The Blue Note Club at 174a Roker Avenue, Sunderland was a popular venue in the mid sixties but it was fairly short lived. Although some of the top touring bands of the era appeared there in the twelve months or so that it was open, the club became more famous for contraception than for music.
The Blue Note was opened in September 1964 by a business man named Ray Grehan, who was involved in several other music ventures in the North East. The main room in the club was housed on the first floor of a large building, which was part of a terrace of houses and shops on the South side of Roker Avenue, not far from its junction with Church Street North. As well as local bands, such as the Junco Partners, well know national bands also appeared at the club regularly – the likes of the Mindbenders, Alex Harvey Soul Band and the Pretty Things.
Advert for the Blue Note’s opening night in 1964
I played at the Blue Note a couple of times with the Kylastrons, early in 1965. On one of these occasions I saw the Junco Partners for the first time. At that point in time they were the best band I had seen. They were all great musicians and the two singers, Ronnie Barker and John Anderson gave the band a charisma and energy that no other North East bands could touch.
At some stage during its lifetime, the Blue Note started attracting adverse publicity in the local press. It was frequently raided by the police for under aged drinking. It was one of the first establishments in the area to have a condom machine installed in the gents toilet. The bad press was not due to the existence of the machine but because the resident DJ, John Harker, encouraged club goers, over the house PA, to go to the toilet and get their “goodies”. The consequence of the police raids and the press involvement was that the Blue Note closed down, probably because it failed to get its license renewed.
174a Roker Avenue, the home of the Blue Note and Club Astec – how it looks today
After the Blue Note, John Harker went on to be a popular DJ in many of the North East’s clubs. He appeared in the eighties TV music show, ‘The Tube’ as resident DJ. Sadly, John died in 2008.
I’m not sure of the exact date when the Blue Note actually closed its doors but it reopened as an unlicensed venue in the spring of 1966 and its name was changed to Club Astec. Business was brisk in the summer of 1966, in particular during the period that some of the World Cup games were being played at Roker Park. I played regularly at the Astec with the Jazzboard and a lot of the crowd from the el Cubana came to see us at the club. Another popular Sunderland band that performed regularly at the Astec were Revolutionary Spirit. However the club lacked the atmosphere of its predecessor, the Blue Note and attendances fell off. The Club Astec did not last too long as an unlicensed venue.
I’ve included this page so I could mention some of the musicians and bands that were around in Sunderland while I was still at school. A couple of noteworthy ex-pupils from my own school, Bede Grammar School for Boys, are Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and Don Airey. Don has had a distinguished career as a keyboard player with Rainbow, the Ozzy Osbourne band and more recently, Deep Purple. An ex-pupil from my primary school who I knew at the time was Bob Marshall who went on to play for a top Sunderland Band in the early sixties – Chris Warren and the Strangers. Bob later joined the John Miles Set – remember ‘Music (is my first love)’? Chris Warren later joined Pickettywitch who had chart success with That Same Old Feeling.
The sax wasn’t the first instrument I learned. My first instrument was the violin and my first experience of playing with other musicians was in the school orchestra at Bede Grammar School. My first public appearance outside of the orchestra was at the age of fifteen at a school concert playing Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five”. The scratch band for the occasion was called the Guthrie Quartet after the drummer, Graham Guthrie. The others in the band were a Scots lad called Jimmy Wilson on upright bass, Donald Airey on piano plus me on alto sax.
When I was learning to play music, the Singles charts were dominated by American performers. A lot were solo singers such as Pat Boone, Bobby Darrin, Johnny Tillotson, Bobby Vee and of course, Elvis. There were also a few instrumentalists like Duane Eddy and Johnny & the Hurricanes. In the UK, the Shadows were the number one instrumental group and the musicians that most youngsters were trying to emulate. At this point in time a lot of local groups started springing up, at first covering the music of the Shadows and then expanding their repertoire to include current chart hits. The first band I ever saw live was Paul Ryan and the Streaks in South Hylton. They had a great sax player called Bernie. I was just learning to play at the time and listening to the Streaks made me realise that I had a long, long way to go.
