The Motion 1966. Left to right: Greg Peck, Martin Jarvis, Alex Macpherson and Kerry Watson
Martin Jarvis (lead vocals, guitar)
Greg Peck (vocals, guitar)
Kerry Watson (bass)
Alex Macpherson (drums)
This north London group started in 1964 as The Henchmen with Bernie Holloway on bass. Bernie was from Liverpool and had played with some well-known Liverpool groups pre The Beatles. He was replaced in early ‘65 by Kerry Watson and the same line up lasted until late 1967.
After the band split Kerry Watson went on to tour Germany with Jackie Edwards who wrote the hits ‘Keep on Running’ and ‘Somebody Help Me’ for The Spencer Davis Group. Kerry failed an audition for Cupids Inspiration but the manager of both these groups, who auditioned him, gave him the job with Jackie Edwards. Kerry died in 2014.
Martin Jarvis is still in the business as the UK’s foremost Tom Jones Tribute act. He worked in various bands over the years and did session work for a couple of record labels. He went to Las Vegas with Anthony Newley’s show. At Newley’s suggestion he started doing Tom Jones songs (Tom was the big hit in Vegas at the time). Martin has been doing them ever since.
Portsmouth News, 12 October 1967. Top to bottom: Drachen, Vincent and Arthur. Image may be subject to copyright
Arthur Brown (lead vocals)
Vincent Crane (keyboards)
Drachen Theaker (drums)
1965
Photo may be subject to copyright
November Arthur Brown (b. Arthur Wilton, 24 June 1942, Whitby, West Yorkshire, England) has been active on the music scene for the past year and graduated from Reading University with a philosophy degree in the summer. Brown has first become interested in pursuing a career in music while studying law at King’s College, London six years earlier. Exposed to traditional and modern jazz and art movies, he is also inspired by a Ken Colyer concert and picks up the banjo. While he never masters the instrument (nor completes his law degree), it leads him on a music path and he starts attending rhythm and blues evenings in Leeds. In 1963, he enrols at Reading University initially to study English, economics and social studies before switching to philosophy. While at Reading, he learns the basics of double bass and plays with The Yellow Dog Trad Band from Southampton who are playing the university circuit. However, after catching a Manfred Mann show at the university, he changes musical direction and becomes lead singer with his own R&B group, Blues and Brown. During this period, he issues his debut recording, a Rag week flexi-disc on Reading Rag Records in mid-1965, comprising two tracks: “You’ll Be Mine” by The Diamonds and “You Don’t Know” by Arthur Brown with The Diamonds. Brown subsequently relocates to Fulham, London and, after answering an advert in Melody Maker, joins mod group, The Swinging Machine, who comprise guitarist Paul Brett, bass player Roy Stacey, keyboard player Arthur Regis, sax players Tony Priestland and Derek Griffiths and drummer Jim Toomey. The group gigs as Arthur Brown & The Machines and then The Arthur Brown Union and are joined by backing singer Heather Swinson.
Photo: Paul Brett. The Arthur Brown Union without Heather Swinson in Fulham. Left to right: Brett, Griffiths, Toomey, Stacey, Regis and Priestland. Arthur Brown seated
December Brown leaves to form The Arthur Brown Set with keyboard player Robin Short, guitarist Martin Kenny and bass player Barry Dean, who plays with Patto’s People in late 1966. Together with a young drummer, the band moves to Paris, France and takes up a lengthy residence at the Ange Rouge club in Montmartre where the musicians perform with strippers and naked transvestites! The drummer finds the whole experience too much and French drummer Christian Deveaux takes over. The Arthur Brown Set provides two tracks – “Baby You Know What You’re Doing” and “Don’t Tell Me” to Roger Vadim’s film, La Curee, which is released in the US as The Game Is Over. Paul Brett joins the group in June 1966 and The Arthur Brown Set takes over from The Ingoes at the Bus Palladium in Paris before working at a club in Marbella, Spain. Brett returns to England later that year and joins The Overlanders but will reunite with Brown in 1967.
1966
October Brown organises a rehearsal at Marquee Studios with horn players Lyn Dobson and Henry Lowther with the intention of forming a new group to return to France to play club residencies. Brown invites Drachen Theaker (b. John “Drachen” Theaker; 16 April 1948, d. 1992), who he met in September after answering an advert that the drummer placed in Melody Maker, to join the outfit. Theaker has previously played briefly with Manchester groups, The Measels and The Wheels before doing equally short stints with Jimmy Powell and Wynder K Frog.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
November (5) Brown’s group (billed as The Crazy World of Arthur Brown) is advertised as providing support for The Herd at the Marquee on Wardour Street in Soho, central London.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(12) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown appear at the Shoreline Club in Bognor Regis, West Sussex with The VIPs. However, when the opportunity to play the promised gigs in France falls through, Brown and Theaker decide to go their separate ways, with the drummer gigging with Jimmy Cliff and then The VIPs. Brown meanwhile meets former Trinity College of Music graduate Vincent Crane (b. Vincent Rodney Cheesman, 21 May 1943, Reading, Berkshire, England; d. 14 February 1989) at a flat in West Kensington and talks his way into the keyboard player’s latest group, The Vincent Crane Combo, which has a residency at the Witches’ Cauldron in Belsize Park. Crane has been active on the music scene for a number of years, having made his stage debut during an interval in a show by jazz player Humphrey Lyttleton at the Marquee in 1963 billed as “the loudest piano player in the world”. While at Trinity, he also plays with a short-lived piano jazz trio known as The Vincent Cheesman Trio and a blues band variously known as The Simon Magus Band or The Vincent Cheesman Blues Brothers. After leaving the music college in 1964, Crane and sax player Peter Gifford join Lew Hird’s Australian Jazz Band for a European tour and after returning that autumn, the pair form The Big Sound, who record some demos. Over the next two years, Crane (and his band) also work as a backing group for Crane’s old friend Paul Green and others in Word Engine (also known as Poetry Unlimited). In mid-1965, Crane plays with Mod/R&B outfit, J C (aka Julian Covey) & The Machine and then forms Vincent Crane’s Freedom Riders and latterly The Vincent Crane Combo, which comprises bass player Binky McKenzie, sax player John Claydon and drummer Gordon Hadlow.
Photo: Melody Maker. Vincent Crane has residency at Witch’s Cauldron. Image may be subject to copyright
December Brown debuts with The Vincent Crane Combo at a gig in Brighton where Drachen Theaker is in the audience. Short of work, however, the band breaks up before the year is out. Intrigued by each other’s musical ideas, Brown and Crane forge plans to work together on a more ambitious project in the near future, but in the meantime, hook up with other groups in order to make a living. Crane joins ailing pop group Hedgehoppers Anonymous for short spell in late February 1967.
1967
January Brown hooks up with The Ramong Sound (which later finds fame as The Foundations), working with the group for a month before reuniting with Crane in the aptly named, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
February The ambitious new group is completed late in the month with the addition of Drachen Theaker and Crane’s old friend, Peter Gifford, who departs early on. Crane has just left Hedgehoppers Anonymous.
March The Crazy World of Arthur Brown debuts at the 7 ½ club in Shepherd’s Market, Mayfair, where they are spotted by producer Joe Boyd, who invites the group to appear at the underground club, the UFO on Tottenham Court Road, central London.
(31) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown make their debut at the UFO with The Alberts in support.
April (14) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown appear at the UFO club with The Social Deviants.
(29) The recently formed band makes one of its first major appearances at 14-Hour Technicolour Dream event, held at the Alexandra Place in north London with many other artists.
May (5) Returning to the UFO, they play on a bill with The Soft Machine.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(19) Back at the UFO, they perform on a bill that also includes Tomorrow, The People Show and The Sun Trolley.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(20) The next day, the group appears at the Ram Jam in Brixton, south London with The Shevelles.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
June The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play two shows at the Electric Garden in Covent Garden, central London, during the month. The first is with The Apostolic Intervention. The second one later in the month features both groups with The Tomorrow and The Herbal Mixture.
