• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers TO BE MOVED

L

Lord Richard

Guest
DEAR ALL

Added 23rd July 2009. I have finally cracked how to upload the 50 odd pages - 82 postings, I have.

They are the first 82 postings of the thread - April 13th, 2008 - October 31st 2008 - that were all 'lost' on the site.

Unfortunately, I cannot upload the thumbnails - the photos. Hopefully, the people who put them up can re-post them. They are very important to document 'Dan Pawson and the Artesian Hall Stompers', as best we can.

I would like to thank Dave Senior for giving me the clear instructions which enabled me to transfer my tif file into a form that can be edited and re-posted on the forum.

It is not possible to re-post in this window. Rather, the postings are added on the date I added them, i.e. scroll down to the appropriate date to locate them.

MANY THANKS - I ACKNOWLEDGE YOU ALL IN THE NEW DAN PAWSON 'LIVING THE LEGEND - 1971-1998' CD WHICH WILL BE RELEASED IN A FEW WEEKS ON 504 RECORDS.


1st November 2008 to when the thread was lost.

Here are the first 4 notifications of a total of 11 that I have.

These 4 notifications cover the period from 1st – 13th November 2008.

I can post the rest later if this works.


DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY OTHERS?


Notification 1 – 1/11/08


Dear Lord Richard,

paul spedding has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.

Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************
Richard,

When Larry passed on Claude did indeed carry on promoting the AHS.Here are some venues and dates from my scrapbook(s) Also attatached posters which Claude produced and a photo taken at Stratford-on -Avon Carnival 17th July 1993.This gig was through Larry for "Etam" ladies Fashions.The "Uniform" was provided by the shop, NOT US ! It's the only photo in exsistence of us wearing straw boaters! Bill Scott on Banjo,you know the rest.
Crown & Tuns, Deddington,Oxfordshire.October 31st 1992.
The Anchor,Bradford St, B/ham.November 12th 1995.
The Chequers,Chipping Norton,Oxfordshire.December 2nd1995
The Tuns, Alcester, Warwickshire.June 1st 1997.
There may be other venues apart from the four listed here.

Cheers, Spud.

***************


There may also be other replies, but you will not receive any more notifications until you visit the forum again.



Notification2 – 1/11/08


Dear Lord Richard,

Stan Stephens has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.


Here is the message that has just been posted:



My alerts are now back and I have just realised how many postings I have missed. Unfortunately I also was unable to make to the O2 Arena though I would love to have been there. Spud is doing a wonderful job of unearthing documentary evidence of the early days of the band and I will endeavor to add to this with what I can find in my archive. There was a time in the Larry Slatter era when we used to play in the Cotswolds on Easter Mondays making the journey by coach, the significance of this you will see in a moment. The venue was the New Inn at Wroxton, near Banbury. We would play there on the lunch(dinner in the Black Country!)time and consume a copious amount of beer. On one occasion this resulted in my collapsing on to a table of sandwiches which had just been laid out for the band. In the afternoon we would board the coach and head for Tuck Mill Farm, Childswickham, near Broadway where we would get stuck into Mr Crump's cider. On one such occasion a member of our following whose name slips my mind at the moment attempted to follow us in a minibus and promptly crashed it into a telegraph pole leading to hospitalisation of the incumbents. On one of these occasions we proceeded from Mr Crump's to an evening gig arranged by Larry at the "Brewery !" Club in Stratford. We set up on a high stage behind curtains beyond which sat the audience. As the curtains opened for the start of our performance Dan rolled forwards out of his seat and somersaulted into the flower arrangement that ran the length of the front of the stage. A startled elderly lady in the front row jumped to her feet in astonishment and screeched "He's drunk, he's drunk!!"
A few snippets to conclude this posting; Pat's dog, Tilly died and she now has another one whose name I forget.
Richard, you will be aware that we had a four year Saturday night stint at the Fish & Anchor, Offenham in the Vale of Evesham because you depped for Dan on one occasion. There were some great characters there including Nobby Stanley who would always get up and sing "Don't have any more Mrs Moore" and Cider Dick who once stole a chicken fro the back garden of the pub and tried to sell it to the "gaffer". Bob Barton played piano on these sessions you may recall.

Cheers

Stan




Notification 3 – 7/11/08


Dear Lord Richard,

Pat Pawson has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.

Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************

---Quote (Originally by Big Gee)---

Hi Richard.

