Queen in Cornwall

Public launch of 'Queen in Cornwall' book

2011-10-25T23:05:00.002+01:00

'Queen in Cornwall' was first made available at the Driftwood event in August - but as that was a ticketed affair I've been waiting for the right time to formally launch it to the general public, and particularly those in Cornwall. This date is now set for 19th November 2011, where it will be available at Waterstone's in Truro. I will be there too from about 11 o'clock and would be glad to chat with anyone who's interested!

August 6th at The Driftwood: Cornish Queen Party!

2011-07-05T12:07:00.008+01:00

I've been keeping this a little under wraps because Jacky from the Queen Fan Club was keen that members of the fan club should have the opportunity to buy tickets first. But now they're available to anyone who is interested. It's going to be a very special day, and I'm really looking forward to it.

The price of the tickets reflects the fact that The Driftwood is a very small venue. My understanding is, in fact, that there are only 30 or so tickets remaining available.

Please contact Jacky qfc@queenworld.com or phone 01483 281995

The guests will include Mike Grose, Queens first bass player, and members of The Reaction and The Jayfolk: the two bands Roger Taylor was most involved with when he lived in Truro. The event kicks off at 3.30 - though people will start gathering at The Driftwood before this.

UPDATE 2/8/11: Article in August's Cornwall Today

UPDATE 24/8/11

The event at The Driftwood was a great success...I ve put pictures on the Queen in Cornwall Facebook page. If you are a Queen fan reading this I urge you to 'like' the page as it will be the best way to keep updated with the Queen in Cornwall project (see link in column to the right). At the moment a limited number of signed copies of the book are available to buy from Ebay (see other link!)

Roger Taylor in Truro, June 2011

2011-06-26T19:42:00.000+01:00

I was lucky to get a grandstand view of proceedings on Saturday 25th, June when Roger Taylor came to Truro to unveil Tim Shaw's sculpture called 'The Drummer'. In fact I had described the 'Queen in Cornwall' project to Tim at the beginning of the year when he was still trying to decide on who should preside over the event. He hadn't previously heard of Roger Taylor's connections to Truro. So this blog played a small but not insignificant part in the evening being such a success...Sorry about the camerawork in the video. I think I was so excited I forgot to point the camera in the right direction!

Denise Craddock postcard

2011-06-25T16:35:00.001+01:00

Just after Smile's second recording session - and before the band's breakup - in February 1970 Roger Taylor and John Harris travelled down to Cornwall with Penny North of Jayfolk and Denise Craddock. Denise's postcard, which is mentioned but not reproduced in the book, is a record of this little holiday. It also mentions Pat and Sue Johnstone of the Queen Fan Club, who at that time were living with their father in Cornwall.

John Snell's Reaction Story

2011-06-15T08:54:00.002+01:00

Sorry no updates for a while...I 've essentially stopped doing research for the book, and I'm now proofreading the final manuscript and doing some test prints etc. I've decided on the cover art (see above) so you can see what the front cover will look like.

I 've got some interesting material that wasn't used - or was only part-used - in the book that I will put on this website in the next few weeks. The first is The Reaction Story by John Snell (see separate link).

John, who was nick-named Acker by the other members, was the founder of the Cornish group in which Roger Taylor learnt his trade. He managed to describe the early history of the band in remarkable detail - as you will see from the essay.

Queen Convention 2011

2011-03-28T22:28:00.003+01:00

Was very excited to attend the Queen Convention on the weekend of the 26th and 27th March. I gave a talk about the Queen in Cornwall project on the Sunday. I also tried taking some photos but they didn't come out as well as these by Marco Mercury which include a couple of slides from my powerpoint presentation...

Mike Grose

2011-03-13T21:30:00.002Z

Mike Grose - Queen's first bassist and still living in Cornwall - was one of the first people I spoke to when I started this project nearly a year ago. We had another chat yesterday - and he recalled visiting Kensington and the King's Road with Freddie whilst preparing for his first gig playing as bassist for Queen. Freddie and he actually went shopping together for stage gear and Freddie had insisted that he buy the tightest possible black trousers...In the photo above Mike is on the far right.

see link to Mike Grose page above right...

Roger Taylor new interview for The West Briton

2011-03-13T18:22:00.002Z

The West Briton is a Cornish local paper that, back in the sixties and seventies, featured articles and ads relating to The Reaction, Smile and early Queen. Last week Roger Taylor, forty years on, gave a new interview to Lee Trewhela - and Lee kindly let me add some historical context to the article.

Below are photos of the cover and two-page spread which should be legible if you download (and rotate) it...

Stormtroopers in Stillettoes

2011-03-11T08:22:00.008Z

Went to London for the Queen exhibition in the old brewery buildings off Brick Lane on Wednesday. There was lots of very interesting stuff there including some of Freddie's sketchbooks and drawings. Although they were described as having all been done at Ealing - I wondered whether one or two (especially the one above) might have been done when he was younger and still at school.

There were some new photos of Smile - inlcuding this one where theyre playing on a small stage that looks a bit like Imperial College Union...Roger is set up in front of another kit so they must have been the support act.

But my favourite photos were these ones of the band playing tennis whilst recording A Night at the Opera. Brian is wearing his white clogs and John Deacon is wearing 5 inch stack heels on the tennis court. Not quite Wimbledon is it!!!?

Q Magazine Reaction photo

2011-03-03T19:25:00.005Z

There was a good interview with Brian and Roger in the March 2011 edition of Q magazine. This was the photograph that most interested me because it is one that hasnt' been published before...It's The Reaction somewhere in Cornwall - but the question is where (and when?)

Mike Dudley is playing the guitar slightly cropped out on the left of the picture, Roger is on the drums, Rick Penrose is on the right playing bass and hidden behind him is 'Acker' Snell...Although Acker isnt really visible but the bottom of his sax is...

UPDATE 5/2/11 I've e-mailed Rick Penrose and John Snell re this image and they reckon it was either taken in the Penmare Hotel (Hayle) or the Blue Lagoon (Newquay)

UPDATE 7/2/11 Here is a scan of the original image - its a bit kinder to Mike Dudley who has half his face missing in the magazine. His rather lovely white Stratocaster is more clearly visible....its easier to make out the details in the background too. Looks like what may be a covered fireplace behind Roger. Interesting too that the gear (guitar cases etc) are there on stage - rather suggests the venue had no dressing room etc therefore perhaps more likely to be the Penmare????

Roger Taylor in Norfolk

2011-02-18T23:32:00.001Z

Roger spent his earliest years in Kings Lynn. The local paper ran a feature on him about 20 years ago and included this picture of him at a birthday party which I dont think is anywhere else on the web:

Thanks to Miklos Borbely who despite living in Hungary was able to obtain, and has kept, a copy of the paper...

The Count House, Botallack

2011-02-18T18:06:00.001Z

Those of you who know Cornwall well will probably have heard of the Count House at Botallack near the cliffs at Lands End which was the first of many folk clubs to open in the county in the 60's. Roger Taylor would have visited, as would other members of The Reaction and The Jayfolk. This EP 'Folk Music at the Count House' was recorded and manufactured in 1964, and when I've found a suitable turntable I will put the audio on this blog...

Mr Lucifer: Will Wright and Rufus Manning

2011-02-12T16:43:00.002Z

Mr Lucifer played with Smile on at least two occasions in Cornwall. Last week Roger Kinsey kindly sent this picture to me by e-mail. Roger was then known as Rufus Manning and he was an agent for several bands in the Cambridge area. Today I got to speak to Will Wright, Mr Lucifer's drummer who explained that the other members of the band were Paddy Sargeant, Mick Sharpe and Dave Hirst. He remembers that on one of the nights they played at PJ's with Smile, that a large gang of bikers (we're talking at least 40 of them) turned up looking for trouble, but playing some Eddie Cochrane seemed to placate them...

Smile gigs have not been very well documented. This poster also from Roger is interesting. Ginger Baker (ex Cream and Blind Faith) started his own band in 1969 - but this gig was probably in 1970. I think we can only speculate as to what happened. Would Queen have played instead?

Roger Brokenshire in the 70s

2011-02-11T19:20:00.004Z

This is a video put on line by my friend Richard who runs http://www.kernowbeat.co.uk/.

The Globetrotters was a band popular in Cornwall in the 70's, and their lead singer was Roger Brokenshire who sang with Roger Taylor's band The Reaction less than 10 years earlier. There are no known recordings of Roger B singing with The Reaction but this video gives an idea of how exhuberant and engaging he was back then as a frontman...The other thing to mention is that Roger B 's used the name 'The Reaction Showband' later in the decade, but as far as I know he was the only band-member to have played in the original group.

The March of the Black Queen

2011-02-08T22:26:00.001Z

The best ever Queen song?

Pat Johnstone

2011-02-08T21:47:00.001Z

I spoke with Pat Johnstone on the phone for more than two hours a couple of nights ago. She had some really fascinating memories of the years either side of Queen's first gig in Truro City Hall in 1970...From working in the Navy Arms, to seeing Freddie sing with Smile at PJ's, to putting Freddie and Brian up in her house in Truro the weekend of the gig, to working in Kensington Market, to setting up the Queen fan club. Thankyou Pat if you're reading this.

Thanks to http://www.kernowbeat.co.uk/ here is a recent picture of the City Hall. This facade has not changed since Queen played their first gig there....

Early photos of Roger

2011-01-25T17:33:00.003Z

Here are a couple of low res images of Roger Taylor which are on the internet. I'd be interested to know where they came from because as far as I know they are not in the biographies. The lower image looks like Cornwall - and I think Roger maybe the bigger boy on the left - but its hard to say....Can anyone help?

UPDATE 8/2/11 Miklos from Hungary has identified the source: Eastern Daily Press - magazine. March 20, 1999. 4 page article, Trevor Heaton speaks with rt about the solo tour. The text includes Roger's recollections of his early childhood in Norfolk. Miklos is hoping to send me a scan of his own copy of the magazine soon which will be good...

