Ade Taylor - Wandering John Bassist

 Ade Taylor - Wandering John Bassist

by Pete Clemons

Ade Taylor - bass with Wandering John 1970 Coventry Cathedral Diggers Fest.

Bass player Ade Taylor nowadays lives happily in Devon. He has done so for a good number of years. There, he performs with local blues and rock bands. But this child of Coventry holds a wealth of knowledge and experience form those heady days of the late 1960s. So it is great to chat to people like Ade about those days. One story tends to lead to another and so on.

I began by asking Ade Taylor why he had chosen the bass guitar. He replied:

'I was born in Hipswell Highway, Wyken before moving to Shakespeare Street, Holbrooks, Binley Woods and finally Earlsdon. As a youngster I had a little gang of friends in Earlsdon, where I lived at the time. We used to get up to all sorts of things as lads do. Football, Scalextric, bikes, and pop music. The Stoke/Wyken area at that time had a wealth of talent that included Neil and Hazel O'Connor, Dave Pepper, Rod Felton, Paul King, Wall, Geoff Veasey, Arnold Chave amongst many others). One day, I went around one of my friends house, and he and another were playing acoustic guitars together. From this, came a little band, and I just sang along with the lead singer. When one of the lads got a drum kit, only the bass position wasn't filled. So, they all looked at me with those, what about Ade eyes'.

Ade continued 'My brother said, I think the bass will really suit you Ade. And although this band of 14 - 15 year olds didn't get off the ground, that chance remark by my brother got me thinking. Fast forward to 1967, and I was working by then, and was able to purchase my first bass from Exchange and Mart in town, for £15. Nick Hawkswell gave me some good bass tips back in 1967, when I bought my first bass guitar. Nick had been a member of Coventry band 3AM along with Derek Wilson (guitar, vocals) and Jimi Longworth (drums)'.

The following year, 1968, Ade got himself a Fender Precision, a decent bass guitar. Bob Jackson gave him some useful riffs, including "Sunshine Of Your Love" by Cream. On the strength of that, he got into his first proper band, 'Interior War' and on rythmn guitar and slide guitar was John Alderson. (I think Interior War also included Leamington Spa resident, vocalist Nick Rowbotham, later of The Mosquitos)

Ade and John Alderson were kicked out of Interior War and 1969 saw the pair form Wandering John. The first Wandering John gig in the late Autumn, 1969 at the Newlands pub, Tile Hill Lane.

This gig lasted just 3 songs, then we were ejected for being too loud!. The band famously played an afternoon gig in the old cathedral. A lot of folk remember that day so well.

By 1972 Ade was playing rhythm guitar. Trev Teasdel remembers how Ade taught him how to do a 'barre chord' and John Alderson taught him the basis of 'Angie' - the Bert Jansch tune.

As it turned out Ade always dabbled with guitar. He had a cheap Spanish guitar, and played in my bedroom, as playing bass on your own isn't much fun. He learned a lot from various guitarists, including Johnny Alderson. But, alas, his ventures into lead guitar never rose to any great heights.

Ade says 'Some day I will tell about my links to well known Coventry musicians, including Wandering John, Indian Summer, Asgard, 3am, The Rare Set, Jessica's Theme, and many more.


Maybe, reading this, will spur Ade on to giving a more fuller account of his story.

Live concert by Wandering John 2010 for their 40th anniversary at the Sphinx Club  Coventry 

Ade Taylor in the 70's

Wandering John 1970

From a 1970 photo of Ade Taylor in Broadgate Gnome 1970 - above a graphic used for the Hobo Coventry Music Archive in 2007 and the original from Broadgate Gnome.

More on Wandering John on the Coventry bands from the 1960's onwards A to Z.

Here https://coventrybands.blogspot.com/2018/08/wandering-john.html

Rock Goes to College

 

Rock Goes to College

by Pete Clemons

Rock Goes to College was a BBC series that ran between Sept 1978 and March 1981. The programme showcased a variety of up-coming rock oriented bands who were given the opportunity to perform live from small venues and broadcast simultaneously on television and radio during a 40-50 minute live performance.

The venues were typically university, polytechnic or college halls that had small stages. The halls held a few thousand people with tickets often given to the Students Union to distribute out for free. The bands chosen were also, in some cases, bands which, at that time, did not have a particularly strong mainstream following. Although many went on to be very successful.