(16) The group plays at the UFO with The Soft Machine and The People’s Blues Band.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(24) The band appears at the London School of Economics with The Soft Machine, 117, Sugar Simone & The Programme, The Barbados Steel Band and Nisar A-Khan.
July (1) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play at the 117 club with Apostolic Intervention.
(9) They appear at Tiles on Oxford Street, central London.
(14) Back at the UFO, the band is joined by Alexis Korner and Victor Brox. Joe Boyd expresses an interest in signing the band but instead it attracts the attention of Who guitarist Pete Townsend, who records some tracks at his home studio, which are subsequently used in the film, The Committee. Later in the month, Townsend encourages his managers Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert to sign the band to the Track label.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(29) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown joins a stellar cast of artists at the Alexandra Palace in north London, including Eric Burdon & The Animals, Pink Floyd, The Creation and Blossom Toes.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
August (11) The group plays at Tiles on Oxford Street, central London with Embers.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(12) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown appears at the 7th National Jazz Pop Ballads and Blues Festival, Balloon Meadow, Royal Windsor Racecourse, Windsor, Berkshire with Paul Jones, Pink Floyd, Zoot Money, Amen Corner, Ten Years After, Timebox and many others.
(13) The band plays at the Swan in Yardley, West Midlands with Varsity Rag.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(18) Another show at the UFO finds the group sharing the bill with The Incredible String Band.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(21) The band returns to the Marquee in central London for the first time since November 1966 with The Studio Six in support.
(27) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play at Saville Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue with The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Tomorrow, Georgie Fame, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Denny Laine’s Electric String Band, Dantalion’s Chariot and others.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(28) Brown’s group appear at the Festival of Music, held at Hastings Stadium in Hastings, East Sussex with The Kinks, Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch, Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band, Robb Storme & The Whispers, Winston’s Fumbs and The Hip Hooray Band.
September The band’s debut single, “Devil’s Grip” (which features Paul Brett, who has recently left The Overlanders to join The Warren Davis Monday Band), is released but does not chart. After another former Arthur Brown Union member, bass player Roy Stacey, fails the audition at the Middle Earth in Covent Garden, Nick Greenwood aka Sean Nicholas (b. 2 March 1948, Hertford, Hertfordshire) joins and appears on sessions for the band’s debut album alongside session drummer John Marshall, who is brought in to replace Theaker on some tracks. The resulting album is not released until spring 1968. Nicholas has started out with Mickey Mann & The 3 Dimensions before playing with Cufley and The Soul Concern.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(1) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown participate in the UFO festival, held at the UFO club, playing the first night alongside Pink Floyd and Tomorrow.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(2)The group performs at Pearce Hall, Maidenhead, Berkshire.
(3)The Crazy World of Arthur Brown travel to Nottingham for a show at the Britannia Rowing Club before returning to London.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(4) Following the success of its Marquee show in August, the band returns for another show with Ten Years After in support.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(9)The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play at the Ricky Tick in Hounslow, west London.
(11) The group returns to the Marquee the following week for a show with The Nite People in support.
(16) The band appears at the Corn Exchange in Chelmsford, Essex.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(18) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown make another appearance at London’s famous Marquee club backed again by The Studio Six.
Photo: Southern Evening Echo. Image may be subject to copyright
(19) The band plays at the Concorde club, the Bassett Hotel, Southampton.
Photo: Cityweek. Image may be subject to copyright
(22-23) The band travels to Northern Ireland for two shows. The first is at the Electric Honeypot in Bangor with The High Wall. The following night, they appear at Club Rado in Belfast.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(30) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play at the Middle Earth in Covent Garden with The Exploding Galaxy, Mabel Greer’s Toyshop and The Kult.
October (1) They appear at Middle Earth in Covent Garden, central London with Exploding Galaxy, Mabel Greer’s Toyshop and Kult.
(3) With Ron Wood from The Jeff Beck Group on bass, the band records its debut show for John Peel’s BBC radio show. The session, which comprises recordings of “Witch Doctor”, “Nightmare”, “Devil’s Grip”, “I Put A Spell On You” and “Time”, is broadcast later that month.
Photo: Worthing Gazette. Image may be subject to copyright
(12) They play at the Pier Pavilion in Worthing, West Sussex.
November (10) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play at the Carlton Ballroom in Erdington, West Midlands.
(18) The band play at Floral Hall, Southport, Lancashire.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
December (9) The group appears at Middle Earth, Covent Garden with Rainbow Reflections and The Misfits.
1968
January (6) The band plays at St George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, Leicestershire.
Photo: Eastern Evening News. Image may be subject to copyright
(17) Arthur Brown’s group appear at the Gala Ballroom, Norwich.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(20) The group appears at the End of Rag charity event, held at the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, north London with Fleetwood Mac, The Move, Fairport Convention, Geranium Pond and Paper Blitz Tissue.
February (9) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown support Cream at Leicester University Arts Ball, Leicester.
March (29) The band plays at Middle Earth in Covent Garden with Blonde on Blonde.
April (8) A second John Peel session is recorded with the tracks “Fire”, “I Put A Spell On You”, “Child Of My Kingdom” and “Come And Buy” captured on tape.
(13) The band plays at the Marquee in central London with Timebox. With Nick Greenwood as permanent bass player, the band undertakes a brief Italian tour.
(28) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play their final show before embarking on their debut US tour with a gig at the Middle Earth in Covent Garden.
May (3-4) On its debut US tour, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown open for Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore East in New York.
(5) Canadian Jeff Cutler (b. Rowland Jefferies Cutler, 8 September 1941, Toronto, Ontario), previously a member of Toronto R&B outfit, Jon and Lee & The Checkmates and New York-based David Clayton-Thomas & The Phoenix, takes over from Drachen Theaker who is suffering from nervous exhaustion. Cutler has recently subbed for Spencer Dryden in Jefferson Airplane on some New Jersey area dates and was playing with that group when it headlined over The Crazy World of Arthur Brown at New York’s Fillmore East. Theaker leaves and heads for Los Angeles where he subsequently does session work for Love, appearing on Four Sail, before backing Warren Zevon. Theaker will return to the UK in mid-1969 and reunite with Arthur Brown in a new version of the group.
(11) Cutler makes his debut with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan where the band appears with The Doors, James Cotton Blues Band and Jagged Edge. During the show, Crane attacks Brown and Cutler on stage and has to be restrained.
(18-19) The group plays at the Miami Pop Festival, Gulfstream Racetrack with The Mothers Of Invention, Blue Cheer, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry and others.
(29-30) The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown appear at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan.
(31) – June (1) The band joins Love for a show at the Grande Ballroom.
June (13) The group is supported by Big Brother & The Holding Company at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium.
(14-15) The band performs at San Francisco’s Winterland with Big Brother & The Holding Company.
(21-22) The group plays at the Kaleidoscope in Los Angeles with The Byrds and Fruminous Bandersnatch. Crane returns to England and British keyboard player Dick Heninghem is drafted in to fulfil the remaining tour dates. Heninghem has previously worked with Nick Greenwood in Mickey Mann & The 3 Dimensions, Cufley and Soul Concern.
(28-29) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown join The Who, Fleetwood Mac (and for the second night only) The Steve Miller Band for a show at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. Brown breaks two bones in his foot after falling unexpectedly into the lighting pit and only plays one set.
July While on tour in the United States, the group’s second single, “Fire”, tops the UK charts and subsequently hits #2 on the US Billboard charts. The band’s debut album, named after the single, also tops the UK charts. The band returns to England this month and Heninghem is dropped.
(20) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play at Ryde Castle Hotel on the Isle of Wight backed by Uriel (featuring Steve Hillage). The line-up is Brown, Greenwood, Heninghem and a stand-in drummer. Heninghem has been rehired for the gig while Brown plans a new version of the group. Melody Maker reports on this day that Arthur Brown is rehearsing a new version of the group with former Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds drummer Carl Palmer (b. 20 March 1950, Handsworth, Birmingham, England). Bill Davy reportedly fills the keyboard position briefly before Palmer’s colleague from Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds, Pete Solley (b. 19 October 1948, London) takes over after working with Los Bravos. Former drummer Jeff Cutler and his New York partner Marvin Sylvor buy Brown’s contract following the US tour and together take on the task of representing, managing, negotiating, handling finances and booking gigs for the band. They also help visually develop, design and fabricate Brown’s North American tour later that year. The new line up begins work on recording a second album, provisionally titled, The Trials Of The Magician.
