LIFE AND DEATH OF A PIRATE by S.K. Moore

LIFE AND DEATH OF A PIRATE by S.K. Moore.

Review by Pete Clemons

A few years ago Susan.K.Moore wrote the first part of her trilogy titled ‘Life and Death of a

Pirate’. The pirate in question was her father, Reg Calvert, an enterprising and determined entrepreneur.

But Reg was so much more. He was also a visionary who quickly saw the potential, for growth in the UK, of a fledgling rock and roll music scene that was just beginning to take America by storm during the mid-1950s. And this was an opportunity not to be missed as, to Reg, life was just one big adventure.

Well now Susan has completed her trilogy and books two and three are being made available in a limited hard back edition. Which, in my opinion, is being sold for a bargain price, considering how much many other hardback books can cost. This particular format has had a 1200 copy run with no plans to ever re-release it. Although it is hoped to one day split the story into two paperback editions.

To recap: Part one, 1946-1960, still available as a paperback or download for kindle, tells the story from just after world war two when Reg meets his wife to be, Dorothy. After marrying they make their way to Southampton where they would live in an old bus for several years. It was while in Southampton that Reg first heard ‘Rock around the clock’ by Bill Haley and the Comets which, to him, must have been a eureka type moment. Soon afterwards, he was organising dances in the south of England. These became so popular that promotions, by Reg, very quickly began to spring up in many other areas of the country. After years of struggle, Reg now found himself in demand.

The second part of the story, 1961-63. This part actually forms the first half of the new book and covers the period when Reg and his family move up to Clifton Hall in Rugby. Clifton Hall was where the school of rock ‘n’ roll is born. Not only was Reg still promoting dances but from Clifton Hall, he began to create a whole host of ‘pop stars’. And it was from this base that Reg sent his hit makers such as Danny Storm, Roy Young, Roger James, Glen Dale, Robbie Hood and many others off on tour to a host of venues such as the Co-op Hall in Nuneaton.

The third and final part of the trilogy documents form 1964 when Shivering Sands, a pirate radio station created by Screaming Lord Sutch was taken to another level by Reg. Expanding Reg’s enterprise, Shivering Sands became a defining moment in the history of off shore radio broadcasting as it would eventually cost Reg his life during 1966. It also became a catalyst for change in the whole industry. The book continues with the aftermath and how the family coped with their loss.

Writing a book with such detail as this, and laying out your parent’s life for all to see, could not have been an easy task. The difficulties are clearly obvious. I think they call it a labour of love. I do know that it took many hours of hard work and a great deal of sacrifice was given in order to create it all. This hardback special contains 474 pages and over 170 photographs.

This trilogy really is a fascinating and absorbing read. It’s an incredible story that’s never been fully told before. It is not just the story of a music promotor; it has many other facets besides such as love, intrigue, murder, collusion and so much more. The highs and lows will hold your attention throughout.

BOOK ONE: POPCORN TO ROCK ‘N’ ROLL (the early days)

BOOK TWO: CLIFTON HALL –School of Rock ‘n’ Roll

BOOK THREE: SHIVERING SANDS – 1960s Pirate Radio


For details of bookshops and suppliers from Fillongley Publications:

email fillongleypub@btinternet.com



Or purchase online from www.amazon.co.uk and www.radiocaroline.co.uk

More on Reg Calvert from Pete Clemons, from one of his earlier articles for the Coventry Telegraph - http://coventrygigs.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/reg-calvert-and-johnny-washington.html

Maybe Baby - Buddy Holly

Maybe Baby

by Pete Clemons

One of the more enduring memories of my childhood, as far as listening to music is concerned, is that of an old 1950s style radiogram which had a good few 45s stored away in it. For those who do not remember radiograms, they were essentially a radio and record player within a piece of furniture that also had space for a few records.

They were not my records but I was forever playing those 45s and 78s regardless of who they were by. I am guessing that I was about 5 or 6 years old at the time. I doubt very much if I had developed my own personal taste in music at that time.