Batoum Gardens

2011-01-25T08:20:00.003Z

This fairly well known early picture of Freddie was, according to Denise Craddock, taken in a flat at 6, Batoum Gardens. Denise hasn't spoken to biographers before, and nor has her close friend Pat McConnell, but as well as living with Roger and Freddie in Barnes, they knew Ibex - the band that Freddie sang with in 1969 - and also knew Celine Daley who lived at Batoum Gardens. Celine was guitarist Mike Bersin's girlfriend at the time and was the recipient of a long letter from Freddie describing his feelings about the band.

Imperial College Union

2011-01-18T21:36:00.010Z

Immediately adjacent to The Albert Hall is Beit (pronounced Byatt) Quad: a big courtyard with an entrance from the road. Looking across the quad from the pavement Imperial College Student Union is just visible. The porter on the gate assured me that the internal layout of the Union has n't changed in 30 years. The main bar is still on the ground floor, with the concert hall (where Smile and Queen played regularly) on the second floor.

I was surprised and indeed thrilled to be able to simply walk straight in there this Sunday when I was in London. Here are some of the other photos I took...

Above is the main entrance hall (at ground level). The main bar is on the right going in (its door not visible in the photo). Below is the entrance to the Concert Hall on the second floor with the Concert Hall itself below that...

Back downstairs: this last picture is the bar as seen from the front entrance hall...It was here (or hereabouts), in October 1968, that Les Brown saw the 'drummer wanted' poster that Brian May had left.

UPDATE 25/1/11 Les Brown: Concerning the Union, the interior looks familiar, except that the bar I remember was much smaller: more like the snug of an old-fashioned pub (although, for gigs, I think they also opened a bar along the back wall of the hall). In my first year it was men-only, and mainly frequented by loud rugby drinkers. Then a woman got elected president of the student union so they had to let her in, so they cancelled the rule. Tough cookie, she was too. Probably knew all about the offside rule.

Kensington Market, The Greyhound, Maria Assumpta

2011-01-18T20:43:00.005Z

Kensington Market on High Street Kensington is now a PC World. (Actually I went in there to buy a USB hub when I was in London last weekend). The striped brick effect in the building next door is clearly discernable in both photos. In the 2010 photo a scooter is about to disappear down a street that leads directly to Kensington Square, where The Greyhound pub is. (Freddie Mercury was a regular there together with others from the market like Alan Mair, Nigel Chappell and Sue Johnstone).

In the opposite corner of Kensington Square is the Maria Assumpta building: now Heslop College, once a teacher training college where the other members of Queen first met John Deacon and where Brian and John met their wives...The picture below is how it looks if approached from Kensington High Street. Maria Assumpta was an all women's college run by nuns.

Map of Kensington Market

2011-01-07T08:35:00.005Z

Alan Mair, who employed Freddie Mercury to work at his stall upstairs at Kensington Market has drawn this map of the market that gives a really good sense of how the different shop units related to each other. The market closed several years ago and there are remarkably few photos of it as it was in the early 70s (or indeed later). If anyone has any please let me know!!

Freddie worked at the market between 1969 and 1974, most of that time working for Alan, but for a while running his own stall with Roger Taylor. Their stall was about 10ft by 10ft.

Pat and Sue Johnstone who were originally Rogers friends from Truro, have explained to me that they first set up the Queen fan club whilst working in their own shop-unit which I believe was near Alan's...will need to clarify this. (nb its a bit misrepresentative to call them stalls because they were rooms with fairly solid plaster walls between them - so more like an old fashioned arcade or modern mall)

Godolphin Hall

2011-01-06T17:24:00.004Z

Thanks to Mary and her colleagues in Helston I've got hold of these nice old photos of the Godolphin Hall in the town centre: a fairly regular gig for The Reaction in '65-'68. The photos were taken in 1977, just before the interior was refurbished. I will ask if this is how it was when The Reaction played here, complete with octagonal stage. My guess is that it is.

This second photo is looking towards the main entrance doors which lead to steps leading downstairs to the front entrance. Looking at it from outside, the Godolphin Hall is a large, imposing granite civic building built, I would think in the 19th Century.

UPDATE 11/1/11 comment from John Snell of The Reaction suggesting the venue changed in the 70s: I remember the Godolphin Hall as having a stage that projected forward into the hall but it did have curtains too – maybe everything had been cleared for refurbishment when the pictures were taken. The stage must have been fairly big because I think I played there with the Bobby Knight band and we took up a lot of space! I remember the big doors at the end leading to the granite entrance steps. It was the biggest hall on the Pascoe/Brokenshire West Cornwall dance circuit that Reaction played in their early days after the 1965 Rock & Rhythm Championship

Dental School...the last piece of the jigsaw

2011-01-04T19:43:00.013Z

I feel like I'm nearing the end of the Queen in Cornwall project now. I really want to express gratitude for everyone who has given their time to it.

One issue that has only come to light in the last few weeks concerns the uncertainty around the year that Roger Taylor actually left Truro School. It is looking, increasingly, like he didn't go up to London until Autumn '68, and that therefore he must have joined Smile within -literally - days of leaving Cornwall. In fact the London Hospital Alumni office have said to me that he commenced studies on 30 September 1968, withdrawing on 30 December 1969.

Smile are known to have played with Pink Floyd on 26th October 1968 and, according to keyboardist Chris Smith, probably played together at least a week or two before this, suggesting, remarkably, that Roger found Brian May within a few days days of arriving in London.

UPDATE: 5/1/11

There is also a yearbook from Truro School that confirms that Roger had three years in the sixth form there and therefore must have left in 1968....

Denise Craddock

2010-12-22T21:55:00.002Z

Various Queen biographies have mixed up Sinclair Road and Sinclair Gardens...So thanks to Denise, here is some more accurate information. Denise lived with Pat McConnell in 69, Sinclair Road. It was the flat where Freddie Mercury's first band Ibex stayed, and it was a flat a few hundred yards from Sinclair Gardens where Roger Taylor lived with Les Brown.

Towards the end of 1969 (10/10/69 to be precise) Denise moved to 40, Ferry Road with Roger, Pat and one of Roger's dentist friends...

UPDATE 24/1/11 I spoke to Denise again last night. In fact it was 36 Sinclair Road - though she lived briefly with Freddie in 69, Cunningham Road before moving to Barnes. For most of the time she was in Barnes she shared a room with Pat, whilst Freddie and Roger also shared a room.

Keith Harding and Vaughan Hankins

2010-12-19T08:17:00.006Z

One of the first things I did when I started the 'Queen in Cornwall' research was to visit Park View in Truro where Roger Taylor lived as a boy. This weekend I returned and spoke to Keith Harding who moved there as a newly married man in 1962. He has lived with his wife in the same house ever since. During the 60's as their immediate neighbour, Keith got to know Roger's family. Later he went on to meet the members of Queen, when he helped them mend a puncture on their van which was parked in the street.

As an electrician Keith also used to help with the lighting at the City Hall in Truro (where Queen played their first concert) and he once provided Roger's first band, The Reaction, with a cable that provided power to their marquee on the cliffs in St Agnes...

Another close neighbour that I spoke to recently was Vaughan Hankins who is the same age as Roger Taylor and was a contemporary at Truro School. Those of you who know Truro may be surprised to see this building in High Cross opposite the main entrance to the Cathedral. The garage was owned by Vaughan's father who provided cars in which Vaughan drove Roger and friends around the county late in 1966...

Les Brown and Sinclair Gardens

2010-11-30T22:56:00.012Z

Les Brown is well known to Queen fans as the man who originally brought Brian May and Roger Taylor together when he saw an advert for a drummer at Imperial College where he was studying Maths...I spoke to him in France last night, and he had some great memories of the Smile years in particular, both in London and Cornwall. He remembers for example cooking breakfast for 17 in Truro when Smile and their entourage descended on him one weekend!

There are some unanswered questions re Sinclair Gardens though which I will hope to get to the bottom of over the next few days mainly regarding who exactly lived there and when...

This picture is taken from Google maps...The black door level with the blue lorry was the entrance to their flat... You also have to imagine a Smile sticker - about a foot across - in the window...

UPDATE 3/12/10 All the Queen biographies say that Roger moved in with Les in 1967 - but actually Les and Geoff Daniel who lived at Sinclair Gardens say they were in Halls during academic year 67/68. Its possible Roger was too - but will need to try and clarify this. Certainly Roger and Les lived there during the academic year 68/69 and Brian and Freddie visited and slept over regularly but never lived there - at least whilst Les was there.

The Kensington was a regular haunt for the band - especially before they moved to Barnes late in 1969. It was near Sinclair Gardens and it was where Freddie met Ibex for the first time...

UPDATE 12/12/10 There was a flat a few hundred yards away in Sinclair Road where Ibex stayed with the McConnell sisters. Roger also first met John Harris the Queen sound man via the McConnells in the same pub.

Penny North of the Jayfolk

2010-11-28T20:42:00.005Z

Jill Johnson sent a copy of this photo of The Jayfolk to me a few months ago...and I wondered if there was a story behind it. Penny who joined Jayfolk at the beginning of 1967 was able to explain that this was the Jayfolk's Austin van which was written off after an accident only a few weeks after the accident that their friends The Reaction had had in February. (At the time Jill and Sue of Jayfolk were going out with Roger Taylor and Mike Dudley of The Reaction). Penny stayed in touch with Roger Taylor, and got to know Smile and Freddie Mercury. She stayed with them in Barnes, and they stayed with her in Grampound. She also helped secure one of Queen's first concerts at Balls Park College, which followed a Smile gig the previous year.

Very interesting. Thanks Penny!

UPDATE 29/11/10 Looked in the West Briton1967 March to June and Oct to December. Couldn't see record of accident which occurred travelling back from a second round audition for Opportunity Knocks...the X-Factor of the day.