Paul Ryan and the Streaks – photo kindly supplied by Bernie Walsh
While I was still at school, Graham Guthrie and I started up a group called the Katians named after a couple of girls he fancied at the time. By this time I had changed over to tenor sax. The Katians had a line up of two saxophones, organ, guitar, bass and drums. The group played instrumental covers of tunes by Johnny and the Hurricanes, the Rocking Rebels, Jet Harris and Duane Eddy. The Katians never really got any further than a couple of concerts at a church hall in South Hylton. During the this period, I was also playing second tenor sax in a fifteen piece dance band run by some students at the local teachers training college.
The Katians – left to right: Roger Smith (tenor sax), Graham Guthrie (drums), Peewee Milburn (guitar), Alan Joynes (alto sax). Kate and Gillian – after who the Katians were named – (vocals) .
By this time the Beatles were starting to establish themselves as a household name. The ‘Liverpool Sound’ was born and dozens of other Merseyside performers achieved chart success following in the Beatles wake: Bands such as the Gerry and the Pacemakers, Billy J Kramer and the Dakotas, Cilla Black, Freddie and the Dreamers to name but a few. So why not a ‘North East Sound”? The Animals had charted with House of the Rising Sun and had proved that the Newcastle had a lot to offer. Could they start an avalanche of North East bands the same as the Beatles had done in the North West? In 1964 I went to the Sunderland Empire to see a show called the Geordie Sound featuring a number of North East bands; Kim & the Kinetics, the VIPs, The Delemares and Paul Ryan & the Streaks (mentioned above). In addition the show featured the up and coming Joe Cocker. Unfortunately the show was a bit of a flop outside of the North East and failed to establish Newcastle as the “new” Liverpool.
Souvenir booklet from the Geordie Sound tour (kindly supplied by Bernie Walsh) – see more below
Graham Guthrie and I played together in a couple more bands before moving on to the Conrads with a lead guitarist, bass player and vocalist/rhythm guitarist who all lived quite near to me. We played a lot of the current chart material – Beatles, Kinks, Dave Clark Five and the like.
The Conrads business card
Apart from the odd wedding reception and party, our only regular gig was at a youth club dance at St Barnabus church hall in Sunderland where we always shared the stage with another young band called the Fireflies. The drummer in the Fireflies was Nigel Olsson who I would later play with in the Jazzboard and James South. The Fireflies guitarist was Mick Grabham who was a member of Plastic Penny with Nigel and later went on to play with Cochise and Procol Harum.
The Conrads performing at a wedding reception in 1964
The Conrads didn’t last that long. David Snowdon, the lead guitarist joined a gigging band and started to play working men’s clubs on a regular basis. He later went on to play with the Up North Combine. Peter Watson, the bass player, joined a band called the Quandowns and eventually went to Hamburg as a professional musician. In later years I would play again with both David and Peter in separate bands.
The Conrads at St Barnabus Church Hall in Hendon, Sunderland in 1964
The Conrads at St Barnabus Church Hall. Left to right; Alan Wharton (vocals/guitar), Peter Watson (bass), Roger Smith (tenor sax), Graham Guthrie (drums) and David Snowdon (lead guitar)
One of my most enjoyable periods in North East bands was the stint with Jazzboard between 1965 and 1967. Jazzboard was fronted by the talented Bruce Lowes, a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who continues to perform in several North East bands today with the same enthusiasm as he had back in the sixties.
Although Bruce has never achieved the national fame which he probably deserves, he can boast that he played a significant part in shaping the course of popular music in the seventies and eighties. This is how it came about:-
Back in 1962 and 1963, Bruce sang and played drums in a North East band called the Banshees. The band was managed by Bruce’s father, Herbert Lowes, a business man who later managed the Jazzboard. In addition to his musical interests, Bruce was also a keen cyclist. During the early sixties, he belonged to a cycling club called the Houghton-le-Spring Clarion. Another member of this club was none other than Bryan Ferry who, at the time, was still at school. In 1963 while Bruce was still with the Banshees he met up with Bryan Ferry and offered him an audition as singer with the band. Ferry, who had not previously sang in a band, joined the Banshees and stayed with them until he went to study at Newcastle University.
The Banshees business card
Several bands later, into the seventies, Bryan Ferry was catapulted to national and international stardom with Roxy Music. There can be no doubt that Ferry and Roxy Music influenced the Punk, New Wave and New Romantic movements of the eighties. They even had an affect on the style and direction of the musician and producer, Nile Rodgers who created the seventies disco band, Chic. And had it not been for Roxy Music, Brian Eno may not have got to produce acts such as Talking Heads, U2, Ultravox, Devo and Coldplay.
