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Memories of a Birmingham Musician (Drummer)!

Whilst I am on this website, I think the following story will raise a few laughs. Chet Baker was a great American modern jazz trumpet player in the fifties, and until his death, I think, in the 1980's.

In the later stages of his life, he worked mostly in Europe, and it was during this period that he joined with Romano Mussolini, the jazz pianist son of ll Duce, Bernito Mussolini, the Italian Fascist dictator, and WW2 friend of Adolph Hitler. Mussolini was killed by his own people.

When Chet Baker first met Romano Mussolini, Chet shook his hand and said "So sorry to hear about your dad" .............Classic.

Eddie
 
Eddie,

I think the London club would have been the 100 Club, which his father owned. I never saw him live as I was in the RAF in 1955-57 and during that period the only band I saw live was Lionel Hampton at the Victoria Hall, Hanley. Of course, in the late 1950s I saw Ronnie Scott many times, mainly at the Golden Cross, where they did a fairly regular Sundays, but by then Vic had established himself in California. But I have quite a few of Vic's records. Such a shame that he was only 53 when he died, but by then he was doing mainly session work and working with Steely Dan and Frank Zappa.

Maurice
 
Nice one, Eddie. I see that Mussolini's first wife was the sister of Sophia Loren and his second wife was Carla Maria Puccini, though the latter does not appear to be related to Giacomo Puccini, the composer. We live & learn.

Maurice
 
During the 60's & 70's I did a lot of cabaret work, mainly in Leicester at what was the Les Ambassadeurs Club (probably spelt that wrong!).

We backed many top acts. including Matt Munro, Dave Allen, Bob Monkhouse, Tommy Cooper, Bert Weedon and others. Most of them were great to work with, and the usual afternoon rehearsal would go fine, but occasionally, just occasionally, someone would turn up really acting the 'big star' routine, demanded attention, messing the band around.

Now, if you want a good show from the star of the show, the last thing you do is mess the band around......fatal.
When we had an personality acting like this, during the show we would do all kinds of things when backing them, and these things would go unnoticed by the audience.

We would turn the instruments right down so that they could hardly be heard, play a number slower, or faster than intended, but the best one was from our pianist, who would play the song in the correct key to start with, then change key, just half a tone up, or down. It made the singer appear as if they were singing out of tune, then just as quickly return to the correct key.

Really used to throw them, and we would all just smile sweetly as if nothing had happened.

Eddie
 
Happy days, Eddie!

Our quartet backed Bob Monkhouse several times at the Cumberland Hotel in Bournemouth in the mid-60s - then an Orthodox Jewish hotel. He was a lovely man and without doubt, the best ad-libber in the business. He was generally booked to do a 20 minute spot, but if the audience were appreciative (and they always were), he would carry on for an hour. We never had to do much, just play him on and play him off, and then sit back and enjoy the show. Just occasionally he might do a song, and he never needed a rehearsal.

Davy Kaye was another Jewish comedian that we had there regularly - a nice guy and easy to work with.

Maurice
 
Sadly I have to announce the death of another jazzman. Bobby Hutcherson, one of the most admired and accomplished vibraphonists in jazz, died on Monday 15 August 2016 at his home in Montara, California. He was 75. Here he is with fellow vibraphonist Joe Locke playing Cole Porter's I Love You. RIP Bobby.

Maurice
 
And another sad death - Legendary jazz harmonica player Toots Thielemans has died in Belgium at the age of 94.

Belgian media reported that Thielemans died in his sleep Monday morning.

Broadcaster RTL reported that his manager, Veerle Van de Poel, said “there were no complications. He died of old age, his body was simply worn out.”

Probably best known by non-jazzers for his work with Quincy Jones and his haunting sounds on many film tracks. I think I first remember him as a member of George Shearing's Quintet, but, of course, he's played with almost every jazz musician of note over his long musical life. And, of course, many people will remember him for "Bluesette". RIP Toots.


Maurice
 
I wouldn't have remembered the name but I certainly know the tune!
A good age and a good way to go, RIP Toots.
 
Hi.

