by Ted Tunnicliffe); Glaswegian Archie Legget; Yorkshireman Eddie Sparrow on drums; and Londoner Alan Reeves on keyboards.
Photo: Alan Reeves. Left to right (back), Eddie Sparrow, Archie Legget, Howie Casey, Alan Reeves. Front, left to right: Owen Gray and Tommy Murray
Owen Gray and The Krew moved to France in April 1966 and played several clubs in the ski resorts, notably the Bus Palladium in Courcheval, before landing a residency at exclusive Paris nightclub Le Bilboquet.
While playing in Paris in July that year, the musicians recorded an EP for Barclay Records’ subsidiary label, Riviera, comprising popular soul covers and strong Owen Gray originals, “Everything’s Alright” and “Somebody Stole My Girl”.
However, by the end of 1966, Owen Gray was back in London and back on the soul circuit, playing the clubs that were popular with the burgeoning Caribbean community such as Paddington’s Cue Club.
Back on Island Records, he recorded one of his finest soul outings, the stupendous “Help Me” coupled with “Incense”, which were produced by Chris Blackwell and Jimmy Miller respectively.
Issued in January 1967, the single should have been a massive hit but inexplicably it failed to chart and is now a much sought-after collectors’ item.
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A few months later, Owen was back with another London band, this time Tony Knight’s Chessmen, led by drummer Tony Brown. The singer remained with the group until about September 1967.
During Owen’s time with The Chessmen, the musicians passing through included noted sax players Dave Coxhill and Stan Sulzmann and future John Mayall’s Bluesbreaker Keith Tillman.
Photo: Fred D’Albert. Left to right: Terry Ede, Dave Coxhill (hidden), Owen Gray, Tony Brown (hidden), Keith Tillman and Fred D’Albert in Italy.
In July 1967, the band travelled out to Italy to play the Piper Club in Viareggio.
Photo: Melody Maker, 1967
Little is known about his soul projects from this point on, although he did work with singers Ruby and Youth backed by The Shell Shock Show during late 1967 and early 1968.
However, during 1968, he started to do studio work on the Old Kent Road with producer David Hadfield.
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For the recordings, he was backed by Freddy Mack’s former band, The Mack Sound, who were going by the name Maximum Breed.
Future Butts Band and Gonzalez keyboard player Roy Davies was among the musicians in this talented band.
Several singles were issued during this period, including “Sitting in the Park” and “Dream Lover” but by now, Owen was starting to focus his efforts on the reggae audience.
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
Hamilton and The Hamilton Movement, 1965. Back row, left to right: Chris Palmer, Gary Laub and Peter Vernon-Kell. Front: Fedon Tilberis
In August 1965, an obscure R&B outfit named Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement signalled its arrival on the London scene with an impressive rendition of The Velvelettes’ Motown classic “Really Saying Something” (later a sizeable UK hit for Bananarama) and then seemingly vanished off the face of the earth.
Then, almost two years later, a band calling itself Hamilton & The Movement descended on the airwaves with the infectious soul-rocker, “I’m Not the Marrying Kind”, a Bill Wyman penned and produced number, infused with punchy horn lines, funky drums and some groovy Hammond organ fills. Could this really be the same band and, if so, why such a long radio silence?
The answer to that question is both a yes and a no. While both outfits were fronted by a singer called Gary Hamilton, they were in fact two entirely different groups, albeit each with fascinating histories. To understand how these two bands became entwined, it’s important to go back to the early Sixties and the man who kick-started ‘the movement’, so to speak – Gary Hamilton.
The son of an English mother and American father, Gary Hamilton was in fact a certain Gary Laub, who grew up in London’s Marble Arch and St John’s Wood areas.
In 1962, Laub formed his first (unnamed) group with a school friend and lead guitarist named Graham who lived opposite Lords cricket ground. Soon after, they were joined by bass player Chris Palmer, rhythm guitarist Ian Hunt and (finally) drummer Fedon Tilberis, who all attended Haverstock School.
“How Chris and Ian met Gary I don’t know,” says Tilberis. “I joined a little later but Graham was still in the band and left soon after. We enlisted a replacement lead guitarist named Mike Allen and emerged as a five-piece named The Moondogs. The name was [Gary’s father] Mr Laub’s idea before we auditioned at the famous Two Is coffee bar.”
Fast forward to spring 1965 and Laub, Palmer and Tilberis had to reshuffle the pack when Allen and Hunt moved on. Through a friend of Tilberis, they were introduced to two older guitarists – Costas and Bernie – and started gigging as Cell Block 5.
“Costas was an ex-pro who had played US bases in Germany; he was a men’s tailor by trade. Bernie was from Rochdale. They were then in their late Twenties,” remembers Tilberis.
“We practised in the cellar of a scrap shop in south London that they knew. They did a three-nighter with us in a Greek Street cellar club called Les Cousins that I hustled but Bernie, not feeling very happy, left on the last night after the gig. Costas stayed on for a London suburb gig. They were only with us for about seven or eight weeks.”
Coining a new name, The Reaction, Tilberis hit the jackpot when he stumbled across Rayrik Studio owners Rick Minas and Bruce Rea, who offered up their Chalk Farm studio as a practice room. In return, the outfit would play free on any demo recording sessions when required.
“As it turned out, this was a great deal for us as we never had to record anything there other than our audition to clinch the agreement and practised for free,” continues the drummer.
Abetted by guitar legend Mick Green, The Reaction duly auditioned and Minas was bowled over by the performance.
“Chris and I had auditioned Mick at Chris’ place in Kilburn shortly before the Rayrik audition and we were both very impressed,” remembers Tilberis.
“Although Mick didn’t commit himself, he was interested in doing the Rayrik session, maybe hoping for some recording session gigs. I can’t remember what the number was that we recorded or if Gary was even there, but do remember listening to the backing take after and Mick’s comment. He said that it was a good clean recording and that you could build on it. Rick and Bruce agreed.”
Peter Vernon-Kell (front) with The Macabre outside the Ealing Club. Photo: Peter Vernon-Kell
However, when Mick Green opted to return to The Dakotas, with whom he had been playing with after leaving Johnny Kidd & The Pirates the previous year, Peter Vernon-Kell, a member of Goldhawk Social Club and Ealing Club regulars, The Macabre assumed guitar duties. Incidentally, Vernon-Kell had also been a brief member of The Detours, a forerunner of The Who.
“Both Mick Green and Peter Vernon-Kell came to us via a [Melody Maker] ad in that order. We did see other guitarists but finally settled for Peter after Mick moved on to greener pastures [excuse the pun],” explains Tilberis.
“Peter shared our new musical orientation and attitude, and as far as we were concerned, he fitted the bill. I then arranged our first practice at Rayrik.”
Prior to Vernon-Kell’s addition to the group’s ranks, Minas and Rea had introduced impresario Robert Stigwood, and the Australian subsequently offered Gary Laub a recording deal and put the band on his agency books.
Stigwood insisted that “Really Saying Something” should be the ‘A’ side while Rick Minas and his song-writing partner Mike Banwell offered up “I Won’t See You Tonight” for the flipside.
Before cutting both tracks at a demo session at Regent Sound in Denmark Street, Vernon-Kell coined a new name; The Reaction sounding too similar to The Action, The Who’s regular Tuesday night opener at the Marquee.
“He came up with The Hamilton Movement [in honour of Macabre guitarist Ed Hamilton] in the pub before the session [and] we thought it was great,” remembers Tilberis, who adds that Gary Laub, although at first not so keen, adopted ‘Hamilton’ as a stage name.
Having booked Olympic Sound (then situated in Baker Street) for the final recordings (and unbeknownst to the musicians), Stigwood augmented the band with Graham Bond on piano.
“We were aware who Graham was and were pleased to have him on board for the session,” says Tilberis.
According to the drummer, the tracks required only a few takes per playback and for the lead/backing vocals. Released in August 1965, the single entered the Radio Caroline charts at number 65 on 23 October and peaked at number 53 the following week.
However, the musicians soon realised that any talk of ‘band democracy’ was just that. Not only did the single list the outfit as Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement but Stigwood started promoting them as such.
“Only Gary was allowed to perform on Ready Steady Go using our playback, though we were allowed to attend the show,” explains Tilberis.
Interestingly, as future Hamilton Movement member Mel Wayne recalls, Stigwood insisted on the same conditions with another of his charges, The All-Nite Workers, who were backing Indian singer Simon Scott around the same time.
“Simon mimed to our backing track [on Ready Steady Go] while we had to stand on the balcony with the audience,” says the sax player. “It must have been a Stigwood thing.”
Aired on 22 October 1965, Gary Hamilton appeared on the popular British TV show alongside The Animals, The Searchers, Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds and The Rolling Stones, which may have been where the singer linked up with Bill Wyman.
By then, the group had started to pick up consistent live work, kicking off with a memorable gig at Sophia Gardens Pavilion in Cardiff on 30 August with The Who, The Graham Bond Organisation, The Merseybeats and The Easybeats (not the Australian outfit), which had been arranged by the Stigwood/Lambert-Stamp team.
“It looked like a sports hall with an enormous stage at one end. We went up the day before and slept in the van and hung about till early next afternoon to unload our gear,” says Tilberis.
“Townsend was also there early and limbering up in The Who’s dressing room. As our Pete knew him, he went to say ‘allo’ and introduce his new mates… [Townsend] asked Pete if he could borrow his Fender amp for the gig. Pete was more than wary, after all he didn’t want his amp wrecked so Townsend promised to only demolish his Marshall gear.
“Keith Moon and Tony Banks, drummer of The Merseybeats, were looning around and generally getting on everybody’s nerves, especially Entwistle’s as Moon had donned his bass and was running up and down the stage strumming it like a maniac. I thought John was going to thump him.”
More provincial gigs followed, not to mention the obligatory Mod clubs in London, including the El Partido in Lewisham where the outfit played alongside The Duke Lee Sounds on 30 October 1965.
However, in mid-late January 1966, the Stigwood/Lambert & Stamp team secured a spot for the band on a three-day, two shows a day package tour, once again opening for Vernon-Kell’s former band mates, The Who, and also featuring Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages, The Graham Bond Organisation, The Merseybeats and The Fortunes.
“Bob [Stigwood] arranged for us to practise at the Granada TV rehearsal studios at the Oval about a week beforehand,” remembers Tilberis. “He and Lambert came to oversee the rep and offer presentation tips for our opening spot on the show.”
The tour debut duly took place at the Astoria Cinema, Finsbury Park on 4 February and was followed by a gig at the Odeon Cinema, Southend-on-Sea the next day, culminating with a final engagement on 6 February at the Empire Theatre, Liverpool.
The following month, on 11-12 March, the musicians found themselves on the campus of Essex University in Colchester where a number of bands, including the up and coming Pink Floyd were entertaining the students.
Then in April, Stigwood linked up with Chris Blackwell to promote a second package tour headlined by The Who, this time with Hamilton and The Hamilton Movement joining the likes of The Spencer Davis Group, The Band of Angels and (most notably) Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System (aka New Generation) (who featured musicians that would form part of the soon-to-be Hamilton Movement).
The four-day tour, with two shows a day, kicked off at the Gaumont Theatre in Southampton on 14 April. After weaving its way on to Fairfield Halls in Croydon, then the Odeon in Watford, the tour wound up at the Regal Theatre in Edmonton.
“Gary’s mum called me on Saturday, 16 April in the afternoon asking if we would do the Watford gig that evening,” says the drummer. “Although we all had other plans I rounded up Pete and Chris and we did that gig.”
Stigwood then proposed a second single and once again engaged Graham Bond on piano. The sessions included a stab at The Who’s “A Legal Matter” as the ‘B’ side, which was cut as an instrumental track. However, the recording of the ‘A’ side did not go well, as Tilberis recalls.
“We weren’t raving about the number. Stigwood arranged a practice room and gave us a single to learn but I can’t remember what it was called. I had a trouble with the drum part on the session.
“Bob was well peeved but let us play one of our tunes that we were working on, but there was no melody line or title at that stage and he didn’t like it. The Olympic session was a blow out and Bob gave us the thumbs down, we were out and the gig flow stopped.”
As Tilberis points out, there was still no signed contract, and the singer was looking out for himself. “Gary’s dad [Harry] being a shrewd businessman and used to dealing with contracts and small print had deleted a hefty portion of the contract!”
Chris Palmer and Fedon Tilberis soon left for Jimmy & The Rackets, a British beat group with hit parade successes in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Joining long-standing frontman, Jimmy Duncombe and guitarist Mike Bell, Tilberis remained with the Swiss-based outfit until spring 1968 while Palmer stayed on for another year.
The pair appeared on a cache of European-only released singles by The Rackets, kicking off with a cover of Eddie Cochran’s “C’mon Everybody” backed by a cover version of George Harrison’s “I Want To Tell You”.
The pair ended up setting up home in Switzerland where, in 1970, The Chris Palmer Band recorded the ultra-rare solo LP Fingertips, featuring originals from all the band members.