John 'Acker' Snell

2010-11-21T10:36:00.002Z

I was really glad to finally speak to John Snell on Friday. He was the sax player and one of the founders of Roger Taylor's group in Cornwall: The Reaction, and he was able to explain lots of things about the history of the band that were not clear.

So, for example, the band used a Bedford van like the one above that was owned by the butcher and concert promoter, Jack Pascoe. This was the van he remembers driving most often, though prior to this they used his parent's Ford Thames. He confirmed that, on their trips to Devon organised by the promoter Lionel Digby, they often slept in the van. Digby himself was a very colourful character, and the first time John met him, he was wearing a cowboy outfit complete with six-guns which he would intermittently fire at the boys!

John saw Smile not in Cornwall but in London at the Albert Hall, and he remembers staying with Roger in his flat in London the night after the gig. He also went on a trip with Smile out of Truro, but only got as far as Playing Place because they had a puncture...Below is a fairly well known picture of him sharing the front of the stage with Graham Hankins at a dance at Truro School. Thanks John.

Bert Biscoe and a piece of very important and very rare memorabilia

2010-11-18T20:52:00.007Z

Bert is well known in Truro as a musician, writer and City councillor. Although he saw quite a lot of them he is at least two years younger than Roger Taylor, Mike Dudley, Dick Halliwell and the other boys associated with The Reaction, and so has a different perspective on that time.

He remembers Roger and Dick at Truro School. During dinner Roger was head of the table he sat at, and Dick deputy head, and they had to supervise the younger kids as they ate their food. Bert also recalls sneaking into PJs after school where he listened to Smile rehearse on more than one occasion.

He also saw Queen play at Tregye and has an original ticket, which - and he probably does nt realise this yet - is probably the earliest printed ticket for a Queen concert in existence anywhere in the world. (I'll e-mail him in a sec to point this out!!!!). Here it is.

The gig he remembers most, though, is the Fantastics playing at the Rock and Rhythm Championship in 1968. This band was actually Roger Taylor's Cornish band The Reaction under another name, and - for one night only- they had a French go-go dancer called Joelle...(who may have also danced with one of the other groups).

It should be said that Bert has a great knowledge of Truro, and of the Cornish folk scene as it was in the 60s...For example he remembers seeing Eric Clapton play with Maddy Prior at the Folk Cottage in Mitchell. But that's a story for another day...Thanks Bert.

Cornishman ads

2010-11-08T19:31:00.002Z

These old ads from the sixties are so evocative...I've trawled through the West Briton and Cornish Guardian. That only leaves The Cornishman as the other paper that is probably worth looking at for gigs by The Reaction...

1966
22nd April     Penmare Hotel 'Cornwalls champion group'
20th May     Penmare Hotel 'Cornwalls champion group'

11th June    The Old Barn Club Eastern Green Penzance
16th July     Winter Gardens, Penzance
23rd September   The Old Barn Club Eastern Green Penzance
8th October   The Guildhall St Ives 'By popular demand the return of the Reaction Cornwall's Big Sound'
14th October    Penmare Hotel   'Beat Night is back with the Reaction'
4th November     Penmare Hotel 'Beat Night. The Reactions'
18th November     Penmare Hotel   Beat Beat Beat Night Reaction Reaction Reaction
11th December      Arlo Guthrie appears at the Tell-a-Tale folk club on Chapel Street, Penzance

1967

6th January The Penmare BEAT BEAT BEAT NIGHT

27th January The Penmare

28th January St Ives Guildhall With apologies to The Electric Prunes OAP 2/6

24th Feb The Penmare The Fabulous Reaction

10th March The Penmare The Fabulous Reaction

31st? March The Penmare Reaction

9th? April The Penmare

28th? April The Penmare

4th August Hayle Rugby Ground Beat Dance Barbeque Open-Air Floodlit Dancing

30th Sept Town Hall, St Just St Just Cricket Club

Rock and Rhythm Championship: Cornishman

2010-11-06T14:53:00.000Z

There are 3 or more local newspapers in Cornwall. The Cornishman covered the Rock and Rhythm Championship in 1966 differently to the others and included mention of a tour of Southern France...

Richard Halliwell

2010-11-06T14:39:00.001Z

Richard was not in The Reaction but was one of Roger Taylor's best friends at Truro School. Then known as Dick, he is one of only a few people who has seen all of Roger's groups play: Beat Unlimited, Reaction, Smile and Queen. He has some good stories: one of them being a trip to Exeter to see The Kinks and The Herd in 1968. He remembers, that day, both he and Roger wearing white sailor's trousers that they'd bought from an army and navy store in Falmouth. Thanks Richard.

Memorabilia

2010-11-02T23:04:00.002Z

This has been a good week or two for new pieces of memorabilia: all things not previously seen or reproduced to my knowledge. The best ones I'm keeping back for the exhibition and the book. One of them is a postcard to Pat and Sue Johnstone from Freddie Mercury written in 1974 which is completely brilliant. Another is the contract with Queen for the Tregye Festival in 1971, which Dave Stone from St Austell let me copy.

I thought this picture of Dave and a friend sitting in front of one of The Magicians Workshop 'magic murals' was interesting too. Magician's Workshop (Gerry Gill and John Lumley-Saville) did the sound and lighting for a couple of the Queen gigs in Cornwall. This 'mural' was 3 or 4 four times bigger than the frame of the photograph below and created using luminous paints that responded to light.

Gerry Gill and David Bowie in Cornwall

2010-10-29T19:47:00.006+01:00

David Bowie performed in Cornwall on two snowy nights during Christmas 1968. At the time he was still under the influence of 'Lindsay Kemp', with whom he had performed in the earlier part of the year, and he had also met Hermione Farthingale and was performing with her as a trio called 'Feathers'. In Falmouth his performance was a mime to music that was played by his DJ friend Gerry Gill, devised as a response to the invasion of Tibet by China. He'd done something similar with Marc Bolan and TRex at the Royal Festival Hall earlier in the year.

And this ad is the proof. Jill Johnsons group played as part of the same 3 night event, though apparently not on a night that Bowie was performing.

I will get a better copy of this ad - but thanks to Richard from kernowbeat I was able to speak to Gerry Gill this evening who was active as a DJ in Cornwall between about 1968 and 1972. During this time he saw Smile perform a few times and compered at concerts that Queen played in Cornwall too.

Interestingly it was Roger Brokenshire (who sang with Roger Taylors band in Cornwall) who organised for Gerry to move down to Cornwall from London, where previously he had known Bowie quite well. Whilst he played at Falmouth Bowie stayed with Gerry in his flat on Illogan Highway for a few days over Xmas before going back to London on the train. Interesting stuff! Thanks Gerry.

Neil Battersby...and at last I get to hear The Reaction!!!

2010-10-26T20:40:00.007+01:00

I finally caught up with Neil Battersby today in Redruth. It was very exciting because late in 1966 Neil made the only known recording of The Reaction playing live, and he played it to me today in his office in Redruth. It was made using a plastic microphone in the room next to the one the band were performing in (the kitchen in the annexe of the City Hall in Truro) so the quality is n't perfect, but it's good enough to make out lots of Mike Dudley's keyboard, bits of Acker Snell's saxophone (I think) and of course Roger Taylor's drumming and singing.

Regarding the drumming, and I 'm not an expert but I would say the band 'swings': they're playing a lot of soul numbers and all them have got a really good rhythmical 'feel'. But there is nt the same flamboyance: the rolls are simple quavers on the toms, not flams or paradiddles and its as if Roger, as the singer, is concentrating more on his singing, which actually is very impressive. It seems very dynamic and expressionful, with really soulful whoops and wails etc.

In fact it's a reminder that, had things worked out differently (maybe if there had been another drummer around who was keen to play with the Reaction) Roger might have concentrated on singing - and the history of Queen might have been very different...

Neil had some other interesting Truro School memorabilia, including a couple of 'Yearbooks' which were given to all the boys and listed all the pupils of the school (picture above). He also remembered gigs that I havent heard described before including on a boat on the Fal and in a clubhouse in Trevellas (?possibly Talk of the West: will need to check this with him).

Neil did most of The Reaction's driving in 1966, and hes found an image of a Thames Trader van that is almost identical to the one they had back then. This is the same one that crashed (badly) in 1967.

Thanks Neil.

UPDATE 27/10/10 Actually its just occurred to me that the 'Yearbook' (picture above) allows us to date the fancy dress party pictured on the back of the Queen 1 album because it has Les Brown's birth date. We know it was at Les' 21st birthday that the photos were taken, so the party would have been at the beginning of June 1971 - shortly before Queen set off on their tour of Cornwall...

UPDATE 15/11/10

Speaking to Neil again hes corrected me. In a lot of the biographies there are references to Thames Traders which were big heavy pickup lorries. Actually to be strictly correct the vehicle in question was called a Ford Thames...

Mr Lucifer

2010-10-21T17:58:00.007+01:00

There are members of a few bands who played at PJ's that would be nice to talk to. One such band is Mr Lucifer the only other band apart from Constable Zippo who we know shared the bill with Smile when they played in Cornwall in 1969. Someone mentioned that they might have a link to Cambridge but I did nt follow it up until I saw this ad:

which is one of a few that were placed in the Cornish Guardian in late 1969. Someone on We're All Neighbours (a Cambridge website) remembers Mr Lucifer as a 3 piece with drums, bass and keyboard and suggested I contact Tim Renwick, who suggested I contact Trevor Mannell, who in turn suggested I contact Tony Cousins who is someone who knew the band quite well. (In fact both these gentlemen also remember PJs and Trevor worked there as a doorman). He said the bassist was called Paddy and the drummer was a certain Willie Wilson...and they moved down from Cambridge and lived in Lomorick near Lanivet for a while...