About Aubrey Walton query. He was my father and was a jobbing drummer in the 50's - 60's. His first band was at the BRIB where he was at school with Harry Beresford who played tenor sax, Jackie Turland who played trumpet and Peter Jackson who played the piano. He was taught Drums by Harold Deakin at Woodruffs Music Store and played with the Les Williams Band. He also played with Jimmy Young, Frankie Vaughn and Ronald Pearce although Dad was always dismissive about it as they were 'only singers'.

He also worked in the Norman Finer band. He played with a band called 'The Domino's' which was a light orchestra which was not dad's thing as he loved playing Jazz but as he told me, drummers in Birmingham were two a penny and a jobs a job. He also played in Norman Finer's band for several years. Norman's brother Ivan was also in the band and played clarinet. Towards the end of his career he played with a band (I can't remember the name) which toured around the UK until he met my Mom and had us kids at which point he needed a 'real job' to pay for his family.
 
Hi Ann, and welcome to the Forum. Thanks for the information, I'm sure Jim (Postie) will be pleased. I have to admit though that none of the names you mention are familiar to me, though I was only really active on the Brum musical scene between May 1957 and January 1961.

Maurice
 
Hello Ann welcome to the Forum as you know your Mom and Dad were special people to me and as we lived next door to each other I was always happy to baby sit both you and your sister.
Keep you items coming.
Jim.
 
Nice to read of someone that was taught by Harold Deakin. Harold taught at Jack Woodroffes when the music store was in Broad Street, in the late 40's early 50's Harold taught in a room above the shop, with a small gas fire for warmth during the winter time. Although I only had a few lessons from Harold, in the late 40's we remained good friends for years, and he always supplied me, free of charge, with drum brushes, that he made for Boosey & Hawkes in London. Like Maurice I left 'Brum' in 1957 for good, and I am not familiar with the musician names mentioned.
 
In the 1970's the two drummers with Showaddywaddy, Romeo & Malcolm decided to swop their drum kits for new kits, so I arranged the exchange, got the lads at the Premier Drum Company to refurbish one of the old kits, and I presented the kit to my daughters school, where the Head of Music was doing a great job with the young school musicians.

As part of the deal Romeo & Malcolm came along to the school for the prsentation, and just as I had requested, they turned up in their stage suits. The kids were delighted, and Romeo entertained them with a drum solo. The second photograph is when I presented the lads with their replacement kits.

Had a day out with Malcolm in Birmingham last year, and he is still playing great.

Eddie
 

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Not many people remember this, but the Beatles did not always use Ringo Starr when touring. In June 1964, Ringo fell ill, just as the boys were about to tour Australia, with a couple of European dates prior to the tour.

Jimmy Nichols was pottering around at home when he received a 'phone call from Brian Epstein. He dashed down to the studios at E.M.I and rehearsed with John, Paul & George, for the tour, which spanned Denmark, Holland, Hong Kong, and Adelaide, Australia, and Ringo re-joined the band at the Melbourne concert. Jimmy played five concerts in all. All for the princely sum of £500

Jimmy returned to the U'K and back to almost obscurity, except that he continued to play in local bands. Photograph is of Jimmy with the Beatles.

Eddie
 

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Watched University Challenge last night. One of the teams was from the Open University, average age over 40. A question was "During the days of the Cold War, in order to keep relations with Russia easy, the United States sent a number of big bands to Russia to entertain the public, name these bands".

Three famous big band numbers were then played. The bands were Duke Ellington 'Take the A Train', Benny Goodman 'Sing, Sing, Sing, and Dizzy Gillespie ;Salt Peanuts'.

They answered "Glenn Miller" to all three!

The fact that they did not know the bands playing was O.K, they were not really musicians. What I did find amazing is that the Cold War was in the 1960's, and Glenn Miller died in WW2, in the 1940's, and not one of the 'average age 40' contestants were able to musically know, the difference from WW2 to the Cold War, or the very famous death of Glenn Miller. Maybe I am really getting old!

