Prolific person of the pen – Pete Clemons is on the case of Nektar – Roye Albrighton’s band, for the Coventry Telegraph….


Pete points out that although recently published in the Cov Telegraph, this article was written sometime ago and the the album he mentions “A Spoonful of Time”, mentioned towards the end of the article, was actually called “Time machine” – so bear that in mind.

ROYE Albrighton was born in the Bell Green area of Coventry on February 6, 1949. He is a son of Arthur (Senior) and Anne Albrighton. He will always be best remembered for his continuing involvement in the world renowned band Nektar where he plays lead guitar and is also lead vocalist.

Roye, actually born Roy, started learning to play guitar at around the age of 10 when brother Modie, who had been a television repair engineer, used to fix elderly people’s TVs for free. One day he was given an old Spanish guitar by one of his clients. Roye came across the guitar that, apparently, only had one string. This minor issue did not deter him, the guitar was repaired, strings were replaced and the rest as they say is history.

His early influences included bands like The Ventures, The Spotniks and The Shadows. Later, as he was learning his craft, he would be inspired by bands like The Beatles and the various Jimi Hendrix bands like The Experience and The Band of Gypsies. Incredibly, in fact, Roye once actually jammed with Hendrix during a spell of living in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Roye began his musical career in local band The Peeps who went on to release several singles for the Philips label. After this he became a member of Rainbows. Actually The Peeps and The Rainbows were essentially the same band. But it was at this point when Roye started to write his own material and began to work it into Rainbows’ music.

Rainbows were known for their flowing silky robes, eye liner and Vidal Sassoon styled hair. This was fairly outrageous stuff for the time. The band also relocated to London for a while where they signed up with Ashley Kozaks management.

They recorded and cut two singles on the CBS label. The first was called ‘Rainbows’ and the second was called ‘New Day Dawning’, a quite wonderful song that would eventually feature on a Nektar album called ‘Sounds Like This’. During 1968 Rainbows were doing some gigs in Germany. These included dates at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg. And it was during some leisure time that Roye paid a visit to the famous Star Club next to the Reeperbahn.

While there he heard a drummer rehearsing. His curiosity got the better of him and Roye went into the club and met up with Ron Howden who, at that time, was drummer of house band Prophecy. The following day Roye took his guitar along and the two jammed together. The chemistry between Ron and Roye was almost instant.

Roye rejoined Rainbows but, sometime during 1969, the band went their separate ways. Incidentally, after the split, the nucleus of Rainbows went on to form a band called Still Life who, themselves, released their own highly regarded album. From Rainbows Roye then moved to Sweden and took up residency for a while. While there he met up with a promoter who had worked with him when Rainbows toured the country. This led to him being put in touch with a band called The Outsiders who he played with for a short time until it was time for him to return to the UK.

It was now late 1969, and a year or so after those jamming sessions with Prophecy, and Roye received a telegram out of the blue from Mo Moore who was Prophecy’s bass player. The telegram asked if he would be interested in going back to Germany and taking up the lead guitar position within Prophecy as their guitarist was leaving. At the time Roye had been rehearsing for a part in the backing band for the London debut of Hair. However, in November of 1969, Roye teamed up with Prophecy and, shortly afterwards, together they formed the band Nektar.

In the 40 plus years since their formation Nektar have often been regarded as one of the most influential bands of the 1970s within their genre. They were pioneers of futuristic live shows and performed some of the earliest gigs that included lights and pictures. Their 1970s albums are some of the most adored records of the progressive rock genre. Following the release of Nektar’s fourth album ‘Remember the Future’ during 1973 (their second album release in the U.S.), the band were launched into orbit as they became hugely popular, not just in Europe, but also in America.

Today, after a dozen or so studio albums, several live records and a potentially fatal liver condition almost 10 years ago, Roye’s current version of Nektar are back and will soon be releasing their next album titled ‘A Spoonful of Time’. This will be an album of cover songs that have been given Roye’s twist. He will also be accompanied on the album by the likes of Rick Wakeman, John Wetton, Ginger Baker and many more who will be adding their own individual and unique touches to it.

I for one look forward to hearing it as well as being able to see them gig again in 2013.

More info here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nektar

And Roye Albrighton’s Nektar website is here – https://nektarsmusic.com/nn/band/band_biography.asp

More to be found on youtube!!