A BBC DJ, normally Pete Drummond, would also be present to introduce the band for the television audience.

I have put a few words together about a couple of Coventry connections to the series.

The first was on January 21st 1980. In this episode the student taunting Specials performed at the Colchester Institute in 1979, playing hits such as Rat Race, Too Much Too Young and Gangsters. The band are caught throwing tambourines at the bouncers and indulging in a little moon stomping during a stage invasion. This appearance definitely captured Coventry’s Magnificent 7 at their finest.

Set listing: Do the Dog, Monkey Man, Rat Race, Blank Expression, Rude Boys Outta Jail, Doesn’t Make It Right, Concrete Jungle, Too Much Too Young, Guns of Navarone, Nite Club, Gangsters, Longshot Kick De Bucket, Madness, You’re Wondering

Next up was when Rock Goes to College visited Coventry. On 19 March 1981 Siouxsie and the Banshees were filmed live at the nearby Warwick Arts Centre, for the BBC music show.

From the concert came a tune called Israel, a dazzling walk between the symbolic and the emotional. The song was released and issued as a stand-alone single between the albums ‘Kaleidoscope’ and ‘Juju’.

The concert was enticing in its ethereal darkness, from Steve Severin’s irresistibly menacing bass and Budgie’s ceremonial drums to the eerie choral backing. John McGeoch’s dazzling guitar spirals and Siouxsie’s beautifully mournful delivery.

This 40-minute set, which was also the last ever Rock Goes to College, was filmed a few months before the band released Juju, their fourth studio album and several of the tracks featured in the setlist.

Set listing: Intro (Clockface), Israel, Spellbound, Arabian Knights, Halloween, Christine, Night Shift, Red Light, But Not Them, Voodoo Dolly, Eve White/Eve Black.

In general, many of these RGTC performances have only have been shown a very limited number of times on TV and in some cases only once. Very few of these concerts seem to have made it to legal DVD.

Bootlegs exist created from original TV and radio broadcasts as well as subsequent repeats. The Specials, for example, are commonly found advertised on trader's sites.

Some of the shows have been recently broadcast on VH1 Classic on the show BBC Crown Jewels.

The Specials Rock GoesTo College below

Siouxsie And The Banshees Rock Goes To College 1981

All Night Jazz Session, Coventry Locarno 1961

All Night Jazz Session, Coventry Locarno 1961

by Pete Clemons.

For a while I was under the assumption that the first all night music event, to have been held in Coventry, was during 1966 at the Locarno. Then I found information that confirmed there had been a slightly earlier all night event that involved John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.

More recently I came across some information that substantiated there had been an all night jazz session, again at the Locarno, but this time during 1961.

This event involved regulars to the then Mercers Arms jazz club scene. In fact the bands involved seemed to be permanently on the road. These bands were incredibly hard working. All night events were not a new thing to these guys as they had been involved in other all night jazz sessions up and down the country.

The Locarno event began at 11pm and went through the night till 6am. It had been organised jointly by The Abracadabra Jazz Club based at the Mercers and The White Lion Jazz Club at the Leofric and involved the following bands:

The Clyde Valley Stompers

Formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1952. From 1954 they were led by Ian Menzies and soon became a full-time professional group. Their popularity extended throughout the U.K. during the '50s trad jazz boom and they had several minor hit records. The band had a U.K. Top 30 success in 1962 with 'Peter and the Wolf', but although they appeared on television, including playing on The Morecambe and Wise Show, the days of trad pop were over. The group disbanded in 1963.

Ken Colyer's Jazzmen

Trumpeter Ken Colyer loved ensemble oriented New Orleans jazz, and he never really veered from that path throughout his career. Colyer also worked with the Crane River Jazz Band from 1949-51. He joined the Merchant Navy where he jumped ship in America to go to New Orleans and play with local musicians. After making some recordings, he was caught and deported from the U.S. During 1953-54 he formed the Ken Colyer Jazzmen along with trombonist Chris Barber. Musical differences resulted in the rest of the group leaving and forming Barber’s classic group.