But one record in particular, that seemed to grab my attention more than most, was one that had a triangular centre. Almost all of the other records in this collection had circular centres. And for some reason it used to fascinate me.

The disc itself was called ‘Maybe Baby’ by The Crickets. It was on the black Coral record label. And I must admit that I listened to ‘Maybe Baby’ and its flip side ‘Tell Me How’, an awful lot back then. I can’t imagine if I knew anything about the incredible story of The Crickets as a band and Buddy Holly as a person. I’m not even sure if I was even aware that guitar player and vocalist, Buddy, had been killed a few years earlier in a plane crash.

Buddy Holly’s music career began as a duo at school called Buddy and Bob. The Bob in this duo, Bob Montgomery, would later go on to write for Buddy. Watching them perform at school was drummer Jerry Allison. A little later Bob and Jerry would become firm school friends and listen to rock and roll radio becoming inspired by the likes of Elvis Presley who Buddy and Jerry had seen play live.

Buddy and Jerry secured their first record deal with Decca Records during January 1956. The story goes that the Decca contract misspelt Buddy’s name incorrectly as Holly. It should have read Holley but Buddy decided to stick by the new spelling.

The pair had their first sessions in Nashville where they recorded several songs including the first song ever written together by Holly and Allison called ‘That’ll Be the Day’. The results of these sessions led to their short lived contract being terminated just over a year later.

February 1957 saw Buddy and Jerry then team up with producer Norman Petty who allowed Buddy to flourish and do his own thing. And it was the 1957 re-recorded version of ‘That’ll Be the Day’, with his new band The Crickets and released on Coral in the UK (Brunswick in the US), that set Buddy on the way to immortality.

The Crickets had come together at Norman Petty’s studios. According to a Jerry Allison interview it was a joint effort choosing the name, but the band was a necessity to overcome recording legalities. Completing the band was Joe B. Maudlin on bass and Niki Sullivan on guitar.

The success for Buddy and the Crickets came almost overnight. Five top ten hits including a number one in US and UK during their first year together.

Norman Petty’s studio’s allowed Buddy to develop his unique guitar style for that time. Guitar solos on recordings, for example, was very unusual. As was hearing a guitar up front on recordings, as quite often, the guitar was kept in the background. Buddy had this unusual ‘hic cup’ in his singing voice.

And every song Buddy was involved with just sounded very different ‘Peggy Sue’, released under Buddy’s own name had a complicated drum pattern. Incidentally, ‘Peggy Sue’ started as a song about Buddy’s niece but the songs title was changed to feature Jerry’s then girlfriend.

At one session Jerry Allison was slapping his hands and knees to the beat of a new song in preparation and anticipation of recording it. Norman Petty recorded the slapping instead and this is what can be heard on the B side of ‘Peggy Sue’, ‘Everyday’.

Another song ‘Not Fade Away’ had Jerry Allison playing on a cardboard box rather than drums. ‘Oh Boy’ and ‘Rave On’ had started life as country type songs and these were re-interpreted by Holly’s unique style. And so it went on.

And then we have ‘Maybe Baby’ recorded toward the end of 1957 and the song that inspired me to write this piece. This was another hugely unique song due to the fact that it had a guitar introduction, before Buddy’s voice was even heard. It also has the most incredible harmony parts in it.

Where Buddy found the time to write his music is also a wonder. His touring schedule from the beginning of 1958 appeared to be arduous. January saw him playing the US and Canada. February Australia and back to the US again. While the whole of March he was in the UK.

Mid 1958, and back in the US again, Buddy Holly effectively went solo. After touring with The Crickets Buddy stayed on in New York to visit publishers while the band went home. He also, apparently, stayed on to get to know the New York music scene better. It was while there that he famously met and proposed to his future wife on the same day. Nothing stayed the same between them after that tour according to Jerry Allison. And Jerry Lee Lewis, who was a confidante of Buddy’s, tells a story of how Buddy had phoned him for advice on the matter of marriage.

After he married Buddy began to record with strings. Buddy’s last recording sessions were held in New York during October 1958, recorded under his own name and accompanied by an orchestra. The classics continued by way of songs like ‘True Love Ways’ and ‘It Doesn’t Matter Anymore’.