Eddie
 
Eddie,

Every fortnight we have a Fun Quiz amongst the Brit community here, almost everyone retired or approaching our age. About once every two months I set the quiz and act as Quizmaster. There's generally six topics including General Knowledge, and teams which average four members. The same two or three teams win or score highly every time and the rest are pretty abysmal. I've tried to analyse this discrepancy without success, but include science, history, or music other than fairly recent pop music and many are stymied. And these are not PhD questions, they're what we were taught at school when we were kids. And I'm sure most of them never watch the news or read a newspaper as recent current affairs fares badly. I have to admit, however, that I find the likes of Kim Kardashian most unappealing! :)

Maurice
 
Meeting up with my old buddy, and fellow former band colleague, John Crump (oldbrit).
Sunday September 27th 2015, at the Moors Cocks Woods Leisure Centre, during the National Drum Show, in Birmingham

The first time since we last played together, and both left 'Brum' in 1957. Myself for pastures new in the world of music, and John for a life in the U.S.A.

A lovely meeting, and good to see John looking so well.


As we are now, and 'The Way We Were'
 

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norfolk brummie said:
Meeting up with my old buddy, and fellow former band colleague, John Crump (oldbrit).
Sunday September 27th 2015, at the Moors Cocks Woods Leisure Centre, during the National Drum Show, in Birmingham

The first time since we last played together, and both left 'Brum' in 1957. Myself for pastures new in the world of music, and John for a life in the U.S.A.

A lovely meeting, and good to see John looking so well.


As we are now, and 'The Way We Were'
Click to expand...
Eddie,
Two lovely photos of two lovely men. Who is who?
Chris Beresford (Old Boy)
 
Great time meeting TED as I knew him then, NOW he is EDDIE!! Not sue which I like best. BUT he has not changed one bit, the 'birds' flocked around him. Lots of fun and we quaffed a few pints. We two old geezers, all that's left of our group. Time goes fast these days, almost a year since our meeting. TED was and still is and will always be MY BEST MATE. CHEERS MATE John. By the way Brum history forum IS the reason we met again, a big thanks to them.
 
Many thanks for your very kind words John. It is wonderful for us both to still be here, and still the greatest of friends after nearly 60 years. As you rightly say. many thanks to the BHF website for re-connecting us.
Take care, old friend,
Eddie
 
With the film of The Beatles life in music about to start the rounds, I am reminded of my great days at Vox amplification.

During the memorable period of The Beatles fame, I was working in sales and promotions at Vox amplifiers. and the band were all using our Vox AC 30 amplifiers. What the new film will not tell you is the problems we encountered, when one day, Mal Evans, their Road Manager, came to us and said that the AC 30 amps were no longer powerful enough for the boys. With larger concerts, the screaming, the cheering, the band could not hear themselves above the noise, and they were playing on 'automatic'.

For the US trip, including the Shea Stadium concert, we had to come up with new, more powerful amplifiers, and so the Vox AC 100 amplifier was born. This was the first of the big powerful amplifiers that, soon afterwards became 'the norm', but as usual, The Beatles, and Vox were the first.

The Beatles were always very loyal to Vox, and we never paid them, even a single penny, for all their promotional work.

When you see the new film, just look at the wonderful Vox AC30 & AC100 amplifiers, and enjoy the show.
I shall watch with great delight as The Beatles bought us our first house, and we paid off the mortgage within 3 years. Thank you The Beatles, and many other very famous groups.

On one of my previous postings I do show a private photograph of John Lennon, with his new Vox AC 100 amplifier. This one of a series that I took for promotional purposes.

Eddie
 
Eddie,

So many changes in such a short time. I remember putting my Watkins organ through a mere 15 watt Selmer amp in 1962 and now one of my sons is responsible for installing Class D 20,000 watt amplifiers, not just one but many, into huge stacks of speakers at festivals and large London clubs. 100 watts today in some of those large American stadiums would go nowhere, of course. And we also have to remember how efficient loudspeaker stacks are too. It must have been a wonderful era to have lived through and I wish I could say that music had bought any one of my houses!

Maurice
 
Eddie,

Some sad news again, this time relayed to me by bass player Brian Mursell:-

Paul Brodie the session and late BBC Radio Orchestra drummer who lived in Bournemouth has also died recently, at his funeral at Poole Crem. the music was recordings of Paul playing with the BBC big band and on his coffin was one of his drums.