Pete Clemons takes a look on one of the top Coventry bands of the mid 1960’s – The Mighty Avengers – in his latest Coventry Telegraph article –

THE Mighty Avengers were a beat group, formed in 1962 and were one of the most hard working and well respected bands of their time.

Actually it was not until September/October 1963 that they added the word ‘Mighty’ to the band name. Apparently this was so that they would not be confused with Birmingham singer Gerry Levene’s backing band. Prior to that they had, simply, been known as The Avengers.

The Avengers were formed by lead guitarist and vocalist Tony Campbell along with fellow aero apprentice and drummer Dave Beech. School friends Mike Linnell and Kevin Mahon both joined on bass and rhythm guitar respectively and the line up was complete.

Mid-1962 saw The Avengers secure a residency at The Walsgrave Hotel, as it was known back then, for a weekly ‘rock and twist’ night. The residency continued at the same venue right through to the days of Club Caroline and beyond.

They also played regularly at other Coventry venues like The Pilot, The Craftsman and The Heath and this meant that The Mighty Avengers were seen as a Coventry group but in fact all the band members were Rugby-based.

So popular, The Mighty Avengers were described in the local press as the most successful Coventry group on the national scene as well as ambassadors for the Coventry sound.

An early break came for the band was when they supported Buddy Brittain and the Regents and The Beatles at the Co-op hall in Nuneaton on October 5, 1962. Note that The Beatles were not the headliners that night.

Danny Betesh and Associates, who were a part of the all powerful Kennedy Street Artistes of Manchester, soon picked up on the band. In the early 60s Danny Betesh had built the agency up by signing Manchester acts Herman’s Hermits, Freddy and the Dreamers, Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders and this association led to The Mighty Avengers furthering their reputation and getting gigs in the North West at venues like the New Elizabethan in Manchester and the Cavern in Liverpool where they went down so well that they were offered return dates.

This partnership also led to them recording several singles for Decca records. The first of these, credited to Alan Klein, was titled ‘Hide Your Love’ and released in April 1964. The B-side, another song written by Decca songwriters was titled ‘Hey Senorita’. The band did try to write their own compositions, but, as they told local press at the time ‘most of them landed in the waste bin’.

By the time of the next release the band had joined forces with Decca’s recording manager Andrew Loog-Oldham. Loog-Oldham had very strong links with Decca label mates The Rolling Stones as well as having interests in various other bands and artists.

The Mick Jagger/Keith Richard song ‘So Much in Love’ had been recorded by the Stones in November 1963 but never released by them. So it was arranged by Loog-Oldham that The Mighty Avengers record it. They released it in August 1964 and the 45rpm spent two weeks in the charts reaching number 46.

The B-side of this single was titled ‘Sometime They Say’. Incidentally, both songs were recorded under the music directorship of future Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones, On July 1, 1964 The Rolling Stones recorded some backing tracks at Greenford Studio’s, London.

These were intended for some of Andrew Loog-Oldham’s other artists like The Poets, Marianne Faithful, Vashti and Twice as Much.

Among the demos were songs titled ‘Blue Turns to Grey’ and ‘(Walking Thru The) Sleepy City’ and both of these songs ended up with The Mighty Avengers.

‘Blue Turns To Grey’ along with B-side ‘I’m Lost Without You’ was released in February 1965 but sadly it failed to chart.

The Rolling Stones did eventually release it on their 1965 US album release ‘December’s Children (and everyone’s)’. The song, however, would eventually hit the UK charts when Cliff Richard released a version of it in March 1966. It peaked at number 15.

The band released ‘(Walking Thru The) Sleepy City’ which, along with its B-side ‘Sir Edward and Lady Jane’, turned out to be The Mighty Avengers final single, in July 1965.

Yet again, and despite many session musicians being involved, the record failed to chart for them. Not long after ‘Sleepy City’ The Mighty Avengers split up.

For those interested though The Rolling Stones version of ‘Sleepy City’ can be heard on the band ‘Metamorphoses’ compilation album released in 1975 and contains a lot of unreleased material that the great Jagger/Richard partnership wrote with the intention of the songs going to others.

But soon after the split, in April 1966, Tony Campbell along with several of his former band members would put together the popular group Jigsaw. Now Jigsaw did indeed see chart success, and not just in the UK either, but worldw ide.