August (3) The new formation (with Palmer and Solley) appear at the Torbay Blues and Beat Festival, Middle Earth, Torquay Town Hall, Torquay, Devon.
(3) With Palmer on drums and Solley on keyboards, Arthur Brown and Nick Greenwood records a BBC session for The Saturday Club.
(6) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play at the Marquee in central London with East of Eden in support.
(10) The new line up headlines the second night at the National Jazz & Blues Festival held at Kempton Racecourse, Sunbury, Middlesex with The Nice, Jeff Beck, Ten Years After, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Joe Cocker, Deep Purple, Clouds, The Nite People and Ginger Baker.
(14) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown record another BBC session for The Parade of Pop.
(16) Brown’s group travel to the southwest for a show at Tavistock Town Hall, Tavistock, Devon.
(17) The band performs at the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, north London. Later that evening, it also appears at the Middle Earth club with The Writing on The Wall and Sam Apple Pie.
(21) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play at Eel Pie Island, Twickenham, west London.
(24) They perform at Dunstable’s California Ballroom in Bedfordshire.
(31) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown appear at the Isle of Wight Festival, held at Fishbourne with The Move, T-Rex, Fairport Convention, The Pretty Things and many others. On the same day, the group’s performance on West German TV programme, Beat Club is aired.
Photo: Western Gazette. Image may be subject to copyright
September (6) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play at County Ballroom, Taunton, Somerset with Vikki Marauder & The Mirrors and The Levitation.
(7) The band returns for a show at the Roundhouse, sharing the bill with The Doors, Terry Reid, Jefferson Airplane and Blonde on Blonde.
(23) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown appear at the Rhodes Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Herts.
(26) The group performs at Liberal Hall, Yeovil, Somerset with Blues Incident.
Photo: Middlesbrough Evening Gazette. Image may be subject to copyright
(29) The band plays at Redcar Jazz club, Coatham Hotel, Redcar, North Yorkshire with The Elastic Band.
October (12) They appear at Sheffield University with The Who.
(18) The band appears at Brunel University with The Who, Alan Bown, Elmer Gantry & The Velvet Opera (with Paul Brett) and Skip Bifferty. The same day, the group also appears at the Lyceum in central London.
Photo possibly Chester Chronicle. Image may be subject to copyright
(19) The group appears at Civic Hall, Nantwich, Cheshire with The Executives and Hockers Green.
(28) The band performs at Mecca Dancing, Locarno Ballroom, Southgate, Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
November Vincent Crane returns to the line up replacing temporary fill-in, Pete Solley, who joins Terry Reid’s group.
(6) The reshuffled line up plays at Eel Pie Island with July and Proteus in support.
(7) They appear at Porchester Hall, central London.
(8) The band kicks off a UK tour supporting the Who alongside The Small Faces, Joe Cocker & The Grease Band and The Mindbenders at the Granada Cinema, Walthamstow, north London.
(9) The tour takes in Slough Adelphi, Slough, Berkshire.
(10) The Who tour moves on to Bristol for a show at Colston Hall.
Image may be subject to copyright
(15-16)As part of the tour, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play the Middle Earth at the Roundhouse.
(17) The group plays at the Birmingham Theatre as part of The Who tour.
(18) The tour moves on to northeast for a show at Newcastle City Hall.
(19) On the penultimate night, the package tour arrives in Glasgow for a show at Paisley Ice Rink.
(20) The final night of the tour is a show at the Liverpool Empire.
December (15) Back Stateside for the second US tour, the group joins Fleetwood Mac for a show at the Music Hall, Houston, Texas.
(23) The band plays at Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan with MC5, SRC and The Rationals.
(27-28) The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown appear at New York’s Fillmore East with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield’s Supersession and Sweetwater.
1969
February (4-5) The group appears at the Saugatuck, Michigan with The MC5, The SRC, The Stooges, Procol Harum and others.
(27) Back home The Crazy World of Arthur Brown perform at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
(28) Melody Maker lists The Crazy World of Arthur Brown appearing at the Rag Ball, Ealing Tech College, Seymour Hall, west London with Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera and The Spirit of John Morgan.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
March (8) The band performs at the Polytechnic on Little Titchfield Street, central London with Killing Floor.
Photo: Melody Maker. Image may be subject to copyright
(23) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown appear at Mothers, Erdington, West Midlands.
May (31) The band appears at the Rock Pile in Toronto, Canada with Raven.
June (28) While on their third US tour, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown join Rhinoceros for a show at the Wollman Skating Rink, Central Park, New York, as part of the Schaefer Music Festival. Crane and Palmer leave the band separately in New York but meet on the plane home and decide to form a new group, Atomic Rooster, named after the nickname given to Peter Hodgson, the bass player in Rhinoceros and Jeff Cutler’s former band mate in Jon and Lee & The Checkmates. Brown is forced to continue the tour using whatever local band he can recruit that “fits the bill”. On one occasion, the singer arrives in Canada to find the musicians hired have learned all of the numbers he usually plays in the set but he tells them to forget all of it and after improvising the whole set, the group is rapturously received.
July (4) The band appears at the Saugatuck Pop Festival in Pottawattaimie Beach, Saugatuck, Michigan with Procol Harum, MC5, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, The Stooges, The Amboy Jukes, Bob Segar, The Rotary Connection and many others.
August (1-3) The group performs at the Atlantic Pop Festival with Chicago, Iron Butterfly, The Mothers of Invention, The Grateful Dead, The Byrds and many others.
October (31) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown play at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Michigan with The Amboy Dukes, The Stooges, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Bob Seegar, Teegarden & VanWinkle and many others.
November Back home, Brown reunites with former member Drachen Theaker, who has been working with High Tide since leaving the US. Through Cream lyricist Pete Brown, the pair meet sax player George Khan and synth player Jonar Mitchell, who are recruited for a new version of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown alongside bass player Dennis Taylor (b. 11 May 1950, Leytonstone, London), a former roadie for the group during Vincent Crane’s tenure and then the band’s lighting man during the same period. The new line up, which is completed with guitarist Andy Rickell, records the album, Strangelands, which is not released at the time.
1970
February (28) The band supports Love at London’s Roundhouse during that group’s debut British tour, along with Matthews Southern Comfort, Jody Grind and May Blitz.
June (23) The Crazy World of Arthur Brown appear at Commemoration Ball, St Johns & Trinity Colleges, Oxford with The Moody Blues, Family and Fotheringay. The group tours France under the managerial guidance of Giorgio Gomelsky but it is a riotous affair and after returning to home, Brown, Theaker and Rickell leave. The trio rent a farm in Dorset and joined by keyboard player Roy Sharland, they play various concerts, including the Maryland in Glasgow, using the name The Puddleton Express. Soon afterwards, Brown leaves to form Kingdom Come with former member Dennis Taylor while Theaker and Rickell continue with the name briefly before splitting.
Sources include:
Art Of Rock – Posters From Presley To Punk, by Paul D Grushkin, Artabras, Cross River Press Ltd, 1987.
Mothers 1968-1971 by Kevin Duffy, Birmingham City Council, 1997
Strange Brew – Eric Clapton & The British Blues Boom 1965-1970, by Christopher Hjort, Jawbone Press, 2007
The Castle – Love #2, by David Peter Housden, 1993.
The Castle – Love #9, by David Peter Housden, 1995.
The Peel Sessions, by Ken Gardner, BBC Books, 2007.
Urban Spacemen and Wayfaring Strangers, by Richie Unterberger, Miller Freeman Books, 2000.