If Bruce had not offered Bryan Ferry the gig with the Banshees would popular music in the seventies and eighties have been somewhat different? Of course, it can be argued that Ferry may have found a different route into music. But not according to the man himself. In Michael Bracewell’s book ‘Roxy – The band that invented an era’, Ferry refers to a chance encounter, without which his life would have been very different.
Quoting from the book, Ferry says: “When I was just about to leave school, I bumped into this guy, Bruce, who had been in my cycling world. He said, ‘I’ve got a group – I play drums in a band. We’re looking for a singer – can you sing?’ And I said, ‘Er -yeah’.
“So Bruce asked me to come along for an audition, which was held in his dad’s hairdressing salon in Shiney Row, another village about three or four miles away. And there in this salon, with all these hair dryers around the room – weird looking space age hairdryers – was this band set up. I had never sung in my life before, except at home, singing along with my records. So I thought this might be a way of making some money. I got the job anyway and became their singer. And for someone who was as shy as me, I was quite amazed that I could do it. His dad was the manager and he had a whole diary full of bookings for that summer period.
“They were called the Banshees, and they did all these Chuck Berry songs like ‘Sweet Little Sixteen’ and ‘Johnny B Goode’.
“The group did really well, but when it came to September it was time to leave them and start university. If I hadn’t bumped into Bruce, this drummer, I would never have done anything in music, I’m sure of it. So if I hadn’t been in the cycling club and met him then ….It’s funny how things can lead to another in a strange way. So it’s best not to question why you do certain things. It was a chance meeting.”
The Gas Board with Brian Ferry (right)
So that’s how Bruce was directly responsible for starting the chain of events that eventually led to Roxy Music – “the band that invented an era”. After the Banshees, Bryan Ferry performed in a soul covers band in the north east called the Gas Board while he was at Newcastle University.
Incidentally, the hairdressing salon referred to by Bryan Ferry was where I auditioned with the Jazzboard a couple of years later in 1965. (It was situated near the old railway bridge at New Herrington – a mile or so from Shiney Row).
Site of the hairdressers shop (now a taxi office) where Bryan Ferry auditioned with the Banshees
Here’s a summary of Bruce’s musical career in the North East, from the early days of the Banshees through to his current bands:-
The Banshees (1962 to 1963)
The Banshees first gig was in July 1962 at the Black Bull, Nettlesworth, County Durham for the grand fee of £7 (enough to buy about 150 pints of federation beer back then). The line-up in 1963 was: Bryan Ferry (vocals), Clive Edmunson (bass), Eric Vincent (guitar) plus another guitarist called Jeff and Bruce on drums.
Bruce’s next band was the Fallout which consisted of Clive and Eric from Banshees plus Mick Grabham on guitar and Nigel Olsson (from the Fireflies) on drums. There were number of changes in the band in 1965 when Jimmy Hall (organ) and Brian Hughes (bass) – both from the Blackouts joined. Mick Grabham quit the band to pursue a career in London leaving them without a guitarist. The name was changed to the Jazzboard and later that year in September I joined as saxophonist.
Bruce and Brian Hughes performing with the Jazzboard
The Jazzboard is well documented elsewhere on the site. Here are a few pictures of Bruce with the band. It was during this period that Bruce learned to play the alto saxophone. At one stage the band opened with a few sax based instrumentals featuring tenor and alto – Bootleg by Booker T and Can’t Sit Down by Phil Upchurch.
The Jazzboard in 1966 – Roger Smith (sax), Jimmy Hall (organ), Nigel Olsson (drums), Bruce (vocals) and Brian Hughes (bass)
After the Jazzboard broke up in July 1967, Bruce joined the Sunderland band – This Years Girl
The line-up for This Years Girl was Bruce – vocals and harp, Jackie Ingram – sax and vocals, Bob Anderson – guitar, Ian Murray -bass and Sid Simkins – drums.
In January 1968 Nigel Olsson, the drummer with the Jazzboard and later James South, joined Plastic Penny who had a hit record early that year with “Everything I Am”. In 1968 Bruce joined Plastic Penny as road manager.
The second version of the Wobblies included Bruce on vocals, harmonica and 5 string banjo, Jimmy Hall on accordion, John Thompson on fiddle and George Fearon, guitar. The band also had a dancer called Peggy Thompson.
