When Warwick Uni Folk Club and Earlsdon Folk Club at odds.
by Pete Clemons
It is December 1965 and an issue blew up between Warwick University Folk Club and the recently formed Earlsdon Folk Club at the City Arms:
The secretary of Warwick Uni FC reported ' I believe that the Folk Club which has been started at Earlsdon on Sunday Evenings, and organised by Paddy Roberts, has been deliberately planned to clash with our own folk club at the same time. The motive behind this appears to be that the man running the new club wishes to make some money at our expense for he wants us to amalgamate with him taking the responsibility for the the club and for paying him £10 weekly. I have my reasons for making what must seem to many as rather rash accusations and only space prevents me giving my reasons here. Personally I shall refuse to have anything to do with an amalgamation and I only hope that you will support our own club so that we may force out of this particular field a man whose one interest is making money'.
The secretary continued:
'Everyone, absolutely everybody, should come to this week's folk club: the best meeting of the term as it should well turn out to be. Anyone known to be visiting a rival folk club will be publicly and ceremoniously linched afterwards. Don't forget then the university of warwick folk club'.
During January 1966 things seemed to have settled down again as the university listed artists who would be appearing in the future: Sunday Jan. 14th Anne Briggs Sunday Jan. 23rd The Couriers Sunday Jan. 30th Barry Skinner Friday Feb. 4th Janet Kerr and John Cowling Sunday Feb. 18th Malcolm Price Sunday Feb. 27th Pete Stanley and Wizz Jones Sunday March 6th Sandy and Jeanie
By February 1966 Warwick Uni FC had gone from strength to strength as, it has to be said, Earlsdon FC. A missal from the secretary read: 'The folk club claims to be the most thriving society in the university: this is justified by the fact that it has over 200 members and meets every week. In spite of early criticism the table tennis room has proved to be an excellent home for the club. Singers have enjoyed performing before a most receptive audience and have highly praised the friendly atmosphere. Past singers have included Bill Clifton, Mark Newman, Richard Lawrence and Judy Sutton, Diz Disley, Anne Briggs and Malcolm Price; this term Pete Stanely and Wizz Jones (Feb 27th), Sandy and Jeanie (March 6th) and Bert Jansch (March 13th) will be appearing. Resident singers include Dave Robinson, Carole Spackman and John Hobbs who sings regularly. The Warwick Week at the end of the year will include a folk concert on Wednesday, June 22nd. We hope the guests will include Davy Graham, Bert Jansch, Martin Carthy and the Young Tradition. If you haven't yet been to the folk club, you still have a term and a half to exonerate yourselves'.
Brian 'Liquorice' Locking – from Wildcat to Shadow.
by Pete Clemons
Marty Wilde's backing group, the Wildcats, was formed in late 1957, shortly after Marty Wilde signed to Philips Records and began his career as a leading British rock and roll singer.
The Wildcats were made up of 'Big' Jim Sullivan on lead guitar and whose roots began in skiffle. Rhythm guitar was Tony Belcher who began life as a quantity surveyor. Drummer was Brian Bennett a former outstanding art student. Finally, on bass was Bedworth born Brian 'Liquorice' Locking who began as a trumpeter with the Salvation Army. Work wise Brian was a fireman on British Railways.
The Wildcats and accompanied Marty Wilde on stage, television and records for two years. And it was while with Marty that they learned a great deal about show business including the studio aspect.
By early 1960, Marty Wilde sought to move into other areas of music and performance, which necessitated a change in his backing setup. His move was a natural progression in his career, driven by changing musical trends, and his desire to move beyond the limited 'teen idol' market. As such the original Wildcats became surplus to requirements. And late 1960 The Wildcats became known as The Krew Kats (sometimes spelled Krewkats) in 1961 because they were refused permission to keep using the name 'Wildcats'.
Incidentally, while still known as The Wildcats they backed Gene Vincent during that ill fated tour with Eddie Cochran in 1960.
As a band in their own right The Krew Kats recorded several of their own tunes such as 'Trambone' and 'Peak Hour'. These tunes demonstrated what a first rate musical understanding the band had gained during their several years together.