I'm hoping to get to the bottom of this. Meanwhile have a look at this ad from The Cornish Guardian the same year...

UPDATE: 22/10/10 Bob from the Czar/Tuesday's Children website has a picture of Mr Lucifer...Both groups played in the Cambridge Free Festival at the beginning of June 1969, as did a group called 1984, which may have been Brian Mays former band.

Alan Mair

2010-10-20T20:44:00.005+01:00

Alan Mair is a musician himself, who in the sixties was in successful Scottish band The Beatstalkers, but in the 70s he also had several years working in Kensington Market alongside Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor. We spoke on the phone for more than an hour this evening.

Alan isn't aware of any photos of the market in the early 70's (though they must exist - so please contact me if someone reading this has one!) but there is an obscure but interesting link with this picture of David Bowie. Manchester Square was where Alan first started making clothes before he moved to the market. He used the offices of the Beatstalkers manager Ken Pitts, who also managed David Bowie. As a result he got to know Bowie, and recalls him calling round to the stall, and being fitted for a pair of boots by Freddie Mercury probably in about 1972.

Alan was really great to talk to and has a good memory of The Greyhound Pub, which was a regular meeting place, and Queen's early gig at the College of Estate Management which was also very near by.

Wadebridge Town Hall

2010-10-18T08:18:00.002+01:00

We know Queen played here in 1971, and that The Reaction and Smile probably played here too...

Geoff Hawkey

2010-10-17T21:41:00.003+01:00

I thought I'd found all the members of The Reaction (Roger Taylor's group in Cornwall) I was likely to find, then today out of the blue I was really excited to receive an e-mail from Geoff Hawkey who is the bassist that played on their tour of Devon in 1966.

What was interesting is that Roger 'Sandy' Brokenshire, who was The Reaction's singer at the time, was the person who had suggested he play with them. Geoff already knew Sandy, as he had been the bassist with Brokenshire's band 'Sandy and the Rockin' Rockardo's' (above)) when Brokenshire was working up in Devon with Lionel Digby .

Geoff remembers meeting The Reaction, rehearsing with them in The Old Cop Shop in Torquay, before then playing in Barnstable, Wadebridge, South Brent and Bude...

Truro School 1965

2010-10-14T20:34:00.009+01:00

Many will remember headmaster Derek Burrell (the man in the photo who doesnt have a boy sitting in front of him)...

In the third row down from the top are two smaller boys with fringes standing wedged together. The slighter of the two is Roger Taylor, the other is his best friend Dave Dowding. Dave is next to the boy with the glasses. If you follow the row along Mike Dudley, the third member of Beat Unlimited, is the tall lad with the massive quiff second from the left.

As far as I know this is the first time a school photo of Roger Taylor has been published. Remember: you saw it here first!

Thanks to Jo, the Truro School archivist who has this and a photo of Mike Dudley of The Reaction with the other prefects. Amazingly she also has copies of the school magazine going back to the 1800s.

Perceval (Percival) Institute, St Minver

2010-10-13T19:57:00.008+01:00

Adverts can be exciting - and this one is particularly so. We know that Smile, the band that preceded Queen, played in some quite obscure venues during 1969 when they came to Cornwall, but there has never been much evidence. Until now.

I was alerted to this gig by members of Constable Zippos Electric Commode Band, Nigel Chappell and Wynn Jones who remember supporting Smile at St Somewhere in North Cornwall.

Note that the advert mentions Smile's latest record (actually their only record (!)). Which is a really nice detail, though sadly 'Earth' was never released in the UK...

So how obscure is this venue? Well this is what it looks like now. It's in the middle of a very rural and remote part of North Cornwall, the best part of an hour's drive from Truro...but the organiser had laid on buses so it was probably well attended...I have a feeling in fact that the organiser is someone that booked The Reaction in 1968 because there were a few gigs they played where the same little Lion motif was used in the ad...

UPDATE 14/10/10 Talking to Nigel and finding the advert inspired me to drive up to St Minver today. It is, as I thought, a very small picturesque village of less than 20 houses, nearly an hour's drive from Truro down single track B roads etc. There is a pub and a post office and Maureen, who works there, keeps the key.

As you can see inside it really is a 'classic' village hall. Built in the 1890s it has lovely stonework and neo-gothic stylings.This photo is looking towards the end that the stage would have been when Roger Taylor, Brian May and Freddie Mercury were here. In fact Maureen said that it's always had a temporary stage. There is an accounts book for the Institute that goes back to the 40s. On the day that Smile played here the accounts just say 'Dance'. As you can see the organiser (who could have been celebrity chef Rick Stein as he was involved with promoting dances from his base in Padstow) paid £4 - 10/- for the hire.

PJs frequency table

2010-10-10T22:49:00.002+01:00

Those of you who have been following the blog will recall that I made a note of all the bands to play at PJs club in Truro more than once a couple of months ago. Queen only played there once so they're not on the list, but Smile played there 14 times.

I think this is what statisticians call a frequency table:

Smile 14
Onyx 7
Mr Lucifer 7
Gin House 4
Good Times 3 (became Safron)
Constable Zippo 3
Bobby Knight's Soul Band 3
Mosaic 3
Marvellous Kid 3
Vigilantes 2 (became Coconut Grove who played once)
Safron 2
Sky 2

I think theres a good chance that at least one of these bands supported Smile at venues in Cornwall other than PJs...we know that Constable Zippos did.

Two historic buildings...

2010-10-10T19:33:00.003+01:00

This bedding shop in Truro was the Sunday School for St Mary's Church before the Cathedral was built. In the sixties it was still used as a church hall. It was somewhere that The Reaction played early in their history, and in fact the band was formed from the meeting of two Truro School boys and two Truro Tech boys in the youth club there. Roger Taylor also recorded with Jill Johnson's group the Jays in this building.

Immediately opposite (in the Guild of Ten building (below)) was The Riverside Cafe which was the favourite haunt of The Reaction and The Jays when they weren't playing. If anyone has any photos of these buildings as they were in the 50s or 60s please get in touch queenincornwall@gmail.com

St Something

2010-10-08T17:02:00.005+01:00

St Something...makes a nice title for a blog entry. Its how Nigel Chappell described the location of the village hall in West Cornwall where his band Constable Zippos supported Smile with Freddie Mercury in about 1969. I spoke to Nigel last night and he was very clear about the things he could and couldn't remember. And he said it was in St Ives direction but it was nt St Ives - it was a small village with a traditional village Hall. He's going to consult his mothers diary because he thinks the detail may be in there...

Nigel knew Queen well in London, because after moving there in the 70s he shared a flat with Pat and Sue of the fan club, and worked as the band's accountant.

So regarding previously undocumented and unadvertised Smile gigs we now have:
St Georges Hall, Truro (Pete Gill-Carey)
Wadebridge ?Town Hall (Pete Edmonds)
Falmouth Art School (Pete Edmonds)
Portreath? Hotel (Graham Hankins)
Beach Parties (Tim Staffell)
Fowey Carnival/Regatta (Tim Staffell)
St Ives (Tim Staffell) ?most likely the Guildhall
And St Somewhere in West Cornwall ?St Just, ?St Erth, ?St Buryan (Nigel Chappell)

Actually the reason why St Ives Guildhall is the most likely place that Smile would have played is because it was a venue also used a lot by The Reaction. Here are some pictures:

The foyer is rather grand. You have to imagine: its the mid to late sixties and Barbara Hepworth and the other St Ives artists are, for the most part, still working in the town. Meanwhile a bunch of Roger Taylor's sixth form friends from Truro School are in the foyer of the Guildhall selling tickets to holiday makers and locals to see his heavy rock band The Reaction...

I'd have gone if I'd been there...

Kernow Beat

2010-10-06T20:11:00.001+01:00

The Kernow Beat website has become a truly amazing resource now and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in understanding the music of the 60's and how it affected the unique rural county of Cornwall.
http://www.kernowbeat.co.uk/

Richard the webmaster has recently posted some images of 'The Individuals' who were rivals, really, to Roger Taylor's band The Reaction, and what is nice about the photos is that they really convey a sense of what the old City Hall stage in Truro was like in the 60s. The Reaction played on that stage several times, as in fact did Queen (Queen played there three times I think).

Incidentally, Mike Grose, Queen's first bassist is in the foreground of the lower picture.

Pete and Wendy Edmonds

2010-10-06T20:02:00.002+01:00

I think this was the first biography of Queen. It came out in '76. Dont know if the book's any good, but I've posted the cover here because it features a classic Mick Rock photo of Freddies 'Mercury Suit', as used in the Bohemian Rhapsody video.

Last night I spoke to Pete Edmonds who has been involved with Queen's live concerts since their earliest incarnation as Smile in 1968. Before that he knew Brian and Tim at Hampton Grammar School. He had some great recollections of that period, and mentioned a couple of Smile gigs in Cornwall that have n't been recorded elsewhere. His wife, Wendy, who also visited Cornwall with Smile and Queen and described the arduous journey down the A303 to me, not only designed but actually made the Mercury Suits that Freddie used in the mid-seventies.

Fantastic. (Literally! The stuff of fantasy...)

Is this the Real Life? Mark Blake on his new book

2010-10-06T17:25:00.004+01:00

Does your biography attempt to cover the lives of all four members of Queen right up to present day or does it focus on a particular phase in their careers?

It focuses on all four, from their earliest days up until the present day. But the emphasis is on their time in Queen – the glory years, if you like – and in the years immediately preceding Queen, when they were all playing in school and college groups. Understanding what all four were like as individuals early on helps make sense of what they later became in Queen.

Is it an authorised biography or not? What are the differences between authorised and unauthorised biographies and are there issues here that are unique to Queen?

It is unauthorised, but several interviewees told me that they contacted Brian May and Roger Taylor before agreeing to speak to me. So they were made aware of the book quite early on. I doubt that they took much notice, though. The difference between an ‘unauthorised’ and ‘authorised’ biography is that the band are not involved in the former, but would be in the latter.