The Divers featured Bruce on drums. Others in the band were: Jeff Morland (aka Barking Billy Lee) – vocals, Jimmy Hall- keyboards, Tim Redman – guitar and Ian Murray – bass. Tim Redman later went on to play with Arthur 2-Stroke & the Chart Commandoes who had a couple of minor hits in the early eighties.
Bruce switched from drums to harp for the Rhythm Dogs. Other members of the band were Jeff Morland (Billy Lee) – vocals, Nick Philips – guitar, Andy Rippon – bass and Steve Ellis – drums.
The line-up for Mean Mr Mustard was John Wake – vocals, John Hunter – guitar, Dave Gray – bass, Roger Perkins – drums with Bruce on harp and backing vocals.
In 1989 Bruce, under the name of ‘Bruce McDonald’ commenced his first stint on harp with the Alligators. The band featured ex-Animal Hilton Valentine on rhythm guitar. Other members of the original Alligators were Robert Kane – vocals, George Fearon – guitar, Dave Coulson – bass and Dave Dodsworth – drums.
As well as local gigs, The Alligators performed nationwide and in Europe, including a Swedish tour. The band recorded five times which included a couple of sessions with Chas Chandler.
Dave Coulson left the band at the end of 1991 to be replaced by Jos Elliot.
The Alligators at Marden Residents Club, Whitley Bay in 1992
Robert Kane and Bruce at Gothemburg in 1990
The Alligators publicity photos
George Fearon and Bruce performing with the Alligators at the Fish Quay Festival in 1993
The second version of the Nighthawks included Bruce and Tim from the original line up plus Dale Moon – vocals, Don Morton – keyboards and slide guitar, Rob Whatnell – bass and Jeff Wright –drums and vocals.
In addition to the Scrapyard Dogs, Bruce also performs regularly with Alligators. There’s a great site about the Alligators put together by one of their most dedicated fans. It has lots of information and pictures about the band, past and present. Here’s the link to Mike’s Alligators.
The Cellar Club in South Shields is probably best remembered as the venue that on 1 February 1967 hosted one of Jim Hendrix’s few performances in the North East of England. This was the New Cellar Club. A purpose built three storey building on Thomas Street (without a cellar), which opened on 2 December 1966. The New Cellar was impressively advertised as a £50,000 disco club for 18 to 25 year olds. It bore no resemblance to the original Cellar Club which it replaced.
Advert for the Hendrix gig
The old Cellar, otherwise known as the Cellar Jazz Club was situated not far from Thomas Street at 45 Beach Road. It was opened in 1956 by Gladys Hogg, a former dance teacher who had previously used the premises for her dance school. Gladys was the mother of Stan Bailey, one of the founder figures of the well known Bailey Organisation. The Cellar was housed in a terraced building, which from the outside looked like large family home. Although it did start its life as a jazz club and ran for many years as such, in later years the music changed over to R&B, soul or whatever was popular at the time with jazz still being played on a Monday evening.
The River City Jazzmen performing at the Cellar Jazz Club in the early sixties
I first started playing at the old Cellar midway through 1966. At that time, the club was open seven days a week with a different local band every night. My memory of the premises is as follows: -
The hallway where Alf Hobson the doorman, dressed in a black suit, white shirt and bow tie, took your money and signed in guests had a small table not far from the front door. There was a bar in the one of the rooms to the right and the main rooms where the band played were downstairs in the basement. The basement had a stone floor and there was no stage and no dressing room.
The Cellar Jazz Club (the old Cellar Club) on Beach Road as it looks today
The following photos of the old Cellar were kindly sent to me by Brian Short who used to be a member of the North East band, the Sect. Brian visited the building which housed the Old Cellar decades after the club had closed. The owners at the time were having some building work done but up to that point had left the original basement much the same as it had been in 1966: -
The stairs leading to the basement
The basement where the bands played
One of the wall paintings
Another view of the basement
THE NEW CELLAR CLUB
I was one of the first musicians to perform at the new Cellar Club on Thomas Street. Before the official opening on 2 December 1966, a party was held for the staff and the contractors who had built the club. The Jazzboard were booked to play at the party, which took place on 1 December 1966.
Advert for the New Cellar
The main dance floor was on the top floor with raised seating areas on three sides. Unlike the old Cellar, there was a stage for the band and the DJ. In fact, musicians were well catered for with their own dressing room/relaxation area behind a revolving stage. The bar was on the raised area opposite the stage. From what I can recall, there was a bar and eating area on the first floor and the only places accessible to the public on the ground floor were the foyer and toilets. The place was well decorated and furnished.