Recordings by The Mighty Avengers are still available in the 21st century. Although the original 45 rpms are difficult to find the songs can still be heard via the internet. Alternatively, hard copies can be heard on the Decca Records compilation CD ‘The Beat Scene’ and the excellent Jagger/Richard ‘Songbook’ CD which contains 24 cover versions of Mick and Keith songs including ‘Sleepy City’.

A year or so after John Peel passed away a box containing 143 singles was discovered among his belongings. This was a small private collection that was set aside from his main archive of 100,000 vinyl records and CDs. Apparently this set of 45s represented some of his very favourite songs. Within this box was a copy of The Mighty Avengers ‘So Much in Love’.

……………………………………….

Also see Tony Campbell’s article on Manchester Beat site with more material – Here http://www.manchesterbeat.com/groups/mightyavengers/mightyavengers.php
A Rugby based quartet
Sources – Rex Brough / Pete Chambers (Backbeat) / Dean Nelson
Biffo Beech – Drums, Vocals

Tony Campbell – Lead Guitar, Vocals
Mike Linnell – Bass, Lead Vocals
Kevin Mahon (aka Beppy)- Guitar, Harmonica

Singles

Hide Your Pride/Hey Senorita (Decca F 11891) 1964
So Much In Love/Sometime They Say (Decca F 11962) 1964
Blue Turns To Grey/I’m Lost Without You (Decca F 12085) 1965
(Walkin’ Thru The) Sleep City/Sir Edward And Lady Jane (Decca F 12198) 1965

The Mighty Avengers came from Rugby and with Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who got the band signed to England’s Decca Records in 1964, he produced and recorded Jagger/Richard songs. They released four singles in two years and made a specialty of covering songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards,”So Much In Love” was a minor hit. Tony Campbell, the one in specs was later the one in specs in Jigsaw, along with Kevin. 

Dean Nelson says “One is intrigued by the B-side of their final single, “Sir Edward and Lady Jane,” which manages to squeeze references to the founder and head of Decca and a notable Jagger/Richards song into its name.

In 1966, lead guitarist Tony Campbell hooked up with ex-Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours bassist Barrie Bernard and keyboardist Clive Scott and drummer Des Dyer, who’d written songs for Engelbert Humperdinck, to form Jigsaw, which had a long, successful history in England”

Pete Chambers – Backbeat – Coventry Telegraph c April 2006

The Mighty Avengers – By Pete Chambers

Formed in 1962, The Mighty Avengers had four claims to fame. Claim to fame number one, saw them link up with loose Cannon manager Andrew Loog Oldham (after their initial release Hide Your Pride failed to do the business) – who just so happened to be managing the Rolling Stones at the time. So the Mighty Avengers got to use the songs that the Glimmer Twins (Mick n Keef) deemed less that worthy for Rolling Stone use.

Claim to fame number Two, one of those songs So Much In Love, was a record that became a record (if you see what I mean). Although only charting at a humble 46, it never the less made history by being the first ‘local’ band to dent the UK singles chart. (Frank Ifield had already clocked up 13 hits in the hit parade by this time, but he was of course classed as a solo artist as apposed to a group).

The Mighty Avengers went on to release the singles Blue Turns To Grey (later a hit for Cliff Richard and written by the Stones) and the sublime tour de force (Walkin’ Thru The) Sleepy City. Sadly Tony Campbell (lead guitar, vocals) Dave ‘Biffo’ Beech (drums and vocals), Mike Linnell (bass and lead vocal) and Kevin ‘Bep’ Mahon (guitar and harmonica) failed to dent the charts again as The Mighty Avengers, but……

Claim to fame number three, the band would later re-emerge as Jigsaw and take the music world by storm with the ever popular sky High.

Claim to Fame number four, When the late great John Peel died, he left a box of 142 – 7” vinyl singles, believed to be his favourites, among them was the single So Much In love. When you look at the company it was keeping, (I refer to the likes of Elmore James, MC5, the Beatles and of course The Undertones), it’s easy to see what an impressive legacy the band left behind them.

I recently managed to track down the legendary
and very elusive Andrew Loog Oldham, and asked him if he remembered the Mighty Avengers?, he replied, “Of course, often and fondly”. I asked him if he felt they could have been bigger than they actually were? He replied in his usual Delphian way, “We had good songs, and as I recall, had a nice time getting them done, and you can still hear it, it doesn’t get much better than that”.