This is a fabulous thread!

I can't believe you've seen June recently. I fancied her something rotten back then! She broke my heart when she went off with a guy called Jim Rocket - nobody was known by their real name in those days, as you no doubt recall.

A lot of the old Salutation regulars (me included) ended up drinking at the Brown Lion, Hall Street, just up from the White Horse. There was never any jazz there, but it was a good old pub all the same. Grampus is no longer with us, sadly - he was a very good friend of mine indeed. Neither is Bomber or Les Page. Harry Tater emigrated to Australia and disappeared. Aidan I saw last year at an Emmitt Till concert in Shenstone, but he was just about to move to Ireland and we've not heard from him since. He plays great mandolin and banjo. Claude is still around, according to Aidan, but not seen for many a year. The others I named have just vanished into the mists.

Apart from Stan, I don't recall the names of the other AHS members you mention, but I reckon I'd recognise them even now.

The other place I recall was the (in)famous No 27 Bristol Road, a large house near the junction with Belgrave Road. I haven't a clue who owned it, but it was just one long party there. I think there's a MacDonalds where it used to stand.

If I could get it, I'd down a pint of rough cider to the old days!

Big Gee
---End Quote---
Hi Big Gee, have been watching this site with interest. My son Spencer Pawson put me onto it. Wish I could remember you, I must have known you really well. Got a pic? Meet up with Lord Richard every so often, last saw him in London couple of weeks ago when they had musicians from New Orleans over for 2 days at O2 arena. Great time. ps I still drink cider. Do you remember the Greyhound? Good pint there!

***************


Notification 4 – 13/11/08


Dear Lord Richard,

Stan Stephens has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.


Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************
Hallelujah Pat

What a wonderful series of photos I have just received in your email. You say you don't know how to post them on the forum. Well, nor do I but I'm going to have a go. First of all, because I don't know if there is a Mb limit in size of postings I'm going to try and submit the first three, namely of Dan in the Cambridge Inn, Birmingham 1966. I've cropped them all into individual photos and if this attempt is successful will upload the others tomorrow. Let's see how it goes.

Stan

***************

Dear Lord Richard,

Stan Stephens has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.


Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************

More photos from Pat

Dan on the fiddle with Barry Martyn Band; this failed to upload, I'll try separately.

Bob Rae on trumpet;
Bob Rae and Ralph Pearson in background and Dan on slapstick in foreground.




Dear Lord Richard,

paul spedding has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.

Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************

:violin:Stan, I'll have a go at trying to upload "Dan on the Fiddle"
Also the Munich gig was October 1971,Do you recognize Geoff Milner ( trombone ) righthand side ?
Spud.


I CAN POST NOTIFICATIONS 5-11 if this method is working for you!

Later I can try to post the whole thread up to 31st October 2008

Lord Richard:cool:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers, No. 2

Here's 3 photos of our Subject/thread.
Spud.(march 28th 2009 at 17:10)
I'm rewriting this part of my message as It was edited by Rod for some reason.
Richard,(march 28th 2009 at 21:27)
Hope all goes okay now on this thread,I do have a couple of email notifications from previous thread..... If I knew how to copy & paste into this thread I will do.
Spud.
 
Last edited:
From: Birmingham History Forum
Date: 07/11/2008 10:30:09
To: [email protected]
Subject: Reply to thread 'Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers'


Dear Pat Pawson,

Big Gee has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.

This thread is located at:
https://forum.birminghamhistory.co.uk/showthread.php?t=12691&goto=newpost

Here is the message that has just been posted:
***************
Hi Pat,

Great to hear from you! Not surprised you don't remember me from 40+ years ago - I was just another long-haired weekend-hippie in those days.

I've sent a PM, too.

Best,

Big Gee
***************

Lord Richard can only post the 'Replies' to his postings that he received from 1st November onwards.

Thank you Pat, for sending me this 'Reply' to one of your postings on the thread. It would be great if more of these were re-posted.
 
Re: Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers, No. 2

Here's 3 photos of our Subject/thread.
Spud.


Spud - as you know, I used the band shot - with Dan and cap/hat - in the First Tribute to Dan CD booklet. This is the same as the one you have just posted. I think it was Pat Pawson - or maybe Stan Stephens, for Pat - who posted a close-up of Dan at the same session. This latter close-up picture might make an excellent booklet cover photo for the planned 3rd Tribute to Dan, CD.

It would be great if someone could re-post it.