Here in the UK Buddy’s music influenced the music scene with bands like The Quarrymen, later The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones both covering Buddy Holly songs early in their careers. And in 1959 Hank Marvin of The Shadows was inspired to keep wearing his thick rimmed glasses despite advice to the contrary. And The Crickets were arguably the template for the line-up that bands use even today.

Remarkably, it had been less than two years between the release of ‘That’ll Be the Day’ and Buddy’s fatal plane crash. After the crash, rock and roll became very different in the U.S. of A. That was until the British invasion, led by The Beatles, The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, The Dave Clark 5 and others, shook things up again. The Hollies acknowledged Buddy's influence in their took their name name.

And now we are almost 60 years on from Buddy’s death. Over time, I have learned a bit more about Buddy and the Crickets. At least a bit more, than when I first heard ‘Maybe Baby’ on that radiogram, all those years ago. Not sure if I am as fascinated by the actual record itself but I do know that I still love the music that was on it. No wonder Don Maclean wrote ‘American Pie’ and about the day the music died. It really must have seemed like it at the time.

The Dirt Road Blues Band at the Musician, Leicester

The Dirt Road Blues Band at the Musician, Leicester

by Pete Clemons

When you have a band made up of Warwickshire based musicians and you go and cross a border to play a gig in a different county, it is possibly a surprise when you get a healthy audience.

However, on the last Thursday before the festive season began, that’s exactly what the Dirt Road Blues Band as namely, Steve Walwyn guitar, Horace Panter bass and drummer Ted Duggan did when they played the Musician pub in Leicester. And that’s exactly what happened, a sizeable crowd attended.

Yes, admittedly, those musicians are a bit more than just well known locally. But they didn’t use that on the advertising. Only the band name was used.

The band opened with a tune called ‘Sweet Louise’ and followed that up with Canned Heat’s ‘World in a Jug’. They were then joined on stage by ace harmonica player Sam Powell who added his considerable talents to the next few numbers.

For the tune ‘You Got Me’, and indeed for the next few tunes, Maxx Manning of local favourites The Della Grants entered the fray. Now for those who have not heard The Della Grants, you really ought to, as that particular blues band are beginning starting to turn an awful lot of heads.

Given that this was only the DRBB second ever gig, they had not settled on their laurels and played the exact same set as previously at their debut in Leamington. They surprised by dropping in some new numbers.

And for the first of these Horace swapped bass. The change of sound was quite extraordinary. Even to noticeable to a non muso such as myself.

So I asked Horace about it: ‘I took the BEAD strings from a 5 string bass set and fitted them to a 4 string bass guitar. I needed it to get that down and dirty sound on some of the tunes’.

The second half began as the first had finished. The band gave the impression they were comfortable and had really settling into a groove. Plus, they were clearly enjoying the whole experience. For this set, and In addition to the previous guests, they were joined by Holly Hewitt. Delicate in stature, Holly can sure dive straight in and belt out a powerful vocal.

After a final finale an incredibly hyped up and passionate crowd went home very happy. The chatter and the buzz afterwards was the knowing that they had just witnessed something very special.

I appreciate that all these guys have ‘day jobs’, so to speak, and that The Dirt Road Blues Band may be a part time thing, but it has to be said they appear to have bonded wonderfully well. Their gigs bring excitement, energy and diversity. And a few surprises. Let’s hope that they find the time for more of this. It really was truly a memorable evening.

Looking back on 2017

Looking back on 2017

By Pete Clemons

If anything, the local music scene in Coventry, and surrounding area, appears to be getting stronger. Of course a lot more was bound to have happened than ever crossed my path. But the memories for what I personally witnessed at first hand were plentiful. Some of which will remain with me for a long time to come.

Trying to keep the events in some sort of chronological order who; that attended, will ever forget the reunion gig by Barnabus in February. With little rehearsal, they rested on their collective experience and turned out a blistering set that included ‘Apocalypse’ which recently featured on a Cherry Red records compilation. 