Palmer later hit pay day in 1980 when Surface Noise topped the UK dance music chart with a cover of his song, “The Scratch”. Tilberis re-joined The Rackets and played with local bands, including Swiss Sixties specialists, The Countdowns.
Vernon-Kell meanwhile subsequently moved into production. Setting up PVK Records, he managed Peter Green and produced a string of his late 1970s and early 1980s albums. More recently, he’s become an executive producer for films and currently runs Cabana Films Ltd.
But Gary Hamilton wasn’t finished with The Hamilton Movement. In late July/early August 1966, he linked up with Jimmy Cliff’s backing band, The New Generation, renaming them The Movement.
Bass player Ron Thomas, who years later struck fame with The Heavy Metal Kids, thinks the link-up came through The New Generation’s keyboard player Mick Fletcher.
“[Mick] was always going down all the clubs around Wardour Street,” says the bass player. “He was always ducking and diving and I thought he just met him [Gary Hamilton] out there one night.”
“Me and Mickie Fletcher were great mates and frequented The Ship in Wardour Street and drank with Gary there quite a bit,” confirms sax player Mel Wayne.
“We were all a bit frustrated the way things were going with Jimmy Cliff because he didn’t have a soul or pop voice, which was the sort of music Chris Blackwell wanted him to do and engaged us for.”
New Generation members Ron Thomas and Mel Wayne, together with fellow sax player Dave Mahoney, had first come together in West London R&B outfit Mike Dee & The Prophets.
Adding Thomas’s school friend Mick Stewart on guitar in mid-1965, they split from Mike Dee and worked as Anglo-Indian singer Simon Scott’s backing group, The All-Nite Workers. Their lone single together was produced by none other than Robert Stigwood!
By late 1965, former Paramounts drummer Phil Wainman had assumed leadership, and after cutting several singles with Errol Dixon and briefly backing Freddie Mack, Mick Stewart jumped ship to join Johnny Kidd & The ‘New’ Pirates.
Having previously introduced Mick Fletcher from The Epitaph Soul Band, guitarist Tony Sinclair (aka Tony St. Clair) completed the new formation, now gigging as The Sound System.
Through a chance meeting with Chris Blackwell, the sextet supported his roster of artists – Jackie Edwards, Millie, Owen Grey and most notably Jimmy Cliff. Trumpet player John Droy joined just before the Gary Hamilton pairing.
Clockwise from front: Ron Thomas, Mick Fletcher, Gary Laub, Tony Sinclair, Mel Wayne, Dave Mahoney and Phil Wainman
The expanded group began rehearsing at London’s Colony Club where Gary’s father was employed; US film star George Raft worked as its casino director and briefly financed the outfit. Mel Wayne adds that the group also rehearsed at Caesars Palace in Dunstable and Ken Collier’s London club.
When John Droy bailed after a short nationwide tour with The Walker Brothers in mid-August to join The Quotations, The Movement expanded its line-up, bringing in trumpet players – Mike Bailey, Alan Ellis and Patrick Higgs, the latter from Elton John’s group, Bluesology around December. (Ed: One of the unsuccessful musicians to audition was trumpet player Verdi Stewart, who would be instrumental in landing Mel Wayne future work with Carl Douglas.)
“We had a ten-piece band; a five-piece brass section; three trumpets. When I think of it now, we were all on a wage,” recalls Thomas.
That November, Gary Hamilton landed a recording deal with CBS and the musicians entered IBC Studios to work with Rolling Stone Bill Wyman in the producer’s chair.
“That was something that [Gary’s father] Mr Laub put together. He said, ‘We’ve got a song for you’,” remembers Phil Wainman, who adds that the group nailed both sides in a couple of takes.
“He [Bill Wyman] just let us get on with it. The band was so good. We’d rehearsed it prior to the studio and… in three hours I think we were done, recorded and mixed.”
“I’m Not The Marrying Kind” c/w “My Love Belongs To You” was duly released on 10 February 1967 and hit single written all over it.
However, despite having supported The Who at Leeds University on 21 January and then making a notable appearance at the Saville Theatre opening for Chuck Berry and Del Shannon on 19 February, the single’s commercial failure prompted the backers to drastically reduce the group’s bookings.
Phil Wainman was the first to abandon ship for The Overlanders and then Jack Hammer, author of “Great Balls of Fire”.
After co-penning The Yardbirds’ cover “Little Games” and working with The Quotations, Wainman became a top session player and then a successful producer with Sweet and Boomtown Rats, among his credits.
“As a producer I did so much better than as a musician,” says Wainman. “That’s where I did well. I probably sold about 300 million records.”
James Smith, fresh from an audition with The New Pirates, reforming after Johnny Kidd’s death, assumed the drum stool.
“I got a call from Ron Thomas,” remembers the newcomer. “He said Mick Stewart had given him my number and would I be interested in auditioning? I got the gig, though it was a hard act to follow. Phil was one of the best drummers around at the time.”
Smith remembers the band finding plenty of work on the university circuit that spring, including Keele, Nottingham, Leeds and Birmingham.
In the first week of April, Melody Maker reported that the group had whittled down from a 10 piece to a seven piece. Mel Wayne left to join Carl Douglas & The Big Stampede and two other horn players also departed, most likely including Pat Higgs.
On 27 May, Hamilton & The Movement joined Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers, The Action, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and The Swinging Blue Jeans to entertain the students at Oxford’s Hertford Balls.
The drummer also says that The Hamilton Movement opened for US soul act Sam and Bill several times (most notably at the Boston Gliderdrome on 15 July) before further changes ensued during August and October 1967.
Sam and Bill, Record Mirror
“The brass section dropped out and this kind of triggered a fairly rapid exodus… There were no gigs for a while so Tony, Mick and Ron found other work,” says the drummer.
While Mick Fletcher failed to reunite with Mel Wayne in Carl Douglas & The Big Stampede (the job went to Rod Mayall), he next appears to have played with The Rifle (with guitarist Del Grace from Carl Douglas’ band and singer Malcolm Magaron) and then The Amboy Dukes in late 1969 for a short tour into mid-1970.
Tony Sinclair briefly played with Lace before joining Freddie Mack’s band in early 1968. The soul outfit split from the former boxer in 1969 and worked with Dave Hadfield at his studio on the Old Kent Road, providing backing tracks for various artists on Hadfield’s Revolution label.
Ron Thomas meanwhile got a job with guitarist Pip Williams’s band, The House of Orange, backing US soul act, The Fantastics.
“They were right in the middle of a tour backing Garnet Mimms,” he recalls. “They were a house band working with Roy Tempest. They just phoned me up. Their bass player had got slung out in the middle of the tour and they had a gig that night.”
With ‘The Movement’ on hold, James Smith had also started to explore other avenues and even had an offer on the table when Gary Hamilton convinced him to hang on.
“Gary came up with Mick Stewart and Tony Savva and said he wanted to change the style and format going with a three-piece backing band, so I decided to stay,” says the drummer.
Bass player Tony Savva was best known for his work with A Wild Uncertainty, the group that featured Eddie Hardin, who had replaced Stevie Winwood in The Spencer Davis Group that spring.
Savva is uncertain how the link-up with Hamilton came about but has some photos with A Wild Uncertainty drummer Gordon Barton and lead guitarist Peter Tidmarsh in them, which offers a clue.
“Gary and I were behind the camera,” he explains. “How and why I don’t know but obviously we were backing Gary as vocalist. Maybe Gordon and Peter split and Mick [Stewart] and Jimmy [Smith] came in.”
Mick Stewart, however, can throw more light on this transition period. “I believe that I played with Tony Savva for a little while because of something to do with Don Arden’s son David being a would-be-singer at the time,” says the guitarist.
“The intro to that was in a way due to Johnny Kidd. Over the years, he was in fact booked quite a bit by Don Arden’s agency and after he died, I believe that someone at Arden’s company suggested I play guitar in this back-up band. Tony was already in the line-up. At the end of the day, however, David Arden although he was a really great guy to be in a rock ‘n’ roll band with, he was not really a singer at all.”
Gary Hamilton 25 November 1967 Record Mirror
With the new version finding its feet, Gary Hamilton returned to the studios with session musicians to cut a solo single. Produced by Tony Meehan and penned by Mike D’Abo, “Let the Music Play”, backed by the self-penned “Don’t Ask”, was released by Decca on 12 November 1967 but flopped. A dramatic, big band production, “Let the Music Play” appears on Colour Me Pop, Volume Three and Fading Yellow Volume 9: The Other Side of Life.
During early November 1967, Gary Hamilton expanded the line-up by bringing in organist Terry Goldberg, who had previously played with The Mark Leeman Five and would go onto Tintern Abbey.
Melody Maker, 11 November 1967
The five-piece gigged prolifically over the next four months, even opening for Ike & Tina Turner and others at the Boston Gliderdrome on 20 April 1968. Two days later, the musicians played possibly their final show at the 100 Club on Oxford Street before the inevitable split.
During 1968, Gary Hamilton recorded a one-track acetate “Carry The Can“, which was never released. The tracks were recorded with studio musicians and not the final version of The Hamilton Movement.
Mick Stewart immediately joined James Royal and participated in a prestigious concert tour alongside Johnny Cash, June Carter and Carl Perkins. During 1969-1970, he recorded three singles with Sweet before later moving to the United States in the late 1970s, where he works in Los Angeles and Nashville as a successful record producer and also owns a music publishing company and a recording studio.
Tony Savva meanwhile subsequently worked with Lionel Bart and Samuel Prody among others and currently lives in Cyprus. James Smith, who later recorded with Aquila, played with a revamped Nashville Teens before reuniting with Ron Thomas in The House of Orange.
“[Ron] said The Fantastics were coming back to the UK for a tour and he and Pip Williams were getting a backing band together and looking for a drummer and organist. I’d seen Ron and Pip previously so I didn’t need asking twice.”
As for Gary Hamilton, he joined the London production of Hair before resuming his solo career with a lone single for CBS and gigging briefly with Cozy Powell’s band, Big Bertha. Produced by Bernard Lee, the self-penned “Easy Rider” stalled when it was released on 5 December 1969.
Undeterred, he returned to Polydor for a cover of Ed Welch’s the “Monkey Song”, produced by Peter Knight Jr and arranged by John Fiddy. Released on 20 November 1970, the single flopped and Hamilton moved into movie acting; the eagle-eyed can catch him in the cult horror flick, Tower of Evil.
Thanks to Fedon Tilberis, Peter Vernon-Kell, Chris Palmer, Ron Thomas, Phil Wainman, Mel Wayne, James Smith, Mick Stewart and Tony Savva
To add information and make corrections, email: Warchive@aol.com
A version of this article appears in Ugly Things magazine.
30 August 1965 – Sophia Gardens Pavilion, Cardiff, Wales with The Who, The Graham Bond Organisation, The Merseybeats and The Easybeats
18 September 1965 – Il Rondo, Leicester
16 October 1965 – Woodhall Community Centre, Welwyn Garden City
30 October 1965 – El Partido, Lewisham, south east London with The Duke Lee Sounds and The Loose Ends
13 November 1965 – Co-Op Hall, Chesham, Bucks
27 November 1965 – Dungeon, Nottingham
4 December 1965 – Gala Ballroom, Norwich, Norfolk with Profile
24 December 1965 – Clacton Town Hall, Clacton, Essex with Unit 4+2 and The Nite-Sect
4 January 1966 – Pavilion Ballroom, Bournemouth, Dorset
1 February 1966 – Carousel Club, Farnborough, Hants
4 February 1966 – Astoria Cinema, Finsbury Park, north London with The Who, The Merseybeats, The Fortunes, The Graham Bond Organisation and Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages
5 February 1966 – Odeon Cinema, Southend-on-Sea, Essex with The Who, The Merseybeats, The Fortunes, The Graham Bond Organisation and Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages
6 February 1966 – Empire Theatre, Liverpool with The Who, The Merseybeats, The Fortunes, The Graham Bond Organisation and Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages
11 February 1966 – Wimbledon Palais, Wimbledon, London with The Who and The Mike Rabin Group
18 February 1966 – Tower Ballroom, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk with Circuit Five
19 February 1966 – Royal Links Pavilion, Cromer, Norfolk with The Ultimate
11-12 March 1966 – Essex University, Colchester, Essex with Pink Floyd and others
18 March 1966 – Dancing Slipper, Nottingham with Carl Pagan & The Heathens
19 March 1966 – Gala Ballroom, Norwich, Norfolk with The Spectrum
11 April 1966 – Clacton Town Hall, Clacton, Essex with The Moody Blues and Dave & The Strollers
14 April 1966 – Gaumont Theatre, Southampton, Hants with The Who, The Spencer Davis Group, The Band of Angels and Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System
15 April 1966 – Fairfield Hall, Croydon, south London with The Who, The Spencer Davis Group, The Band of Angels and Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System
16 April 1966 – Odeon, Watford, Herts with The Who, The Spencer Davis Group, The Band of Angels and Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System
17 April 1966 – Regal Theatre, Edmonton, north London with The Who, The Spencer Davis Group, The Band of Angels and Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System
21 May 1966 – New Central Ballroom, Aldershot, Hants with The Nuetrons
The original band split around June 1966 and Gary Hamilton put together a new version in late July
Gary Hamilton (vocals)
Tony Sinclair (aka St Clair) (guitar)
Ron Thomas (bass)
Mick Fletcher (keyboards)
Mel Wayne (sax)
Dave Mahoney (sax)
John Droy (trumpet)
Phil Wainman (drums)
11-13 August 1966 – Gaumont Cinema, Bournemouth, Dorset with The Kinks, The Walker Brothers, The Quotations, The Creation, The Wishful Thinking, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Titch and The Moody Blues
14 August 1966 – Tiles, Oxford Street, central London with The Anzacs
John Droy left soon after the tour to join The Quotations
26 August 1966 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire
3 September 1966 – Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts with The Mystery Men
9 September 1966 – Benn Memorial Hall, Rugby, Warwickshire with The Roaring 60s and The Imagination (Rugby Advertiser)
18 September 1966 – Cromer Olympia, Cromer, Norfolk with The Barry Lee Show
24 September 1966 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire with Dave Berry & The Cruisers
29 September 1966 – Thorngate Ballroom, Gosport, Hampshire
1 October 1966 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire with The Thoughts
16 October 1966 – Khyber Club, Taunton, Somerset with The Sabres (the band replaced MI5)
Three trumpets players joined around December – Mike Bailey, Alan Ellis and Pat Higgs
21 January 1967 – Leeds University, Leeds, West Yorkshire with The Who
19 February 1967 – Saville Theatre, Shaftsbury Avenue, central London with Chuck Berry, The Canadians and Del Shannon
26 February 1967 – Saville Theatre, Shaftsbury Avenue, central London with Chuck Berry, The Candians and Herbie Goins & The Night-Timers
11 March 1967 – Birdcage, Portsmouth, Hants (cancelled)
Phil Wainman left around now and Jim Smith joined on drums
18 March 1967
18 March 1967 – Ewell Technical College, Ewell, Surrey with The Easybeats
Around early April, Mel Wayne and two trumpet players left, most likely including Pat Higgs. The band carried on as a seven-piece with two horn players.