Lord Richard:cool:
 
Notification 5 - 15/11/08

Dear Lord Richard,

Stan Stephens has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.

Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************
Hi Spud and Pat

Geoff Milner? He looks a lot different now. I chatted with him in the pub in Bolton after Gabe's funeral.

We used to rehearse in the early days at St. Andrew's church hall in West Brom but i don't remember a staircase like that. Looks like a pub to me. Also that was well before Sleepy's time. Any idea who the banjo player might be?

Stan




Notification 6 – 20/11/08

Dear Lord Richard,

Bob Barton has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.

Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************
Nice thread. Have to throw in a few bits of my own. I got to know Dan around the mid-60s. The first band I ever played piano with was with Lord Richard on trumpet and Spud on drums. Our first gig was at St Alphege's Church Hall, Solihull, where the stage curtain opened to reveal a crate of beer accompanied by a giggling band. Stan, already with Dan, had kindly provided chords for some tunes and when, as an inexperienced learner, I asked Dan if I could sit in with the Artesians at the Salutation, I only knew two numbers: Tin Roof Blues and Lord Lord Lord, which Dan agreed to play, so that in addition to the two quid or so he was probably getting paid for the night (if that) he succeeded in gaining my lifelong respect for him as a human being and a musician. The more I got to know him, the more this increased. He was one of the few European musicians to really understand what New Orleans music was all about - sociologically as well as musically - and had devastatingly powerful blues feeling in his playing, feeling that he expressed whether he was playing the blues, 'Climax Rag' or 'On Mother Kelly's Doorstep'.


I was lucky enough to play with Dan (and Stan and Spud) in his Artesian Hall Stompers and Silver Leaf Serenaders (usually four-piece) for some years in the late 60s and early 70s before I moved to Germany. Some random memories: the Fish & Anchor, Offenham (mentioned by Stan in an earlier post) - a gig that usually involved raving around the Cotswolds visiting three or four pubs before getting to the job (the deadly perry of Elmley Castle comes to mind), where people used to get up and start singing pub songs and we had to accompany them. Also mentioned by Stan: the legendary Easter sessions at the New Inn at Wroxton (however did Pat Pawson manage to organise such a ragtag bunch of musicians and fans to arrive more or less on time for a coach trip?), where I remember singer Beryl Bryden turning up on one occasion (I once saw her announced on a poster in a jazzclub in Germany as Barryl Brigden) and Stan murmuring to me in that deadpan way of his "Place is filling up nicely". After one lunchtime at the New Inn there was an excursion to other pubs that ended up in a 'shortcut' walking along a disused railway line that had half the walkers almost collapsing in exhaustion, complaining that it was at least fifteen minutes since they'd had their last seven pints. (Note to Stan: I have a hazy (obviously) recollection that the minibus driver was possibly one Tony 'The Pony'? - or was it Ralph?)


Reed player Chris Burke (now living near New Orleans) once called the Artesians 'the original and only punk jazzband' - possibly in Worcester at the time me and him threatened to push the awful piano into the river at the Rectifying House pub (AHS rename: Rectumfrying House) and had actually got as far as the stairs with it before the gaffer, having been assured by a serene, pipe-puffing Dan that we were indeed in earnest, managed to head us off by plying us with beer. That could have been the night Chris showed off his new Lotus 7 to me by doing a U-turn on the motorway (no central barrier then) because he'd taken the wrong direction.
I have since been told by musicians who've heard the story at second or third hand that we actually did push the piano into the river - they genuinely believed this to be the case, knowing the culprits involved, but the truth is that the prospect of more beer prevailed... another legend bites the dust...


Then there are the odd little surrealistic scenes like when the band stopped on a country road in the middle of the night after a gig (not so many of your namby-pamby motorways then - except for the M1, which was useful in that it got you away from London fast) and went into a field to recycle hopwater, whereupon Dan uprooted a turnip or possibly mangel wurzel and hungrily started gnawing on it (this is the same Dan who used to neatly fill in the New Statesman crossword in red ink and write carefully crafted articles for Footnote magazine) plus loads of Dan and AHS stories that I've heard quoted at me, often ridiculously embellished – sometimes nowhere near the embarrassing/painful/bizarre/hilarious truth – over the years all over Europe. The 'Calthorpe Incident' is one of these (not recountable for fear of moderator censorship). And then there was the time when Dan (or was it Spud?) came up from the after-hours drinking at the White Horse and disturbed me while I was giving some unorthodox piano lessons.