” The most successful Coventry group on the national scene are, without doubt, The Mighty Avengers. They were a disappointing 6th in our poll. Once again the emergence of a group onto the national scene has meant that many of their less fanatical fans had drifted away. ” Via Tim James site From Coventry Express, Friday May 28th 1965 Citybeat by Paul Connew.

Mighty Avengers – Jagger Richards song

Another Jagger Richards cover from 1965 which gave Cliff and the Shadows a hit c 1966

By Pete Clemons. 

THE Jersey Boys, as many will know, is an acclaimed musical based on the lives of the New Jersey harmony group The Four Seasons. It opened to positive reviews during 2005 and has gone on to win numerous awards.

I have never seen the play but from my understanding it portrays the history of The Four Seasons over four parts, with each part being taken up by a different member of the band. Therefore, it is effectively a reflective story of the band by each of its singers who are supposedly reflecting and giving their own perspective of the band’s histor y.

But I will bet that the play with its memories does not stretch to including the Saturday evening, late May, back in ’63 when The Four Seasons were supposed to perform in Coventry.

Originally formed during the 1950s as The Four Lovers, they became The Four Seasons in 1960. The original classic line-up was Frankie Valli on falsetto lead vocals, Bob Gaudio on keyboards and tenor vocals, Tommy DeVito on lead guitar and baritone vocals and Nick Massi on bass guitar and bass vocals and, unlike many other groups of the time, they wrote much of their own material.

The first song they cut under the name of The Four Seasons, after changing it from The Four Lovers, was called ‘Bermuda’. It came and went without really troubling the charts.

However, August 1962 then saw the release of their first album ‘Sherry and 11 others’ from which came their first hit single of the same name. It was when they released ‘Sherry’ that the band really became noticed. The song stormed to number one in the US and the wider world was beginning to take notice of this incredible harmony group.

‘Sherry’ was followed up, during October 1962, with the band’s second US number one. It was another song taken from their debut album and was called ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’.

Then in January 1963 they released their third consecutive smash hit and million plus seller ‘Walk Like a Man’ which was the first British release on the Stateside record label and its B-side was called ‘Lucky Ladybug’ a song that, for some reason, the resident disc jockeys at both The Locarno and The Orchid Ballrooms received a great deal of requests to play.

1963 also saw the band make a couple of appearances on the influential US TV programme, American Bandstand and this boosted The Four Season’s popularity even more. By April of that year the group set off for their first ever tour of the UK.

The Four Seasons had been a late addition to an ‘All Star ’63’ tour which also included John Leyton, Mike Berry, Jet Harris and Tony Meehan and several others. So late in fact that their photo and band details were not included on the promotional posters or the official programme which was available to buy at the shows.

The 21-date tour, organised by Robert Stigwood, had began during April in Brighton and was making its way around the UK, stopping off at the normal big city venues. It was scheduled to finish on May 18 with a final date set for Bournemouth Winter Gardens.

Saturday May 18 was also the date that The Four Seasons were scheduled to appear in Coventry, not as part of the package all star tour, but as a special one-off gig to be held at the Matrix Hall later on in the evening after the Bournemouth show. Needless to say, things did not quite happen as they were supposed to.

The quartet was to have been backed by a group called The Innocents and the support act for the night was Shane Spencer and the Casuals.

The Innocents were formed in February 1963 and, since their formation, had almost continuously been on the road backing top artists on one night stands. They had also been on the ‘All Star ’63’ tour as backing group for some of the other acts but not The Four Seasons.

That job had gone to a group called The Hi-Fi’s.

As far as the revellers were concerned, the evening had began fine, as Shane Spencer and the Casuals performed their songs but little did they know of the turmoil going on behind the scenes. Incredibly, The Innocents arrived at the venue and performed an extended impromptu set, as I guess they had hoped to buy some time.

This was because The Four Seasons had not been so lucky and arrived late at the venue. I assume the 120-mile dash between Bournemouth and Coventry was just too difficult a journey for them.

Promoter Terry Blood announced to what was still left of an understandably angry audience that The Four Seasons had apparently got lost en route to The Matrix Hall and, although making to the venue, it too late for them to perform. For their inconvenience, and by way of an apology, Terry Blood offered the disappointed concert goers free tickets for his next major Coventry event which was to be the visit of another American – Jerry Lee Lewis. The Jerry Lee gig would also be held at The Matrix Hall later the same month. And apparently that peace offering seemed to pacify the crowd sufficiently.