6 May 1967 – Royal Lido Ballroom, Prestatyn, Wales with The Quotations and The Raynes (billed as Hamilton)
27 May 1967 – Hereford Balls, Oxford with Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers, The Action, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and The Swinging Blue Jeans
10 June 1967 – Tiles, Oxford Street, central London with The Collection and The Gas Company
11 June 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with Craig King & The Midnight Train
17 June 1967 – Bal Tabarin, Downham, south east London with supporting groups
2 July 1967 – Cosmo, Carlisle, Cumbria with Four Degrees West
6 July 1967 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall (billed as Hamilton & The Quotations but assuming it is the same band)
The group backed US soul singers Sam & Bill on a UK tour. The pair arrived on 12 July so it’s safe to assume the gigs listed below featured Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement
12 July 1967 – Locarno, Stevenage, Herts with Sam & Bill (most likely debut)
13 July 1967 – Sybilla’s, Swallow Street, Mayfair, central London (billed as Sam & Bill)
15 July 1967 – Starlight Room, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Sam & Bill, The Skatalites and The Reasons
16 July 1967 – Speakeasy, central London (billed as Sam & Bill)
21 July 1967 – Big ‘C’, Farnborough, Hants with Sam & Bill
21 July 1967 – Cue Club, Paddington, central London (billed as Sam & Bill)
22 July 1967 – New All-Star Club, Liverpool Street, central London (billed as Sam & Bill)
23 July 1967 – Dungeon, Nottingham with Sam and Bill
23 July 1967 – Saville Theatre, Shaftsbury Avenue, London (billed as Sam & Bill)
28 July 1967 – Skyline Ballroom, Hull with Sam & Bill plus One In A Million and That Feeling
29 July 1967 – Northwich Memorial Hall, Northwich, Cheshire with Sam & Bill and The Trap
30 July 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with Sam & Bill and The Gas Company
13 August 1967 – Dungeon, Nottingham (says they were Sam and Bill’s backing group)
23 August 1967 – Locarno, Stevenage, Herts
25 August 1967 – Steering Wheel, Weymouth, Dorset
Dave Mahoney and the last trumpet player departed around now
2 September 1967 – Kirklevington Country Club, North Yorkshire
Sam & Bill played Floral Hall in Southport on 9 September 1967, but it’s unlikely they were support band this time.
15 September 1967 – Fiesta Hall, Andover, Hampshire
16 September 1967 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London
23 September 1967 – Cesar’s Club, Bedford with The Scotch of St James
30 September 1967 – City Hall, Salisbury, Wiltshire with Jigsaw and Dave Jay
Ron Thomas, Mick Fletcher and Tony Sinclair all left during October and the band was put on hold as Gary Hamilton recruited new players
Gary Hamilton (vocals)
Mick Stewart (guitar)
Tony Savva (bass)
Jim Smith (drums)
21 October 1967 – Maple Ballroom, Northampton
Terry Goldberg joined on keyboards
11 November 1967 – Brackley Town Hall, Brackley, Northamptonshire (possibly Goldberg’s debut)
8 December 1967 – City University, central London with The Soft Machine and Robert Hirst & The Big Taste
6 January 1968 – Lion Hotel, Warrington, Cheshire with Styx and Just Us
3 February 1968 – Sheridan Rooms, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
9 February 1968 – Tiger’s Head, Catford, south east London (billed as Hamilton’s Movements)
25 February 1968 – Barnsley Civic Hall, Barnsley, West Yorkshire with Jay Jones (billed as The Gary Hamilton Movement)
26 February 1968 – Primrose Hill Working Men’s Club, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire (billed as The Gary Hamilton Movement)
9 March 1968 – Clouds, Derby (says it’s an eight-piece soul band)
15 April 1968 – Barnsley Civic Hall, Barnsley, West Yorkshire with The Koobas and Detroit Soul Sound
20 April 1968 – Starlight Room, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincs with the Ike & Tina Turner Show, The Ikettes, The Artists and The Train Set
22 April 1968 – 100 Club, Oxford Street, central London (possibly the final gig)
Freddy Mack’s album recorded in 1967 (not 1966). Thanks to Dave Tedstone for image
Retired American light-heavyweight boxer Freddie Mack, sometimes spelt Freddy Mack and also known as Mr Superbad, relocated to the UK in 1965 and established a second career as a soul singer and disc jockey.
Between late 1965 and the mid-1970s, Mack fronted a succession of bands featuring a staggering number of notable British R&B and soul musicians.
Originally called The Mack Sound, the singer’s bands also worked under the names The Freddie Mack Sound, The Fantastic Freddie Mack Show and the Freddie Mack Extravaganza.
The first line-up of this band must have been formed in October 1965 because an advert in Melody Maker from October 1968 says that the group was due to play at the Whisky A Go Go in Wardour Street on 13 October 1968 to mark the band’s third anniversary.
Sometime in November, Freddie Mack was briefly paired with The Phil Wainman Band and female singer Cleo Sylvester (aka Sylvestre). The group’s line up at the time comprised lead guitarist Tony Sinclair; bass player Ron Thomas; organist Mick Fletcher; sax players Mel Wayne and Dave Mahoney; and drummer Phil Wainman.
According to Wainman, Mack was resident DJ at Dolly’s Club in Soho and they shared a brief residency there. The group was then lined up to play a Christmas/New Year show at Count Suckle’s Cue Club in Paddington with Mack.
Mel Wayne says that Mick Fletcher was staying with him in Twickenham and the pair had problems with the trains and arrived late. Mack was going to fine them but the rest of the band rallied and said they’d leave if he did.
Unfortunately, the show proved to be the end of their relationship and Wainman’s band went on to work with West End Promotions, backing a succession of Jamaican artists, including Millie Small, Owen Grey, Jackie Edwards and most notably Jimmy Cliff.
Around February 1966, Mack asked sax player Roger Warwick, who’d done some rehearsals with Phil Wainman’s band, to become part of a new, larger stage show that drew on musicians from two bands and subsequently became known as This ‘N’ That. The new formation retained singer Cleo Sylvester.
Mack had also asked American singer Ronald Bertram Greaves (aka Sonny Childe) to join the new stage show but Warwick doesn’t think he stuck around long.
Originally from Ealing, Warwick had attended Walpole Grammar School and was in the year below (and was friends with) John McVie. Studying sax under Don Rendell, he had previously played on The Tornados’ single “Early Bird”, produced by Joe Meek.
He then worked with Screaming Lord Sutch & The Savages and played a few gigs with The Lower Third (with David Bowie on sax) before backing singer Bobby Rio on a German tour in December 1965 with future Mack Sound bass player Alan Cartwright.
Back in England, Warwick joined a short-lived group based in Fulham, which also included an Irish singer called Leon, tenor sax player Nobby Clarke and a Welsh Hammond organist, who was possibly Mike Vaughn-Jones. When Warwick joined Freddie Mack, Leon, Clarke and Vaughn-Jones also came onboard. (Ed. Hammond organist Paul Abrahams says he had played with Warwick previously and was involved with the band by early June.)
The other group that Mack drew on for musicians were Screaming Lord Sutch’s latest version of The Savages, Liverpool outfit, Derry Wilkie & The Others.
Lord Sutch had been using the musicians as a backing group for several months but by April 1966 the players were keen to break away from Sutch and try something new.
The entire outfit – singer Derry Wilkie; lead guitarist Ernie Hayes; tenor sax player Phil Kenzie; baritone sax player Ashton Tootell; bass player Derek Bond; and drummer Billy Adamson accepted Mack’s offer and signed up.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
Joining forces with Warwick’s Fulham players, the new formation debuted at the Ram Jam in Brixton on 22 April 1966 under the name Freddie Mack’s This ‘N’ That.
Warwick remembers that sax player Jimmy Jewell, a former member of Kris Ryan & The Questions, played some gigs with the band during this time.
Jewell confirms that he briefly played with Mack around April 1966 together with former Jimmy Powell & The Dimensions guitarist Martin Shaw and an American singer called Richard Lanham, who’d recently lived in Milan, Italy.
Jewell and Shaw did not stay long and would take part in a German tour with The Paramounts in September 1966 backing singer Chris Andrews.
The excellent Derry Wilkie website also lists a number of other players that became part of this larger show during mid-1966: singer Jo Baker; lead guitarist Geoff Krivit; trumpet player Mark Charig; and percussionist Eddie Lincoln.
Krivit, incidentally, had briefly been a member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers in 1965 and Julian Covey & The Machine in early 1966. He would go on to play with Dr K’s Blues Band. Charig meanwhile had been a member of The Sidewinders (recently playing at Count Suckle’s Cue Club in Paddington) and later worked with Bluesology (alongside Elton John).
Billed as This ‘N’ That, the line-up recorded a lone single, “Get Down With It/I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” c/w “I Care About You” for the Strike label, which was released on 10 June 1966.
Judging by an advert printed in 11 June 1966 edition of Melody Maker, the single features singers Derry Wilkie, Sonny Childe, Cleo Sylvester and Leon plus “the explosive sound of TNT and Mack Sound”.
The Redbridge & Ilford Recorder lists the band playing at Oscar’s Grotto in Ilford, east London on 11 June 1966.
Photo: Redbridge & Ilford Recorder. Image may be subject to copyright
The same newspaper also lists the band, billed as The TNT Show with The Youth (born Trevor Sutherland and later future reggae artist IJahman Levi), Derek and Cleo playing at the same venue on 9 July 1966.
Most of the musicians left immediately afterwards to work as Sonny Childe & The TNT. According to Ernie Hayes, when Sonny Childe returned to the US around August 1967, the guitarist, plus organist Mike Vaughn-Jones and drummer Billy Adamson joined forces with bass player Jet Harris and singer Pete Gage for a few months. Phil Kenzie meanwhile joined Tuesday’s Children for four months.
In November 1967, Ernie Hayes, Mike Vaughn-Jones, Billy Adamson and Phil Kenzie reunited in TNT to back American singer PP Arnold with former Creation’s member Eddie Phillips on bass. Adamson later played with The Searchers while Kenzie returned to Freddie Mack’s band in spring 1968 (see entry).
In the meantime Roger Warwick helped Freddie Mack put together a new version of The Mack Sound, retaining Cleo Sylvester, The Youth and Derry Wilkie. He brought in his old friend Alan Cartwright on bass plus some new players.
The band rehearsed extensively that summer and Warwick remembers the new line up playing a day long show at Douglas House at Lancaster Gate with Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames (Ed. Fame played here on 29 May 1966 but this would have been too early in the timeline unless Warwick meant an earlier version.)
Photo: Redbridge & Ilford Recorder. Image may be subject to copyright
The Redbridge & Ilford Recorder lists the band, billed as The Mac Sounds, playing at Oscar’s Grotto, Ilford, east London with The TNT on 30 July 1966.