White Bicycles by Joe Boyd, Serpent’s Tail, 2008
Newspapers and music paper resources include: Nottingham Evening Post, Toronto Telegram, Western Evening Herald, Western Gazette, Wakefield Express, Disc & Music Echo, Fabulous 208, Melody Maker, Variety, RPM
Many thanks to Arthur Brown for his personal recollections. I would also like to credit Olaf Owre for his work on Drachen Theaker’s early career with Manchester bands and specially thank Paul Green for his input on Vincent Crane’s pre-Crazy World of Arthur Brown career. Thanks also to Danny Hardman, Pete Solley and Miguel Terol. Thank you too Jeff Cutler for his personal insights to the band.
This is article is an updated and corrected version of an article that appears on the Marmalade Skies website.
I have tried to ensure the accuracy of this article but I appreciate that there are likely to be errors and omissions. I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who can provide any additions or corrections. Email: Warchive@aol.com
Thanks to Roy Stacey for the photo. The Uptown Band plays the Cromwellian around July 1966
Ralph Denyer (lead vocals, guitar)
Graham Wilson (lead guitar)
Art Regis (keyboards)
Tony Priestland (alto sax)
Roy Stacey (bass)
Jim Toomey (drums)
The Uptown Band linked up with Ralph Denyer after he’d ditched The Rockhouse Band in mid-July 1966.
Stacey recalls that the band was booked by Georgie Fame and Zoot Money’s managers Rik and John Gunnell, who ran the Flamingo Club in Soho’s Wardour Street as well as the Bag O’Nails in nearby Kingley Street and Brixton’s Ram Jam. The Uptown Band played all three venues regularly during the latter half of 1966.
He also remembers that the band played at the Roaring Twenties in Carnaby Street which was run by Jamaican Count Suckle, owner of the Cue Club in Paddington.
Another notable gig took place at the Cromwellian in November 1966 when Mike Love from The Beach Boys sat in on Hammond organ, together with Georgie Fame’s percussionist “Speedy” Acquaye.
Around Christmas the band folded and Jim Toomey formed Jon with former Rockhouse Band and Gass member Stuart Cowell (guitar/vocals) plus Tom Tierney (bass) from Lulu’s backing band; Ron Reynolds (keys); and singer Chris Simmons (who left during 1967).
Jon became Still Life in February 1968 when Con Byrne took over bass and Tom Tierney moved to rhythm guitar. In March, however, Still Life joined forces with Warren Davis (and his two sax players) and worked as a new version The Warren Davis Monday Band from March-September 1968.
In February 1969, Cowell and Toomey joined forces with Bernie Holland (guitar) and Jerome Arnold (bass) to form The Jerome Arnold Band who played together until late May 1969.
Next, Toomey reunited with former Uptown Band sax player Tony Priestland in Titus Groan. Toomey later found fame with The Tourists, featuring Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart.
Ralph Denyer initially worked as a solo singer/songwriter before joining Welsh rock band, Blonde on Blonde. Later he joined Aquila and co-wrote The Guitar Handbook with American guitarist singer/songwriter Isaac Guillory. He died in 2011.
Art Regis meanwhile joined Freddie Mack & The Mack Sound in January/February 1967. He didn’t stay long, however, and in June that year briefly worked with Billie Davis & The Quality followed by a month with singer Engelbert Humperdinck.
In late July, Regis joined Jimmy James & The Vagabonds where he reunited with Nat Fredericks from his early 1960s band, Rupert & The Red Devils. He stayed until September 1968 and then worked with Art Regis & The Brass Cannon.
Tony Priestland briefly joined Jimmy James in July 1968 but it’s not clear how long he stayed before he reunited with Toomey in Titus Groan.
Roy Stacey, who’d filled in for John Treais in The Five Proud Walkers during late 1966, including a show at the Ram Jam in Brixton, also covered for his successor John Ford in January-February 1967 when he was ill. Later that year, Stacey worked with that band’s drummer Richard ‘Hud’ Hudson and backed American guitarist Champion Jack Dupree for several gigs at Eel Pie Island (most likely in August).
After auditioning for the bass player’s spot in The Crazy World of Arthur Brown at the Middle Earth in Covent Garden in September 1967 (he lost out to Nick Greenwood), Stacey briefly reunited with Art Regis in Jimmy James & The Vagabonds in March 1968, playing a handful of dates.
Stacey next worked with an unnamed gypsy rock eight-piece group who recorded two songs at Radio Luxembourg that year.
“It was quirky and ahead of the time,” he says. “We had a girl singer; two cellists, who doubled on bassoon and other wind instruments; singer/songwriter and guitarist Andy Rae; second guitarist Terry O’Leary; Alistair Fielder on various range flutes; me on electric bass; and drummer Iain Clark.
“Albert Hammond produced the acetate. We took the band to Tony Viscounti, who said the line-up wouldn’t work.”
In August 1968 Iain Clark auditioned for Danny Kirwan’s band but when the young guitarist joined Fleetwood Mac, the drummer joined Cressida (and later Uriah Heep) in October. The gypsy rock group carried on but folded around 1971.
However, during late 1968 (or possibly 1969), Stacey reunited with Art Regis again in an early jazz rock group that recorded material with the intention of playing some gigs in Sweden. Featuring jazz singer Bobby Breen and tenor sax legend Dick Morrissey (whose wife was Swedish), the project proved short-lived.
In the early 1970s, Stacey reunited with Paul Brett and worked with him alongside Johnny Joyce from Paul Brett’s Sage, recording some BBC Radio sessions.
Regis who lives in Germany and Stacey continue to pursue music projects. Toomey lives in Australia and also continues to play as well as act.
Notable gigs:
15 July 1966 – Beachcomber Club, Nottingham with Solomon Burke (backed by Bluesology) (Nottingham Evening Post) Billed as Ralph Denyer’s Uptown Band
16 July 1966 – Britannia Rowing Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post) Billed as Ralph Denyer’s Uptown Band
23 July 1966 – New Spot, Gosport, Hampshire (Portsmouth News)
5 August 1966 – Britannia Rowing Club (Nottingham Evening Post)
6 August 1966 – Beachcomber Club, Nottingham (Nottingham Evening Post) Says from Rufus Thomas tour
Photo: Roy Stacey. The Union before Dave Terry took over from Arthur Brown. Not all of the band are pictured. Left to right: Roy, Heather, Paul, Tony and Derek
Dave Terry (aka Elmer Gantry) (lead vocals)
Heather Swinson (vocals)
Paul Brett (guitar)
Art Regis (keyboards)
Tony Priestland (alto sax)
Derek Griffiths (tenor sax)
Roy Stacey (bass)
Jim Toomey (drums)
When Arthur Brown left The Union around December 1965, the group brought in blues singer Dave Terry (aka Elmer Gantry), who’d previously worked with Stacey, Regis and Swinson in Barnes R&B band, The Impacts.
After The Impacts split up, Dave Terry worked on the folk/blues circuit with Simon Lawrence. The pair had a regular gig at Studio 51 in Leicester Square and, according to Melody Maker, played a gig there as late as 2 December 1965.
Gantry recalls that The Union worked as The High Society for a while. According to Melody Maker, The High Society played at the Pontiac in Putney on 18 December 1965 and this would have been the same band. The High Society also performed at the Galaxy (in Basingstoke Town Hall) on 19 February 1966.
Photo: Melody Maker
As The Union, the band recorded two tracks at Tony Pike’s studio in Putney – covers of “In the Midnight Hour” and “Shake” in spring 1966 which have recently surfaced on Paul Brett’s anthology CD Stone Survivor.
Photo: Melody Maker. Possible Union gig from 1966 but needs confirmation
Soon after Dave Terry left, followed in quick succession by Heather Swinson and Derek Griffiths.
Terry joined The Five Proud Walkers in June 1966 and remained with this band as they morphed into Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera. During this period, he changed his name to Elmer Gantry.
In late 1968/early 1969, after splitting with The Velvet Opera, Gantry recruited members of The Downliners Sect – Johnny Sutton, Paul Martinez, Bob Taylor and Nat Dumaine to become The Elmer Gantry Band. Later, in the 1970s he fronted Stretch and later still, recorded with The Alan Parsons Project, Jon Lord, Cozy Powell among others.