Of course, The Four Seasons would go on to even greater success with the release of a string of other golden hits such as ‘Rag Doll’, ‘Let’s Hang On’, ‘Working My Way Back To You’, ‘Who Loves You’ and ‘December 1963 (Oh What a Night)’.

But, for very different reasons, that night back in May ’63, sounded just as exciting.

Pete Clemons turns his spotlight on the DT’s who have returned but in former days toured as Steve Marriott and the DT’s. This is his latest article from the Coventry Telegraph. Thanks to Alan Joseph for making the photos available.

IT may not have escaped the notice of local rhythm and blues fans that the incredibly popular band The DTs have re-surfaced and are playing selected gigs in the region.

Not only that but these events are being fulfilled by what was known as the classic line-up of the band which existed between 1982 through to 1989.

The bands major date in Coventry will be at The Spencer Club on Friday November 1 but, before that, they will also be playing The Zephyr Lounge adjacent to The Assembly in Leamington on Wednesday September 4. Although the histories of individual band members can be traced back much further The DTs themselves were formed in 1981 with the line-up of Simon ‘Honeyboy’ Hickling (blues harp), Stuart Wilson (vocals), Craig Rhind (bass), Chris Drayton (drums) and long time musical collaborator of Simon Hickling, ‘Big’ Al Taylor on guitar.

The earliest appearance I know of the band playing in Coventry was when they performed at the Dog and Trumpet in June 1981. Soon afterwards they played at a festival in Riversley Park, Nuneaton alongside bands such as Bron Area and Eyeless in Gaza. There then followed a number of dates at The General Wolfe that culminated in a gig on New Year’s Eve.

Another local band Chevy had been getting some great reviews but at the same time not really getting anywhere. Unhappy with the situation resulted in both drummer Andy Chaplin and lead guitarist Steve Walwyn leaving the band. Steve briefly joined yet another local outfit The Mosquito’s with whom he recorded a single ‘Somethin’ Outta Nothing’.

Find the DT’s on Face book here https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-DTs/436574239754513

THE Banba Club on the Foleshill Road was, at one time, the city’s foremost Irish club and social centre.

And at its height it attracted the cream of Irish entertainment and was a hub for the Irish showbands from that existed during that era. The club enjoyed continued success for around 12 years.

The building that hosted the club had first opened on January 31, 1933 as the plush 1,500 all seated Redesdale Cinema. And today, the building still stands on the corner of Foleshill Road and Edmund Road, although nowadays it is known as the Nanaksar Gurdwara Gursikh Temple.

After the demise of the cinema the club first opened its doors during 1956. At first the only music being played in the club was more or less Ceili, folk and traditional dance bands. However, at around the same time The Banba’s membership was expanding a musical revolution was happening over in Ireland.

Up until the mid 1950s the traditional Irish dance band musicians would normally be all sat behind their music stands happily playing away. This conformity was fine to dance to but not particularly exciting to watch.

One particular band had the idea, and legend has it that it was Strabane’s Carlton Clipper Band, that it would be a good idea to stand up and start moving to the music. And, thus, the Irish Showband had been born. The idea of injecting a little excitement into the performance spread across the country like a wild fire as similar bands followed suit.

This was indeed an explosive moment in Irish entertainment and for Irish culture as a whole. And it was not to be long until the ripples of the new phenomena would be felt in England and beyond.

In fact whereever an Irish community had settled and a social club had sprung up would soon be feeling the impact.

By the early 1960s the Showbands were proving increasingly popular whereever they played, mainly due to their key objective of entertaining the crowds, get them up dancing and keep them up dancing. And it was at this point that The Banba really began to expand its programme as it was able to attract, not just the top showbands, but also national and internationally known artists.

The club really began to take off in 1960 with the visit of The Dave Glover Showband. Belfast musician Dave is the person credited as having created the Showband phrase. After seeing, and being influenced, by what the Clipper Carltons had started he added the word ‘Show’ into his band’s title.

But it wasn’t just a venue exclusive for the Showbands. The Banba had visits from well respected performers such as Joe Dolan, Dickie Rock, Larry Cunningham, Jack Ruane, The Bachelors, The Wolfe Tones, The Dubliners and many many more. Even Bert Weedon had a short residency there.