Youth photo. Fabulous 208, 12 November 1966 issue. Image may be subject to copyrightPhoto: Fabulous 28, 12 November 1966 issue. Image may be subject to copyright
Around this time, Warwick and Cartwright were among the musicians who backed The Youth on a lone single for Polydor Records, a cover of Smokey Robinson’s “As Long As There Is Love” backed by Otis Redding’s “Your One and Only Man” at Abbey Road.
Freddie Mack live. Thanks to Miguel Terol for sharing this image sent to him by Ged Peck I would be grateful if anyone can identify any of the musicians shown here.
Drawing on a number of web sources, and accounts from several musicians, it looks like the new line up’s formation, which signed to Dumont Associates (as advertised in Melody Maker’s 15 October 1966 issue), comprised the following players at some point between September 1966 and January 1967:
Freddie Mack – lead vocals
Derry Wilkie – lead vocals
Tony Morgan – lead vocals, congas
Kenneth Harry – lead vocals
Kookie Eaton – lead vocals
Ged Peck – lead guitar
Billy Davidson – organ
Alan Cartwright – bass
Roger Warwick – baritone saxophone
Clarence Jackson (aka JJ Johnson) – trombone
Bernie Wehrman – tenor saxophone
Chris Burdett – alto saxophone (possibly joined later in 1966)
Eddie Thornton – trumpet (joined October 1966)
B J Wilson – drums (replaced by Roger Truth in November 1966)
Clarence Jackson was a member of Otis Redding’s touring band when the singer had made his UK debut in September 1966, so it’s probably safe to assume he joined after the tour had finished.
Eddie Thornton, however, was still working with Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames until October 1966, and therefore it’s possible that another trumpet player was there before.
Thanks to recollections from Ged Peck, it appears that the first keyboard player was Billy Davidson (who later worked with The Flowerpot Men among others) but he was replaced by Art Regis at some point in early 1967 (possibly start of February).
Unknown horn players, Ged Peck (guitar) and Billy Davidson (keyboards). Thanks to Miguel Terol for sharing this image sent to him by Ged Peck
Of the other musicians listed above, lead guitarist Ged Peck had been a member of The Favourite Sons before briefly playing with Chris Lamb & The Universals.
Ged Peck far right in the early 1960s. Thanks to Miguel Terol for sharing this image sent to him by Ged Peck
B J Wilson had played with The Paramounts and George Bean & The Runners. He was an old friend of Alan Cartwright’s.
BJ Wilson centre with Alan Cartwright (left). Thanks to Miguel Terol for sharing this image sent to him by Ged Peck
One thing is clear from tracing Freddie Mack’s bands during the 1960s, the line-ups tended to be pretty fluid and (particularly) horn players appeared to come and go on a regular basis, making pinning down definitive formations almost impossible. There were often around 15 musicians in the group at one time.
Throughout this period, musicians appear to have come and gone on a regular basis. According to Nick Simper’s excellent website, Roger Truth, who had played with the future Deep Purple bass player in Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, took over the drum stool from B J Wilson in late November 1966.
Roger Warwick left in December 1966 while the band were playing at the Upper Cut in Forest Gate, east London. Warwick moved to Turin, Italy to join a band being formed to back Lebanese singer Patrick Samson.
He remembers that when he left, singer Richard Lanham was with the band.
Roger Warwick (back left with white shirt) with The Patrick Samson Set
West Indian trumpet player Sonny Corbett joined during early 1967 as did English trumpet player Chris Dawe.
In January 1967, it’s possible The Mack Sound comprised the following (plus other unknown musicians):
Freddie Mack – lead vocals
Derry Wilkie – lead vocals
Tony Morgan – lead vocals, congas
Kenneth Harry – lead vocals
Kookie Eaton – lead vocals
Ged Peck – lead guitar
Billy Davidson – organ
Alan Cartwright – bass
Clarence Jackson – trombone
Bernie Wehrman – tenor saxophone
Chris Dawe – trumpet
Sonny Corbett – trumpet
Eddie Thornton – trumpet
Roger Truth – drums
Hammond organist Art Regis, who’d previously performed with Mel Turner & Rupert and The Red Devils, Dutch band The Defenders, The Arthur Brown Union and Ralph Denyer & The Uptown Band, remembers Derry Wilkie, Tony Morgan, Kookie Eaton, Dick Morrisey, Bernie Wehrman, Clarence Jackson and Eddie Thornton being in the band at the same time as him.
Art Regis recalls Freddie Mack coming to his flat in Portobello Road and discussing the possibility of forming “an extravagant international soul show”. The Hammond organist also remembers playing at Silver Blades Ice Rink in Streatham and a trek down to Cornwall to play an air sea rescue base in Falmouth.
More importantly, Art Regis also recalls performing with Freddie Mack at Billy Walker’s The Upper Cut in Forest Gate, which opened on 21 December 1966. According to Melody Maker, Mack’s band was the resident support band at this notable venue until early February 1967.
The New Pirates in February 1967. Mick Stewart (far left) who played with Mack in December 1965 and Nick Simper (second from right) who briefly played with Mack in early 1967. Photo: John Kerrison
Nick Simper also spent a week with the band when it was resident support act at the Upper Cut (most likely mid-January 1967) after working with Bobby Hebb’s touring band. However, Alan Cartwright was soon back and Simper formed The New Pirates the following month.
During the first few weeks of February Roger Truth dropped out briefly to reform The New Pirates with Simper but had a change of mind and returned to Freddie Mack after some early rehearsals. B J Wilson filled the drum stool in the interim.
Art Regis would reunite with Nick Simper and Ged Peck in June 1967 in Billie Davis & The Quality before working briefly with Engelbert Humperdinck. Regis confirms that he then joined Jimmy James & The Vagabonds on 27 July 1967.
The Loose Ends in 1966 with Roy Davies (far left). Photo: Alan Whitehead
Another keyboard player that is often associated with Freddie Mack during this time is future Gonzalez member Roy Davies, who’d previously been a member of Southeast London band, The Loose Ends. It looks most likely that Davies came on-board when Art Regis left (around mid-February).
In late February 1967, B J Wilson joined Sands and then Procol Harum. Roger Truth returned to the drum stool.
Ged Peck playing live. Thanks to Miguel Terol for sharing this image sent to him by Ged Peck
Ged Peck certainly was gone sometime in late March 1967 and joined Nick Simper in Billie Davis & The Quality that May before going on to a number of notable acts, including Warhorse (alongside Simper). His temporary replacement was former Tornados and Echoes guitarist Stuart Taylor.
Lead guitarist Dave Tedstone, who had previously been a member of The Doc Thomas Group, remembers going to Eel Pie Island to see Freddie Mack’s band and subsequently joined. Tedstone also recalls that Stuart Taylor was on guitar at the time. Thanks to Pete Watt’s excellent research this gig can be confirmed as 4 April 1967.
Selected gigs:
Photo: Aldershot News. Image may be subject to copyright
2 September 1966 – Carousel Club, Farnborough, Hants. Billed as Freddie Mack Sounds and His Show
9 September 1966 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire. Billed as The Mack Sound (ten-piece band)
10 September 1966 – The Cavern, Liverpool with Eddie Cave & The Fix, The Kop, The Hideaways, The Seftons and The Rocking Vicars
Photo: Evening Sentinel. Image may be subject to copyright
16 September 1966 – Beachcomber, Nottingham
22 September 1966 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire Billed as The Mack Sound
1 October 1966 – Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth, Cornwall with The Jaguars
13 October 1966 – Burton Manor, Stafford, Staffordshire
15 October 1966 – Drill Hall, Dumfries, Scotland with The Misfits
Photo: Birmingham Evening Mail. Image may be subject to copyright
19 October 1966 – Elbow Room, Aston, West Midlands. Billed as The Mac Sound
Photo: Birmingham Evening Mail. Image may be subject to copyright
20 October 1966 – Black Horse, Northfield, West Midlands with The Visuals Billed as Mack Sound (11-piece)
Photo: Birmingham Evening Mail. Image may be subject to copyright
21 October 1966 – The Royal Oak, Hockley Heath, West Midlands Billed as Mack Sound (11-piece)
Photo: Birmingham Evening Mail. Image may be subject to copyright
22 October 1966 – Bromsgrove Baths, Bromsgrove, West Midlands with The Exchequers
Photo: City Week. Image may be subject to copyright
28 October 1966 – Cavalier Club, Belfast, Northern Ireland with Tony G Ford & The Crescendos. Billed as Derrie Wilkie & The Mack Sound
29 October 1966 – Cavalier Club, Belfast, Northern Ireland with The King Bees. Billed as Derrie Wilkie & The Mack Sound
City Week, 27 October 1966. Image may be subject to copyright
5 November 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester with Alan Bown Set
8 November 1966 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire Billed as Mack Sound (ten-piece with Derrie Wilkie)
Image may be subject to copyright
26 November 1966 – Toft’s, Folkestone, Kent
27 November 1966 – Toft’s, Folkestone, Kent
4 December 1966 – Douglas House, Lancaster Gate, Central London (listed as 13-piece band) with Herbie Goins & The Nighttimers
5 December 1966 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, central London
10 December 1966 – King’s Hall, Stoke-on-Trent with In-Betweens and Lonnie’s Few
11 December 1966 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire (Staffordshire Weekly Sentinel article, dated 16 December, page 13, lists 16 band members)
11 December 1966 – Esquire Club, Sheffield with The Orginators Creed, The Hobo Flats and The Chicago Line
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
16 December 1966 – Tofts, Folkestone, Kent
17 December 1966 – Hotel Leofric, Coventry
21 December 1966-12 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London:
Image may be subject to copyright
21 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Who
22 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Easybeats
23 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch
24 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Eric Burdon & The Animals
26 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Jimi Hendrix Experience (day)
26 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Pretty Things (evening)
27-29 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
30 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Spencer Davis Group
31 December 1966 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band (This may not have happened if gig below took place)
Photo: Dumfries and Galloway Standard. Image may be subject to copyright
31 December 1966 – Assembly Rooms, Dumfries, Scotland
1 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The Move (This may not have happened if above gig took place)
Photo: Wigtownshire Free Press & Galloway Advertiser. Image may be subject to copyright
2 January 1967 – Newton Stewart, Galloway, Scotland Second Scottish gig suggests not all Upper Cut shows in January happened
2-5 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London (This may not have happened due to Scottish tour)
6 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The Small Faces
7 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The Bitter End Singers
8 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The Mindbenders (Nick Simper’s website says Pink Floyd replaced The Mindbenders. Simper attended and saw Syd Barrett’s group perform. He filled in for Alan Cartwright for a week at this venue, possibly the following week)
9-12 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London (possibly with Nick Simper
13 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Four Pennies (possibly with Nick Simper)
14 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Terry Lightfoot’s Jazzmen (possibly with Nick Simper)
15-19 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
20 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Sounds Incorporated
21 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The Fourmost
22-26 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
27 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds
28 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Jimi Hendrix Experience
29-31 January 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
Possible that Art Regis took over from Billy Davidson around about now. Not long after Roger Truth dropped out to reform The New Pirates with Nick Simper. B J Wilson returned to the drum kit.
1-2 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
3 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Winston’s Fumbs (now listed as 15-piece band)
4 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with Herbie Goins & The Night-Timers, The Satin Dolls and The Avalons
5-9 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
10 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London with The Rockin’ Berries
11 February 1967 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Fire Flies
12 February 1967 – Upper Cut, Forest Gate, east London
It’s possible that Roy Davies took over from Art Regis around about now
13 February 1967 – Winter Gardens Ballroom, Penzance, Cornwall with The Jaguars (The Sheffield Star says they also play the Esquire in Sheffield in South Yorkshire on this day which seems more likely with the Cleethorpes gig later this week)
14 February 1967 – Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth, Cornwall with The Dissatisfied (this was probably cancelled in light of the northern gigs)
15 February 1967 – The Village, Cleethorpes
16 February 1967 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire
18 February 1967 – Beachcomber, Nottingham with The Children (10-piece band)
After this gig, Roger Truth returned when B J Wilson left to join Sands
22 February 1967 – The Village, Cleethorpes
23 February 1967 – Black Horse, Northfield, West Midlands
25 February 1967 – Toft’s, Folkestone, Kent
8 March 1967 – Cromwell Club, Chesford Grange, Kenilworth, Warwickshire with Umpteenth Time
9 March 1967 – Concorde, Southampton, Hants
10 March 1967 – Beachcomber, Nottingham
13 March 1967 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire (back by demand)
17 March 1967 – Domino Club, Openshaw, Greater Manchester and Princess Theatre, Chorlton, Greater Manchester
Photo: Lincolnshire Standard. Image may be subject to copyright
18 March 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with The Kool Combination, The Bone and The Caribbean Steel Band and Ray Bones
Photo: Leicester Mercury. Image may be subject to copyright
18 March 1967 – Nite Owl, Leicester with The Executives
19 March 1967 – Britannia Rowing Club, Nottingham
23 March 1967 – The Village, Cleethorpes
24-25 March 1967 – Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch, Unit 4 Plus 2, Screaming Lord Sutch and The Roman Empire and The New Pirates
27 March 1967 – Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland with Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch, Unit 4 Plus 2, Screaming Lord Sutch and The Roman Empire and The New Pirates
Ged Peck left around about now and Stuart Taylor took over lead guitar duties for a week. Possible Art Regis may have done the Cornwall gigs below
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
I would personally like to thank the following for helping to piece this story together: Mel Wayne, Phil Wainman, Roger Warwick, Art Regis, Dave Tedstone and Nick Simper.
PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS BELOW TO ADD/CORRECT INFORMATION
Live gig sources:
During my research on Freddie Mack from 1965-1969, I have found gigs from many newspapers. Here are some of the sources:
The Cornish Guardian, Derby Evening Telegraph, Evening Sentinel, Melody Maker, West Briton & Royal Cornwall Gazette, Lincolnshire Standard, Birmingham Evening Mail, NME, Northwich Chronicle, Sheffield Star, Warrington Guardian, Wrexham Leader, Grimsby Evening Telegraph, Aldershot News, Manchester Evening News & Chronicle, Nottingham Evening Post, Dumfries and Galloway Standard, Stafford Newsletter and Cambridgeshire Times
Comprised of singers John Cheatdom, Jerome Ramos, Donald Haywoode and Richard Pitts and originally known as The Velours, US soul band, The Fantastics had enjoyed US chart success before being brought to the UK by promoter Roy Tempest in late 1967.
Billed as the “Fabulous Temptations” (even though there was no connection with the more famous Motown act), the group’s debut British tour took place in August/September 1967.
The Sovereigns, circa 1966. Sitting on elephant, left to right: Mich Tomich, Freddie Tillyer, Pip Williams and Keith Franklin. Standing: Roy St John-Foster (pic: Pip Williams)
To support the soul act on the road, Roy Tempest’s agency hired west London band, The Sovereigns, who had been formed in mid-1965 and comprised singer Roy St John-Foster, lead guitarist Pip Williams, bass player Mick Williams, tenor sax player Freddie Tillyer (ex-Eddie King & The Chequers) and drummer Keith Franklin.
When the band turned professional, Pip’s brother Mick dropped out and Mick Tomich took over on bass. In October 1966, the band supported US soul singer Alvin Robinson on some British gigs.
In late 1966, The Sovereigns were signed to King Records and recorded a lone 45 which was issued in January 1967. The release combined Freddie Tillyer and Pip Williams’ “Bring Me Home Love” with a cover of “That’s the Way Love Is”.
Just before the band got picked up by Roy Tempest’s agency, Scotsman Brian Johnson, keyboard player in The Senate came on board.
Billed as The Clockwork Orange (although this may well be another band), the musicians appear at Barnsley Civic Hall, Barnsley, West Yorkshire with The Discounts.
Pip Williams, circa 1966. Photo: Pip Williams
Selected gigs (see end for other sources not listed here):
31 August 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
1 September 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Hertfordshire Billed as “Fabulous Temptations”
2 September 1967 – Nite Owl, Leicester with Pesky Gee (Leicester Mercury) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
2 September 1967 – Starlight Room, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with The Equals, The Sovereigns and The Rubber Band (Lincolnshire Standard) Billed as “Fabulous Temptations”
3 September 1967 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star) Billed as “Temptations”
5 September 1967 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, central London (Melody Maker) Billed as “Temptations”
6 September 1967 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel) Billed as “The Temptations”
11 September 1967 – New Century Hall, Manchester with The New Rave (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) Billed as “The Temptations”
12 September 1967 – Dungeon, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post) Billed as “The Temptations”
Photo may be subject to copyright
16 September 1967 – The Place, Wakefield, West Yorkshire (Wakefield Express) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
16 September 1967 – The Hub, Barnsley, West Yorkshire (The Barnsley Chronicle & South Yorkshire News) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
17 September 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Handsworth, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as “The Temptations”
17 September 1967 – Club Cedar, Birmingham with The Ray King Soul Band (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as “The Temptations”
18 September 1967 – Ritz Ballroom, King’s Heath, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as “The Temptations”
19 September 1967 – Sloopy’s, Manchester with The Measles (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
Motown advert published in Melody Maker. Photo may be subject to copyright
After the first tour with The Fabulous Temptations (aka Fantastics), the band (now called The Clockwork Orange) backed US singer Garnet Mimms.
On 29 September 1967, The Clockwork Orange also played a solo gig at Princess Ballroom, Halifax, West Yorkshire.
According to Barnsley Chronicle & South Yorkshire News, Garnet Mimms played at the Hub, Barnsley, West Yorkshire on 8 October 1967. Although the support band isn’t listed, it is likely it was The Clockwork Orange.
Half way through the Garnett Mimms tour, Mick Tomich departed and Ron Thomas was brought in from Hamilton & Hamilton The Movement. Tomich went on to play with Pickettywitch among others.
Photo may be subject to copyright
They also did some gigs backing The Soul Sisters, including a show at the Boston Gliderdrome on 14 October.
Soon after, the group started to use the name The House of Orange (although they were also still billed as The Clockwork Orange occasionally).
On 22 October 1967, The House of Orange played two shows backing The Soul Sisters. These took place at the Hub, Barnsley, West Yorkshire with The Pitiful Souls and The Place, Wakefield, Barnsley, West Yorkshire with Randy Dandy Band.
Selected gigs (see end for other sources not listed here):
In November, The Fabulous Temptations (aka The Fantastics) returned for a second British tour.
12 November 1967 – Domino Club, Openshaw, Greater Manchester and Princess Club, Chorlton, Greater Manchester (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) Billed as “The Temptations” (backing band billed as The Senate) The Senate also backed Garnet Mimms
13 November 1967 – Bluesville ’67 Club, St Mathew’s Baths Hall, Ipswich, Suffolk with The Clockwork Orange (Ipswich Evening Star) Billed as The Fabulous Temptations
14 November 1967 – Clay Pigeon, Eastcote, northwest London (Harrow Weekly Post) Billed as “The Temptations”
14 November 1967 – Whisky A Go Go, Wardour Street, Soho, central London (Melody Maker) Billed as “Fabulous Temptations”
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15 November 1967 – Savoy Ballroom, Southsea, Hampshire with Clockwork Orange and Nepenthe with The Trend (Portsmouth News)
17 November 1967 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire Billed as “Fabulous Temptations”
18 November 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Old Hill, Bearwood, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as “The Temptations”
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18 November 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Handsworth, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as “The Temptations”
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19 November 1967 – The Hub, Barnsley, West Yorkshire with The Clockwork Orange and Nepenthe with her Soul Men backing group (most likely The Trend) (Barnsley Chronicle & South Yorkshire News) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
25 November 1967 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with The Gates of Eden (Cambridgeshire Times)
26 November 1967 – Purple Onion Club, Cleethorpes with The Roll Movement and The Clockwork Orange (Grimsby Evening Telegraph) Billed as “The Temptations”
27 November 1967 – King Mojo, City Hall Ballroom, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (The Sheffield Star)
30 November 1967 – Winter Gardens, Malvern, Worcestershire with The Clockwork Orange Billed as “Fabulous Temptations”
1 December 1967 – Palais Ballroom, Worksop, Worksop, Nottinghamshire with The Priscilla Juke Box with The Clockwork Orange (Doncaster Evening Post) Billed as “The Temptations”
2 December 1967 – New Century Hall, Manchester with other acts (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
2 December 1967 – Sloopy’s, Manchester with The Clockwork Orange (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) Billed as “The Fabulous Temptations”
3 December 1967 – Starlight Ballroom, Crawley, West Sussex with The Army Billed as “Temptations”
5 December 1967 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Melody Maker) Billed as “Fabulous Temptations”
9 December 1967 – Flower Pot Club, Digbeth, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) Billed as “The Temptations”
9 December 1967 – Plaza Ballroom, Old Hill, Bearwood, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) (tour ends today?)
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13 December 1967 – Steering Wheel, Weymouth, Dorset (House of Orange only gig)
During January 1968, The House of Orange gigged in its own right. They also backed Garnet Mimms on some gigs. Like this one:
19 January 1968 – King Mojo, City Hall Ballroom, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
In early February, The Fantastics returned for another tour
2 February 1968 – King Mojo, City Hall Ballroom, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
3 February 1968 – The Place, Wakefield, West Yorkshire with The House of Orange (Wakefield Express)
3 February 1968 – Plebians, Cheapside, Halifax, West Yorkshire (Huddersfield Daily Examiner) Says formerly known as “The Fabulous Temptations”
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9 February 1968 – Clifton Hall, Rotherham, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star) Says ex-“Fab Temptations”
10 February 1968 – Tinned Chicken, Castleford, West Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
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11 February 1968 – The Hub, Barnsley, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
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14 February 1968 – St Valentine’s Dance, Victoria Ballroom, Chesterfield, Derbyshire (Sheffield Star) Says ex-“Fab Temptations”
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17 February 1968 – Princes Pavilion, Falmouth, Cornwall with Peace & Quiet (Cornish Guardian)
23 February 1968 – Big C Club, 1 Camp Road, Farnborough, Hampshire (Aldershot News) Billed as The Fantastics
24 February 1968 – Tavistock Town Hall, Tavistock, Devon with Cousin Jacks (Cornish Guardian)
24 February 1968 – Royal Lido, Prestatyn, Clwyd, Wales with The House of Orange and The Missing Links (Rhyl & Prestayn Gazette)
25 February 1968 – Beau Brummel Club, Nantwich, Cheshire (bills backing group, The House of Orange) with The Jaytree Organisation
26 February 1968 – Golden Torch, Tunstall, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)
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2 March 1968 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Gospel Garden, The Reformation (Lincolnshire Standard) (bills backing group, The House of Orange)
2 March 1968 – Brave New World, Portsmouth, Hampshire (billed but replaced by Mike Cotton & Lucas)
3 March 1968 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London (Melody Maker)
17 March 1968 – Beau Brummel Club, Nantwich, Cheshire (bills backing group, The House of Orange) with The Jaytree Organisation
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18 March 1968 – King Mojo, City Hall, Ballroom, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star) Replaced The Impressions as no connection with Curtis Mayfield
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24 March 1968 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
25 March 1968 – King Mojo, City Hall Ballroom, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star) Not sure if this happened as they stepped in the previous Monday. They may have played both Mondays
27 March 1968 – Bluesville ’68 Club, St Matthew’s Baths, Ipswich, Suffolk (Ipswich Evening Star) Says formerly The Fabulous Temptations
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28 March 1968 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)
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14 April 1968 – City Hall Ballroom, Barkers Pool, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
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15 April 1968 – Plebians, Cheapside, Halifax, West Yorkshire with The Clockwork Orange (Halifax Evening Courier and Guardian)
21 April 1968 – Clifton Hall, Rotherham, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
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20 April 1968 – Glastonbury Town Hall, Glastonbury with The House of Orange and Chris Shakespere Globe (Somerset County Gazette/Western Gazette)
26 April 1968 – Clockwork Orange, Chester, Cheshire (bills backing group, The House of Orange)
27 April 1968 – Ram Jam, Brixton, south London with The Duke Reid Sound (Melody Maker)
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28 April 1968 – Central R&B Club, Central, Gillingham, Kent (Chatham, Rochester & Gillingham News)
5 May 1968 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
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6 May 1968 – Belfry, Wishaw, West Midlands with Immediate Pleasure (Birmingham Evening Mail)
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10 May 1968 – Il Rondo, Leicester with House of Orange (Leicester Mercury)
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13 May 1968 – Cromwellian, South Kensington, west London (Melody Maker)
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17 May 1968 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)
19 May 1968 – Wake Arms, Epping, Essex (Melody Maker)
19 May 1968 – Central R&B Club, Gillingham, Kent (Chatham, Rochester & Gillingham News)
25 May 1968 – Brave New World, Eastney, Hampshire
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2 June 1968 – Clouds, Derby (Derby Evening Telegraph)
3 June 1968 – Queen’s Hall, Leeds with The Herd, Bill Haley & The Comets, Alan Bown, Edwin Starr, Amboy Dukes, Gospel Garden, The Clockwork Orange and others
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3 June 1968 – Blue Lagoon, Newquay, Cornwall with The Action (Cornish Guardian) (unlikely with gig in Leeds on the same day but was advertised)
9 June 1968 – Starlite Ballroom, Greenford, west London (Melody Maker)
10 June 1968 – Carlton Club, Warrington, Cheshire (Warrington Guardian)
11 June 1968 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Melody Maker)
15 June 1968 – Bulmershe College of Education, Woodley, Berkshire
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22 June 1968 – Wolverhampton College of Technology, Wolverhampton, West Midlands with The Scarab (backed by The House of Orange)
23 June 1968 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
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8 July 1968 – Orchid Ballroom, Purley, Surrey
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13 July 1968 – Civic Hall, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with The Sun (Welwyn & Hatfield Advertiser)
15 July 1968 – Carlton Club, Warrington, Cheshire (Warrington Guardian)
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20 July 1968 – Spa Royal Hall, Bridlington, North Yorkshire with The Scarlet Farmyard and The Little Dedication (Scarborough Evening News)
30 July 1968 – Concorde, Southampton, Hampshire (Southern Evening Echo)
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3 August 1968 – El Grotto, Ilford, east London (Redbridge & Ilford Recorder)
5 August 1968 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette)
11 August 1968 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London (Melody Maker)
16 August 1968 – Fishmonger’s Arms, Wood Green, north London (Melody Maker)
22 August 1968 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Melody Maker)
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23 August 1968 – New Market Discotheque, Bridgwater, Somerset (Bridgwater Mercury)
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24 August 1968 – “Middle Earth”, Torquay Town Hall, Torquay, Devon (bills backing group, The House of Orange) with The Royals and Howard Stephen Shape
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26 August 1968 – Orchid Ballroom, Purley, Surrey
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31 August 1968 – Tees Pop ’68, Recreation Ground, Eston, Teesside with Traffic, Ben E King, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Alan Bown, Family, Amboy Dukes, Joe Cocker & The Grease Band, The Tramline, Rivers Invitation and Chelfont Line (Newcastle Evening Chronicle)
1 September 1968 –Queen’s Hall, Leeds with Ben E King, Clyde McPhattter, The Flirtations, (the former The Gypsys, booked as The Fabulous Marvelettes and backed by The Trend), Tim Rose, Timebox and The World of Oz