Many official music biographies are heavily edited and rather bland, because the band have an image to maintain.

Is it true that Queen have always had a difficult relationship with the music press? Can you try and describe this relationship and also explain it, given that you have a good knowledge of both?

Yes, I think they had a very difficult relationship, especially early on. Researching the book, it was easy to see why both parties took against each other. Queen were very much a creature of the 1970s, not the 1960s. They were openly ambitious, in an era when many of their contemporaries pretended not to be; they were smart, well-educated and didn’t try and hide it, and they admitted early on that they wanted to be rich and successful. You can see why this rankled with critics, when there was still a hangover – of ideas and values - from the late 60s.

There’s a telling quote from Brian May, in which he talks about going to see the film of the Woodstock festival, and realising that, The Who and Hendrix aside, he can’t relate to a lot of the bands – “the stoned shuffling” and so on. I think that some of the criticism Queen received from the music press was valid. Unfortunately, it seems to have done some irreversible damage. I enjoyed interviewing Brian May and Roger Taylor, but it’s hard, if not impossible, to convince them of your good intentions.

I’m part of a generation of – not very young – music critics, who grew up on Queen’s music, and don’t share the same hang-ups as some of our predecessors. Then again, those men have had 20 years now of being asked the same questions over and over again about the death of Freddie Mercury and how many “Galileos” there are in Bohemian Rhapsody. I imagine they must be sick to death of it by now.

The fact that Roger Taylor grew up in Cornwall is quite well known: but the extent that he played here as a teenager and later as a member of both Smile and Queen is not really appreciated...

Cornwall figures hugely in Roger Taylor’s story, but also in the story of Queen and the pre-Queen band Smile. From the interviews I conducted, it seems that it was a home from home for both groups, and a place for the bands to practice their act, away from prying eyes in London.

There was also a big social aspect to Smile and Queen’s mini-tours of Cornwall. Smile used to bring an entourage of friends, roadies and general hangers-on with them from Imperial College (where Brian May was studying) and Ealing Art School, which is where Smile’s bassist Tim Staffell was a student. Among those friends was Fred Bulsara (later Freddie Mercury). One of my interviewees, Richard Thompson (who played drums in bands with both May and Mercury) remembers being with Smile in Cornwall, on the night of the first moon landings, in 1969. He watched it on Roger Taylor’s mother’s TV in Truro…

Queen also played their first concert in the City Hall in Truro on June 27th, 1970. Though the gig was advertised as a Smile gig, it was the first time that Freddie sang with them, which is why the band have always said it was their first concert as Queen (see advert in West Briton below).

I understand you were able to speak to John Anthony who engineered Queen's first album. He hasn't contributed to biographies before. Were there other people who were able to bring something new?

John Anthony agreed to an interview after several months of gentle persuasion (ie: nagging). John is a great raconteur and full of insights. He produced some tracks for Smile (in fact he got into a fight during a Smile gig in Cornwall, and claimed to have fought off angry locals with the clawfoot base of a microphone stand), before co-producing Queen’s first album. John was excellent on that transitional period where Smile gradually turned into Queen, and he has some great anecdotes from those early Queen tours that illuminate just how unusual they were as a band, and how unique Freddie Mercury was as a frontman.

I managed to track down other people who haven’t given interviews before. These include Freddie Mercury’s first friends in England (who took him to Eel Pie Island to see Rod Stewart, and who helped design posters when he tried to put a band together); Doug Bogie (aka Doug X) the teenage bass guitarist who was fired by Queen after just two gigs; Chris Smith, who briefly played keyboards in Smile and was one of Freddie Mercury’s first songwriting partners, and a former tea-boy/assistant tape op at Wessex Studios (now a big name in radio) who witnessed a bizarre altercation between Freddie Mercury and Brian May over a tray of almond slices.

Queen were supposedly recording 'We are the Champions' in that same studio in Highbury at the same time as the Sex Pistols recorded 'Never mind the Bollocks'. Is this right?

Both bands were using Wessex Studios in North London at the same time. Brian May and Roger Taylor discussed the meeting in an interview for Mojo magazine in 2008. They couldn’t remember the exact details. But the most popular story is that Sid Vicious is supposed to have asked Freddie Mercury if he was still “bringing ballet to the masses” (in reference to a quote Mercury had given to an NME interviewer), to which Mercury replied, “We’re trying our best, Mr Ferocious, dear.”

I’d like to think it happened. Queen’s roadie Peter Hince, who later became the head of their road crew, also recalls the meeting, and says that the Pistols and Queen had been in the same studio a year before that, when Queen were making the A Day At The Races album.

At around the same time Queen gained a reputation for holding the most extravagant parties. Was this just hype or did they really happen? I say this because people like Brian and John particularly seem reserved and intellectual and not the sort to really enjoy that kind of thing...

Those extravagant parties really did happen, but a little mythology has crept in over the years. The most notorious Queen party was in New Orleans in 1978. This is the party in which there were supposedly dwarves carrying trays of cocaine on their heads. Unfortunately, I’ve been told by several reliable sources that there were no dwarves with cocaine… The former head of EMI Records Bob Mercer (who is sadly no longer with us) shared some wonderful anecdotes about that night. I’m sure Brian May and John Deacon thoroughly enjoyed themselves, as well. It’s just that Freddie Mercury and Roger Taylor were the more visible party animals. I was told about lesbian sex shows in Paris and a party in a brothel in Germany in which all the working girls were pre-paid. I have no idea who did what and with whom, but I was assured “that only the single members of the touring party attended”.

Overall how do you explain the band's success?

I think it’s simply down to the music, and the fact that they had a fantastic frontman who was great at selling that music.

Is this the Real Life? The Untold Story of Queen is available from October 2010. This interview was originally published on http://www.artcornwall.org/

The Jayfolk make the frontpage!

2010-10-02T18:46:00.002+01:00

Noticed this article today when I was in the museum. The Jayfolk - previously known as The Jays - were close friends with Roger Taylors cornish band The Reaction. They appeared on regional television - and - as I discovered today also managed to make the front page of the West Briton on March 9th 1967.

Jim Jenkins and the missing advert

2010-09-22T07:04:00.001+01:00

Spoke for ages on the phone to Jim Jenkins this evening. Jim wrote the official Queen biography with Jacky Gunn published in 1992. Jim was one of Queen's first fans and got to know the band well over a long period of time. He was given a lot of memorabilia by the four members of Queen, and for example, was given a copy of the above ad from the West Briton 1971 by John Deacon. Its one that I'd missed first time round. Easily done...Queen's name is written in such minute lettering!

John also kept a diary for a number of years, I believe, in which there are some details of the early gigs, including the gigs in Cornwall in 1971. This was source material used by Jim in the book and passed on later to others, like Martin from queenconcerts.com. Interestingly, talking of memorabilia: John also, apparently, has recordings of Queen made by the late John Harris, their soundman, going back to their first concert in the City Hall in Truro, and possibly before.

Beat Unlimited revisited

2010-09-15T19:46:00.005+01:00

Beat Unlimited was Roger Taylor's first band.

Tonight I met up with Jenny Doble who lives in St Agnes. She has a photograph of Beat Unlimited that she would have been given, probably by Mike Dudley, in 1963/64. Jenny kindly let me copy it, but what is interesting is the fact that the three boys signed the back...

Jenny grew up in St Agnes and knew Mike from about the age of 7. She thinks she probably met Roger Taylor for the first time either at a Beat Unlimited gig or - wait for it - at ballroom dancing classes in Truro! She remembers Roger as being one of the smaller boys at the classes which meant that dancing with him was rather clumsy and awkward as she was much taller...

She is still in touch with the other member of Beat Unlimited: David Dowding and his wife.
Thanks Jenny...

Queen in Cornwall 1971

2010-09-12T15:31:00.000+01:00

I've still to find any photos that were taken of Queen on their tour of Cornwall in 1971....but for a long time I've been wondering if this picture of Freddie on the back of their first album was taken in the creek in Devoran where they stayed that Summer...

Truro School Magazine: Terraces 1985

2010-09-10T08:26:00.002+01:00

This short biography was written for the Truro School Magazine by a pupil. The prose is very sixth form and its not very accurate, but it's interesting because it seems to have been based on teachers recollections.

Roger Taylor

Roger Taylor is the drummer in the super-mega-ultra etc. group Queen. His greater claim to fame, however, is that he is a Truro School old boy.

Born Roger Meddows Taylor on the 26th of July 1949 in West Norfolk, he first came to Truro when his parents moved to Falmouth Road in 1957. In fact, Mrs Carruthers’ son does Roger’s mother’s hair. He spent one year at the Cathedral School, and was a member of their choir. At the age of eleven, in 1960 he won a place at Truro School under the direct grant scheme. Roger Taylor initially took up the guitar, but eventually ended up playing the drums. This was to become an all-absorbing occupation, and one in which it was recognised at the early age of sixteen or seventeen that he had great talent.

In 1966, he formed a group called ‘Reaction’, with Mike Dudley as guitarist. Other members included Steve Passmore and P. Stethridge. This was probably the best group Truro School ever had. Consequently Roger Taylor was very popular and was in with the ‘in crowd’ as they would say in those days. Mr N.J. Baker was in the same year as Roger. He remembers a birthday party held behind St Mary-Clements with Reaction playing. Roger was a ‘magician’ on the drums. The group used to play and rehearse in the old gym.

Once, whilst going between gigs, in the Volkswagen van, they had a serious accident. One member of the group was seriously injured, but Roger was unharmed.