Alex Welsh and his Band

Alex Welsh began his musical life in Leith on the smaller cornet, later switching to trumpet. He moved to London in the early 1950s, forming a new band. Welsh made sure every position in the band was filled with an expert, exciting player. The band frequently toured, including several trips to the United States.

Mickey Ashman's Ragtime Band

Bass player and former member of the Chris Barber Band. Mickey Ashman first played with Chris Barber in one of the latter’s amateur bands in the early 1950s. By 1955 he was working in Humphrey Lyttelton’s band and then in 1956 he joined Chris Barber once more. In the early 1960s he was leading his own outfit.

The Cy Laurie Jazz Band

Cy Laurie initially trained as a draughtsman. He began playing on a soprano saxophone which had been left at a pawnbroker’s shop owned by his father; but he soon swapped it for a clarinet, on which he was self-taught. Cy's band gained a reputation for getting 'wildly carried away' while on stage.

Clyde Valley Stompers - Peter And The Wolf.

KEN COLYER JAZZMEN - Harlem Rag.

Alex Welsh Jazz Band - It Don't Mean A Thing.

SIX FIVE SPECIAL "Chris Barber & Ottilie Patterson"

Wild Man Blues The Cy Laurie Jazz Band.

Dando Shaft Reunion 1993

 Dando Shaft Reunion 1993

by Pete Clemons

A recent on-line discussion about the Dando Shaft reunion, at Whitefriars during 1993, had me digging through some unused notes, about the band, I took several years ago. With so many myths surrounding the Dando's early days I thought it best to get those notes out there.

The first words came from Kevin Dempsey:

Rod Felton took Kevin under his wing and got him gigs at the City Arms (Earlsdon) folk club. Dando Shaft started the Pilot Folk Club in order to get their music heard. Kevin's father, Frank Dempsey, was in the band New City Sounds. One time Frank came to watch the Dando’s. This was a totally different kind of music to what the New City Sounds played and Frank totally shocked Kevin by his reaction. It was shocking. This reaction, rather than have a negative effect actually spurred Kevin on. One day you will have to queue up to watch us play Kevin told his Father.

Soon after the Dando’s had landed back in Coventry after returning from London the band had a gig lined up at The Walsgrave pub. The day of the gig had seen snowfall and that evening a large queue of gig goers had formed outside of the Walsgrave. Kevin drove into the car park and he spotted familiar faces in that queue. It was his Mother and Father. He pulled up alongside and wound his window down reminding them of their earlier reaction.

The next set of notes came from Dave Cooper:

The first Dando shaft album occurred as a result of a cancellation at Pye studios by Jonny Silvo. The bands manager suggested we could use the studio time to make a demo. After the first take the session producer Miki Dallon called us into the booth and announced "great lets make an album". The eight tunes were played live no overdubs, at the session in little over four hours.

A second session was booked at a later date, to mix the tracks and correct the one fluff we made in "Drops of Brandy". At this session a contract and lawyer were produced and we signed away 60% publishing and 100% of mechanical royalties. We quickly realised we had to get away from Young Blood Music, however we had an album release, "An Evening with Dando Shaft" to support our live shows.

"An Evening with Dando Shaft 1970" must have been one of the cheapest albums Miki Dallon ever produced. I wrote five of the eight songs. Over the years many and various lease deals have been made with companies for compilations. Over fifty years later and the music is still available. None of the band members receive royalties from the mechanical reproduction and sale of this music.

Again, borrowed from Dave:

For the record. This "Whitefriars" reunion gig in '93. Lineup was: The original dandoist Roger Bullen on bass, Martin Jenkins on Mandocello+, Kev Dempsey on stratospheric Guitar. Ted Kay tablaaaaa..., Chris Lesley Zeta violin. Polly Bolton singing. Dave Cooper guitar and vocals. There were a number of guest performers; Gillie Nicholls, Kalinka Vulcheva and Rod Felton.

The video of "Raining on the Rock" is Me (Dave) and Kev vocals. Rod is playing percussion, rain sticks. We were also joined by my son Selvin Cooper on Didge for the song. I'm aware that stories and dare I say myths appear and swirl. To my knowledge Rod never performed with Dando apart from this occasion. Maybe called up once or twice in the early Cov scene days to harmonise a chorus?