Not only did The Banba attract the top Irish artists and balladeers from outside of the city it also found plenty of room for those that were home grown. And fitting that description was The Pat Gissane Showband who, from the early 1960, were regular performers at the club.

The Pat Gissane Showband was very popular around the city and beyond and, although based in Coventry, the roots of the band members were very much in Ireland.

Another Coventry based Banba Club regular was Dublin born Oliver Murtagh who was better known round these parts as Colin Scott. As well as being a member of local band, New City Sounds, Colin was, for a while, the MC and also the resident singer.

At its height the ballroom membership numbered in excess of 1,000 people and an average attendance for a Saturday night dance was around 650.

The weekend clubroom average, which was separate to the ballroom, was in excess of 600 people. Yet despite these healthy figures the clubs success did not last. These were the days when strict licensing hours still existed.

The Banba’s future started to take a turn for the worse when the club was raided by police in February 1967. As many as 250 people were found to be drinking in the clubroom after hours and during April 1967 the authorities applied for its closure. The club must have appealed successfully as it continued to run until late into 1968. Another Irish club, The Hibernia, had set itself up at The Matrix Hall in 1967. The Hibernia Club then relocated to the same building vacated by The Banba and opened up during September 1969. But by the early 1970s the popularity of the Showbands had taken a downturn. I am not sure if this was a contributing factor but the Hibernia was relatively short-lived and eventually closed for good in 1972.

That was not quite the end of the story though. Between 1973 and 1977 the fortunes of the building changed yet again when it reopened as The Tree Tops Club. During its time the Tree Tops put on some excellent gigs. This time, however, the entertainment was more mixed. It was also the venue for where a certain young soul fanatic called Pete Waterman ran his Coventry Soul Club and his Steampacket rock music nights.

Once again we archive the latest article by Pete Clemons who takes a look at another of the high profile folk rock musicians who settled in Coventry in the 1990’s.


Last time it was Dave Swarbrick, now it’s Joe O’Donnell and Shkayla. The article is from Coventry Telegraph.

THE next few months will see a surge in activity for the highly acclaimed electric fiddle player Joe O’Donnell and his band ‘Shkayla’.

They have a new album due out on May 1 called ‘Into the Becoming’ and they will also be playing a series of live dates across the region in both three and five musician formats.

Limerick born Joe’s musical activities can be traced back as far as 1965 when he played guitar back in Ireland for a group called ‘The Intentions’ who would later become known as ‘Granny’s Intentions’. By 1967 he was with another Irish band called ‘Sweet Street’ with whom he stayed till 1969.

After studying music at The Royal Irish Academy in Dublin Joe then teamed up with ‘The Woods Band’ in London who featured Dubliners and founder members of Steeleye Span, Gay and Terry Woods. Joe had known Terry from when Terry had been a member of Irish band ‘Sweeny’s Men’ circa 1968. Future ‘Wings’ guitarist Henry McCullough and Joe’s brother Al had also been a member of Sweeny’s Men at that time.

This period saw Joe work briefly with folk rock band ‘Trees’. Although he did not feature on any albums he did tour and perform on BBC sessions with the band.

Then in 1973 he replaced Dave Arbus in progressive rock band ‘East of Eden’ and a period of touring Europe and recording ensued until the band finally split in 1978.

During his time with ‘East of Eden’ Joe found time to record an album in 1975 with progressive rock band ‘Headstone’. That same year he was a guest on Henry Mc-Cullough’s debut album ‘Mind Your Own Business’ which was released on George Harrison’s Dark Horse label.

After ‘East of Eden’ Joe was then instrumental, along with Bias Boshell and Barry Clarke in a reformation of ‘Trees’. Again no studio recordings exist but plenty of live work followed.

During the 1980s Joe lived in Guernsey. During this period he remained incredibly active in the folk rock scene and appeared with various bands at festivals in Brittany and the Channel Islands. Joe settled in Coventry during the late 1990s and it did not take long before he began to leave his mark. 1998 saw the release of his album ‘Shkayla’ and then together with ex-‘Dando Shaft’ players and multi-instrumentalists Martin Jenkins, Ted Kay along with Martin’s son Ray on guitar they formed the first live line-up of the band bearing the same name.

‘Shkayla’ quickly established themselves and 2001 saw them perform at the Godiva Festival and then both the Warwick and Brinklow folk festivals. These appearances were very highly acclaimed.