View of the stage from just below the bar area
I remember the round black tables which were specially made for the club. On the surface they had the names of the local bands that had played at the old Cellar club; Junco Partners, Jazzboard, Shady Kases, the Sect, Elcort etc.
During the first few years, a lot of well known acts played at the New Cellar. Some that come to mind are: Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band, Alex Harvey, Family, Chicken Shack, Rory Gallagher, Tim Harding and, of course, Jimi Hendrix. Here is a link to a site about Jimi Hendrix gigs in the North East. There’s also a lot about the Cellar and some information about some north east bands that played there in the sixties.
More Cellar memorabilia: -
Jimi Hendrix at the Cellar on 1st February 1967
Membership application for the New Cellar
Ads for the New Cellar’s opening night with Cream on 2 December 1966
A fairly recent photo of the building which housed the New Cellar Club
Adverts for the Cellar Jazz Club (the old Cellar Club on Beach Road)
Adverts for New Cellar Club
The Jazzboard performing at the New Cellar Club, Thomas Street in 1967
If you have any stories, pictures or comments about the north east music scene in the sixties and early seventies or anything else I could use on this site, I’d love to hear from you.
If you have any queries about the people or places mentioned on the site, please get in touch.
I learned of the death of ex-Jazzboard organist, Jimmy Hall just after Christmas 2005. A news article on Sky News reported that a 57 year old Sunderland businessman named James Hall had been murdered on Christmas Eve in Thailand. At the time I wondered if this could be the same Jimmy Hall who I had played with in the Jazzboard in the mid sixties.
A few days later a more detailed report about the death appeared in the Sunderland Echo. This article contained information about James Hall’s life as a musician and included a fairly recent photograph. I had no doubt then that it was my old friend Jimmy that had been murdered. Not long after, the Echo ran other articles about Jimmy and also gave information about two special tribute concerts in memory of him, which were going to take place in Sunderland in February.
Sunderland Echo feature about Jimmy
On Thursday 2nd February 2006 I travelled north to Sunderland and went to the first of the two benefit concerts at Sunderland’s Farringdon Club. For a few hours I was reunited with two other ex-Jazzboard members; Bruce Lowes (vocals) and Brian Hughes (bass), neither of whom I had seen for nearly 40 years. There was a good turn out for the concert. Several bands played including Smith & Jackson and Bruce Lowes current band – Barking Billy and the Scrapyard Dogs. A bit of a jam session was arranged which gave me the opportunity to share the stage once again with Bruce and Brian.
Roger Smith, Jimmy and Bruce Lowes in 1966
Jimmy (left) with Frankie Miller’s Full House
When I first met Jimmy in 1965 he was seventeen but had already been gigging as a keyboard player in bands for about three years. At that stage he had a full-time job as a baker in his parents shop in Red House, Sunderland. After playing in the Jazzboard and James South for nearly three years between 1965 and 1967, he turned professional in 1968 with a band named Highway. He later went on to make a couple of albums with Highway and subsequently recorded with Kiki Dee and Frankie Miller’s Full House.
More recently, Jimmy had been playing again with local musicians in the Sunderland area. At the time of his murder, he was on the verge of starting a new life in Thailand as the proprietor of a bar which he was having built.
Ticket for Jimmy Hall’s Tribute gig
Roger Smith and Brian Hughes at Jimmy’s Tribute Show
Roger (left) and Bruce (centre) at Jimmy’s Tribute Show
Roger and Bruce performing at Jimmy’s Tribute Show
Mick Grabham and Brian Hughes performing at Jimmy’s Tribute Show
Jimmy’s first band – The Blackouts, which he joined when he was just thirteen. Jimmy is standing on the left with Brian Hughes next to him
In the early sixties, before Screaming Lord Sutch became a politician and leader of the Official Monster Raving Loony party, he was a fairly successful UK rock horror performer. He was famous for his weird antics on stage, which at one time involved him leaping out of a coffin at the beginning of his act. A North East musician who played in Sutch’s band, the Savages, for a short time was guitarist Malcolm Douglas Langstaff, otherwise known as Kylastron Mac. He had earned his nick name from years of playing lead guitar with the popular Newcastle instrumental group, the Kylastrons, both in England and Germany.