DANDO SHAFT were formed in 1968 and featured:
POLLY BOLTON - Lead Vocals
MARTIN JENKINS - Lead & Backing Vocals, Mandolin and Violin
DAVE COOPER - Lead & Backing Vocals and Guitar
KEVIN DEMPSEY - Lead & Backing Vocals, Guitar and Bass
ROGER BULLEN - Bass
TED MAY - Percussion

....................................

From Dave cooper's Facebook 

It is with great pleasure to report that following the recent transfer of the catalogue of the Dando Shaft recorded works to "Cherry Red Records", a new publishing deal and a new release of our music. Planned to be a multi-disc boxed set. To include the first three records plus Radio concert recordings and additional unreleased tracks from a gig at the Belgrade Theatre in 1977. More news on "Dandology" as we progress. We are delighted to be working with "The Unmistakeable Sound Of Independence" and look forward to the release and future collaborations.

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/?fbclid=IwAR3WugP0k8PWo2e3DceSHPySDTPQfWoxLEpFvpZAJwcxeXGuKxKf7Sc0Pmc

More on Dando Shaft here

https://coventryfolkclubs.blogspot.com/2014/05/dando-shaft.html

The name of the group came from a 60's novel by Don Calhoun

Jerry Lee Lewis – 1964 Coventry Matrix Hall

 

Jerry Lee Lewis – 1964 Coventry Matrix Hall

By Pete Clemons

During 1964 Jerry Lee Lewis toured extensively in the UK. He had been struggling for any success back home in the States. He had recently moved from Sun to Smash Records (Philips in the UK), and Smash had a plan to get him back on track again. Shortly before touring the UK, Jerry Lee had recorded what many were sure would be his comeback hit: 'I’m on Fire'. But sadly the single failed to set the charts alight.

During the tour Jerry Lee Lewis gave what many called 'outstanding performances', among them a Manchester TV Special and a concert at The Matrix Hall in Coventry. Gene Vincent, The Animals, The Paramounts and The Nashville Teens, who were Jerry's backing group, all appeared on the bill.

Here is how the gig was reported at the time:

Jerry Lee Lewis can be seen in action at Coventry's Matrix Hall on Saturday night, and it is likely that among his repertoire will be his new Philips single 'I'm on Fire' coupled with 'Bread and Butter Man'.

Jerry Lee, who is getting on for 30, sounds like a teenager on the disc which should prove a firm favourite with his many thousands of fans up and down the country. Hundreds of them, as reported on here recently, are travelling from far and wide to see him in Coventry.

Many people don't realise that Jerry Lee's first ideal was to become, not a rip roaring fire tongued pop singer, but a preacher. He studied a the bible institute at Waxahachie, Texas but was sent down, he claims, 'for rocking the accompaniment to a religious song'.

Jerry Lee's special singing style, I suppose, developed a few years later when he began incorporating boogie and blues of the South with country music.

Today one of the fastest recording artists, Jerry is married to his third cousin, Myra Gale Brown, and has two children – a son by a former marriage, and a baby daughter born in August last year.

He lives at Oora Lake, Memphis and his spare time interests include motor cycling, duck hunting and fishing. Jerry Lee Lewis can play, and I mean play – not mess about with, almost any instrument.

He has never learnt to read music but is a master of improvisation, and almost any tune gets more tuneful when caught between the keys of a piano and the nimble fingers of Jerry Lee.

From his piano he drifted almost automatically into entertainment. It started with him tickling the drums or playing the violin in local clubs. Soon he was sitting in whenever a group happened to be a man short.

Nowadays his style incorporates the boogie and blues with the country and western, but somehow he still fits in with the contemporary scene. That's why Coventry's Matrix Hall will be packed to capacity on Saturday night. The new Jerry Lee disc is in the shops now.

Full concert 1964

Moonbears - Four Sides For Red

 

Moonbears - Four Sides For Red

(Coventry band)

by Pete Clemons

 

 On Bandcamp 

On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheMoonbears/

On YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6DhwgV68_XD3F5JwGmNDfg/featured

Quadrilaterals can be simple or complex. And this four sided double album is no exception. Thankfully, nothing on this record comes across as remotely anthemic. Neither are there any of those catchy hooks to draw you in.

