Stu's Dad wrote:How many nights did they play? I haven't got your memory for dates Jim, but I was there that week and the night I was there Chas McDevitt replaced Bruce. If you remember he was on the bill with Shirley Douglas. There were four of us, and one of my mates was seriously disgruntled, muttering that he'd paid to see The Shadows, not Just Hank.
He hadn't even accepted Tony Meehan leaving.
Len
The events of the week are set out in some detail (more than I was able to provide, though I did provide some of it) in Jim Elyea's book "Vox Amplifiers - The JMI Years" (pages 568-569).
Some of the information seems to have come directly from Chas McDevitt, who was the first replacement during that particular bout of illness for Bruce, in Peterborough on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday (April 20th - 22nd inclusive) as well as on the following Saturday. He says that in Peterborough, his (bearded!) appearance came as a shock to the audience, whereas by the time the show opened in Liverpool on the Monday, the audience knew beforehand that Bruce wouldn't be there (and I can confirm that we did know in advance).
Peter Carter seems to have done the standing-in on the Monday through to the Friday at the Empire, with Chas returning to the fold for the Saturday evening.
My guess, then, is that you were there on the Saturday, when Chas once again stood in (probably because Peter had to play with The Checkmates elsewhere).
I was there on Tuesday.
My great aunt Sadie was then the licensee of the pub across the street from the stage door (The Eagle, affectionately known then, and now officially, as "Ma Egerton's"). She knew everyone in show business because they were all her customers. Most of the female members of the family worked or helped out there at times and even my dad was roped in now and then. Sadie spoke well of Jet, but she met them all from Sinatra to David Whitfield. As a child and younger teenager, I used to shelter just inside the door to the cellar, marvelling at the famous faces lining the small bar at The Eagle. That night (Tuesday 24th April 1962), she got me The Shadows' autographs (Hank, Brian B, Licorice and Peter Carter) with a dedication, written on a piece of music manuscript paper. I wish I still had it.
She had told me in advance that there was only one of the original Shadows left on the stage that week. Indeed, of all the material the Shadows had so far issued on disc, only Hank, of those on stage that night, had appeared on record. This was correct apart from, of course,
Stars Fell On Stockton, which features Brian B, but they didn't play that anyway.
I certainly do remember Chas McDevitt and Shirley Douglas' act. They sat on two tall bar-stools, he with a red Strat, she with a red Precision, and sang quite twee cabaret-style songs. I had forgotten, if I ever knew, that Chas was at least partly responsible for
Freight Train. I'm sure I had seen the duo on television shortly before this, so I vaguely knew what to expect from them.
Also on the bill (apart from the Chinese acrobats and their opening act) were Daley and Wayne (who often appeared with The Shadows) and the then-unknown Frank Ifield, who hadn't yet had a hit (that would be about ten weeks later). Jackie Trent was also in the show, but I don't remember a single thing about her.
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 9:23 pm