2 September 1968 – Brave New World, Eastney, Hampshire
10 September 1968 – Concorde, Southampton, Hampshire (Southern Evening Echo)
22 November 1968 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire
23 November 1968 – Odeon Manchester (or was this Manchester Free Trade Hall?) with Diana Ross & The Supremes and others
24 November 1968 – London Palladium, central London with Diana Ross & The Supremes and others
29 November 1968 – Cue Club, Paddington, central London (Melody Maker)
30 November 1968 – New Century Hall, Manchester (Manchester Evening News)
1 December 1968 – Princes and Domino clubs, Greater Manchester (Manchester Evening News)
3 December 1968 – The Place Club, Henley, Berkshire (could this be the Place, Hanley, Staffordshire?)
6 December 1968 – City Hall, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star)
7 December 1968 – Elms Court Ballroom, Botley, Oxford with Gentle Influence (Oxford Mail)
8 December 1968 – Crystal Palace Hotel, Crystal Palace, southeast London (South East London Mercury)
9 December 1968 – Ramsgate Coronation Ballroom, Ramsgate, Kent
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10 December 1968 – Spa Lounge and Ballroom, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen/Stroud News)
12 December 1968 – Pavilion, Worthing, West Sussex
13 December 1968 – Top Rank, Doncaster, South Yorkshire
15 December 1968 – RAF Mildenhall
16 December 1968 – Tithe Farm, Harlow, Essex
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19 December 1968 – South Dorset Technical College, Students’ Association, Weymouth Pavilion, Weymouth, Dorset with Alan Bown (replaced Traffic) and The Package Deal (Dorset Evening Echo) Says backed by The Colourful Orange
20 December 1968 – Tabernacle, Stockport, Greater Manchester
21 December 1968 – Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, Essex
22 December 1968 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London
23 December 1968 – Golden Torch, Hanley, Staffordshire (Evening Sentinel)
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24 December 1968 – Soul Club, Plaza Ballroom, Newbury, Berkshire with The House of Orange, The Joyce Bond Show and Barley Mo (Reading Evening Post)
26 December 1968 – Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire
27 December 1968 – New Market Discotheque, Bridgwater, Somerset
28 December 1968 – Civic Hall, Nantwich, Cheshire with The Hideaways
29 December 1968 – Mercers Arms, Coventry, West Midlands (Coventry Evening Telegraph)
30 December 1968 – Belfry Hotel, Wishaw, West Midlands
31 December 1968 – Morecambe Pier, Morecambe, Lancashire
The Trend. Left to right: John Connolly, Peter Cole, Frankie Morgan and Norman Cummins
At the outset of the 1969 tours, Peter Cole (known as ‘Spam’) the bass player from The Trend, who had recently disbanded, became The Fantastics’ road manager.
5 January 1969 – New Revolution, Baths, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire (Nottingham Evening Post)
5 January 1969 – Clouds, Derby (Derby Evening Telegraph)
17 January 1969 – Birmingham’s first 1969 Extravaganza, Town Hall, Birmingham with Freddie Mack Show, The Locomotive, Ivan Chin Soul Band and Liz Christian
18 January 1969 – Town Hall, Glastonbury, Somerset
19 January 1969 – Surrey Oval Rooms, Kennington, south London
21 January 1969 – King’s Hall, Aberystwyth, Wales
24 January 1969 – White Lion, Edgware, north London
25 January 1969 – Winter Gardens Pavilion, Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset
26 January 1969 – Surrey Rooms, Kennington, south London
1 February 1969 – New Astoria Ballroom, Rawtenstall, Lancashire and Bin Lid Club, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire
2 February 1969 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire
7 February 1969 – Nottingham Boat Club, Nottingham
14-15 February 1969 – Scene 2 Club, Scarborough
16 February 1969 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London
22 February 1969 – Cliff’s Pavilion, Southend, Essex
23 February 1969 – Good Companion’s Hotel, Slough, Berkshire
3 March 1969 – Orchid Ballroom, Purley, Surrey
In early March, Roy St John-Foster, Keith Franklin and Brian Johnson all departed. Pip Williams, Freddie Tillyer and Ron Thomas brought in drummer James Smith from The Nashville Teens and organist Martin Woodward from Tapestry.
Selected gigs (see end for other sources not listed here):
19 March 1969 – The Lyceum, the Strand, central London with The Move (debut show with new line up)
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23 March 1969 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, southeast London
Martin Woodward and Peter Cole remember playing the following venues but they can’t recall the dates:
Civic Hall, Winsford, Cheshire
400 Ballroom Torquay (at least twice)
Scene 2 Club, Scarborough (two or three times)
The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire
Lyceum, Sheffield
Clouds, Derby
The Plaza Ballroom, Handsworth, Birmingham
The Penthouse, Birmingham
The Starlite Ballroom, (Greenford?) west London
The Skyline, Hull
The U.S.A.F. Base Alconbury near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
26 April 1969 – Dreamland Ballroom, Margate, Kent with The Candy Choir (Folkestone & Hythe District Herald)
27 April 1969 – Crystal Palace Hotel, Crystal Palace, south London (South East London Mercury)
18 May 1969 – Surrey Room, Kennington, south London (South East London Mercury)
24 May 1969 – Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone, Kent (Folkestone & Hythe District Herald)
25 May 1969 – Skegness Seaside Soul Festival, Skegness, Lincolnshire with Amen Corner, Inez and Charlie Foxx, Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band and Jimmy James & The Vagabonds
21 June 1969 – Broken Wheel, Retford, Nottinghamshire (Retford Times)
29 June 1969 – Surrey Room, Kennington, south London (South East London Mercury)
Ron Thomas, hotel, Frankfurt, 1969 (Pic: Peter Cole)
According to James Smith, The Fantastics had problems with UK work permits around this time and had to live and work outside of the UK for six months. While playing the US military air bases in and around Frankfurt Germany, Ron Thomas left later to play, most notably, with The Heavy Metal Kids.
Peter Cole, The Fantastics’ road manager (and known as “Spam”), who had started out as bass player with The Trend took over after playing rhythm guitar on the European gigs. The Trend had worked for the Roy Tempest Agency in the mid-1960s backing artists like The Drifters, Garnett Mimms and Ben E King, The Soul Sisters, Clyde McPhatter, The Flirtations (then The Fabulous Marvelettes), The Platters and Buddy Holly’s Crickets among others. When The Trend folded Spam became road manager for The Fantastics.
Jimmy Smith and Ron Thomas (just before Ron left) in Frankfurt, 1969 (Pic: Peter Cole)
July 1969 – US airbases in Germany (Ron Thomas departs in Frankfurt)
Pip Williams, who wasn’t long married and needed to return home, left while the band was in Naples and returned home, subsequently joining Jimmy James & The Vagabonds. Pip Williams later became a top session player, working with producer Phil Wainman among others. Later on, he became a successful producer, and is best known for producing Status Quo and The Moody Blues.
Peter Cole, Jimmy Smith and Martin Woodward in Cannes, France (photo: Peter Cole)
Initially, Peter Cole’s former band mate from The Trend, Norman Cummins took over to play the US air base gigs in Naples and after a subsequent return to Frankfurt stayed to play in a club in Cannes. Cummins then departed and moved to South Africa.
The rest of the band travelled to Majorca where former Tony Knight’s Chessmen and Magicians guitarist Fred D’Albert was flown over to join the remaining backing group. D’Albert had also played with Smith backing a soul act in Essen, West Germany during mid-1968 (possibly Owen Grey).
Selected gigs (see end for other sources not listed here):
July 1969 – NATO airbase in Naples, Italy (Pip Williams left and Norman Cummins joined as lead guitarist).
Norman Cummins in Frankfurt before heading to Cannes (Pic: Peter Cole)
July – Frankfurt and then Cannes, France (Cummins leaves)
August 1969 – Sloopy’s, Palma, Majorca (for one month) (Fred D’Albert joins on guitar)
Fred D’Albert at Sloopy’s, Palma, Majorca (Pic: Peter Cole)
While in Majorca, the musicians met Tina (Christine Sykes) who danced with The House of Orange before The Fantastics came on stage. Tina at a later date joined up with Herbie Goins & The Night-Timers. The musicians returned to the UK afterwards but eventually split up. It’s not clear whether they backed The Fantastics on a spring 1970 tour. Fred D’Albert joined Sweetwater Canal in late 1969.
18 January 1970 – Broken Wheel, Retford, Nottinghamshire with J J Jackson & The Greatest Little Band In The Land and The United Nations (Retford Times)
Photo may be subject to copyright
9 March 1970 – Orchid Ballroom, Purley, Surrey with Booker T & The MGs, Johnnie Walker, The Globe Show and Blue Mink
13 March 1970 – Castle Soul Club, Tooting Broadway, southwest London
22 March 1970 – Broken Wheel, Retford, Nottinghamshire with James & Bobby Purify, Edison’s Phonograph, The Globe Show and Midnight Express (Retford Times)
Photo may be subject to copyright
24 March 1970 – Rebecca’s, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail)
Martin Woodward in Rome
When the band folded in March 1970, Martin Woodward and James Smith formed Aquila who recorded a lone album. They then teamed up again in The Tommy Hunt Band. According to Woodward, The Fantastics tried to hire The Tommy Hunt Band but couldn’t afford them.
Aquila (L-R: Phil Childs, Ralph Denyer, George Lee, Martin Woodward, James Smith)
Peter Cole meanwhile replaced Philip Chen on bass in The Joyce Bond Review, who recorded an album, Winds of Change, as Joyce Bond and The Colour Supplement. Bond enjoyed number one hits in the West Indies on Island Records with “Do The Teasy” and a cover of The Beatles’ “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da”.
One early morning Tina met Pete Cole in the M1 services The Blue Boar after a gig with Herbie Goins. He invited Tina to join the Colour Supplement who undertook a tour in the West Indies. British Guiana, Surinam and Barbados.
Gig sources include:
Fabulous 208 Magazine, Lincolnshire Standard, Melody Maker, Crawley Advertiser, West Briton & Royal Cornwall Gazette, Birmingham Evening Mail, Northwich Chronicle, Sheffield Star, Warrington Guardian, Express & Star, Yorkshire Evening Post, Reading Evening Post
A huge thanks to Pip Williams, Martin Woodward, Ron Thomas, James Smith and Peter Cole for their help piecing the band history together. Thank you to Pip Williams for the Sovereigns photos and Peter Cole for the band images.
Simon Scott & The All-Nite Workers (May 1965-August 1965)
Simon Scott – lead vocals Mick Stewart – lead guitar Ron Thomas – bass Don Martin – organ Mel Wayne – sax Dave Mahoney – sax Eddie Thorpe – drums
Ron Thomas, Don Martin, Mel Wayne and Dave Mahoney had all recently worked with Mike Dee & The Prophets alongside singer Mick Wheeler (aka Mike Dee), lead guitarist Dave Claridge and drummer Ken Hope.
When Mick Stewart replaced Dave Claridge on lead guitar in late April/early May 1965, Mick Wheeler and Ken Hope decided to leave the band and The Prophets split up.
Mick Stewart was responsible for the link up with Simon Scott, who he’d previously worked with. With music impresario Robert Stigwood representing the band, the remaining Prophets changed name to The All-Nite Workers, taking the name and spelling from the Rufus Thomas song.
Stewart had previously played with the Ealing version of The Redcaps and brought in Eddie Thorpe from that group.
On 15 May, two days after Mike Dee & The Prophets formally split, the group met with Simon Scott for a rehearsal at Rayrick Sound in Hampstead. Two days later, the musicians met Robert Stigwood for a meeting with his Starlight Agency in London. Then, on 19 May, they returned to Rayrick Sound for a second rehearsal with Simon Scott.