Moonbears imaginations must have been working overdrive to dream this opus up. The strength of Four Sides For Red lies with the non standard and the unpredictable compositions. The emphasis of the tracks is placed on feel rather than technique. The album is choc full of improvisations yet, at the same time, no one appears to be at the centre of it all. This is a total group album.

Moonbears music swirls and flows between the feverish pulsing of jazz rock and a halcyon filled shade of pop. Grand sweeping melodies are bifurcated with saxophone and the dreamy ardour of unhurried keyboard.

If you are unable or unwilling to reconcile your traditional listening ideas then you might not get much out of this work of art. But open your mind a little and you will be rewarded greatly. It is an album that seems to challenge conventional song construction and adds loose improvisations and instrumentals. Sometimes at the same time. It is not a quick hit. It is more a slow release and needs to be absorbed.

Getting Four Sides For Red released has been a labour of love with love being the operative word. It has taken, what seems like an age, to get it into the wider world. Not least of all because of the pandemic. But love is a powerful thing and with it being a central and important theme to the albums completion they got there in the end. I suspect it contains some deeply personal lyrics but interpretations of words can take you in many directions

My take on Moonbears are that they are more than a band. They are a commitment. Chances are taken. They are not rock and roll, not jazz, not pop. Just music, intense music. The musicians involved seem to know instinctively what is required. You kind of get the most action with the least number of people. There appears to be no rules within the band, just different styles. They come across as free thinking with no boundaries. The music develops from many different areas. They are certainly comparable to nothing in these parts. The absolute opposite of homogeneous.

In conclusion, it takes a little self endeavour to get into Four Sides For Red. But the benefits are accessible to anyone who takes the time to listen to it. It is an album for the fullness of time to come and not simply for the moment.

Blue Beat comes to Coventry 1964

 

Blue Beat comes to Coventry 1964

You tend to associate Blue Beat music as an influence for the Ska scene that took off in Coventry during the late 1970s. And indeed it was.

But I hadn't really considered that the genre had reached the ears of music loving public of Coventry much before that. But how wrong I was. Yes we had the reggae boom of the late 60s. I clearly remember reggae singles being heavily played in the youth clubs at that time.

So imagine my surprise, while researching for something entirely different, an article I came across in a column in a Coventry newspaper from 1964.

The article was reviewing the latest Blue Beat releases. Admittedly, these records were not from the Blue Beat catalogue itself. But the discs themselves were by heavy weights from the scene which found them released by the Decca, Columbia and Ember labels.

The article is reproduced below:

Blue Beat has come to Coventry. For some time it's lively rhythm has dominated the scene in many of London's West End night spots, and now this infectious message is spreading. Local record shops report encouraging sales and many of the Blue Beat discs are now available.

Perhaps one of the most commercial singles in this style would be 'Cross My Heart' a Decca release from The Exotics.

The eight Exotics are West Indians – seven of them were born in the West Indies but one, tenor player Jimmy Sampson, is a product of that fab beat city, Liverpool.

'Cross My Heart' is an up tempo number, full of vigour and musical colour, and benefits from the vocal sounds of singer and pianist, 22 year old Owen Gray.

Columbia Records offer 'Little Girl' coupled with 'The Bluest Beat', a combination of the sounds of Ezz Reco and the Launchers and Boysie Grant and Beverley. The disc is a follow up to the Launchers 'King of Kings'.

Boysie Grant was responsible for the vocal on the last one and this time he is helped out by Beverley. Ezz and his group thump out the rhythm while Boysie and Beverley call and answer each other throughout the song.

The whole thing has a deliberate thudding beat in a slow-medium tempo and yet manages to steer clear of over commercialism.

Ember Records have released two Blue Beat discs as a start to a new series of rhythm and blues extended players. Entitled The Fabulous Blue Beats' – volume one and two – the records were taped in a seemingly ideal atmosphere of a cool cellar in the heart of Soho.

Out of the gay laughter and rings of cigar smoke came titles like 'I'm the Loneliest Boy in Town' and 'Tan Tan Blues'. Story songs, city songs, these are examples of pepped up sounds with modern overtones that still retain the old tradition of the blues.

I have played these two EP's over and over again and enjoyed them. However the one tune that really impressed was the lengthy ever swaying 'Tight Like That' on volume one.