2002 saw Martin resume duties with an earlier band of his, ‘The Vulcheva Jenkins Incident’. They had been lined up to play prestigious dates in Bulgaria. He would also perform duos with Ray Jenkins across the region. Meanwhile Joe O’Donnell and friends were holding court at the Pitts Head on Gosford Street, or Phat Larry’s as it was known by then, in weekly music sessions.

When ‘Shkayla’ resurfaced during 2004 they had a new line-up that included guitarist Dave Perry and Martin Barter on keyboards. Then by 2006 the band expanded to a five-piece having added drummer Paul Johnston and bass player Mark Fulton. And it was this version of the band that triumphantly performed ‘Gaodhol’s Vision’, Joe’s classic and captivating album first released 35 years ago, complete with orchestrations at the Warwick Folk Festival.

The wholly instrumental ‘Gaodhol’s Vision’ was initially recorded back in 1977. It is a remarkable and beautiful record. From folk through to rock it seems to traverse so many musical styles. Contributing musicians are as diverse as ‘Jade Warrior’s’ Jon Field and Rory Gallagher so that in itself gives an indication of the albums scope and range.

The album tells the musical story of an Egyptian tribe called the Milesians whose job it was to protect the Pharaohs. The Milesians found themselves expelled for voicing their anger toward injustices against one particular Pharaoh. After a long journey they settled in Eire where they became the building blocks for future saints and Irish community as we know it today.

Joe is known as a Celtic violinist and, yes although this is evident, it never seems to overpower the music. In fact, in all his releases the Celtic influence is never far away yet at the same time does not dominate the proceedings. There always seems to be room for delicate improvisation and sublime playing.

And it was also that 2006 line-up who were the backbone to Joe’s next album ‘Celtic Cargo’ released in 2008 although for promotional gigs the band featured Coventryborn Si Hayden and Brendan J Rayner on guitar and drums, respectively.

Si Hayden is, of course, very familiar locally and has gained a reputation in his own right as an accomplished guitarist as well as being a stylish double bass player. He wrote and recorded his debut album in 1998 and has since racked up over 25 albums. In fact, if you include guest appearances then he has appeared on more than a very impressive 50 releases.

The current line-up of Shkayla is Joe O’Donnell (electric violin, mandolin and vocals), Martin Barter (keyboards), Si Hayden (guitar), Brendan J Rayner (drums) and Adrian Litvinoff (bass).

The forthcoming album has more of a contemporary Celtic feel to it and the title ‘Into the Becoming’ comes from a Hopi Indian saying that roughly translated means “into the future”.

As with past ‘Shkayla’ albums where tracks have lyrics, they will be in a mix of English and Gaelic although this time Joe will introduce some Scottish dialect. As Joe says, “These guys are fantastic musicians to work with. They come from different musical backgrounds but there’s a great bond between us on stage and they really do bring out the power of Celtic music.”

Dates I know of so far include Hinckley ACT on June 14 but prior to that the full band is on the bill for the Coventry Jazz Festival on Sunday May 26 at Blue Bistro in Spon Street.

And another article on Joe O’Donnell and Shkayla here
http://coventrygigs.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/joe-odonnells-shkayla-at-godiva-festival.html

EVEN before the Second World War Coventry’s public buildings had been described in reports as inadequate for a city that was expanding at the rate it had been growing at.

During the war the area around the council house had suffered considerable bomb damage and I guess those reports were taken into account when the rebuilding took place.

A regeneration of Little Park Street during the mid 1950s saw many houses pulled down, and old roads and lanes disappear in order to make way for the new construction projects that sprang up in the area. Among these new developments was the then new police headquarters. And within the various buildings that made up the police headquarters complex was a ballroom complete with state of the art sprung dance floor. The ballroom was situated almost on the corner where Little Park Street meets New Union Street.

Apart from official police functions, such as award ceremonies and graduations, the ballroom was initially used for civic duties such as being a point of contact for where ballot boxes were delivered after an election and where the vote count would take place. These duties were eventually transferred to other building such as the sports centre.

The early 1960s saw the ballroom become available for hire to the public and, as such, found itself being used for more diverse events. This led to it being used as a concert venue. One of the earliest of these was in 1963 when it hosted a ‘big beat ball’ headlined by Decca recording stars Danny Rivers, Michael Cox and Nelson Keene.