In those days, the school had streams A, B, C; Roger was in the B stream and tended towards the sciences. Roger is remembered as a shallow, pale-faced, wide-eyed, effeminate-looking person by the teachers who knew him. Mr Weeks was his form teacher in the third year, Mr Taylor in the fifth and lower sixth. He was taught Chemistry by Mr Edwards and Biology by Mr Jackson. One thing they all remember was that his drumming took priority over his work. He was quite intelligent, and with more work he would have done much better but even so he obtained seven ‘O’ levels. Roger listed amongst his hobbies drumming and driving. The fascination with the latter led to his writing, ‘I’m in love with my car’, which reached number one in the charts in November ’75.

Everyone expected Roger to leave after his 6th year, but he came back to the upper sixth took Biology, Chemistry and Physics. He then started a dentistry course – on the advice of Mr Taylor – at the London Hospital Medical College in Whitechapel but he gave up the course after one year. Eager to continue his drumming, he answered an ad, and started the group ‘Smile’ with Brian May and Tim Staffell. Later Staffell quit and Taylor set up an old clothes stall at Kensington market with a certain F. Mercury. During this time, Mr Baker happened to see him at his Kensington stall, and they talked for some time. Mr Baker does not remember seeing a dark-haired, flamboyant Persian with him.

In ’69 Roger took up a degree course in Biology at the North London Polytechnic, and eventually got his degree. Mercury joined ‘Smile’, and Deacon was accepted after an audition.

In July ’71 they came down to Truro for two months and played the local gig circuit. The rest is history.

I am presently trying to contact Roger Taylor. Who knows, I might persuade him to do a concert in the sports hall with three of his mates!

The last word goes to Mr Taylor who advised him to take up dentistry as there probably wouldn’t be much money in drumming.

James Daniel.

The Saints skiffle group

2010-09-09T20:52:00.008+01:00

Thanks to John Northey for these images. John plays now in a band with Roger Brokenshire. Here he is in the late fifties playing with the Saints. The Saints, which included the Treloar brothers Leon and Max, have the distinction of being the band who won the skiffle competition in 1958 in Truro City Hall. Other members on stage are Finton Lawley and Ginger Pascoe. They are all about 16 in this picture which was taken around the same time. John still has the original guitar. He explained that whilst you couldn't buy electric guitars in Cornwall in the late 50's you could get a pick-up and fit it to an acoustic guitar, which is exactly what all the skiffle groups did.

He also has two nice images of the stage at the Flamingo Ballroom. In the first he is playing with a band called The Rebels, with his mother playing the piano, Jack Pascoe on the far left and Joy Simpson's son playing drums. He said that the stage went back a long way and in the picture they are infront of the curtain. In the second image, sporting a spectacular quiff, he is on stage with his cousin, who it has to be said looks not unlike a Cornish Marilyn Monroe. Lastly an image of the Flamingo being demolished in 1980. There are very few pictures of The Flamingo Ballroom and if anyone reading this blog has any others please contact me!

Reaction gigs in the Cornish Guardian

2010-09-03T20:00:00.012+01:00

The Reaction had a manager/booking agent in Bodmin who would have been well placed to find them gigs in East and North Cornwall so I have put my anorak back on and started going through adverts in The Cornish Guardian (which has a different circulation to the main Truro-based paper, The West Briton) expecting to find quite a few concerts not already listed in the other papers...so here goes...

1965 only two:
July 17th Werrington Park near Launceston 'Something for everyone at the North Cornwall Conservatives Beat and Barbeque'
December 24th St Brannocks Hotel, Newquay (picture above) 'Big Beat Dance 8 to 11.55'

1966
January 21st St Brannock's Hotel, Newquay 'Big Beat Dance Every Friday'
February 25th St Brannocks Hotel, Newquay 'Big Beat Dance Every Friday'
July 29th St Breward 'Camelford Area Conservatives Beat Barbeque Michael Hasseltine MP for Tavistock will speak at 8.30PM' (This is actually Michael Heseltine!)
August 21st Blue Lagoon Newquay Sunday Swinging Club Steve Brett and the Mavericks supported by The Reaction'
September 17th Blue Lagoon Newquay 'THE CREATION supported by THE RE-ACTION'
October 15th Blue Lagoon Newquay 'The Athony James Scene TV and recording stars supported by THE REACTION'
November 5th Wadebridge Town Hall 'Rock, Jive, Twist to the REACTIONS (1st time in Wadebridge)'
November 12th Blue Lagoon Newquay 'Britains top surfing sound THE FENMEN supported by THE RE-ACTION
December 31st Blue Lagoon Newquay 'Screaming Lord Ceasar Sutch supported by THE REACTION and THE OTHER FIVE'

1967
Jan 20th Harlyn Bay Club 'move in on the '67 scene Dancing to the Reaction'
Feb 11th Dobwalls Memorial Hall 'Big Big Beat' band did not get to gig because of road accident
Feb 25th: Wadebridge Town Hall 'Wadebridge Camels RFC Dance to the Reaction'
April 1st: Public Rooms, Bodmin 'Bodmin Town FC Dancing to the Reaction'
April 15th Liskeard Public Hall 'Five Star Big Beat The Reactions they're great'
May 13th Dobwalls Memorial Hall 'Big Big Beat' rebooked after first gig cancelled?
June 3rd: Public Rooms, Bodmin 'Bodmin Town FC Dancing to the Reaction'
July 14th Port Isaac Social Hall 'Big Beat Dance to the REACTION'
August 11th St Merryn Village Hall 'Warning! If you don't want to be with the crowd avoid the crowds going to'
September 1st St Merryn Village Hall 'Stop! For a good dance this FRIDAY'
September 2nd Public Rooms, Bodmin 'Bodmin Town FC Dancing to the Reaction'
September 22nd St Merryn Village Hall 'Stop! For a good dance this FRIDAY'
November 18th Ladock Hall 'Probus 'Y.F.C. Romp Round to the R-E-A-C-T-I-O-N-S'

1968
1st January Bodmin Public Rooms 'Bodmin Town FC Dancing to The Reaction'
23rd March Bodmin Public Rooms 'Bodmin District League presents Dancing to the Reaction Group'
8th June Bodmin Duke of Cornwall Light Infantry 'Come and Dance to 'The Reactions' supported by The Ginhouse...No Jeans or Leatherjackets'
6th July Mevagissey Feast Week 'Beat Dance to the Fantastic Reaction - watch for handouts'
31st July: Mevagissey Recreation Ground 'The Reaction, light show, records London Folk Group'
6th September: St Merryn Village Hall 'THE FANTASTIC REACTION' Free Buses. SLIM will be in attendance'
14th September: Bodmin Public Rooms 'Bodmin Town Football Club Dance to the 'Fantastic''

nb some of the ads have R.O.A.R. on them meaning right of admission reserved....

The September gigs are significant because one of them could be the last ever gig by The Reaction...Its certainly the case that during that Summer they are frequently listed as The Fantastic Reaction and so it seems likely that the gig on the 14th intentionally leaves out their name: and assumes their audience knows that its them.

Smile memorabilia and gigs

2010-08-31T21:53:00.004+01:00

Thankyou to Martin from QueenConcerts.com for photographing this excellent Smile memorabilia from his personal collection. The poster above was designed and printed by Freddie Mercury, whilst the Smile logo below is one that was made for Roger Taylors drum by Tim Staffell. Wonderful stuff.

Last night I managed to speak to Peter Gill-Carey who was a contemporary and close friend of The Reaction, and the person who was most badly injured in the accident on Goss Moor. He said lots of very interesting things, but one of them was that he clearly remembers a gig by Smile at a Church Hall in Truro. This is significant because it is an example of yet another Smile gig in Cornwall that has not been previously documented.

Graphite and Queen at Tregye

2010-08-23T21:02:00.007+01:00

Last night I spoke with David Hook, guitarist and founder of Graphite who played at Tregye in 1971 with Queen. Thanks David if you're reading this now. Here was part of his recollection of the day:

'I don't really remember much about Queen's set. Which is extraodinary given how successful they later came, and how amazing they were live later. But then they seemed rather ordinary. I remember thinking they were just another heavy rock band and there were loads of them around then. But I do remember them off stage.

The dressing room was a great big room in the hotel - one of the big lounges - and all the bands shared it. I'd met Arthur Brown and Hawkwind before as I was entertainments secretary at Reading (I'd also worked as a booker at Clearwater Productions and Hawkwind and Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come were 2 of our acts), and actually he had been at Reading as an undergraduate so we had lots in common. Anyway Arthur was the same off stage as he was on it. Larger than life. And he would do these amazing singing exercises. Scales and so on.

But in the dressing room Queen too had a real presence, a real aura. They weren't casual like the rest of us hippies. They seemed more arty. And they had hangers on, which perhaps helped give them aura too. I can't remember what they were wearing but they reminded me a bit of Roxy Music, who I met later. I remember thinking when I saw Roxy that this was the end of the hippy era'.

Reaction gigs

2010-08-23T20:20:00.012+01:00

In '65 and '66 Roger Taylor's band The Reaction relied on others to promote their gigs, but in '67 and '68 as they became more experienced and confident they realised it was better - and certainly more lucrative - to do their own promotional work.

Rick Penrose, their bassist, has explained that one venue they used repeatedly for this purpose was Perranporth Memorial Hall. Perranporth is not far from Truro, and because of its enormous beach, gets busy in the Summer with holidaymakers.

The Memorial Hall was built in 1957 and is unchanged since it was first built: though the stage now has a little extension for a piano to sit on. It is still used today by the Perranporth Players, who in the photos below can be seen putting the chairs out for their evening performance.

UPDATE 31/8/10 Tonight I spoke to Pete Baron who was the drummer in the Reaction before Roger Taylor. Pete played guitar in many of the folk clubs in Cornwall in the mid-sixties, inspired largely by Lonnie Donnegan (not Bob Dylan as I had imagined!). He was actually a multi-intrumentalist and played with the Reaction on more than one occasion as bassist. He recalls Roger Taylor swapping his 'rather fine' leather jacket for his first Zildjan cymbal one night at the Perranporth Memorial Hall.