On 25 May 1965, Simon Scott and The All-Nite Workers recorded “Tell Him I’m Not Home” (featuring Goldie & The Gingerbreads on backing vocals) at Regent Sound Studios in Denmark Street along with a track that was never released – “Simon Says”. The former track was subsequently coupled with an earlier recording – “Heart Cry” for a lone single on Parlophone, released on 25 June 1965.
Scott performed the A-side on Ready Steady Go, which was recorded at Studio one in Wembley on 2 July and broadcast on 9 July. Also on the same show were The Yardbirds, The Dave Clark Five, The Ivy League, Zoot Money Big Roll Band, Lulu and Goldie & The Gingerbreads.
Stigwood, who was acting as manager by this point, also arranged for the band to record an album’s worth of material at Regent Sound over a two-week period in late May-early June. The album, which contained tracks like “Last Night”, “Watermelon Man”, “Night Train”, “Land of a Thousand Dances” and “Mr Pitiful”, has never been released.
On 23 June, the band cut two tracks with Simon Scott at Rayrick Sound, Hampstead that were never released – “Son This Is She” and “One Kiss”.
After rehearsals at the Viaduct and King’s Arms pubs in Hanwell (just down the road from Jim Marshall’s shop), Trafalgar School in Twickenham and Northfields Community Centre, The All-Nite Workers participated in a short UK tour with Simon Scott from late June-late July, travelling as far north as the Drill Hall, Dumfries and as far south as the Bude Country Club, Eastleigh.
On 30 July, Simon Scott & The All-Nite Workers attended Rayrick Studio in Hampstead to rehearse two songs with the intention of recording them – “Oo Wee Baby” and “Better Get A Move On”. On 3 August they had a second rehearsal but a recording on 5 August was cancelled, possibly because the relationship between the musicians and Scott was coming to an end.
Shortly after a final gig in Greenford on 15 August 1965, the band left Simon Scott. The musicians worked independently as The All-Nite Workers until about September/October 1965 when they joined forces with future Sweet producer Phil Wainman.
Drummer Phil Wainman replaced Eddie Thorpe who had left to work with Simon Raverne in Jersey and then, ironically, The Hi-Grades (Wainman’s old band).
Gig list:
22 May 1965 – Starlight Ballroom, Greenford, west London with The Hysters (most likely without Simon Scott)
5 June 1965 – Half-way House, Southall, Middlesex with Four Jacks and a Joker (most likely without Simon Scott)
25 June 1965 – Cheltenham Spa, Town Hall, Cheltenham
26 June 1965 – Maple Ballroom, Northampton with The Shames
30 June 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London
3 July 1965 – Carlisle Market Assembly Hall, Carlisle, Cumbria with Sax-Band
9 July 1965 – Winchester Lido Ballroom, Winchester, Hampshire with The Del Rio Four
10 July 1965 – Bure Country Club, Mudeford, Dorset with The Bunch
16 July 1965 – Southsea Savoy Ballroom, Southsea, Hants with The Informers
19 July 1965 – Shrewsbury Mons Ballroom (van ran out of petrol on the way back)
22 July 1965 – Locarno Ballroom, Swindon, Wiltshire
23 July 1965 – Harwich Town Hall, Harwich, Suffolk (cancelled)
24 July 1965 – Dumfries Drill Hall, Dumfries, Scotland with Simon’s Gentlemen (billed as The Nightriders)
6 August 1965 – Welfare Centre, Corby, Northamptonshire (cancelled)
7 August 1965 – Justin Hall, West Wickham, London with C-Jam Blues
8 August 1965 – Agincourt Ballroom, Camberley, Surrey
10 August 1965 – (Top Hat?), Littlehampton, West Sussex (cancelled)
14 August 1965 – Il Rondo Ballroom, Leicester
15 August 1965 – Starlight Ballroom, Greenford, west London
Many people helped piece this story together. My personal thanks go to: Don Martin, who shared his diary and live dates from 1965. Thanks also to Ron Thomas, Mel Wayne, Mick Stewart, Simon Scott, Brian Hosking and Phil Wainman.
Mike Dee & The Prophets, photo courtesy of Don Martin
Mike Dee & The Prophets or The Mike Dee Combo as they were originally known were formed in late August/early September 1964 after singer Mick Wheeler, guitarist Dave Claridge and bass player Ron Thomas had left Guitars Incorporated to form a new outfit.
Wheeler had originally been a rhythm guitarist in Twickenham band, The Paragons in the late 1950s before joining The Jaywalkers around February 1961. Assuming the stage name, Mike Dee, he had fronted the group (which later included future Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore) until May 1962, at which point he joined the parachute regiment in the Territorial Army.
Returning to civilian life, he joined Guitars Incorporated, an instrumental band based in Southall, Middlesex around April/May 1964. (Ed. They may have briefly been known as Mike Dee & The Moquettes.)
Guitars Incorporated had been formed years earlier by bass player Ron Thomas, who’d grown up near the Cuckoo estate in Hanwell, Middlesex, and lead guitarist Peter Kindel; both having met at Brentside Secondary School in Greenford, Middlesex.
With a drummer and second guitarist Dave Claridge, who lived around the Carshalton, Surrey area and also worked for Melody Maker, they recorded some demos at Abbey Road.
Then, around the summer of 1964, Wheeler joined as lead singer and Thomas’s childhood friend, Johnny Hickson came in on drums. Not long after, however, Wheeler, Claridge and Thomas decided to put together an entirely new group.
Mike Dee & The Prophets/Mike Dee Combo (September 1964-May 1965)
Mick Wheeler (aka Mike Dee) – lead vocals Dave Claridge – lead guitar Ron Thomas – bass Don Martin – organ Mel Wayne – sax Dave Mahoney – sax Ken Hope – drums
Besides Wheeler, Thomas and Claridge, the original Prophets also included sax player Dave Mahoney, a friend of Ron Thomas’s from Brentside Secondary School in Greenford. Thomas also brought in his childhood friend from Hanwell, Don Martin, who was fooling around on the piano one day at Hanwell Community Centre when he was given the invite to join the fledgling group.
Mel Wayne (aka Melvyn Hoskins) was from the Twickenham area and was brought in by Mick Wheeler after playing with Colin Shane & The Shannons, who also featured Colin Shane (lead vocals); Dave Mumford (lead guitar); Dick Merrit (bass); Dave King (rhythm guitar) and Alan Worrell (drums).
The Prophets used another drummer initially before Ken Hope, who was Mick Wheeler’s best man at his wedding on 27 February 1965, came on board after playing in The Tony Meehan Combo.
Managed by Mac McQueen, Mike Dee & The Prophets rehearsed at a community centre in Northfields before hitting the road. On 31 January 1965, the group participated in a photo shoot in Gunnersbury’s Park near Chiswick.
On 25 April 1965, the band auditioned at Rocky Rivers, a studio on Tottenham Court Road, which may have been when they were spotted by Australian impresario and entertainment entrepreneur Robert Stigwood, who signed them to his agency, the Robert Stigwood Organisation.
Soon after the link up with Stigwood, Dave Claridge left and Ron Thomas invited guitarist Mick Stewart, a friend from the Cuckoo estate in Hanwell, to replace him.
Mick Stewart had previously filled in briefly as a guitarist for Screaming Lord Sutch’s backing band, The Savages and also played with The Ealing Redcaps.
The Redcaps in November 1964 with Mick Stewart (far right)
More recently, Stewart had played with Indian-born singer Simon Scott and Stigwood arranged for The Prophets to become Scott’s new support band after he had split from The Leroys.
Mick Wheeler decided that he’d had enough and left with drummer Ken Hope. Mike Dee & The Prophets broke up on 13 May 1965.
The remaining members brought in Mick Stewart’s friend Eddie Thorpe on drums and assumed a new name – The All Nite Workers, taken from the Rufus Thomas song. By September/October of that year, the group had undergone several personnel changes and become The Phil Wainman Band.
In mid-1966, Mick Wheeler and Ken Hope returned to the live scene with a new outfit, interestingly also called The All Night Workers. Wheeler would later work with Jo Jo Gunne and The Love Affair.
Notable gigs:
1 January 1965 – Putney Ballroom, Putney, Middlesex with Roger Evans Combo and Louisiana Stompers
2 January 1965 – St Peter’s Hall, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey with Dave & The Allies and Roger Evans Combo
17 January 1965 – Peter’s Club, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
22 January 1965 – Surbiton Assembly Rooms, Surbiton, Surrey
29 January 1965 – Cambridge Hall, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey (Youth Club Dance)
2 February 1965 – Alamo, Acton, Middlesex
7 February 1965 – Peter’s Club, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
12 February 1965 – Taggs Island Casino, Hampton Court, Middlesex (Annual Press Ball) with Roger and Caroline
13 February 1965 – Kingston Technical College, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey with Alexis Korner
19 February 1965 – St Peter’s Hall, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey
20 February 1965 – Goldhawk Social Club, Shepherd’s Bush
5 March 1965 – Oldfield Hotel, Greenford, Middlesex (Ealing Football Club Dance)
6 March 1965 – Flamingo, London with Errol Dixon and Tony Knights Chessmen
7 March 1965 – Peter’s Club, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
14 March 1965 – Starlight Ballroom, Greenford, Middlesex with The Who
20 March 1965 – London Transport Dance at Gunnersbury Lane
21 March 1965 – Peter’s Club, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
24 March 1965 – Heatham House, Twickenham, Middlesex
26 March 1965 – White Hart, Southall, Middlesex
27 March 1965 – Kingston Technical College, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey with Champion Jack Dupree and The Sheffields
2 April 1965 – Cambridge Club, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey
3 April 1965 – Starlight Ballroom, Greenford, Middlesex with Tony Knight & The Livewires
12 April 1965 – Ealing Club, Ealing, Middlesex
23 April 1965 – Zephyr Club, Little Chalfont
24 April 1965 – Wiggin Hall, Mortlake, Surrey
2 May 1965 – Southall Community Centre, Southall, Middlesex with Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers
8 May 1965 – Starlight Ballroom, Greenford, Middlesex with J J & The Challengers
Many people helped piece this story together. My personal thanks go to: Don Martin for sharing his diary and the band dates. Also thanks to Mick Wheeler, Ron Thomas, Mel Wayne, Mick Stewart and Brian Hosking.
Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement, clockwise from front: Ron Thomas, Mick Fletcher, Gary Hamilton, Tony Sinclair, Mel Wayne, Dave Mahoney and (sitting down) Phil Wainman. All except Gary Hamilton (and John Droy, not in photo) were in The New Generation (version 2) backing Jimmy Cliff.
Jamaican reggae singer Jimmy Cliff is best known to international audiences for the songs “Sitting in Limbo”, “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and “Many Rivers to Cross”, taken from the 1972 soundtrack album The Harder They Come. One of the first artists to introduce reggae to a wider audience, Cliff started performing in his native Jamaica during the early 1960s where he was spotted by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, who brought him to England in October/November 1965.
Over the next four years, Cliff worked the UK club scene with a series of backing groups – The New Generation, The Sound System, Dave Anthony’s Moods, The Soul System (aka The Attack), The Shakedown Sound (December 1966-February 1968) and The Wynder K Frog Band, playing a mixture of soul and R&B.
Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation
(November 1965-February 1966)
Jimmy Cliff – lead vocals Dave Pegg – lead guitar Graham Gallery – bass Dave Brown – organ Frank Devine – drums Ayshea Brough – vocals Pete Hodge(s) – vocals
Cliff’s first band, The New Generation, was a Birmingham group known as Roy Everett’s Blueshounds, whose most notable member was future Fairport Convention bass player Dave Pegg.
Photo: Blueshounds
The Blueshounds were good mates of The Spencer Davis Group, who put in a good word for the band when Chris Blackwell was looking for musicians to support Cliff on the road. In November 1965, Blackwell released The Spencer Davis Group’s “Keep on Running”, the band’s first number one single.
Photo: Melody Maker, April 1966
Around the same time, Blackwell signed The Blueshounds to the agency he co-ran, West End Promotions Ltd, which also represented The Steampacket, Hedgehoppers Anonymous, The Alex Harvey Go Soul Show, Millie Small, Ayshea Brough and the newly arrived Jimmy Cliff.
With Pete Hodge(s) taking over from Roy Everett, The Blueshounds attended an “audition” recording session at Cecil Sharpe House in London on 23 November 1965 with promoter George Webb (The Spencer Davis Group’s agent) and DJ Alan Freeman.
Also in attendance that day were Jimmy Cliff and Ayshea Brough, a young singer that George Webb was trying to launch on the scene, who’d been working with future Hedgehoppers Anonymous drummer Glenn Martin.
Passing the audition, The Blueshounds were renamed The New Generation and Cliff travelled up to Birmingham to stay with Dave Pegg’s family for about two weeks while rehearsals took place to ready the band for the road. Singers Ayshea Brough and Pete Hodge(s) were also added to the touring band and had their own vocal spots in the show.