This type of event continued over a two-year period as the ballroom caught up in the dance phenomena that swept through the city as it put on several Twang and beat nights starring bands such as The Mighty Avengers and The Sorrows.

1964 also saw the venue play host to the heats, the semi-final and the final of a well publicised beat contest.

The competition had been organised by Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind.

Carol and the Electrons, a Coventry group who were almost unknown in Coventry yet very popular in and around Leicester, were one of the semi-final winners.

Nearly 200 fans had shouted and cheered the Electrons to a big points win. The audience had also included almost 70 fans from Leicester where the group enjoyed their greatest popularity. The semi-finals had also included The King Size Kings and The Barry James Four.

After their semi-final victory The Electrons were described by Richard Maddock, the then BBC light entertainment producer for the Midlands, as ‘pretty near professional standard’.

The final, held later in the year, saw Carol and the Electrons up against The Gazelles and The Dave Johnson Four, a popular country and western band.

The judges this time around included Larry Page and BBC TV producer Philip Lewis. In addition to the cash prizes, the winners would be offered the chance to make a recording by the Pye record label subject to auditions with Tony Hatch.

Once more, another 200-plus crowd filled the ballroom with, yet again, a strong contingent coming from Leicester. They placed placards around the room and waved banners in support of Carol and the Electrons. And the band did not disappoint, taking first place with The Gazelles finishing as runners-up. The final proved to be a fitting climax to a contest that had aroused a great deal of excitement around Coventry.

The Police Ballroom was not a part of the normal Coventry circuit and as such not used as heavily or prolifically as other venues. But it still constantly managed to attract the major Coventry area bands around during the mid-1960s.

Over the course of the decade The Beat Preachers, The Matadors, The Peeps, The Ray King Soul Band and many others all played at the venue. In fact most of them appeared there several times.

Arguably though, the busiest period for the venue began during the late 1960s when, in 1968, regular old time dance nights were organised for Saturday evenings. Resident bands over that period included The Freddie Garth Big Band and The Ossie Vaughan Orchestra.

In parallel with the dances the venue was also putting on a considerable number of soul nights complete with live acts. Among those to have appeared at these events were DJ Jimmy Mack, Don Fardon and the Soul Machine and Jimmy James and the Vagabonds.

The Police Ballroom can also lay claim to being one of the earliest in Coventry for bringing reggae and ska music to the public’s attention.

Late 1969 saw the Association of Overseas Students hold an event at the venue. Guests included a band called The Pyramids. The Pyramids had been signed to President Records and at that time were promoted as being similar to label mates The Equals. However, not that long after the Coventry gig they would change their name and became known as Symarip.

They would then go on to record songs like Skinhead Girl and the iconic Skinhead Moonstomp which would be reissued during the heady days of 2-Tone in the late 1970s. The Overseas Student event also showcased An All Star Steel Band that would complete a late night set.

The early 1970s saw the ballroom continue as a reggae-friendly venue by hosting regular blues parties complete with ‘sound systems’. These events grew so much that by 1972 they were attracting major name guests such as Greyhound and Desmond Dekker.

When the Little Park Street Police Station undertook a facelift a few years ago the ballroom made way for the new main entrance and current front desk position.

In fact if you are ever invited beyond the current reception area, for whatever reason, then keep your eyes peeled. You will notice that parts of that original dance floor still exist to this very day.

Here are some of the artists that played there –


I think Danny Rivers –  Joe Meek penned the B Side of this single (listen to it on youtube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRIdEusC9EQ) – meanwhile the A side – some more rock n roll –

From 1963…..

Coventry hit group The Sorrows who were hot on the continent and chart toppers in Italy in the mid 60’s – Don Fardon etal in concert in Offenbach https://sites.google.com/site/bandsfromcoventry/coventry-bands-a-to-z/coventry-bands-s/the-sorrows

Another mid 60’s Coventry band – The Mighty Avengers – So much in Love –
https://sites.google.com/site/bandsfromcoventry/coventry-bands-a-to-z/coventry-bands-m/mighty-avengers

The Peeps (Martin Cure)
https://sites.google.com/site/bandsfromcoventry/coventry-bands-a-to-z/coventry-bands-p/the-peeps

The original band 1970 with the Paul McCartney song Come and Get it

Another Badfinger number with Bob Jackson singing

And the same song with Peter Ham

Bob Jackson’s Coventry progressive band Indian Summer – who recorded on the RCA Neon label