Tuesday 29 June 2010

As it began: Doug Puddifoot and PJs (again)


The book by Jackie Gunn and Jim Jenkins is the nearest there is to a Queen official biography...

I read the first chapter again today and it says a few things that are very relevant that I missed first time. I'm writing them on the blog so I dont forget!...Firstly Doug Puddifoot, the man who took all the early Queen photos and designed the first album cover, was a friend of Roger's from Truro. This begs the question of whether anyone down here knows him or is still in touch with him, and also whether he might have taken pictures of the band down here...

Secondly whilst the 1970 PJ's gig was not Queens first gig it (that was at the City Hall) it was the first time they were billed as Queen. (Though Jacky's book is a bit misleading here because the picture of the advert that is shown alongside it is not Queen in PJs but Queen in the City Hall...the PJs advert is the one above)...They had played at Imperial in between the two Cornish gigs but presumably that was not advertised. ie if nothing else we can say it was the first time the name had appeared in print.

Another first mentioned in Jacky and Jims book was the Tregye gig in 1971 being the first open-air gig by the band: something they repeated later many times when they outgrew indoor venues...



UPDATE 4/7/10  Jill Johnson has explained that, actually, Doug Puddifoot was known to Roger from Truro because, as one of Jill's relatives, he visited regularly, and would have met Roger in around 1967. He lived in Ruislip, however.

1 comment:

  1. This is a really fascinating project! Congratulations are in order for all your extensive research! I can't wait to read all the posts!

    I, too, am very passionate about Queen's early years. I'd love to get my hands on some more of Doug Puddifoot's photography. If the liner art of Queen I is anything to go by, there must be literally hundreds of unseen photos from that era.

    Anyway, keep working hard! I look forward to further discoveries you make!

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