I first met Mac at the beginning of 1965 after I placed a card in a Sunderland music shop, advertising my services as a tenor sax player. A week later I got a call from him, inviting me for an audition with his band – a reformed Kylastrons. The Kylastrons had been around for a long time in one form or another. The band in 1965 was led by Mac, who was an exceptional guitarist with a flamboyant personality. A few years later he would play and record with Keith Emerson in the Nice, appearing on the Nice’s ‘Ars Longa Vita Brevis’ album. The rest of the band consisted of Bernie Watson from Sunderland on keyboard and Bill Baker from Burnopfield on drums. The new Kylastrons did not have a bass player, relying on Bernie to supply bass lines on his keyboard. The other three band members were a lot older than me and they all had years of gigging experience behind them. I went for a couple of rehearsals with the band and, in spite of my age and inexperience they seemed happy to take me on. Their repertoire consisted mainly of instrumental numbers, a lot of which had been penned by Kylastron Mac.
The Kylastrons personnel in 1965 – Malcolm Langstaff (guitar), Bernie Watson (organ), Bill Baker (drums) & Roger Smith (tenor sax)
My first gig with the Kylastrons was at the Blue Note club in Sunderland on Friday 5th February 1965. We supported a Liverpool band called the Black Knights who had appeared in the film ‘Ferry Across the Mersey’ featuring many of the Liverpool bands that had found fame in the wake of the Beatles. The following night we played at a dance in Ashington, Northumberland until 11.00 pm followed by a session at the el Cubana club in Sunderland from 1.00 am to 3.00 am. On the Sunday night we played at the Rainbow Club in Seaton. Four venues in three days – my gigging career had started with a bang!
In the few months that followed I learned a lot about gigging and life on the road. As well as playing local gigs, the Kylastrons also played in Kendal, Worksop, Doncaster, Rotherham, Sheffield and Hull. We stayed at various hotels, bed & breakfast establishments and transport lodges. On one occasion our van broke down on the A1 near Sinderby in Yorkshire and we had to spend the night shivering in a farmer’s hay barn.
The Kylastrons business card
On 3rd February I paid my first visit to a recording studio; Mortonsound in Newcastle. We recorded seven instrumental numbers for a demo disc, which Mac intended sending to major recording companies in London. The numbers we recorded were Kylastronic versions of classical pieces – ‘The Sabre Dance’ and ‘Hall of the Mountain King’; two Duane Eddy numbers – ‘Ramrod’ and ‘Ring of Fire’ plus ‘Besame Mucho’, ‘Exodus’ and a Mac composition called ‘The Trial and Tribulations of Life’.
I played with the Kylastrons until 20th March 1965 when they replaced me with a bass player. I was grateful for my apprenticeship with the band, having crammed a lot of experiences into a seven week period.
The Kylastrons eventually broke up at the beginning of May 1965.
One of the most gifted young drummers on the scene in Newcastle in the late sixties and early seventies was Keith Fisher. I got to know Keith in1969 when I was a member of Sneeze but regrettably never got to play in a band with him. Tom Hill, Sneeze’s bass player was quick to spot Keith’s talents and in the summer of ’69 he decided to break away from Sneeze with the intention of forming a new band with Keith. Blondie was the result of that collaboration.
By the time Tom got to know Keith, he had been gigging in the area for a couple of years. Keith started drumming with a band called Harlem Shuffle in 1967 and over the next couple of years he played with several bands on the pub and club circuits throughout Northumberland and County Durham. All this while he was still at school. By the time he met Tom Hill in 1969 Keith was a gig-hardened drummer with a couple of years experience under his belt.
The Blondie line-up, which included Keith, Tom Hill on bass and Pierre Pedersen (ex-Sneeze keyboard player) on Hammond was completed by vocalist Bob Barton from Axtree Junction. The band became very successful on the local music scene almost immediately. With a full gig diary, the band played at all the top venues on the North East band circuit. They performed under the name Blondie for almost a year before Tom Hill decided that, as musicians, they were capable of being much more than just a local band.