Photo: Art Regis. Guitarist Paul Brett
Also in June 1966, Paul Brett left to re-join Arthur Brown and the second incarnation of his Paris-based Arthur Brown Set. The group moved on to work in Spain but by October Brett had returned to England where he subsequently joined The Overlanders alongside Laurie Mason (lead vocals); Paul Petts (bass); Ian Griffiths (rhythm guitar); and Brian Middleditch (drums). Middleditch was replaced by Phil Wainman (ex-Hamilton & The Hamilton Movement) around March 1967 for a few months then Vic Lythgoe before splitting in August/September.
Brett then played with The Warren Davis Monday Band from September-December 1967; Tintern Abbey from January-June 1968; (Elmer Gantry’s) Velvet Opera from June 1968-spring 1970 and later Fire and Paul Brett’s Sage.
With Brett gone, Stacey remembers that the band recruited an Australian guitarist called Graham Wilson.
Stacey recalls that the remaining members of The Union – guitarist Graham Wilson; keyboard player Art Regis; sax player Tony Priestland; and drummer Jim Toomey changed name to The Uptown Band and worked at the Cromwellian before linking up with Brett’s former band mate from The SW4, Ralph Denyer when the future Blonde on Blonde guitarist/singer split with his previous outfit, The Rockhouse Band in July.
Thanks to Elmer Gantry (aka Dave Terry), Roy Stacey and Paul Brett for helping with the story
The future Crazy World of Arthur Brown front man formed this group around December 1965 after leaving The Arthur Brown Union.
The line-up above headed to Paris around early 1966 and played at the Ange Rouge Club in Montmartre until about May/June. The group’s performance on French TV can be seen on You Tube. At one point French drummer Christian Deveaux took over from the original sticks man.
During this time, the group recorded two tracks for the Roger Vadim/Jane Fonda film La Curee (aka The Game is Over) – “Don’t Tell Me” and “Baby You Know What You’re Doing”.
However, around June 1966, Brown returned to England briefly and convinced former Arthur Brown Union guitarist Paul Brett to join his band. It’s not clear, however, if it was the same formation as above with Brett succeeding Martin Kenny.
Brett recalls that the group played at the James Palladium for several months before landing some work in Spain and working there for several months at a club in Marbella. Arthur Brown’s band also worked at the Bus Palladium, taking over from The Ingoes according to that band’s guitarist Jim Cregan.
Around October 1966, Brown returned to London and formed the original Crazy World of Arthur Brown with Drachen Theaker. Barry Dean joins the remnants of The Bo Street Runners in Patto’s People.
Singer Dave Terry (aka Elmer Gantry) who’d replaced Arthur Brown in The Arthur Brown Union remembers that he later shared a house in Putney with Brown, Theaker and Vincent Crane alongside former Arthur Brown Union sax player Tony Priestland.
Thanks to Arthur Brown, Paul Brett, Elmer Gantry (aka Dave Terry), Jim Cregan and David Else for helping with the story
Photo: Roy Stacey. The Arthur Brown Union live. Pictured: Roy Stacey, Heather Swinson, Paul Brett, Tony Priestland and Derek Griffiths. Missing from the photo: Jim Toomey (behind Swinson), Art Regis and Arthur Brown
Arthur Brown (lead vocals)
Heather Swinson (vocals)
Paul Brett (lead guitar)
Art Regis (keyboards)
Tony Priestland (aka Tony Crane) (alto sax)
Derek Griffiths (tenor sax)
Roy Stacey (bass)
Jim Toomey (drums)
While still studying at Reading University and recording with The Diamonds, Arthur Brown joined The Swinging Machines around April 1965 (Ed. Arthur Brown says he had previously sung with The South West Five).
The band minus Heather Swinson outside Brett’s parents’ house in Fulham. Left to right: Brett, Griffiths, Toomey, Stacey, Regis and Priestland with Brown on the floor. Photo: Paul Brett
Stacey remembers that the group opened for The Spencer Davis Group at the Ricky-Tick in Hampshire (possibly Basingstoke) and went down a storm. (Ed. This gig is likely to be at the Galaxy Club at Basingstoke Town Hall on 27 August 1965.)
“There were lots of foreign students. Spencer opened the first and closing sets with The Arthur Brown Union in the middle,” he recalls.
“Once Spencer started up the students left the dance floor moving into the bar. When The Union opened the middle set old ‘Brownie’ introduced us in French then went into medley of up-tempo soul and funk. The dance floor was heaving. They loved us. When Spencer returned for the closing set the students vacated the dance floor.”
The bass player also remembers that Don Arden booked the band for a gig near Manchester but failed to tell them that he’d booked the gig under the name The Echoes, Dusty Springfield’s backing band.
“When we arrived, the promoter looked somewhat puzzled,” remembers Stacey. “To our surprise, Arden had booked us out as Dusty Springfield & The Echoes. We said, ‘Dusty’s ill’, couldn’t come’. Less than pleased he was. We did the gig and didn’t get paid.”
Sometime around late November (possibly mid-December), Arthur Brown departed and Dave Terry (aka Elmer Gantry) from The Impacts took over as front man. The group then briefly worked as The High Society before reverting to the name, The Union.
Notable gigs as Arthur Brown & The Machines:
8 May 1965 – Galaxy Club, Victoria Hotel, Basingstoke, Hampshire (Hampshire and Berkshire Gazette) Spelt Machenes (says seven piece)
15 May 1965 – Co-op Rainbow Suite, Birmingham with The New Tones and The Taverners (Birmingham Evening Mail)
29 May 1965 – New Brompton Football League, Kent Alloys Canteen, Strood, Kent (Chatham, Rochester & Gillingham News) Billed as Arthur Brown and his band so may be a different group
5 June 1965 – Galaxy Club, Town Hall, Basingstoke, Hampshire (Hampshire and Berkshire Gazette) (Says eight piece)
6 June 1965 – Galaxy Club, Addlestone, Surrey (Woking Herald) Opening night
Notable gigs at The Arthur Brown Union:
27 August 1965 – Plug Hole, Tottenham Court Road, central London (Melody Maker)
3 September 1965 – Plug Hole, Tottenham Court Road, central London (Melody Maker)
13 September 1965 – Marquee, Wardour Street, Soho, central London with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds (Melody Maker)
6 October 1965 – 100 Club, Oxford Street, central London (Melody Maker)
9 October 1965 – Galaxy Club, Town Hall, Basingstoke, Hampshire (Hampshire and Berkshire Gazette)
13 October 1965 – 100 Club, Oxford Street, central London with The Downliners Sect (Melody Maker)
20 October 1965 – 100 Club, Oxford Street, central London with The Downliners Sect (Melody Maker)
31 October 1965 – Whitehall, East Grinstead, West Sussex (Sussex Evening Express)
11 December 1965 – Galaxy Club, Town Hall, Basingstoke, Hampshire (Hampshire and Berkshire Gazette) This may have been with Dave Terry although it is billed as with Arthur Brown
Thanks to Paul Brett, Arthur Brown, Roy Stacey, Art Regis and Elmer Gantry (aka Dave Terry) for helping with the story
Guitarist Paul Brett put this band together around February 1965 after playing in The Southwest Four (aka SW4) with future Blonde on Blonde guitarist/singer Ralph Denyer, who’d gone on to play with Rag Men & Women.
Having started out playing with some local groups around the Fulham area, Brett’s first big break had come in early 1963 when he took over from Jimmy Page in Neil Christian & The Crusaders joining Neil Christian (lead vocals); Matt Smith (piano); Jumbo Spicer (bass); and Tornado Evans (drums). He left in June 1963.
The SW4 may have evolved into The South West Five who played at the Ealing Club on 29 November, 6 December and 24 December, but this needs confirmation. The South West Five also played at the Bromel Club in Bromley on 4 January 1965.
Art Regis came on-board after playing with The Impacts but it’s not clear what the other members had done before. Toomey, however, was from the Catford area in southeast London.