The (incomplete) gig listing below, which is taken from Dave Pegg’s scrap book unless otherwise noted), shows that the band’s debut took place at the Ritz Ballroom in King’s Heath, West Midlands in mid-December.
For most of these gigs, the band was billed as The New Generation, although the Marquee gigs list them as The Jimmy Cliff Big Sound. The only exception is a show at the Cue Club in Paddington, central London on 28 January where the band was billed as The Sound System, which may originally have been assigned for Cliff’s second support group (see below), although Dave Pegg’s version did honour this gig.
Notable gigs (from Dave Pegg’s diary unless noted)
15 December 1965 – The Ritz Ballroom, King’s Heath, West Midlands
17 December 1965 – The Carlton Ballroom, Erdington, West Midlands with Steampacket and Graham Bond
17 December 1965 – Birmingham Town Hall, Birmingham with Steampacket and Graham Bond
23 December 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Steampacket (billed as Jimmy Cliff Big Sound)
24 December 1965 – Jigsaw, Manchester with Jimmy Powell 5 Dimensions (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) (Billed as Explosive Jimmy Cliff, The New Generation, Ayshea and Pete Hodges)
26 December 1965 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire with Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds and The Tribe (Evening Sentinel) (billed as Jimmy Cliffe, Ayshea, Peter Hodges and The New Generation). This is missing from Dave Pegg’s list
31 December 1965 – Dungeon, Nottingham with Ayshea and Pete Hodges (Nottingham Evening Post)
3 January 1966 – Cooks Ferry Inn, Edmonton, north London (Tottenham Weekly Herald)
6 January 1966 – The Village, Cleethorpes with Ayshea and Pete Hodges (Grimsby Evening Telegraph)
8 January 1966 – The Village, Cleethorpes with Ayshea and Pete Hodges (Grimsby Evening Telegraph) Says back by demand
14 January 1966 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Leicester Mercury)
15 January 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester (Manchester Evening News) (billed as Jimmy Cliff plus New Generations Plus Ashea Plus Pete Hodges)
16 January 1966 – Black Prince Hotel, Bexley, south east London (Melody Maker) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation with Ayshea and Pete Hodges)
22 January 1966 – Mr McCoys, Middlesbrough (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation)
23 January 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester (Manchester Evening News) (billed as the Explosive Jimmy Cliff with New Generation, Pete Hodges and Ayshea) Replaced Manfred Mann
27 January 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Steampacket
28 January 1966 – The Cue Club, central Paddington (billed as Jimmy Cliff, Owen Gray, Ayshea and The Sound System)
29 January 1966 – The Ricky Tick, Clewer Mead, Windsor, Berkshire
30 January 1966 – The Village, Cleethorpes with Ayshea and Pete Hodges (Grimsby Evening Telegraph)
4 February 1966 – Bluesville R&B Club, Manor House, Finsbury Park, north London (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation featuring Ayesha and Pete Hodge)
5 February 1966 – Chelsea College, south west London with The Spencer Davis Group
It’s not entirely clear why Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation went their separate ways in early February 1966. Dave Pegg’s diary shows that a gig planned for 6 February was cancelled and on 13 February he was back in Birmingham working with a new band – The Uglys.
Aldershot News does list Jimmy Cliff playing at Farnborough Town Hall on 9 February but this may not have happened.
The decision to find a second band to back Cliff on the road was probably made in mid-late January and Chris Blackwell already knew who he wanted for the job.
Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System/New Generation
(February-July 1966)
Jimmy Cliff – lead vocals Tony Sinclair – lead guitar Ron Thomas – bass Mick Fletcher – organ John Droy – trumpet Mel Wayne – sax Dave Mahoney – sax Pete Hodges – vocals Ayshea Brough – vocals Phil Wainman – drums
The next group to back Jimmy Cliff on the road was also, somewhat confusingly, initially billed as The New Generation, although they also used the name The Sound System. Promoters added to the confusion by sometimes billing the band as The Jimmy Cliff Big Sound and The Jimmy Cliff Sound.
The Sound System, as they became around early January, had originally been called The Phil Wainman Band/Set. Phil Wainman, who years later found fame as a noted producer among other things, had first started out as a drummer in the early 1960s, working with The Hi Grades in Sweden and The Paramounts before linking up with the remnants of west London band, The All-Nite Workers around October 1965.
Ron Thomas, Mel Wayne and Dave Mahoney had all been members of this group, which had morphed out of Mike Dee & The Prophets in early-mid 1965. Mick Fletcher joined from The Epitaph Soul Band when it became The Phil Wainman Band/Set around October 1965 after briefly playing in The Herd while Tony Sinclair and John Droy came in soon after, the former from Johnny Halliday’s band in France.
According to David Katz’s excellent book, Jimmy Cliff – An Unauthorised Biography, The Phil Wainman Band/Set secured a residency at Dolly’s Club in Jermyn Street in central London around November of that year. One night Chris Blackwell dropped in and introduced himself.
After be-friending Wainman, he kept the musicians in mind as a support band for the Jamaican acts on Island Records’ roster, including Jackie Edwards, Millie Small and Owen Gray.
Changing name to The Sound System, Wainman’s band started rehearsing with these acts in late January and one early gig, backing Owen Gray, took place at the New All Star Club in Artillery Passage near Liverpool Street station, London on 5 February 1966.
Around this time, it became clear that Cliff and the original New Generation would be separating so Wainman’s band started rehearsing with the singer when he wasn’t gigging with Dave Pegg’s group. After a few weeks’ rehearsals, Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System/New Generation debuted at the Marquee on 10 February, billed as The Jimmy Cliff Big Sound.
Over the next four and half months, Wainman’s band backed Cliff on the road, which included a package tour with The Who and The Spencer Davis Group in April 1966. It was during this time that Keith Moon spotted Wainman’s Red Sparkle Premier drum kit with two bass drums and decided to switch to the same set up two months later.
According to Wainman, Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System/New Generation were particularly popular in Grimsby and played there at least once a month. They also played four nights at the Penthouse.
However, some time in late July 1966, Jimmy Cliff and The Sound System/New Generation went their separate ways.
It’s not clear who backed Jimmy Cliff for a series of gigs that took place at London’s Whisky A Go Go on 9, 16 and 23 August as no support band is listed in Melody Maker, but he was joined by Dave Anthony’s Moods and The Soul System (aka The Attack) at some point during this period.
In December 1966, Jimmy Cliff hooked up with his next group, The Shakedown Sound with whom he worked with until February 1968. He then joined forces with Wynder K Frog.
As for The Sound System, the musicians joined forces with singer Gary Hamilton who was putting together a new version of Hamilton & The Movement (see future entry).
Notable gigs:
10 February 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Steampacket (Melody Maker) (billed as Jimmy Cliff Big Sound)
13 February 1966 – Nottingham Boat Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation)
15 February 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) (billed as Explosive Jimmy Cliff, The New Generation, Pete Hodges and Ayshea)
19 February 1966 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Melody Maker) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation, with Ayshea and Pete Hodge)
20 February 1966 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation)
21 February 1966 – Wall City Jazz Club, Quaintways, Chester, Cheshire with Lee, Eddie Showgroup, The Wall City Jazzmen and The Style (Cheshire Observer) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation with Ayshea and Pete Hodges)
24 February 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Steampacket (Melody Maker) (billed as Jimmy Cliff Big Sound)
25 February 1966 – Southall Community Centre, Southall, west London (Hayes Gazette)
3 March 1966 – Blue Moon, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (Gloucester Citizen)
4 March 1966 – Adelphi Ballroom, West Bromwich, West Midlands with The Ugly and The Craig (Birmingham Evening Mail) Dave Pegg from the first New Generation was on bass with The Uglys
8 March 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with The Spencer Davis Group (Melody Maker) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation)
11 March 1966 – Rialto, Derby (Derby Evening Telegraph)
12 March 1966 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear (Newcastle Evening Chronicle) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation with Ayshea)
20 March 1966 – King Mojo, Sheffield, South Yorkshire (Sheffield Star) (billed as Jimmy Cliff, Aysha and The New Generation)
25 March 1966 – Mr McCoys, Middlesbrough with The Warriors (Middlesbrough Evening Gazette) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation)
26 March 1966 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Melody Maker) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation and Pete Hodge)
27 March 1966 – Shakespeare Hotel, Woolwich, south east London (South East London Mercury) (billed as Jimmy Cliff)
3 April 1966 – Kirklevington Country Club, Kirklevington, North Yorkshire (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System)
4 April 1966 – The Village, Cleethorpes with Ayshea and Pete Hodges (Grimsby Evening Telegraph)
8 April 1966 – El Partido, Lewisham, south east London with The Raisons (South East London Mercury)
10 April 1966 – Eel Pie Island, Twickenham, west London (Pete Watt’s research) (billed as The Jimmy Cliff Show)
11 April 1966 – The Catacombe, Eastbourne, East Sussex (Eastbourne Herald Chronicle) Billed as Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System
14 April 1966 – Gaumont Theatre, Southampton, Hants with The Who, The Spencer Davis Group, The Band of Angels and Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System)
15 April 1966 – Fairfield Hall, Croydon, south London with The Who, The Spencer Davis Group, The Band of Angels and Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System)
16 April 1966 – Odeon, Watford, Herts with The Who, The Spencer Davis Group, The Band of Angels and Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System)
17 April 1966 – Regal Theatre, Edmonton, north London with The Who, The Spencer Davis Group, The Band of Angels and Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System)
10 May 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Spencer Davis Group (Melody Maker) (billed as Jimmy Cliff Sound)
13 May 1966 – Club A Go Go, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear (Newcastle Evening Chronicle)
15 May 1966 – The Village, Cleethorpes (Grimsby Evening Telegraph) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & Package Show)
16 May 1966 – The Beachcomber, Preston, Lancashire (Lancashire Evening Post) Billed as Jimmy Cliff & The Sound Systems
20 May 1966 – Il Rondo, Leicester (Leicester Mercury)
21 May 1966 – Marcam Hall, March, Cambridgeshire (Cambridgeshire Times) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generation and straight from the Flamingo, central London)
22 May 1966 – Eel Pie Island, Twickenham, west London (Pete Watt’s research) (billed as The Jimmy Cliff Show)
2 June 1966 – Black Horse, Northfield, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail) (Billed as Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System)
4 June 1966 – Jigsaw, Manchester (Manchester Evening News & Chronicle) (billed as Jimmy Cliff Show)
6 June 1966 – Wall City Jazz Club, Quaintways, Chester, Cheshire with The Max Colley Jazzband, The Wall City Jazzmen and The Connoisseurs (Cheshire Observer) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & Group)
8-11 June 1966 – Penthouse, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail) (billed as Jimmy Cliff Show) Says direct from Tiles
12 June 1966 – Hotel Leofric, Coventry (Coventry Evening Telegraph) (billed as the Explosive Jimmy Cliff)
14 June 1966 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Spencer Davis Group (Melody Maker) (billed as Jimmy Cliff Sound)
18 June 1966 – Stamford Hotel, Stamford, Lincolnshire (Stamford Mercury) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System)
19 June 1966 – Eel Pie Island, Twickenham, west London (Pete Watt’s research) (billed as The Jimmy Cliff Show)
25 June 1966 – The Catacombe, Eastbourne, East Sussex (Eastbourne Herald Chronicle) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generations)
26 June 1966 – Le Metro Club, Birmingham (Birmingham Evening Mail) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System with Pete Hodges)
1 July 1966 – California Ballroom, Dunstable, Bedfordshire with Him & The Others (website: https://www.california-ballroom.info/gigs/) (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System)
2 July 1966 – The Village, Cleethorpes with Pete Hodges (Grimsby Evening Telegraph)
8 July 1966 – Hull College of Technology Students’ Union, Skyline Ballroom, Hull with The Small Faces, The Mike Cotton Sound, Herbie Goins & The Night-Timers, The Mode and Eddie Gray & His Band (Hull Daily Mail) (Billed as Jimmy Cliff & The Sound System)
17 July 1966 – Central R&B Club, Central Hotel, Gillingham, Kent (billed as Jimmy Cliff & The New Generations)
22 July 1966 – Royal Oak, Hockley Heath, West Midlands (Birmingham Evening Mail)
23 July 1966 – Dungeon, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post) Says with New Generation
23 July 1966 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, north London (Melody Maker)
30 July 1966 – The Beachcomber, Preston, Lancashire (Lancashire Evening Post) Possibly the band’s final gig before split with Cliff and teaming up with Gary Hamilton
I’d like to thank the following for their help in piecing this story together: Dave Pegg, David Katz, Laurie Hornsby, Andy Neill, Ron Thomas, Phil Wainman, Mel Wayne and Brian Hosking.
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
The following month, on 11-12 March, the musicians found themselves on the campus of Essex University in Colchester where a number of bands, including the up and coming Pink Floyd were entertaining the students.
However, despite having supported The Who at Leeds University on 21 January and then making a notable appearance at the Saville Theatre opening for Chuck Berry and Del Shannon on 19 February, the single’s commercial failure prompted the backers to drastically reduce the group’s bookings.
