The Establishment Line up was: Keith Redfern – vocals, Noel Ford – lead guitar, Keith Gudger – rhythm guitar, Ed Willett – bass, Wal Freeman – drums. Later joined by Barry Kingsbeer
Dave Norris – ?
Establishment became The Congress around September 1965
From Nuneaton
Memories from Dave Norris
“The Stormbreakers” played their first gigs together since 1964 on Friday 8th & 15th Oct. 2004. Of the 5 in the band 4 are original members and one (me) is from an old Coventry band “The Mad Classix” of the same period. Our average age is 63 and the gigs are for charity, being the Mary Ann Evens Hospice and the County Air Ambulance. Of the members, the lead guitarist now lives in Wales and the singer in Skegness.”
Barry Kingsbeer wrote on Comments to Godiva Rock article on CET
I was flattered to see a kind mention of the Chicanes here, schoolmate Kevin Connolly got a drum kit and took me round to his house to see it. At that point, being young and without fear we decided to form a band. I didn’t play any instrument at that time but ended up on bass which has been my first instrument ever since. On leaving the band I joined The Establishment, formerly The Stormbreakers from Nuneaton. Left Coventry 65/66 and lost touch. I’ve lived in Stratford for the last 20 years and am still playing.
From Pete Chambers – Godiva Rocked to a Backbeat
” Formed 1962 and got to support the likes of Screaming Lord Sutch, the Hollies, The Undertakers, Emile Ford and the Checkmates (You tube link) and the Pretty Things. 1964 they took on former Vampires vocals it Johnny Washington and reinvented themselves as Johnny Washington and the Establishment.”
Extract from Pete Chambers Backbeat – Coventry Telegraph
” Nuneaton’s biggest beat band, The Stormbreakers, who later changed their name to The Establishment.
Lead vocalist Keith Redfern recalls those days: “We were the first group in the area, it was around 1964, we attracted a lot of followers, including other musicians. We were known as a group’s group. We played all over the place, including Coventry’s Locarno, The General Wolfe and Nuneaton’s Co-op Hall. You name it we supported them, like Cliff Bennett, Johnny Kidd and even the Hollies.”
One of those venues, Nuneaton’s Co-op Hall Ballroom, was at its height the musical mecca for the area. Run by madcap promoter Reg Calvert, it saw its fair share of excitement, playing host to The Beatles who were the support to Tanya Day and The …” The Stormbreakers. Keith Gudger joined the Nuneaton band on the strength of a talent contest in 1962; he was spotted by Wall Freeman and asked to join the band. They lined up like this: Keith Redfern vocals, Ed Willett second lead guitar, Noel Ford lead guitar, ‘Nov’ on bass, Keith Gudger on rhythm guitar and Wall Freeman on drums.
Early gigs included the Nuneaton ambulance hall: “I recall we used to practice in Noel Ford’s front room,” said Keith Gudger. “We moved his poor mum and dad into the kitchen as we took over their living room, bless them. We did cramped spaces pretty well though, we had a small Morris J2 Van, we changed the seats around and managed to get all the band in it, plus girlfriends and equipment.”
By this time Nov had left as bass player, so Ed switched to bass and they became a working five-piece. They got to support a host of top names such as Screaming Lord Sutch, The Hollies, The Undertakers, Emily Ford and the Checkmates and the Pretty Things.
“We had the foresight to get ourselves a good PA system as soon as possible,” reveals Keith. “It paid off, one gig in Stoke on Trent we were supporting Brian Poole and The Tremeloes and they asked if they could borrow our PA. We had a 100-watt system; theirs was a tiny 50-watt, both pretty puny by today’s standards. In 1964 we changed our name to the Establishment and were part of Friars Promotions, and Vince (Martin) Holliday (who still owes me 10 bob by the way), took us to France to play the US bases for three months. The first hotel we stayed in turned out to be a brothel. It was a crazy time, we were young and it was the first time we had been away.
“As we moved to the next port of call, we ended up in Paris, not where we wanted to be. Our old van had damage to the column change, and the electrics started playing up. So there we were in this quiet zone in Paris and our horn started sounding on its own. We were running around like headless chickens trying to stop the noise, then someone grabbed a handful of cables and we carried on our way with no horn sounding, but sadly with no headlights either.
“We got to know a lot of the GIs where we played, it was during the Vietnam war, so many of those guys were training to go there, it was a chilling thought that many of those we met probably never came back.”
In 1965 Keith left the band, and continued for a while with Johnny Washington as frontman under the name George E Washington and the Establishment. In 2004 they had their first reunion concert and from that they started gigging again. So that brings us back around to the Call Up the Groups gig, your chance to hear the band