Early on it became clear that the group needed a strong lead singer and after bringing in back-up singer Heather Swinson and bass player Roy Stacey (both ex-The Impacts), Brett recruited singer Arthur Brown who was studying at Reading University and had recorded a flexi disc with The Diamonds comprising the Brown sung “You Don’t Know”.
Photo may be subject to copyright
Stacey recalls one gig at Reading University supporting The Nashville Teens where they upstaged the headliners. It’s quite possible that this gig was organised by Brown if he was studying at the university at the time (he’d leave summer 1965).
With Brown joining the group, they became Arthur Brown & The Machines.
Thanks to Paul Brett, Roy Stacey, Art Regis and David Else for helping with the story
The Impacts, 1964. Left to right: Tony Noble, Roy Stacey, Dave Terry (aka Elmer Gantry), John Reeves and Chris Allen
Dave Terry (later Elmer Gantry) (lead vocals)
John Reeves (lead guitar)
Tony Noble (rhythm guitar)
Roy Stacey (bass)
Chris Allen (drums)
This Barnes, southwest London band had started life as The Southbeats in early 1963.
As Roy Stacey notes, the group was part of the Bob Druce circuit with The High Numbers (later The Who) and performed regularly at The Goldhawk Social Club in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, Watford Trade Union Hall in Watford, Herts, the Railway Hotel in Wealdstone, Middlesex and the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill, southeast London.
Photo: Boyfriend magazine, October 1964
Changing name to The Impacts in November 1963, they appeared in The Contact, a small budget film for the Spastics Society, in January 1964. An early outing for John Hurt, Pauline Collins and Wendy Richard, the film included a cameo performance by the group playing live in one scene, which can be seen on You Tube.
Later that year, actor Hugh Halliday, who had starred in The Contact and also played drums, took over from Chris Allen (who may be the same musician who went on to play with The Attack and The Syn among others).
The Impacts appeared at the 100 Club in Oxford Street, most notably on 21 April 1964 when they opened for The Art Wood Combo and The Pretty Things.
Photo Roy Stacey. The Impacts audition for the Crawdaddy in Richmond, circa 1963. Only Roy (left), John (centre) and Tony (right) are in the shot
The group also played at Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, Middlesex (most likely in 1963/1964), supporting The Graham Bond Organisation on a Sunday. Stacey notes that John Platt’s book London Rock Routes features a photo of an unknown band who are in fact The Impacts.
“The shot shows Dave [Terry’s] old Vortexion pa amplifier,” he says. “Tony [Noble] was playing his early ‘50s blonde Fender Esquire.”
“The photo in the book is tiny and shows two of the band at a great distance,” adds Dave Terry (aka Elmer Gantry).
“Tony Noble on the left and Roy Stacey on the right. It’s a bit strange that guitarist John Reeves, the drummer and I are missing from the photograph. I don’t know why; you can’t even see the drum kit. Maybe Tony and Roy had just got on stage and were tuning up.”
The band also appeared at the Blue Moon, Hayes, Middlesex supporting Chris Farlowe & The Thunderbirds on 19 April 1964 and Cliff Bennett & The Rebel Rousers on 26 April 1964.
Photo: Surrey Comet
The Impacts also played at the Jazz Cellar in Kingston upon Thames in Surrey, including on 29 July 1964 and 13 November 1964.
Stacey remembers that The Impacts were featured in the popular teen beat magazine Boyfriend on 10 October 1964 on its “Undiscovered British Groups” page.
Photo: Boyfriend Magazine, 10 October 1964Photo: Boyfriend magazine, 10 October 1964
That same month, the band participated in a two-day Belfast tour with Jerry Lee Lewis. Don Arden had booked The Impacts to back the rock ‘n’ roll legend and Stacey remembers they didn’t get paid.
“On the first night, Jerry Lee took a chunk out of my Precision Bass,” he recalls. “As he kicked his stool in my direction, whack! Then hammered the piano keys with his left foot.”
On 24 October 1964, the group joined fellow west London band The Second Thoughts for a show at Studio 51 in Leicester Square, central London.
Stacey says that back-up singer Heather Swinson became part of the group towards the end of 1964. Also, keyboard player Art Regis joined the line-up. He also remembers that Richard O’Sullivan jammed with The Impacts on organ at one point.
Art Regis had first joined Rupert & The Red Devils in 1963 replacing original keyboard player Mike Finney. Featuring future Spencer Davis Group guitarist Ray Fenwick and sax player Rupert Clahar (later in The Rick ‘N’ Beckers), Rupert & The Red Devils travelled to Nuremburg in West Germany to play some gigs that same year but broke up.
Regis then joined Dutch band The Defenders (later The T-Set) before returning to London and hooking up with The Impacts.
On 1 December, The Impacts joined The Grenades, The Fairlanes and Wainwright’s Gentleman for a show at Hammersmith Town Hall.
On 12 December 1964, The Impacts played at Studio 51 again, this time with The Loose Ends, returning for a second appearance on 16 January 1965 (also with The Loose Ends).
However, later that month (or in early February), The Impacts split up with Dave Terry/Elmer Gantry pursuing his blues/folk interests, working with guitarist Simon Lawrence. The duo landed a regular gig at Studio 51 in Leicester Square.
Photo: Melody Maker. Dave and Simon on 22 July 1965
Tony Noble meanwhile joined The Derek Savage Foundation while John Reeves formed John Brown’s Bodies, a Hammersmith group not to be confused with Keith Emerson’s Brighton band of the same name.
According to Stacey, John Reeves and Tony Noble would reunite in 1968 in Othello Smith & The Tobago Bad Boys and recorded the LP The Big Ones Go Ska for CBS Direction. Derek Savage was also a member.
Stacey meanwhile joined The Mike Leander Band for a tour. “It was pure chance that I got to meet Mike Leander at his apartment,” says the bass player. “He was a co-producer of the Drifters’ ‘Under the Boardwalk’ the first record I ever had. Mike Leander worked as a producer and arranger with Ben E. King and The Drifters at Atlantic Studios, New York.
“On that tour was black ex-G.I. Ronnie Jones of The Nightimers’ fame, who Herbie Goins replaced. Leander’s band did loads of Motown and featured two drummers and a big horn section. It also featured Paul Gadd (aka Gary Glitter), a Ready Steady Go dancer.”
During this period, Stacey also did some session work with Unit 4 Plus 2 thanks to Hugh Halliday, who’d joined the Hertfordshire group in 1965.
A short while later, the bass player joined Arthur Brown & The Machines on the recommendation of Art Regis who had joined this outfit when The Impacts split up (and just before Arthur Brown came on-board). Former Impacts back-up singer Heather Swinson also became a part of this group during 1965.
Thanks to Roy Stacey, Art Regis, Elmer Gantry (aka Dave Terry) and David Else for helping with the story
Photo: Bryan Stevens/Mick Ketley. The Penny Peeps (not long before becoming Gethsemane). Clockwise from bottom left: Martin Barre, Denny Alexander, Malcolm Tomlinson (centre), Bryan Stevens and Mick Ketley
Blues-rock aggregation Gethsemane was the final version of a group that guitarist Martin Barre (b. 17 November 1946, King’s Heath, Birmingham) had first joined in July 1966 before landing the “gig of his dreams” with Jethro Tull.
Bass player and leader Bryan Stevens (b. 13 November 1941, Lha Datu, North Borneo) and keyboard player/singer Mick Ketley (b. 1 October 1947, Balham, London) were there from the outset, having been integral members of Beau Brummell & The Noblemen from late 1964 to June 1966.
Photo: Bryan Stevens/Mick Ketley. The Noblemen, early 1966. Mick Ketley (far right) and Bryan Stevens (front centre)
Returning to England after touring Europe, Stevens and Ketley had decided to put together a new version of The Noblemen, adding new musicians, including drummer Malcolm Tomlinson (b. 16 June 1946, Isleworth, Middlesex; d. 2 April 2016) from west London and Martin Barre.