During 1959 Bob (Colin Day) and John (Brian Alford), who were unrelated, were auditioning for Emile Ford (of Checkmates fame) at the Putney Ballroom. That led them to sing in various coffee bars and dances throughout the year.
During September 1960 at the Boys and Girls exhibition - held at London Olympia and judged by Cliff Richard - the pair, and now known as The Allison Brothers, won a Disc magazine talent competition. That win led to some TV appearances but what became later essential was that the prize also included an audition with Fontana Records. The importance of that session could not be understated as, during January 1961, the pair recorded a composition they had written titled 'Are You Sure'. January was also the month that saw the Allisons begin working with The Krew Kats.
'Are You Sure' was entered into the British heat of the Eurovision Song Contest which it won. From there, it was off to Cannes for the finals on 18 March 1961 where they finished as runners up to Jean-Claude Pascal of Luxembourg. At the same time, back in the UK, 'Are You Sure' was winning a silver disc for sales.
The success at Eurovision 61 sparked a huge reaction. Literally the day after the song contest agents, publishers, bookers and press folk kept all lines busy with inquiries about the duo an extensive tour followed. Backing The Allisons on those dates were The Krew Kats.
The Krew Kats were in demand and well respected. Further evolution in the band saw Brian Bennett joining The Shadows as drummer in October 1961, replacing Tony Meehan. Brian "Licorice" Locking followed as he joined The Shadows as the bassist in April 1962, replacing Jet Harris.
A second version of The Krew Kats, featuring future Moody Blues members Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder. In late 1962, the band became the backing group for French singer Dick Rivers. During 1963 The Krew Kats toured Germany before disbanding after a difficult winter tour.
The Neon Story with Coventry Connections Continued..
by Pete Clemons
It cannot be understated how Coventry was central to the short-lived but now legendary RCA Neon progressive rock label (1971), primarily through the Coventry based band Indian Summer but also through Dando Shaft. Both were key signings for the label, with Indian Summer's self-titled album being one of the first and most notable releases on the label. Another local band, Fresh Maggots, were also in the mix.
While RCA Neon featured other acts like Spring and Tonton Macoute, Indian Summer's, with their Coventry roots, helped define the label's sound and is now considered a cornerstone of the Neon catalogue.
Coventry formed but also London based folk-rock band Dando Shaft were also a pivotal artist for RCA's progressive offshoot Neon, releasing their self-titled album on the label in 1971. While highly regarded by critics for their mix of folk, jazz, and psych, they were part of a roster that struggled commercially before moving to the main RCA label.
Dando Shaft June 1971 summary and interview:
Dando Shaft signed to Neon during 1971, releasing their eponymous second album Dando Shaft. A separate article titled 'Dando Shaft 1971' is an interview with some of the band when they lived in Ealing and undertaken right at the point of Polly joining and the second album on the way. Below is an interview with the band during that period between the first two albums..........
Dando Shaft make it quite clear that they want to incorporate as many instruments as possible into their exclusively acoustic repertoire. And since recording their first album for Youngblood just over a year ago, the Coventry group have expanded not only their instrumental scope but also their personnel, so that with the arrival of singer Polly Bolton, and a new album on the Neon label, Dando Shaft finally look set for the success that has long been predicted for them.
Having been invited to witness the band performing live in concert I can only add expletives to the album, the brilliance of which largely speaks for itself. With six members and many instruments from which to choose it is a difficult task indeed for a band to attain the kind of equipoise which Dando Shaft have. And at the same time they have remained true to their folk roots and often dwell upon traditional airs in which to set their contemporary songs. Thus they are always experimenting with different time structures (while retaining positive melodic structures) and Martin Jenkins, Dave Cooper and Kevin Dempsey have written some poignant songs such as 'Railway', 'Waves Upon the Ether' and 'Whispering Ned' which are masterpieces in lyrical and melodic construction.
