Gallery

SMALL FRY PRE 1959

Ernie Goodall – cigarette in hand. In the 1930s commentating at sports day at his club. Ernie was club steward and secretary. At that time his company had 15000 employees and a wonderful clubroom with a full sized stage.

1959 TO 1965 – LIVERPOOL

These three pics were taken of Savva and his Democrats. It was the first properly managed band. Savva was (and still is) a Greek Cypriot chip shop owner managed by his cousin, another “chippie” Jimmy Sergei whose dad owned a chain of Liverpool and Birkenhead chippies – the Golden Sunrise group. Note the price of fish cakes in old money!!!! I formed the band to back Savva, having left The Sundowners (where I was replaced by a younger North Wales guitarist Ian Kilminster) and prior to that The Roadrunners when it was still our first form band at school! I guess this was the first serious rock n roll bandleader / musical director job I had.

 

 

One of the main Liverpool promoters – Wally Hill who ran Peak Promotions with his lovely wife – booked Savva regularly to his many gigs. This really broke me in as a player and booker …… Wally insisted that his bands played doubles – and early spot here an hour to pack up and get to the next and so on. Hamburg was a rest!! This cutting from Mersey Beat owned by Bill Harry a mate of Lennons from art school (where my auntie taught John and Stuart). Bill and I are still in touch.

 

 

 

What’s this then; suddenly a folkie image emerges. Jim Turner, another Liverpool agent propositioned me to do a solo folk – rock act as “Timothy”. By then Savva had broken up and I had discovered both the blues with Mike Daly’s Keystone Kops and playing with the Jacaranda steel band….and still just 16! Dick Heckstall-Smith and Jack Bruce were on the same bill one night and told me to get to London as I’d have no trouble getting into the studios, and so I did!

Before we head south to London, here is the sign that I really am a complete and utter nerd …… I’ve a whole folder of invoices, delivery notes etc dating back to 1961. To get the sound I wanted I used a standard AC30 with a Copycat, BUT had a 12” bass speaker in a separate cabinet, which I still have – deep in the lock-up. In those days Goodmans would recone a blown speaker for £3!! Here’s the invoice ….

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My beautiful Levin. Before I set off to seek whatever in London I sold everything except my trusty acoustic – a 1959 Levin LM-26, which sounds exactly like the one in the clip YouTube which I’d had from new. My guitar teacher the late Jim Gretty of Hessy’s music store sold it to me …… see below. Battered, much recorded by myself and Matthew Fisher of Procul Harum. The tone has improved over the years and it has a deep resonance only matched by Martin and Gibson.

1965 – 2015 and beyond ……….
In preparation …..