I also remember Claude with great affection. Lord Richard introduced me to him, probably sometime in 1964/5 - and as was his habit he straight away gave me a 'Claude name', which was Friar Balsam (I wore a small black woollen cap at the time that presumably gave me somewhat the appearance of having a monk's tonsure - which reminds me that the first time I met him he was together with John? Monk - whatever happened to him by the way?).


Later of course he was inseparable from Bomber and I used to go with them from time to time on their magnificent pub crawls all over the Midlands, which often meant ten or eleven pubs in an evening with a pint in each one. After I moved to Germany in the early 70s I made a point of having at least one such evening every time I came back to Knowle to visit my mother.
Once I went with Claude and Bomber to Barry Island railway scrapyard for a weekend, where we slept in banana wagons, spent the days crawling around and over rusting locomotives and the evenings in an assortment of pubs. Claude had a great sense of humour, with his own surreal rhyming slang and special names for people. A real one-off of a bloke.


Ron 'Spider' Edwards (a Claude-given name, possibly based on Ron's apparent multiplicity of limbs when it came to groping any female within reach) played drums and I did quite a few jobs with him, including a fair lot at the Stoneythorpe Hotel in Southam, where Claude and Bomber often visited and Ron had a not very well hidden thing going with the gaffer's wife, the formidable Dorothy, built like a battleship – "a second-gear job" Ron would cackle, and various pubs in unlikely places like Ratcliffe Culey and Radford Semele.


Although we used to make fun of Les Page at the time (we made fun of everybody - I claim authorship of the cruel "John Minnion's minion" moniker for Tony Schramm, who was on the door at the Salutation, trying to get as many as possible to actually pay something for admission) he was in retrospect really one of the good guys, who did an enormous amount to promote jazz in Birmingham and, together with his wife Alice, was tremendously supportive of young musicians who were just starting (I speak from experience) - and of older, established ones too.


In reference to an earlier post from Lord Richard, Adrian the Phantom Pedaler (thanks again Claude) did indeed drink a glass of recycled beer - I can vouch for this because it was mine. This happened one night at the usual after-hours drinking session at the White Horse Cellars. Someone (I think it was in fact Lord Richard) said they couldn't imagine how anyone could drink such a liquid. Adrian said 'I would'. I went to the gents and came back three minutes later with a roughly two-thirds full pint glass and set it down in front of Adrian. 'Oh no' said LR, as Adrian wolfed down the lot in one go, smacking his lips and taking a gulp of Guinness as a chaser. Adrian lived somewhere over Coventry way and rode his old, but obviously serviceable, pushbike into Birmingham to listen to jazz and drink (usually beer). His bike was fitted with a gas lamp (true) and he was allegedly stopped once for speeding late at night down the Coventry Road. That might be apocryphal, but on the other hand I saw him arriving once on a summer day at an AHS gig over towards Shrewsbury with his cycling goggles covered in a splattering of dead flies (Stan and Spud will remember this I think). He always wore a greatcoat even in summer - it had an apparently innumerable number of sewn-in pockets from which he would proudly produce bottles of beer, especially after closing time. Hope he saved some for his long pedal home.


How charming to think of Birmingham as 'mystic' (earlier post in this thread). Mind you, I did see a Sikh bus driver in the New Inns in Handsworth once ordering a half of mild mixed with a bottle of Vimto in a pint glass plus "a bag of crips" (sic) (and I should think he was after that too) - which qualifies as fairly mystic I think as he was wearing a turban. No danger for bus passengers - it was Ansell's Mild.


When I finally get round to sorting out boxes of stuff that've been unopened since moving over two years ago, I think I've got some photos of the brass band that played at the 'funeral' of the Salutation - with Dan, Stan, Spud on snare, me on bass drum, and others (Terry McGrath? Norman Fields?). When I find them, will post them here.


Love to everybody who's read this far

Bob




Notification 6 – 22/12/08

Dear Lord Richard,

paul spedding has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.

Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************

---Quote (Originally by Stan Stephens)---

This post has the band at the Allottria in Munich including Spock and Bob Barton (1972).
Spud dancing at Warwick Castle.
Dave Senior, Dan, Mike Pratt (bjo), Phil Wall (clt); don't know where but will send to phil and ask him. Oldbury Carnival 1965 with Mike Dowley (bs drm) and Spud with cigar.
---End Quote---

I'm almost sure the shot with Dave Senior,Mike Pratt & Phill Wall was taken at "The New Inn ", New John Street, Walsall.