I last saw Paul about three years ago and he wasn't in good health then with a lot of back problems. For many years he lived just around the corner from me, though I didn't see him all that often. Not sure whether the local press gave him a write-up, but I will check later and get back to you.

Maurice
 
sospiri said:
Eddie,

Some sad news again, this time relayed to me by bass player Brian Mursell:-

Paul Brodie the session and late BBC Radio Orchestra drummer who lived in Bournemouth has also died recently, at his funeral at Poole Crem. the music was recordings of Paul playing with the BBC big band and on his coffin was one of his drums.

So sorry to hear that very sad news, Maurice.

Paul was a very fine drummer. His CV speaks for itself.

I did meet him a couple of times in London, and I remember discussing six stroke rolls with him!
(for the uninitiated, that is a drum rudiment!). He was a lovely man, and I am sure he is sadly missed by everyone. R.I.P Paul.

Eddie
Click to expand...
 
A wonderful birthday card today from my old friend Harry Thompson.

Harry and I met at school, around 1943, when we would be about ten years old.
We formed a close friendship, and during our return to Birmingham for the school holidays, that friendship continued.

Although I was already interested in drums when we met, it was at Harrys house that I first played a drum kit. Harrys dad played accordion, and Harry and I would try to accompany him.

Later we both went our different ways, and though Harry did once visit the music store where I worked, to buy some drum sticks, we never had contact again for over 60 years, when we found each other on the good old internet, via a Birmingham History website. Last year Harry paid a visit to see me at our Norfolk home. He looked wonderfully well, and it was an occasion of talking over old times, and learning that Harry still played the drums.

In the birthday card was this lovely photo, which Harry has stuck together, of us both, at the age of nearly 83, still with hair, and both sat behind our own drum kits. Still around and enjoying life, 73 years after our first meeting.

Many, many thanks Harry,

Eddie
 

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Hi Eddie. A truly wonderful story and you both have more hair than myself even though I'm quite a bit younger. Perhaps shaking your head around while drumming improves the circulation to the hair follicles. Dave.
 
Here's a little musical story about a now long gone Rock 'n Roll hero, with a couple of twists in the tail.

Some of our older readers may recall the name of Eddie Cochran, a famous American singer/guitar player. On April 17th 1960, Eddie was killed in a road crash, during a tour of the U.K.

At the time he was right at the top of his game, earning around £1000 a week. He had a morbid fear of flying, having lost his great friends, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens & The Big Bopper, in an air crash.

However, in the middle of his UK tour he had grown homesick, and also had a recording contract to honour in the USA.. He decided to return to California, see his family, get some sun, and cover the recording session, and then to return to the UK to complete his tour.

He had just finished a concert in Bristol, and asked a British singer, Johnny Gentle, also on the concert, if Johnny could give him a lift back to London, and Heathrow airport.
Johnny said sorry, but his car was full, so Cochran decided to hire a private cab to take himself, his girlfriend, and another American singer, Gene Vincent (who was travelling on to Paris), to
Heathrow.
Shortly before midnight, they were sitting in the back of the cab, singing "California, Here I Come", as they went through Chippenham. Driving too fast around a bend on Rowden Hill, a tyre burst, and the car slammed into a lamppost, throwing out Cochran, his girlfriend, and Vincent, onto the grass verge, together with Cochran's famous Gretsch guitar, sheets of music & photographs.

The first twist in the story........
The first official person on the scene was a P.C. Dave Harman, who immediately impounded Cochran's guitar.......P.C Harman, who later became better known as Dave Dee of Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch fame. Cochran was killed instantly, though injured, his girl friend and Vincent survived.

Second twist in the story.......
In the early hours of the same morning, Johnny Gentle was also driving through Chippenham with his passengers, and found he was low on petrol. He saw a wrecked car about to be towed away, and asked the tow truck driver if they could siphon off some petrol (common practice in those days).

It was over two days later before Gentle discovered that the petrol that got them to London was courtesy of Cochran.

Eddie.

(The above story is a succinct version taken from a wonderful book called STATION TO STATION, by James Attlee)
 
Eddie,

I remember most of those names even though I wasn't in the pop business and that was a really creepy story. Did Dave Harman/Dee get to keep the guitar?

Maurice
 
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