I remember purchasing a couple of fine CD releases that I never tired of listening to throughout the year. The first by the re-modelled Barb’d Wire. Their time certainly came as Cherelle Harding took centre stage and owned it. Along with a fine rhythm section, she shone for this Ska/Reggae influence band. The other CD that springs to mind from the first half of the year was Street Rituals by Stone Foundation. Always having had the potential, this was the album you sensed they had in them. Yes, it took collaboration with Paul Weller to get them to a greater level, but they would have got there in their own time. That, I have no doubt about. 

The Delia Derbyshire evening at the Coventry Cathedral was a memorable yet surreal event. Hearing DJ Jerry Dammer’s playing tracks like ‘Love Without Sound’ and ‘My Game of Loving’ reverberate in such dynamic surroundings was a quite extraordinary experience.


The Godiva Festival was, as ever, a triumph. So diverse an event meant that so many people will have their own favourite memories and recollections. For me personally, I don’t think I will ever forget the Sunday afternoon when both, Joe O’Donnell’s Shkayla, and Bob Jackson’s Badfinger, took to the stage. Both the weather and the music just set the scene for an unforgettable afternoon. 

Another gig within unusual surroundings was that by Callum Pickard and the Third Look. At the wonderful Inspires Café Bar venue they turned in another attention grabbing performance. It can’t be long now, surly, till Callum’s talent are revealed to the wider world.


I have always had a passion for the Blues scene of the 1960s. Canned Heat, Fleetwood Mac, The Blues breaker’s and Chicken Shack are just some of my favourites. So to hear this kind of music live is just so thrilling. As such I remember being quite excited at the prospect of seeing the debut gig by the Dirt Road Blues Band. And that excitement did not diminish as my expectations were truly met. They got me instantly as they rattled through tunes like ‘World in a Jug’ and ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’.

Continuing with the blues, how can you not love The Broomfield Tavern. I don’t get there anywhere near as much as I should, but seeing bands there like the Travelling Riverside Blues Band and Blues 2 Go in quick succession only enforces what a special venue that back room is. 


It should have been a monster, and for some, maybe it was. But a slight disappointment for me was the Godiva Rocks play. The music played on the night was exceptional but I found the storyline a bit long winded and somewhat complicated. I came away with the felling that an opportunity had been missed. But if a soundtrack was ever made available, particularly of the 60s tunes, then I really think that the theatre would have a sure fire winner on its hands.

Finally, the long awaited CD/DVD release of Joe O’Donnell’s 1977 concept album ‘Gaels Vision’, at last saw day of light late on in the year. And I must say it has been worth the wait. I quote: ‘We were particularly fortunate in having the particularly fortunate in having the patient guidance and assistance of Ben Haines, Russell Whitehead and Ben Skirth who between them helped us across the yawning crevasse of ignorance, as we recklessly attempted the almost impossible and probably inadvisable!!

With new music being worked on by Moonbears, Cliff Hands, Kristy Gallacher, Stylusboy and the final part of a trilogy of albums by Freedom to Glide all to look forward to, I really don’t want to grow any older.

Away from Coventry and I bought some splendid new releases that were listened to long and hard. They also remind me of various ‘where I was’ moments throughout the year.

These included ‘Lost in the Ghostlight’ by Tim Bowness. A gripping tale about a musician who, comes to the realisation that the best days are long behind him. Steven Wilson’s chart topping and very wonderful ‘To the Bone’ album, the hugely successful live album by The Pineapple Thief titled ‘Where We Stood’ Anatema’s ‘The Optimist’ which is at last starting to grow on me and the simple charm of Judy Dyble whose collaboration with Andy Lewis ‘Summer Dancing’ was just sublime.

Finally, and back to Coventry, you may remember that just over a year ago there was a reunion of most of the musicians who were associated with Indian Summer. They got together to celebrate that Record Collector magazine had released an album of demo’s and out takes. Well it appears that a Japanese company has reproduced that album, along with the bands eponymous studio album in those speciality CD releases in the form of a mini LP that the Japanese do so well. At long last, this band appear to be getting the recognition they so richly deserve.