Spud.





Notification 7 – 29/12/08

Dear Lord Richard,

paul spedding has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.


Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************

---Quote (Originally by Stan Stephens)---
My alerts are now back and I have just realised how many postings I have missed. Unfortunately I also was unable to make to the O2 Arena though I would love to have been there. Spud is doing a wonderful job of unearthing documentary evidence of the early days of the band and I will endeavor to add to this with what I can find in my archive. There was a time in the Larry Slatter era when we used to play in the Cotswolds on Easter Mondays making the journey by coach, the significance of this you will see in a moment. The venue was the New Inn at Wroxton, near Banbury. We would play there on the lunch(dinner in the Black Country!)time and consume a copious amount of beer. On one occasion this resulted in my collapsing on to a table of sandwiches which had just been laid out for the band. In the afternoon we would board the coach and head for Tuck Mill Farm, Childswickham, near Broadway where we would get stuck into Mr Crump's cider. On one such occasion a member of our following whose name slips my mind at the moment attempted to follow us in a minibus and promptly crashed it into a telegraph pole leading to hospitalisation of the incumbents. On one of these occasions we proceeded from Mr Crump's to an evening gig arranged by Larry at the "Brewery !" Club in Stratford. We set up on a high stage behind curtains beyond which sat the audience. As the curtains opened for the start of our performance Dan rolled forwards out of his seat and somersaulted into the flower arrangement that ran the length of the front of the stage. A startled elderly lady in the front row jumped to her feet in astonishment and screeched "He's drunk, he's drunk!!"
A few snippets to conclude this posting; Pat's dog, Tilly died and she now has another one whose name I forget.
Richard, you will be aware that we had a four year Saturday night stint at the Fish & Anchor, Offenham in the Vale of Evesham because you depped for Dan on one occasion. There were some great characters there including Nobby Stanley who would always get up and sing "Don't have any more Mrs Moore" and Cider Dick who once stole a chicken fro the back garden of the pub and tried to sell it to the "gaffer". Bob Barton played piano on these sessions you may recall.

Cheers

Stan
---End Quote---

Dans reply to the lady screeching "he's drunk-he's drunk" Was " It's a brewery club ! What do you expect ! "

Spud.




Notification 8 – 8/01/09



Dear Lord Richard,

snoker has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.

Here is the message that has just been posted:




The Artesian Hall Stompers played at the Upstairs Club (Old Stone Cross)
Dale End in 1960-61.
Among others who played there, were;
The Ken Rattenbury Band,
The West Side Jazz Band from West Bromwich,
(voted Best Jazz Band in the Midlands by the Evening Despatch).
The Blythe River Jazz Band from Solihull, (led by Pete Herring)
Nick Williams Jazz Band,
The Nurks Jazz Band, (from Bham University).
The Panama Jazz Band, (led by drummer Basil Wainwright)
Ken Ingram’s Eagle Jazz Band,
The Dumaine Jazz Band,
and Folk Singer David Price. (from Bham School of Architecture)
The West Side Jazz Band was led by trumpeter Jim Spedding. - any relation Paul?
Often a Saturday morning would find us without a band for that night . It meant a trip to the Chapel Tavern, Barwick Street, where the musicians hung out at lunchtime. There was never any trouble getting a group together - some musicians would cancel existing gigs to play the music they preferred!.
Where do they meet now?

***************


Notification 9 – 25/01/09

Dear Lord Richard,

Dave 'Hampton' Senior has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - Dan Pawson and his Artesian Hall Stompers - in the Welcome forum of Birmingham History Forum.

Here is the message that has just been posted:




Hi, all you raving happy pals from those hazy days… I have just caught up with everything that has been contributed so far to the Dan AHS forum. Well, it certainly stirs up lots of memories and I can identify with all of it... as far as the memory allows. One thing is certain, the music making was always inspired and spiced with fun-making and of course it was often difficult to distinguish one from the other. They went hand in hand…
Incidentally, I have written some bits and pieces elsewhere much of which have gone astray but there is some stuff on this link: https://home.scarlet.be/davesenior/AHS in the 60.htm

Meanwhile the following piece (reproduced ‘as is’ below) is something I wrote not long after Dan died. I found this file lying dormant somewhere in the depths of my computer. I hope you think it worthy of this column. If I find more I’ll post it.