Blondie with Tom Hill, Bob Barton, Pierre Pedersen and Keith
In August, Blondie teamed up with guitarist/vocalist Kenny Mountain from the band Yellow. Tom Hill had seen the band and had been so impressed that he hounded Kenny into joining forces.Yellow, originally from South Shields, had been down to London and recorded and released a single for CBS – Roll it down the Hill / Living a lie. The record had not sold well, but it established the band as the superior entity it deserved to be. They played all there own songs, looked like rock-stars, and had an air about them that was distinctly charismatic. When Yellow first formed there had been Vic Malcolm (later to become part of Geordie with Tom Hill) and Kenny Mountain; Joe D’Ambrosia on bass; and Tommy Sloan on drums. This had changed, initially when Joe left and John Watchman took over. Subsequently Paul Thompson replaced Tommy on drums. Paul Thompson subsequently found fame and fortune in Roxy Music. The second incarnation all fell apart, leaving Kenny and the manager Ian Lish to pick up the pieces. Ian brought in an existing package of a band from Sunderland called Sweet Wine to augment Kenny and resurrect Yellow, but it had not lasted beyond a handful of gigs and finally Tom had worn down Kenny’s reluctance to try yet again, and merge with Blondie instead.
The new Yellow recorded some material at Impulse Studios in Wallsend and made regular trips to London, knocking on record company doors. Although they failed to return to the North East with a record deal, they picked up lots of other things in London, including new clothes and an attitude. However, within the band, all was not well. Factions had begun to appear which eventually led to the band breaking up. One more short-lived incarnation of Yellow emerged the following year which included Keith on drums, Kenny, Brian Ingham and Mickey Balls (another ex-Sneeze member) on guitar.
The final incarnation of Yellow: Left to right – Keith, Brian Ingham, Mickey Balls and Kenny Mountain
Keith and Bob Barton re-united musically during ’72, trying to find an alternative vehicle for their talents, but by the end of the year nothing significant had materialised. In the meantime, Kenny Mountain had joined a band called Beckett from South Shields. Beckett was fronted by Terry Slesser, previously a roadie for local band, the Influence, and a DJ at popular South Shields night-spot The Golden Slipper. On New Year’s Eve 1972, Keith got a call from Kenny to say that Beckett had just signed a record deal with W.E.A. and a publishing deal with Island Music. They had a really serious manager and were about to break into the big time, but they needed to replace the bass player and drummer: Keith was offered and accepted the position of Beckett’s drummer. He joined Beckett on New Years Day 1973 replacing the band’s existing drummer and consequently leaving his friend Bob Barton out in the cold. It was something that Keith did not like but knew was necessary if he was to progress in the music world. Keith’s arrival in the band was followed a month or so later by Frankie Gibbon who replaced the band’s bass player.
Beckett, before Keith joined, had been very busy on the local pub/club circuit. They had come to the attention of Geoff Docherty the well known successful promoter who, a few years earlier, had first brought top British and American bands to the North East at prices rock fans could afford. Geoff was well-respected in the music industry and it was indeed a coupe for the band to have him on board. For Keith, joining Beckett was a step in the right direction. The band members were gifted, hard working and charismatic and clearly heading for a successful recording career. Keith and Frankie Gibbon had a reputation as an awesome rhythm section and were hand picked to take the band to the next level. But it wasn’t an easy ride for Keith and Frankie. They had replaced two well liked musicians who had been with Beckett when they were slogging around pubs and clubs building up a fan base in the North East. Keith and Frankie were eventually accepted by the others in the band but only as a means to an end.
Beckett – Bob, Ian, Terry, Keith and Kenny
Keith toured with Beckett extensively throughout 1973 and in 1974. Various personnel changes saw Arthur Ramm replaced by Bob Barton and Frank Gibbon replaced by Ian Murray. The band released a single ‘Little Girl’ (Raft/Lyntone LYN 2842) in November 1973 and recorded one album for the Raft label in 1974, produced at Island Studios by Family vocalist Roger Chapman. Tim Hinckley was brought in to play keyboards on the album. In spite of a stunning performance on the Old Grey Whistle Test and endorsements by ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris, the album failed to achieve the success the band had hoped for.
In 1974, following a tour with Slade, tension within the band was high. Matters came to a head one day in Geoff Docherty’s Sunderland flat, resulting in Keith and Bob Barton taking the only option they thought was available to them. They left Beckett knowing that they had probably blown their one and only chance of fame and fortune.
Reflecting on the split with Beckett some thirty or so years later, Keith now thinks the split was not inevitable. This is what he has to say on the matter:-
“Bob and I walked away from the only chance we would ever get of becoming rich and famous. We left everything behind, because, in our minds, Beckett was only the beginning, and untold opportunities must obviously be just around the corner. We left all of the equipment that was part of the Beckett package, all of the local fame we had acquired, all of the respect that comes with success, and all of the belief that our friends and family had in our sanity.