More on skiffle

2010-08-22T14:06:00.005+01:00

There were lots of skiffle bands in Cornwall in the late 50s. Roger Taylor's was called the Bubbling Over Boys. I cant think they looked as cute as the Blue Aces though...

Here they are, I think in St Austell, after winning a competition there. The T-shirts were matching yellow with a blue 'A' stitched into them. Thanks to Rick Penrose who's the kid with the guitar in the pic.

Theres a v interesting blog on the early days of British Rock n Roll.

http://2iscoffeebar5670.blogspot.com/

What's nice about this blog is that its a reminder of how important place and places are to understanding how cultural ideas spread. In this case it seems a coffee shop in Soho became the meeting place of all the most important early players in British pop music (Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard etc etc).

Skiffle 1958

2010-08-20T20:35:00.008+01:00

Skiffle looks like it was a really big deal for a couple of years - in Cornwall as it was elsewhere in the country - and there were skiffle contests all over the county.

Not sure why they became so popular and what it was about skiffle that caught people's imagination, but it was something to do with the post-war love affair with all things American: most skiffle, as I understand it, was low-tech DIY jazz and blues.

Some members of The Reaction were in skiffle bands and would have taken part in contests in the City Hall that in the sixties were succeeded by the Rock and Rhythm Championships...

This one was in 1958 in July...It was successful enough to be a sell-out and warrant a rerun in October...that was also a sell-out.

For the record the winners were The Saints, second the Joy Boys and third The Imperials. The other highest ranking groups were Hi Jax, Live Jives, Deadbeats and Vikings. The last group featured a certain Jack Penrose who worked with Roger Brokenshire.

Roger Taylor, Mike Dudley and Dave Dowding shared the same classroom...

2010-08-19T22:52:00.003+01:00

As someone who knows Truro School pretty well I was interested to hear that Roger Taylor, Mike Dudley and Dave Dowding of 'Cousin Jacks' (see July 20th post) shared a classroom on the quadrangle opposite what is now the 6th form centre. This is what it looks like now:

The classroom in question is in beige building on the ground floor to the left...I believe...

Redevelopment of Truro

2010-08-17T21:34:00.006+01:00

As I hoped Bob Acton's second book on Truro has saved me from having to read lots and lots of microfilmed local papers. It gives some important clues as to the redevelopment of Truro in the sixties. One of the things it says is that the greengrocers on Pydar Street that is now Easybet (just visible in top picture) was called GW Slater's. In the photo 'ater's is just visible. Connie Bawden said that it was still there when PJs was there. Also it looks very much as if this photo is from the 50s or even earlier (unlike the museum catalogue where it is dated 1968 I think). In May 1962 the junction of Moresk and Pydar was widened. It was one of the first bits of redevelopment in the area (see entry below) and I think there is the implication that the white building and the buildings on the right could have been 'razed' then - which is why Pete and Mike dont recognise the PJs building in the picture.

Also

1953 City Hall was leased as a cinema in the early 50s. in '53 the lease came to an end.

1957 New science block opens at Truro School

1958 (july) The Saints beat 14 other groups in a skiffle contest at the City Hall. There is another contest in October.

1959 (feb) Another skiffle contest won by the Imperials.

1960 (sept) The Cathedral School moves from the Cathedral Close to Copeland Court in Kenwyn . This would be just after Roger Taylor had left to go to Truro School.

1962 (april) City Council Redevelopment Committee agree plan to redevelop Pydar Street area of Truro

1962 (may) Houses at the junction of Pydar Street and Moresk Road are demolished to 'make way for a wider sweep in the road'

1963 West of England Properties are awarded contract for redevelopment. Plans include car park and supermarket.

1966 New ring road (A39) is under construction.

1966 (november) Bulldozers are at work demolishing the cottages of Boscawen Row as the Pydar Street development gets underway.

1967 (november) Following a long period of inactivity by West of England Properties, the contract is ?renegotiated and given to Hearts of Oak. The building work is to be undertaken by Dudley Coles.

1968 (january) Work is under way on the inner circuit road. Most of Albion Place is being demolished along with buildings on the north side of St Clement street.

1968 (november) The developers announce that the scheme faces indefinite delay unless County Council grants compulsory purchase orders for several properties.

1969 (june) construction of the big roundabout at Trafalgar is underway (previously Trafalgar Square)

1970 (march) The last demolition work on St Clement Street is taking place as the inner circuit nears completion.

1970 (june) Tregolls Road dual carriage way is now ready for use

1971 (july) Developers proposals for multistorey carpark and new post office are agreed

1972 (january) Work starts on High Cross multistorey carpark

1974 (october) David Penhaligon is elected as MP

1976 (july) Tescos application to build Cornwalls biggest supermarket is approved.

Hayle Rugby Club

2010-08-15T22:20:00.003+01:00

Visited Hayle RFC today. The clubhouse was built in 1969 so was pretty brand spanking new in 1971 when Queen played there twice. And it is still pretty much the same now. This is what it looks like inside. You'll have to imagine the view of the pitch from the big windows inside. Note the stage at the far end, which is quite a good size for a fourpiece rock band except there is nt much room to stand. Brian May would have had to stoop a little I'd have thought!

Queen in 1970 and 1971

2010-08-12T19:19:00.009+01:00

These are the gigs that have corresponding adverts in the West Briton:

1970
June 27th City Hall, Truro 'Smile' with disco Jeff Spence DJ lights. Queens first gig.
July 25th PJ's Truro

1971
July 17th The Garden, Penzance
July 19th Hayle Rugby Club 'publicising their new LP soon for release'
July 29th The Garden, Penzance 'Warm Dust with Queen'
July 31st Truro City Hall 'Return to Truro of fantastic London band formerly known as 'Smile''
August 9th Driftwood Spars 'The Legendary Drummer of Cornwall'
August 9th Hayle Rugby Club ?? there is a very small advert that says 'Beats with Queen' but they cant have played both could they?
August 12th Tregye Hotel, Carnon Downs, Truro 'Special progressive attraction from London'
August 17th City Hall, Truro 'The Third Eye presents in concert East of Eden, Queen and Magicians Workshop sound and light show'
August 21st Tregye Festival...

No adverts found for Wadebridge Young Farmer's, Culdrose, or Tregye (inside hotel)...but Queen Concerts lists Wadebridge 24/7/71, Hayle Rugby Club for 2/8/71 (not 9/8 like the advert...), Tregye (inside hotel) 12/8/71, and Culdrose 14/8/71...

Update 22/9/10: Advert for Tregye (inside hotel) now found. See posting 22/9/10 above. According to John Deacons diary the date on the 17th July was played with Caravan...

PJs pictures...if you ever visited PJs in Truro is this how you remember it?

2010-08-12T11:23:00.019+01:00

Here are some marvelous pictures of Marvelous Kid at PJs...note the low stage that is to one side of the hall (something that a few people have remarked upon from memory) which was to leave space for people to get to the loos which were behind the ribbons...NB these images were taken using a flash: actually it would have been much darker than this, though there may have been primitive 'psychedelic' lighting that the flash has bleached out.

And some quick e-mail notes on Marvelous Kid by Tony Coxon the guitarist, who also remembers Mr Lucifer. If youre reading this thanks a lot Tony!!

MK started out as me, Paul Moon & Steve Betts (after the demise of Joseph when I came back from London with Mike). Later we were joined by Spike Hooper. We started writing our own music, won a West Country competition run by Laney. We won a new PA system and a recording test at Decca which came to nothing. in 1971 we drove up to Glastonbury and played - the 1st year it was called Glastonbury Fayre - We split up for a year when Steve went to London to sing for a band called Granny. We eventually decided to take the band to London and spent a few months writing & rehearsing material at a cottage in Lostwithiel with a new bass player from Exeter, and an Irish sax player. Got to London,changed the sax player, spent 2-3 years playing pubs, clubs Universities, trying to get a records contract... there are a fair amount of photos, newspaper articles from the time..... I've just condensed several years into a few lines.. it should be written up properly!!

Re Mr Lucifer - unfortunately I don't know anything useful. My only contact with them was soon after MK formed we sort of gate-crashed an open-air gig near Gorran - several bands with Mr Lucifer topping the bill. We played a set late afternoon as I recall. I kept the Guardian advert even tho our name wasn't on it!!!

People like Pete and Connie Bawden (Mr PJ himself) says the walls of PJs were plain wood panelling and not painted or patterned at all...but maybe they were painted later...any recollections of visitors to PJ's or other comments on decor or how the club looked from the outside gratefully received!!!!

UPDATE 12/8/10 Tony is 100% sure this is PJs and interestingly Pete Bawden talked of the club having wood paneling. In the first of Tony's pictures there is some moulding visible that would fit the bill. But also above his head in the third picture is some dark varnished wood panelling which may have been the remaining unpainted bit.

Bands who played at PJs (more than once)

2010-08-11T08:56:00.004+01:00

Apart from Smile who played at PJs 14 times (including on Boxing day 1969)...there were a number of other bands who were regulars there: Mr Lucifer, Onyx, Constable Zippos, Marvelous Kid and a few others: mostly Cornwall-based acts. I 've traced a few of them...though I am very keen to find members of Mr Lucifer because they look like the only band to have shared the bill with Smile...

Meantime here are another band that would be nice to trace: Good Times attending the wedding of their manager in 1969...

Good times played in the Rock and Rhythm championship in 1970 when their line-up was Colin Hannah, guitar, Les Gill, Bass Guitar, Clive Jury, Drums, Louis Rushton, Vocals, Oggy Rigby Special effects, Paul Foster, Organ. The first four were all at the wedding, which was in Cubert.