_Dan and New Orleans music/jazz_ (call it what you will).


The words 'passion', 'dedication', 'talent', 'knowledge' and 'intuition' are some essential words needed to describe the relationship between Dan Pawson and his music.

When recently asked to write something about my early days with Dan, near the end of my article I said that I probably hadn’t played any New Orleans jazz with such intensity since. And that’s been over thirty years and I’ve played a hell of a lot of music in that time! This conclusion was my way of saying that despite all the varied avenues that I have been down since, no music making experience has been so vividly stamped with all of the same hallmarks simultaneously. Passion and dedication were certainly two of them. However, that is not all. Hindsight has also given me another perspective on Dan’s abilities that I didn’t appreciate till later, namely his technical prowess on his horn as well as his intuitive command of the music that came out of it. Make no mistake! He could get around that trumpet with uncanny agility and I can only guess, or rather, common sense now tells me, that he must have done a fair bit of woodshedding that we didn’t know about. Meanwhile, I suppose he didn’t let on to this because that wouldn’t have been consistent with the otherwise nonchalant ‘take it easy’ image that he usually portrayed. That nobody ever gets to be that good in a chosen field without hard work is axiomatic. At the same time, Dan had a very natural feel for melody and harmony and was able to apply this talent with apparent ease. Just listen to the way he accompanies other musicians when they are playing the lead. The counter melodies, ‘riffs’ and general supportive phrasing. When in this role his harmonic, rhythmic and dynamic contributions are equally as inspiring. It is a total package. When you played with Dan you knew exactly what was going on and where it was going. You felt comfortable in what you were doing even when you weren’t actually one hundred percent sure of yourself… because Dan was there. Yes, we rehearsed, but things were often tried out for the first time on stage too. Even in this context Dan usually knew what he was doing and had done his homework. The rest was intuition. In this sense it was a school. Rather like being in a theatre repertory company for an actor, except that medium was New Orleans jazz.
To me Dan was a kind of mentor for several years. I was not alone either. Luckily there are many of us who can testify that Dan loved his music and shared it… Thank goodness! Hopefully, this mission will survive through his recordings.

By Dave ‘Hampton’ Senior (trombonist with the Artesian Hall Stompers, Silver Leaf Serenaders and Tulane Brass Band from 1965 to about 1969)

About the nicknames, Claud was of course the inventor of many. But don’t forget that Dan was also adept at this. I think I was dubbed ‘Hampton’ by Dan though I’m not sure. It could have been Claud. What I do know is that it was simply because I came from Wolverhampton and not for any other possible reason that one might concievably think of… naturally Dan thought it was funny which is why he used it, I guess. There were others… ‘Pickwick’, the ‘Vicar’, 'Legs' and possibly ‘Spock’ to name a few.
Talking of ‘Spock’ and the story of the bass repair in Germany, could that have been Martin *Gough*’s bass? Anyway, Spock was indeed a craftsman with wood. I still treasure a pair of miniature clogs that he whittled. He used to make them to sell to friends around the scene… small works of art!
Hector was fantastic, all dressed up in his Sunday suit waiting patiently to do his turn. I recall he used to set up a music stand which was funny in itself and then proceeded to play ‘bones’ to tunes like ‘the Sheik of Araby’. I sat in front of ‘Smiley’ (another Dan dubbing?) and we used to be exceedingly amused by Hector's rendition. It was usually towards the end of the session by which time Brian had built up a reserve of several pints of Guinness standing underneath and swimmingly around the legs of his chair. He was never satisfied with one pint at a time. Meanwhile, he had a white E-type Jag at that time which he parked conspicuously outside the pub and was usually driven off in a cloud of dust in the wee small hours (well tanked) as we all did/were.