Lead musician Martin Jenkins (fiddle, flute, mandolin, cello, mandola) explained this week that the groups activities had been restricted to a certain extent by the fact that Polly has been studying at university; but her final examinations and departure are now imminent and the group will then get down to some serious rehearsals. 'We've not been able to practice enough with Polly yet. And she also plays piano which we'd like to introduce' Martin added.
'There's hundreds of acoustic instruments that I'm sure we can play and we just want to keep expanding along these lines. Acoustic music is really our scene and I think we'd like to carry on like that for quite a while because there are so many acoustic outlets to explore'.
Certainly their folk apprenticeship has served them well for not only has it given them confidence in an informal environment where they are at conversation level with the audience but it has also expedited a high standard of musicianship and rapport, particularly on the part of Martin and guitarist Kev Dempsey whose contrapuntal duets are a joy.
'If you play electric instruments' went on Martin, 'you can synthesise practically every sound you want to, but with acoustic instruments you've really got to play accurately. And its marvellous musical training anyway'.
I questioned the danger of being overburdened with too many instruments and the trap that so many groups fall into of producing a cluttered sound. But Dave Cooper pointed out that all the band live in the same house in Ealing, and that 'its not so much a matter of what happens on stage as what happens at home'. And indeed the arrangements of their songs and their stage presentation is impeccable.
'I sometimes change the style of an instrument' cut in Martin. 'And that gives you something new to work with which no-one else is doing - and you can develop that infinitely.
Only percussionist Ted Kay, who plays tablas and congas, has not had some kind of a folk background, although various members have been involved with rock bands. And now Dando Shaft are finding the venues divided between folk clubs such as "Cousins, the Highcliffe at Sheffield and other broad minded contemporary clubs and the colleges where they appear to go down equally well.
'Folk clubs are a marvellous way to start for they help you to get involved with audiences. For instance although we arrange our programme beforehand there's still a lot of tuning to do between numbers which means you have to keep a rap going. Also I think that audiences will listen harder if you tell them a bit about the original song' said Martin.
Dando Shaft are evidently one of those empiric little outfits who will always be experimenting and expanding. And their latest project is explained by Dave Cooper: 'We got freaked out by some Bulgarian music recently which we are trying to learn now. It's a suite consisting of three folk tunes but they play such weird instruments that you really need an orchestra - there's some really weird syncopation'.
Martin commented on the group's adept sound balancing and the fact they could always achieve sufficient volume without distorting, regardless of venue or the company in which they are playing. 'We've just got a new PA and new instruments and everything is miked through one system while we've now got monitors on stage and can hear exactly what everyone else is doing. Its good because we are enjoying more than ever now.
Commercial release and appeal:
It appears that Neon Records wanted a commercial single to increase the band's, and their own, commercial success. Indian Summer was asked to record a version of Free’s "Ride a Pony" by their Neon label, as a strategic move to help break the band into the mainstream. The label hoped to leverage the popularity of the song to build momentum for the band. However, Indian Summer was not enthusiastic about the project, as they preferred to record their own material.
Not getting that commercial success was possibly a factor as to why the label was short lived.
The self-titled album by the folk-rock duo Fresh Maggots was released on the standard RCA Victor label (catalogue number SF 8205) in October 1971, not the specialized RCA Neon progressive label. But it seems as though it should have been on Neon.
I asked Mick Burgoyne if the Fresh Maggots album was destined for Neon 'Yes it was' he responded, 'we weren’t involved in the decision it was RCA’s choice. We were told that it was to be released on the launch of Neon and they informed us of the other bands on the launch but changed their mind'.
Interestingly Mick also mentioned 'Thinking back I believe we were told that our music didn’t fit in with the other bands on the release'. I found that to be odd given Neon's eclectic nature.
In October 1971, Sounds magazine published a positive review of the self-titled debut album by the Warwickshire acid-folk duo Fresh Maggots, describing it as a unique blend of melodic folk and "screaming fuzzed electric guitar".
The review was part of a wave of critical praise the duo received upon the album's release that autumn, though the record ultimately failed to achieve commercial success at the time due to a lack of promotion from their label, RCA.
Fresh Maggots 1st Album 1971 (Tracks in the side bar on youTube.)