In later years I realised that any form of unity which could have been developed in an attempt to keep the band together would have been a better option – but at the time, I honestly thought that none would be possible. The animosity between various members was extremely corrosive and had eaten into the fabric of the unit until there was scant harmony to be found. Losing Frankie had been a major blow to the structure, being a sole voice of reason, uncorrupted by the divisive factions that put Kenny and me on opposite sides. Ian, bless him, could only struggle along as best he could, and, I suspect, pray that sanity and salvation might descend upon this world of ‘almost there!’. Because we were almost there. The music press had, that year, voted Beckett and Queen as the two bands most likely to make the big time in 1974.”
Finally, if you want to know how good Beckett was in 1974. This is their performance on the Old Grey Whistle Test.
After splitting with the Kylastrons, I was introduced to the world of affiliated working men’s clubs. Most villages and districts in the North East had at least one Working Men’s Club and most of them provided entertainment including local bands (or beat groups as they were called back in 1965). Bands were booked by the club’s concert secretary who would address you as ‘bonny lad’ and refer to your band as ‘the torn’ (turn in English). It was the concert secretary’s job to regularly tell you to turn down the volume. He had the power to pay off the band or give you more bookings depending on how you went down. Audiences were mainly seated but in some clubs towards the end of the night people would get up to dance. The upside of playing at these clubs was that the beer was incredibly cheap and it didn’t cost much to get rat arsed and look as if you were enjoying being there. A pint of Federation beer could cost as little as eleven pence (less than 5p in new money). As a comparison, a pint bottle of Newcastle brown ale at that time cost around two shillings and six pence (twelve and a half pence in new money).
When my friend David Snowdon found out that I had left the Kylastrons he asked me if I was interested in auditioning with his band, which played mainly in Working Men’s clubs in County Durham. They were a female fronted five piece outfit playing a mixture of standard pop songs and current chart hits. The other band members liked the sax and I was asked to become the sixth member of the band that was renamed ‘The Six Leaves’. The line-up before I joined was vocals, lead and rhythm guitars, bass and drums. The sax added a new dimension to their covers of early Tamla Motown songs such as “Baby Love” (the Supremes) and pop songs like “My Boy Lollipop” (Millie). After a while a couple of sax instrumentals were slotted into the repertoire. These were rock versions of the “William Tell Overture” and Glenn Miller’s “In the Mood” and were real crowd pleasers.
The male members of the band wore matching green waist coats with a leaf pattern while Sylvia, the vocalist, used to wear something low cut and clingy. She was in the habit of roaming around the audience while she was singing and plonking herself on some punter’s knee, risking the odd grope. But she could look after herself and when she let fly with her left palm she always kept on singing!
The Six Leaves in 1965 with Jeff Tait (left) on bass.
The Six Leaves had a fairly busy schedule in working men’s clubs in the Sunderland and Durham areas. Some that come to mind are; The Queens in West Hartlepool, Horden Labour Club, Houghton Glendale, Silksworth Buffs and York House in Seaham.
Apart from Sylvia Tait and her bassist husband Jeff, the other members were fairly inexperienced musicians. It wasn’t long before petty rivalries emerged and the band started falling apart. The first to go was Paul, the lead guitarist and backing singer. His harmonies were sorely missed and, although he was replaced by a better guitarist called Don Sweetman, the overall sound of the band was never quite as good.
The Six Leaves – with Sylvia Tait on vocals (left)
At this time saxophones were gaining popularity and I was getting offers of work from Newcastle and Gateshead bands. When one of the top Sunderland bands contacted me and asked if I was interested in joining, I decided to call it a day with the Six Leaves. My last gig with them was on Saturday 25th September 1965 at the Glendale Club in Houghton-le-Spring. I received the princely sum of one pound, seven shillings and sixpence.
The Six Leaves stage gear – blue shirt, black knitted tie and green waiste coat with leaf pattern
Quoting from the book, Ferry says: “When I was just about to leave school, I bumped into this guy, Bruce, who had been in my cycling world. He said, ‘I’ve got a group – I play drums in a band. We’re looking for a singer – can you sing?’ And I said, ‘Er -yeah’.