There was a time when everyone in the band, as well as a few followers, each had a Hillman Imp. This was by accident rather than design but what are the odds against that? Sometimes at gigs there would be six or seven of these things all parked outside on the pub car park. They were all different colours too… Spud’s was yellow, mine white and so on. Even Lord Richard had one, I remember. Just imagine this bizarre peleton zooming off in the middle of the night to the next drinking hole. Hillman should have sponsored us but I doubt we fitted their bill. Though some stories are vague and probably get exaggerated, I'm sure I remember offering Spud a cigarette through open our windows by leaning over while driving at speed with just a hair’s breadth between the vehicles… or something like that if it’s possible. I also remember those cars were always in and out of the repair shop. Anyway, you simply wouldn’t get away with such antics today... though we didn't always then either. I, for one, parted with my DL for a few months after a Sunday lunchtime Salutation romp. Again the exact details fail me, cider being the culprit, but I think I was accompanied either by Rob ‘the Raver’ or Bob Barton, or perhaps both. This was the ‘Jim Robinson’ from John O’Groats incident… anyone recall this? During the ban I was kindly chauffeured around by my old pal Malcolm Pope who also had a green Imp just to keep the show on the road. Tony Pringle dubbed Malcom the ‘Mad Chauffeur’. No surprise!

Holler Clogger




These Notifications 5-9 complete all the ‘Replies’ I have emails of from 1st November 2008.

I realise that I said I had 11 Notifications. It looks as though this figure included the 3 replies included in Notification 4, in the previous re-posting.


Lord Richard

I will post the whole thread - as I have it - from the start to 31st October 2008, but first I have to get it scanned from my hard copy. Now it is over to you all, to complete the re-constitution the best we can Please post any 'Replies' that you have - including any of my postings that I sent in replies to yours - I don't have these. All after 31st October 2008! Rod, our administrator, has kindly agreed to 'tidy up' the whole thread and then place it in a secure location. Excellent and thank you. We can the go forward with relish, again!
 
Here is the first posting from Lord Richard, 'Dan Pawson and his Artesain Hall Stompers' April 13th, 2008, 18.10

Dear All

I have just joined the site having been led to it by a Google search on the Artesian Hall Stompers

I lived in Birmingham for periods during the mid-1960s and early 1970s, and am right now tracing some links to Dan, the AHS, and the Birmingham pubs he played in, on this site.

I was a great fan and friend of Dan and his band.

I am trying to trace photographs of the AHS of that period and of the pubs he played at.

Can anyone help?

Also, it is very interesting to hear of any stories from everyone who went to these pubs.

Take it easy

Lord Richard


[I have approx. 50 pages of hard copy of the posts that followed this one - up to 31st October 2008 which I shall post en bloc (if I can) just as soon as I have them scanned.]
 
To continue on with this thread
Here's a fond memory of Dan, of a gig we did at Spode House Friary near Rugeley, Staffordshire in May 1972. It was a "Scratch Band" which John Minnion organised.It was for THE PEACE PLEDGE UNION. Bear this in mind when reading the following letter !
My Dear John,
It is not easy to arrange a party for such a wide age range as from 14 years to 82 (all of whom danced!) not to mention babies and toddlers.
Your " Salutation Stompers " were first class musicians and absolutely perfect for the occasion;we were really happy and enjoyed ourselves.

If I seemed a bit brisk at the end it was only through the terror of a General Secretary-I was too frightened to say goodbye properly in case they decided not to leave us! Extraordinary for a host to want a band that had played so well to leave when they were so cheerfully giving over-time entertainment!
My terror started when your trumpeter swayed along the passage to Father Conrads private study and bedroom calling out " F- the Pope".
Dear God.. I thought you coped brilliantly but It was a bad moment!
(Incidentally the "Head" monk in question only said mildly the next day..."yes I did hear something but I went to sleep again).You must tell me sometime how a man can play a trumpet so well when he is as "full" as he was.
Well,this is just to give you the thanks you certainly deserve and to explain why I did'nt put them over at the time.

Letter Dated 23rd May 1972......... Spud. :D
 
Hi

It's great to see this back again. I'm not sure I'm clear on the chronology yet, I'll have to look a bit closer and at greater length to ascertain what's missing. Anyway, having just had a quick scan, is this the "Dan in Cap' image that Richard referred to as a possible front to the liner of the next CD?

Cheers

Stan/Users/stanleystephens/Desktop/IMAGE1_2.JPG
 
Stan Stephens and myself played today, 16th April 09 at Barry Phillips funeral in Malvern Worcestershire. Barry was a good trombone player and friend of the Artesian Hall Stompers.
At the Wake was some photos one of which I copied with my camera, I can identify Barry Phillips,Jim Wood.Dan Pawson, Claude and John Minnion,the location I don't recognise, If not Birmingham It maybe Cardiff.
Can anyone help ?
Spud.:1011:
 
Here's a photo of "The Woodman" Ribbesford,near Bewdley where The Artesian Hall Stompers played......... and subsequently brought the house down !!! :D
Spud.:MusicMarchingBand:
 
Stan Stephens and myself played today, 16th April 09 at Barry Phillips funeral in Malvern Worcestershire. Barry was a good trombone player and friend of the Artesian Hall Stompers.
At the Wake was some photos one of which I copied with my camera, I can identify Barry Phillips,Jim Wood.Dan Pawson, Claude and John Minnion,the location I don't recognise, If not Birmingham It maybe Cardiff.
Can anyone help ?
Spud.:1011:
Sorry I can't help but I love the policeman in the background......so of the time......brilliant!!!!
 