All four musicians survived the group’s evolution from Mod/soul outfit Motivation through to psychedelic pop band The Penny Peep Show/Penny Peeps.
Photo: Bryan Stevens/Mick Ketley. Motivation, early 1967. Left to right: Chris Rodger, Martin Barre, Mick Ketley, Jimmy Marsh, Malcolm Tomlinson and Bryan Stevens
However, despite garnering plenty of work on the club scene in the first half of 1968, the emerging blues explosion headed up by Fleetwood Mac was starting to make psychedelic rock bands redundant.
That July, Canadian group The Band’s Music from Big Pink had been given a UK release and had turned musicians’ heads, The Penny Peeps included.
After playing at Nottingham’s Beachcomber Club on Saturday, 13 July; Leicester Rowing Club, two Saturdays later; and the Swan in Yardley, the West Midlands on Saturday, 3 August, the musicians realised another change in style was required.
The decision was influenced in part by the audience’s response at one particular gig (possibly the Walgrave in Coventry on Sunday, 4 August) where the group’s performance was poorly received.
In the interval, the band’s current singer Denny Alexander suggested that the band play some blues numbers in the second set and with Mike Ketley and Malcolm Tomlinson also helping out with lead vocals, the fresh approach went down a storm.
Taking on a new name, In the Garden of Gethsemane, which was soon shortened to Gethsemane, the group began to plough a more blues-based direction.
The decision to adopt a new style may also have been prompted by the Eighth National Jazz and Blues Festival held at Kempton Park racecourse in Sunbury-on-Thames on Sunday, 11 August.
Malcolm Tomlinson had attended and was blown away by Jethro Tull and its enigmatic front-man Ian Anderson whose mastery of the flute made an impression on the drummer. Both he and Martin Barre had recently started to play flute and Tomlinson came back raving about the group to Barre, urging the guitarist to check out Anderson’s inspirational group.
Around this time, however, Denny Alexander dropped out to pursue a non-musical career.
Reduced to a quartet, the new musical direction that Gethsemane took gave the band an opportunity to be more creative and to stretch out during live performances. One of the “features” of the band’s stage show during this period was a flute duet featuring Barre and Tomlinson.
Mike Ketley believes the genesis of Gethsemane began when the musicians played an (unadvertised) all-nighter at the Gunnell brothers’ Flamingo in Wardour Street around mid-to-late August.
“What I remember is Malc Tomlinson on drums, Bryan on bass, Martin Barre on guitar and me on Hammond. We were definitely a four piece there and by then Malc had decided to take up the flute. Martin by this time was becoming a much better flute player than he was a sax player.
“One of our set numbers was ‘Work Song’ made famous by Cannonball Adderley plus others. After we had played the main theme twice through with some ad lib from me and Martin, Malc said play some percussion rhythm on the keys and he came out from behind the drums flute in hand and between him and Martin, who by then had realised this was something completely spontaneous, we played some pretty bizarre stuff, completely unrehearsed with two flutes talking to each other, while Bryan did his own thing on bass in line with me just using the percussion tabs and hitting the keys to make a tempo. Having lost Denny Alexander it was almost like the start of a new direction for us.”
One of the first advertised gigs with the new name (albeit it as Gethsemane Soul Band) was at the Royal Lido Ballroom in Prestatyn, north Wales on Saturday, 24 August.
The next day, the group played the first of several shows at Eel Pie Island in Twickenham, west London. The popular island hangout had closed briefly in September 1967 and only reopened on 31 July. Ketley distinctly recalls opening for The Nice at the venue (who were billed to play there on Wednesday, 28 August).
One of the most significant dates during this period was Saturday, 31 August when Gethsemane (misspelt as Gethsemanie) opened the Van Dike Club in Plymouth, Devon, playing first before headliner Jethro Tull. It was the first opportunity that Martin Barre had to check out his future employers.
Interestingly, an advertised gig at the Cobweb at St Leonards in East Sussex on Saturday, 7 September (see above) reveals that the group was still occasionally billed as The Penny Peeps, which raises the question of whether Denny Alexander was still a member at this point. (Ed: Ketley says that Alexander had definitely left the band once they had redefined the music they wanted to play and chosen the name Gethsemane.)
Like the previous incarnations, Gethsemane had a busy diary, which increasingly took in blues clubs and the burgeoning university circuit.
On Sunday, 8 September, the quartet performed at the Aurora Hotel in Gillingham, Kent. That Saturday (14 September), the group (billed as Geth Semane) played one of its most prestigious shows – the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm on a bill that also featured The Scaffold, David Bowie, Junior’s Eyes and The Edgar Broughton Band.
DJ John Peel apparently was a huge fan and recorded the band’s set, which he played the following week on his radio show.
On Saturday, 28 September, Gethsemane played at the Stage Club in Oxford.
The following Saturday (5 October), the group landed an important gig, opening for blues trailblazers Fleetwood Mac at the Links in Borehamwood, Herts.
Without Alexander to front the group, the vocals were shared between Malcolm Tomlinson and Mike Ketley.
“Malc always had a great voice,” says Stevens. “We were doing cover versions of The Band as we had got hold of an early copy of Music from Big Pink. If I remember right, Malc sang ‘the Weight’ and ‘Chest Fever’. It was really good.”
Two days after the Fleetwood Mac support gig, the band headed for south Wales to play at the Landland Bay Hotel in Swansea (billed as Gethsemaney).
A few weeks later, on Wednesday, 16 October, the band (billed as Geth Semane) appeared at the Railway Hotel in Bishop’s Stortford, Herts. The group would return to play there on Wednesday, 6 November.
Later that month, Gethsemane appeared at popular blues haunt the Nag’s Head in Battersea on Monday, 21 October and then two days later returned to Eel Pie Island to share the bill with Alan Bown.
Around this period, Gethsemane piqued the interest of Bee Gees producer Robert Stigwood, and through this association signed with Dick James Music (Northern Songs). While the idea was to record an album, the band soon ran into problems in the studio.
“I have an acetate of Elton John. It’s just him playing at the piano singing ‘Lady Samantha’ which is all about a ghost,” says Ketley.
“Dick James Music, Elton’s publisher gave us a recording to try and do our own version but Elton paid a visit one recording session and said he didn’t like what we were doing with his song so it never went ahead.”
“Musical differences” erupted between the group, Northern Songs and Robert Stigwood. It seems the producer was looking for something much more “poppy” from the group, who also cut a version of “Grease Monkey”, allegedly with future Average White Band member Alan Gorrie providing the bass and lead vocals. At the time, Gorrie’s band Hopscotch were flat mates with Gethsemane.
The decision to cut Elton John’s “Lady Samantha” seemed a rather unusual choice for a blues band. Perhaps the decision was made following an Elton John radio session, taped on 28 October at BBC’s Agolin Hall.
On that occasion, John recorded three tracks – “Lady Samantha”, “Across the Havens” and “Skyline Pigeon”, abetted by a studio group comprising long standing guitarist Caleb Quaye, session bass player Boots Slade (formerly of the Alan Price Set) and Malcolm Tomlinson on drums. The three songs were played on BBC’s Stuart Henry Show the following week.
Whatever the reason, the disappointment and frustration surrounding the LP sessions, together with an aborted attempt to record with guitarist Jeff Beck (the most plausible recording date is 18 September), appears to have been a major factor in driving the band apart.
During November 1968, the band ploughed on but was soon running out of steam. After a show at the Industrial Club in Norwich on Friday, 8 November, the group travelled to Reading the following Wednesday to play at the Thing-A-Me-Jig before moving on to Wolverhampton the next evening (14 November) to play the Club Lafayette (billed as Gethsemany).
Back in London, the group landed a gig at the Hornsey Wood Tavern in Finsbury Park the following evening (Friday, 15 November), sharing the bill once again with Jethro Tull. Aware that Mick Abrahams was leaving, Martin Barre auditioned for the guitar spot but it didn’t go well and he worried he’d missed out on his dream job.
With a show at the Crown Hotel in Birmingham on Tuesday, 26 November, Gethsemane began winding down operations, agreeing to split that Christmas.
