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1969. I moved to
Bristol to join pop covers band” Johnny Carr and the
Cadillacs”, then on to London making auditions untill I ”ran
out of money and luck”
1970. Back to
Plymouth, where I didn’t even own a guitar for a few years,
where I met Jane,
now my wife and mother of our three sons, Lincoln, Alec and Leo.
1972-3 Moved
back to London and gradually got back into playing again. Spent
the winter of 73-74 in Finland and Sweden with American
singer/songwriter Mike Westhues and guitarist Alan
Camden.
1974. Back in
London , formed popular “pub-rock” band “ Basil’s Balls-up
Band” where I stayed for a few years.
1980. By now I’d
discovered the band CSA playing around South London and they’d
turned me on to good old Rock n Roll, fifties style of course.
Tony Vincent made a huge impression on me the first time I saw
them at the Fountain in Tooting. I auditioned and got the job
with the Flying Saucers just as the rockabilly revival
was running out of steam. But I had a few memorable years there
doing an apprenticeship in rock n roll, the music that was the
basis of my enjoyment of playing, but which I was just too
young to be playing first time around, in the fifties.
1983. I joined
South Wales band “Red Beans and Rice” and continued my
apprenticeship in roots American music. The band was known for
covering all the great Soul numbers from the mid 60’s, but by
the time I joined, they had regressed to 50’s jump blues and RnB,
and even with an alter-ego of The “Mamajamas” we were a few
years ahead of our time in order to be successful with that
genre of music.
1984-5. Late one night I got a call from
Freddie
“Fingers” Lee,
asking me to tour Holland with
his band starting the next day! And so began a long association,
gigging all over the UK and Europe, from pubs to Paris fashion
shows, rock n roll clubs to big festivals and weekenders , we
did it all and had countless laughs along the way. I met Rob
Murly and Wild Bob Burgos working with Freddie
and soon was playing in their band
“Shotgun”,
then going on to form the trio “The Ravens”, a band
that still gigs today, though Les Bailey is the drummer now,
with Noel Brown occasionally making
us a quartet with his slide guitar and vocals.
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