where were you in '64?

[Mike Honey]

Obviously depending on how old you are there will be one year that sticks out in your memory.
Mine was 1964. I'd been playing the guitar for 8 years and was in a blues band called 'Act 1 Scene 4' (very arty). We took part in a band competition (now would be called 'Battle of the Bands') at Bruce Grove ballroom in Tottenham. The comp was sponsored by Jim Marshall who was trying to promote his new range of amps. There were we, a 4-piece, used to having two guitars plugged into a 17 watt Watkins dominator and the bass into a 'piggy-back' futurama, suddenly confronted by having a Marshall 50w with 4 x 12 each!. The comp was one by a group called Rick 'n' Beckers and the runners-up were the Equals with a young Eddy Grant on lead playing a guitar that looked like a toilet seat! Oh Happy days.

mike

[JimN]

Mike,

London was a distant dream to me in those days, but I certainly do remember reading of The Rick'N'Beckers, who were an immensely popular group on the London scene. They ruled the live club performance roost for some years, If I recall correctly - and were mentioned every week (several times) in the gig guide pages of the Melody Maker.

What were they like? I've often wondered.

JimN

PS: The Equals' guitar with the (large) hole through the body was a Wandre/Davoli instrument, made in Italy (I actually had one for a little while).

Try this site for a pic reminiscent of that guitar:

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.jedistar.com/images/wandre_pickup.jpg&imgrefurl=http://uniqueguitar.blogspot.com/2009/10/wandre-guitars-first-metal-necks.html&h=299&w=430&sz=28&tbnid=Hfy8BoR1QrxmMM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=126&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dwandre%2Bguitars&hl=en&usg=__AXGqNmRXMc7gAUZn3inTmMJ7ApU=&ei=pdxJS-ThHaOI0wS5m63wAQ&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=8&ct=image&ved=0CCAQ9QEwBw

[Bojan]

I was "sweet sixteen," going to high school and playing in a Belgrade guitar band. At that time we had Italian gear -- Eko guitars and Meazzi amps (with built-in tape echos) and a Davoli PA. Only later did we "progress" to the "drier" but more desirable Vox amps!

Today I could kill myself for selling all that fabulous gear, but at the time it seemed very normal.

Here's a pic. I'm the one on the far right.

Also, that year we recorded a song called "The Lonely Guitar" which was our adaptation of a Russian tune called the "Lonely Harmonica" . . . we made this recording in one of the Belgrade Radio studios. I play rhythm.

http://www.4shared.com/file/30047187/e0 ... _700_.html

[Mike Honey]

I remember rick 'n' beckers as a very tight band, but the biggest thing was their ability to 'work' an audience, a thing that not many groups bothered with in those days¬!

mike

[noelford]

1964 was the year we turned full-time pro, kicking off with a tour of American military bases in France. This is me with my first Gibson ES 335. A watershed year, without a doubt.

[Bluesnote]

I was fifteen at the time and playing lead with a band doing mainly Shads stuff. We did a gig in a wee club every weekend. I was so shy, I could hardly face the audience.
Ahh the innocence of youth.
I had a hofner solid. Cant remember which model and a wee watkins amp and a copycat. Looking back, we must have sounded awful at the time
But we all started somewhere I suppose

[cmwatts67]

I wasen't born yet I had to wait 3 years!!!!

Regards
Chris

[JimTidmarsh]

I had been in a band, with schoolmates, for about 2 1/2 years and in the summer of 1964 we were approached by a local agent who wanted to promote us. Our parents weren't in favour since the school year starting in that Sept would see the build up to us taking our GCEs in May/June 1965 so the agent was turned down and the band sort of wound up!
One exception was our drummer who went to a different school and was, to put it politely, educationally challenged. He left school, signed up with the agent, joined a different band and, I think, did a stint in the pit band at a Butlins holiday camp. His name was Nigel Pegrum - later to become drummer with Steeleye Span and a renowned producer of folk music in Australia.
As for the rest of us, we did the odd gig as a threesome (exams/revision permitting) but it was never the same.

[Martyn]

I was playing in a group whilst still at school and recall another schoolmate who was pretty good on keyboards and we wanted him to join us. He said he would have liked to help but was going off to London to make a name for himself. We were all privately really concerned he'd come unstuck in the big bad world of pop music but we wished him well and presumed we'd never hear of him again.
Many years later we were watching an episode of the Wombles on the box (we never really grew up . . .) and I couldn't believe who the credits referred to as the musical composer.
Yes, it was our old pal from school - Mike Batt . . . .

[Mike Honey]

The pianist in our band/group was James Holmes who went on to become head of 'Opera North' at Leeds and is now working with Simon Rattle, but he still plays a mean blues harp!!

Mike