A highly memorable gig at Dundee College of Art on 12 December opening for headliners, Pink Floyd, followed before Gethsemane returned to London to fulfil a few final engagements, including a show at the Pheasantry on the Kings Road, before dissolving.
“The last gig we ever did was at a college in Brook Green, Hammersmith and a guy from Island Records asked if we would be interested in signing up,” says Stevens.
“We didn’t want to know. We had had so many people saying so many times, ‘sign here and we will make you famous!’ Anyway, by that time, we had all decided to go our separate ways.”
Martin Barre has different recollections about Gethsemane’s final gig. “Terry Ellis form Chrysalis approached me to invite me to audition for Tull, which I did a few days later. It was the first one… it took two [to get the position]. He had been sent by Tull to find me and wasn’t interested in the band.”
Having discovered that Mick Abrahams’ replacement Tony Iommi had been dismissed after only a month in the band, Barre phoned Jethro Tull’s singer Ian Anderson to see if he could try out a second time for the band. [Ed – Tomlinson also auditioned at the same time.]
Stevens continues the story: “He didn’t have a very good guitar at the time and mentioned he desperately wanted a Les Paul Gibson for the audition. The guy in the flat below us in our Chiswick flat offered to lend him the £500 – pretty good considering that was quite heavy money in the late ’60s.”
Invited round to Anderson’s flat for a second audition, Barre got the “gig of his dreams”. The rest as they say is history. But what about his former band mates?
Having led a succession of groups from Johnny Devlin & The Detours through to Gethsemane, Bryan Stevens decided to sell his bass and used the money to help finance his studies. Returning to college, he later became a surveyor and currently lives in Chiswick.
Mike Ketley meanwhile returned to the south coast. Switching from keyboards to bass, he joined forces with a several former Noblemen and for a couple of years worked in a local band called The Concords. He later abandoned live work and after leaving music retail, worked for the Hammond Organ Company, then joined Yamaha Music UK retiring as MD after 32 years.
Stevens and Ketley have remained firm friends and in June 2002 re-joined former band mates in a Johnny Devlin & The Detours reunion held in Bognor Regis. Among the guests at the reunion was former Soundtracks guitarist Ray Flacke, who later went on to play with Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler. Ketley has also re-recorded “Model Village” with his son’s band called The Vybe.
Johnny Devlin and The Detours got together again in 2003 to headline a gathering of ’60s groups from Bognor for a sell-out night in aid of the hospice that looked after Barry Benson (P J Proby’s hairdresser) who had died of cancer a few months earlier. Called “Back to the ‘60s” such was its popularity that the annual event lasted for 10 years and raised nearly £70k for local charities in and around the Bognor Regis area.
Stevens and Ketley were involved in another significant reunion – after over 35 years, they finally met up with Penny Peeps singer Denny Alexander over the Christmas 2004 period. Another reunion took place on 29 March 2009.
Bryan Stevens, Mick Ketley and Denny Alexander, 2009
They also renewed contact with Malcolm Tomlinson, who, aside from Martin Barre, was the only member of the band to maintain a significant musical profile.
After Gethsemane’s demise, Tomlinson reunited with his former Jeff Curtis & The Flames cohort Louis McKelvey and in February 1969 moved to Toronto, Canada where the pair formed Milkwood with future Celine Dion backing singer Mary Lou Gauthier. (McKelvey, incidentally, had also been one of the hopefuls who auditioned for Ian Anderson and the guitar slot in Jethro Tull).
Milkwood, 1969. Left to right: Ron Frankel, Jack Geisinger, Louis McKelvey, Mary Lou Gauthier and Malcolm Tomlinson
During his first few months in the city, Tomlinson was called on to play drums and flute on ex-A Passing Fancy guitarist and singer/songwriter Jay Telfer’s ambitious solo album, Perch but unfortunately the recording was subsequently shelved, as was Milkwood’s own album, cut in New York that summer for the Polydor label with legendary producer Jerry Ragavoy.
However, Tomlinson did make a notable session appearance on label mate, Life’s eponymous lone album recorded in late 1969, providing a superb flute solo to the Terry Reid cover “Lovin’ Time”.
Milkwood’s greatest claim to fame was appearing at Toronto’s famous Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival concert on 13 September, just before John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band. Yet despite garnering praise from Jimi Hendrix in Cashbox magazine after he’d spotted the quintet playing at the Penny Farthing club in Yorkville Village, Milkwood imploded shortly after a show in Ottawa in late October.
Next up, Tomlinson briefly played with McKelvey in the short-lived biker group, Damage. One of the band’s most high profile shows was an appearance at the Toronto Rock Festival on 26 March 1970, appearing on the bill with Funkadelic, Luke & the Apostles, Nucleus and Leigh Ashford among others.
When that group folded in late 1970, Tomlinson briefly teamed up with former Elektra Records band, Rhinoceros before joining Syrinx in October 1971 and recording material for True North Records under the name, JFC Heartbeat.
He then worked with Toronto-based groups, Rambunkshish and Zig Zag alongside Toronto blues guitarist Danny Marks, before signing up with Bill King’s band during 1972.
Zig Zag, 1971 with Malcolm in white
More impressive, in 1973, he recorded an album’s worth of material with Rick James and the original Stone City Band, which is still to see a release.
Versatile as ever, Tomlinson subsequently played drums with Jackson Hawke, did sessions for Jay Telfer and then joined Bearfoot before recording two solo albums for A&M Records in 1977 and 1979 entitled Coming Outta Nowhere and Rock ‘N’ Roll Hermit. He dropped out of the recording scene during the ’80s and ’90s.
Malcolm Tomlinson 2004
However, in 2007, Tomlinson sang on Toronto group The Cameo Blues Band’s latest album. In June of that year, he played drums with ’60s folk-rock group, Kensington Market to celebrate the “Summer of Love” and also doubled up with Luke & the Apostles. Tomlinson died on 2 April 2016.
Louis McKelvey and Malcolm Tomlinson, Toronto, 2004
Denny Alexander has also passed away. He died on 6 December 2018 and both Mike Ketley and Bryan Stevens were pall bearers at his funeral in January 2019.
Thanks to Bryan Stevens, Mike Ketley, Martin Barre, Denny Alexander and Malcolm Tomlinson.
Joe Higgins – lead vocals (replaced by Sketto Richardson in February 1967)
Douglas West – vocals
John Wright – lead guitar
Nicholas Lait – bass
Steig Neilson – alto sax
Dudley Brown – tenor sax
Neil Willis – tenor sax
Jeffrey Brooksmith – drums
A Woolwich, southeast London band that was formed sometime in 1965, The Little Joe Set were profiled on page 2 of the South East London Mercury on 1 December 1966 and again on 2 March 1967.
Don Sheppard, who also played saxophone, managed the group and helped Joe Higgins form the outfit. The group apparently worked extensively on the club scene in London and had also played in the US and Denmark.
Photo: Melody Maker
The Little Joe Set played at Tiles on Oxford Street on 24 November 1966 with The Quiet Five. They also played at the Location in Woolwich and the El Partido in Lewisham, southeast London as well as the London Cavern.
Photo: Jeff Brooksmith’s family
Of the musicians listed above, Jeffrey Brooksmith had previously worked with The Just Blues (and is rumoured to have also played briefly with The Pretty Things).
South East London Mercury, 2 March 1967, page 2
In February 1967, manager Don Sheppard replaced Joe Higgins with singer Sketto Richardson and the group continued to play the club scene.
The group went through further changes and evolved into Sketto Rich & Sonority, who included the singer plus Don Sheppard and John Wright alongside new members.
South East London Mercury, 2 March 1967, page 2
We’d be interested to hear from anyone who can add more information about the group in the comments below
Photo: Del Paramor. Sketto Rich & Sonority
Photo: South East London Mercury, December 1966Photo: South East London Mercury, 1 December 1966
This site is a work in progress on 1960s garage rock bands. All entries can be updated, corrected and expanded. If you have information on a band featured here, please let me know and I will update the site and credit you accordingly.
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