Stan Stephens and myself played today, 16th April 09 at Barry Phillips funeral in Malvern Worcestershire. Barry was a good trombone player and friend of the Artesian Hall Stompers.
At the Wake was some photos one of which I copied with my camera, I can identify Barry Phillips,Jim Wood.Dan Pawson, Claude and John Minnion,the location I don't recognise, If not Birmingham It maybe Cardiff.
Can anyone help ?
Spud.:1011:

Spud

Many thanks for posting this photo. It would make a fabulous photo for the third Dan Pawson Tribute CD booklet. Apart from the Birmingham musicians, I just love the 'framing' of the pic by a policeman and John Minnion! Do you have more details? Do you have a date and detailed identification of musicians?

Incidentally, I have just returned from a trip to New Orleans where many people spoke of Dan with great affection. Eddie Williams, from Cardiff, who played at Claude's funeral, was there.

Lord Richard:cool:
 
I've been supplied the information and a further photo of that "Photo Query" in a earlier post of mine from Glyne Phillips,son of the recently deceased Barry Phillips.
The occasion was the Demise of "The Birmingham Arms " Parade by The Tulane Brass Band to "The Imperial Hotel " on 23rd March 1972.
Barry Phillips (tbm) Dave Senior (tbm) Jim Wood (helicon) Norman Field (clt) Dan Pawson (tpt) John "Biffo" Dunmore (tenor) John Minnion (tpt)
Myself on Snare and Spock Morgan on Bass drum,at the back not in view.
Spud. :MusicMarchingBand:
 
Last edited:
We loved The Woodman at Ribbersford and was so sorry when we heard it had gone. Spent many an hour in there over the years. So quaint. Jean.:cry::cry::cry:
 
Great pics, Spud. I remember the occasion well. I don't think me and my mates ever actually made it to The Imperial Hotel. I think we were side-tracked into closer and equally hospitable hostelry.

I'm somewhere at the back of the first photo, but can't make myself out (the story of my life). Mini-man is as ever he was, Gawd bless 'im, guv.

Regards,

Big Gee
 
Re: Spud's photo posting of Dan's brass band at the 'wake' of the Birmingham Arms.

Spud identified the second figure from the right (next to John Minnion) as Claude (Clive Deacon). However, it has been suggested to me that this person is not Claude.

I am not certain. I recall Claude having crinkly hair in the early 1970s.

Any ideas?

Lord Richard
 
I've been supplied the information and a further photo of that "Photo Query" in a earlier post of mine from Glyne Phillips,son of the recently deceased Barry Phillips.
The occasion was the Demise of "The Birmingham Arms " Parade by The Tulane Brass Band to "The Imperial Hotel " on 23rd March 1973.
Barry Phillips (tbm) Dave Senior (tbm) Jim Wood (helicon) Norman Field (clt) Dan Pawson (tpt) John "Biffo" Dunmore (tenor) John Minnion (tpt)
Myself on Snare and Spock Morgan on Bass drum,at the back not in view.
Spud. :MusicMarchingBand:
Re the late Barry Philips. I knew Barry from when he played with the Second City Jazz Bandin the late fifties. I have an LP titled "A tribute to Madge" recorded March 1958 Barry is with the band on this recording, there is also a good photograph of him on the cover.
If anyone is interested in a copy of this L.P. I can photocopy the cover and tranfer the recording to CD or tape.
The Madge referred to was Madge Whitehouse who formed the Midland Jazz Club in 1947.
George Wheeler
 
With reference to the photo taken at the back of the Birmingham Rag Market, March 1972.
I've just spoken to Malcolm Arundel.....( Clive Deacons Cousin ) I gave him a copy of the photo in question and confirms it is Clive, AKA "Claude".
He even remembers the overcoat he's wearing !
Case closed... ??
Spud.
 
Back
Top