UPDATE 11/8/10 Speaking to Richard Prest of Kernowbeat Good Times later (around 1970?) became Safron

UPDATE 12/8/10 Andy Brice recalls Constable Zippos Band: Played guitar based stuff of the day - Crossroads (Cream), Amphetamine Annie (Canned Heat) and the like. Real gifted bassist (Nigel) who drove it along in combination with solid ultra simplistic drummer (a rare talent!) Wynn (guitar/vocs) probably certifiably insane. Unforgettable. I was dimly aware of Reaction as there was a photo of them (maybe from BCD entertainments) along with myriad other bands in foyer of our local hangout Blue shark Club in Looe - don't recall they ever played there. C Zippos played alongside Smile a number of times. Bassist Nigel Chappell ended up working for queen in some capacity - on the financial side I think.

The PJs problem. Pydar Street then and now...

2010-08-09T21:35:00.020+01:00

PJ's is part of the legend of Queen. In 1970 it hosted their first billed gig (ie the first time they appeared in an advert as Queen). In addition their forerunner, Smile played there 13 times. The problem is that there are no pictures of it from the outside though Tony Coxon, previously of Marvelous Kid, says he has some images of his band performing inside it...

The image below almost certainly includes PJs. It's looking up Moresk Road (now St Clements Street - as if standing outside Hardy Carpets or Courts the furniture place looking towards Pydar St). The problem is that all the buildings on the right marked D had - almost certainly - been demolished by the late sixties hence why many that I have spoken to have said that going to PJs was like visiting a bomb site.

Up until a few days ago the most likely candidate for the club is the white building in the centre (marked C), though the main entrance in this picture is out of view. Others who remember visiting PJ's think it may have been the building on the far left of the picture (marked A) - but there is no entrance from this side so this seems unlikely but it can't be ruled out.

However when you do a then and now comparison building B seems highly probable to have been PJs...

The building visible on Pydar Street in the 60's photograph is the one that is now Easy Bet - the betting shop (previously Opus Music). Theres no doubt about that. If you look at the picture below the drains are the same and the windows and roof all seem unchanged. In the sixties the shop was a grocers and the sign says ........ater & Sons PROVISIONS. Perhaps it was Drinkwater and Sons, or Linklater and Sons or something like that.

The white building (marked C) had to be demolished for the new road to be built, and this road would have been built whilst PJs was in operation...

So, for those that remember visiting, the question is was the entrance to PJs level with the entrance to this Grocers or was it lower down Pydar Street???? Also was the entrance to the grocers 10 or 12 paces away from PJs, or more like 70 or 80 paces away? Had this white building been demolished and possibly the one next to it when PJs was there?

It may be significant that behind the car is what looks like a little covered alley way: so its possible that the white building was demolished and the entrance to PJs was actually up that little alley way.

And lastly here is an aerial view of the junction as it was in the sixties before the demolition took place. Key:

A Cornwall Light Infantry Building B Entrance to Moresk Rd from Pydar St C Now a solicitors (unchanged) D Now EasyBet (then a Grocers) E Building attaching to Cornwall Light Infantry. Could have been PJs but a) there is no entrance b) it may only be one storey F The building most likely to be PJs with an entrance level with Easybet (the grocers) G Some old Alms Houses much higher up on Pydar St

UPDATE 19/8/10 Not Drinkwater but the much more obvious Slater

The Reaction: two really important bits of memorabilia!!

2010-07-25T17:46:00.007+01:00

Just discovered this on the web. I was searching for images of Torquay Town Hall and found this Kinks poster instead...

The one below I'm really pleased about!!! Both these posters are 1966.

I wonder if any of the band stayed behind to watch Eric Clapton and co...

Graham Hankins at work

2010-07-24T21:09:00.007+01:00

Graham works as a manager of one of Truro's well known clothes shops, and I was lucky enough to talk to him at work today, which I did in the shop in amongst a huge selection of suits and bowties. He was able to clear up a few interesting things - such as the fact that Reaction had worked with Roger Brokenshire on and off for the best part of a year before he finally became their singer.

But there was also a bit of confusion re whether Graham went up into Devon with the band in 1965 or 1966. It was most likely to be 1965 because he remembers Johnny Grose (Quale) being very nervous about having to sing in one of the massive halls in Torquay, and yet Rick Penrose has said he remembers playing with Graham in Devon, suggesting that it was 1966. Will need to try and resolve this issue, possibly by contacting other members of the Reaction that will remember...

Graham talked about rehearsing with the band in various places, most memorably in Malpas in Jim Craven's cottage after the entrance to the village and near the village hall. As well as lots of new insights about the group, Graham also has a photo of Reaction with Roger Taylor that has not been reproduced before. And, take my word for it, its a beauty!

UPDATE 25/7/10: Jim Craven has confirmed that the first Torquay and Exeter gigs were in '65...

Graham Hankins

2010-07-22T21:46:00.008+01:00

Graham Hankins was one of the very early members of The Reaction, Roger Taylor's band in Cornwall. He still lives and works in Truro and I spoke to him this evening. He remembers being introduced to Roger in the street (Pydar Street?) in the middle of Truro by someone called Oscar Carveth, and Roger joined Johnny Quale and the Reaction following this meeting. Contrary to the information in Queen the Early Years, Johnny and Graham, although older than Roger, were not more experienced as musicians: in fact Graham hadn't been in a band before the Reaction.

He confirmed that the band's first ever gig was at the Rock and Rhythm Championship in 1965, and that that night they did an instrumental version of Ray Charles 'What'd I say' as well as one of their own compositions.

More on this to come!

UPDATE 25/7/10: Jim Craven has said that the band had a few incarnations before the R and R championship of '65, and that originally Oscar Carveth and Peter Baron played guitar and drums respectively, though whether this was The Reaction or not is I think open to debate. Will try to clarify this.

The Shadows - The Rise And Fall of Flingel Bunt

2010-07-21T20:50:00.010+01:00

Flingel Bunt was one of the tracks played by Cousin Jacks/Beat Unlimited at a do organised by the Liberal Association in the City Hall, 17th December, 1964. This was Roger Taylors first proper band and it is possible that this newspaper clipping from 24th December was the first time his musical efforts were ever recognised in the press:

Its worth noting two things. First that they were called Cousin Jacks (not Beat Unlimited even though Cousin Jacks was the older name) and second that the young liberal David Penhaligon (later celebrated MP for Truro) was the MC.

Shortly after this David Penhaligon helped organise a Folk Music Evening at Dave Dowdings place...

The Ventures: Wipe Out

2010-07-21T20:31:00.002+01:00

This single from 1962 is brilliant...and according to Dave Dowding it was a favourite of Cousin Jacks/Beat Unlimited...I'd be interested to know if, when they played it in 63/64 whether they did it in a similar way to this performance - with the drummer very much taking the limelight...

UPDATE 22/7/10 Dave Dowding says yes it was similar - but Roger's drums breaks were even better!

David Dowding and the very early days

2010-07-20T22:58:00.009+01:00

Of all the people I have spoken to so far, David's musical involvement with Roger Taylor goes back the furthest. Thats him on the left with Roger and Mike Dudley rehearsing in New Mills, where his parents owned a farm.

Being in the same class at Truro School (2B to be precise) he knew Roger in 1961 when he still only possessed a single drum (imagine how many he has now!!!) They would rehearse with this solitary drum and a cheap Spanish guitar in Roger's garage.

The first name he remembers them using was 'The Cousin Jacks' (a colloquial term for a Cornish miner) which temporarily became 'Beat Unlimited' in around 1963 when Mike Dudley joined them on rhythm guitar.

The thing about both these bands is that they were instrumental bands - along the lines of The Shadows - not because they couldn't sing (Roger after all had been a chorister at Truro Cathedral) but because for a long time there was an issue with the fact that none of their voices had broken.

He remembered some interesting things about Truro School, and particularly music teacher Kenneth Pelmear.

PJs events...

2010-07-17T14:24:00.031+01:00

Still trying to find more information and documentation of PJ's. Here are events organised at PJ's (and other related Mike Grose/Pete Bawden gigs) as advertised in the West Briton. It includes, on August 7th (shortly after Smile had split and Queen had formed) a gig in which Tim Staffell and Mike Grose played together under the name No Joke!. Mike would have, by then, finished his stint with Queen. Nigel Uren, the third member of the group, was a drummer who played with Smokey Joes and other Cornish bands.

1968 Opens on December 13th
December 26th Clouds (one of the best club groups in the country)

1969
Jan 7th Onyx
Jan 14th Vigilantes
Jan 21st Jason's Mind ('representing the group whose guitarist was voted best instrumentalist of the recent Cornwall Group Championship)
Jan 28th Empty Vessels ('BOOB! last weeks blurb said that the best instrumentalist was a member of Jasons Mind when in fact Colin plays for The Good Times')
Feb 4th Gin House ('presenting the DJ Fat Mo, not to be confused with our cloakroom attendant Chairman Mo')
Feb 11th The Onyx
Feb 18th The Vigilantes
Mar 4th The Good Times
Mar 11th Constable Zippos Electric Commode Band
Mar 18th Gin House
Mar 21st Mission Impossible
Mar 22nd The Good Times
Mar 25th The Other Five
Mar 28th Smile ('who have appeared at Londons top clubs and recently broadcase on Radio 1s Top Gear')
Mar 29th Smile
April 4th The Good Times
April 5th Onyx
April 8th Ginhouse
April 12th Bobby Knight Showband
April 18th Smile ('Beautiful sounds from one of the best bands ever to visit the county')
April 22nd Empty Vessels
April 25th Scorpions
April 26th Sponge
May 10th Grass
May 13th The Onyx
May 17th Made in England
May 20th The Late
May 24th Mosaic
May 27th Red Squares ('group who was voted No1 in Scandinavian pop poll')
May 31st Bobby Knight Soul Show
June 3rd Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions
June 10th Tanglewood (formerly Empty Vessels)
June 14th Confusion
June 17th Bent Cement
June 21st Mosaic
June 24th Constable Zippos Electric Commode Band
June 28th Smile ('special attraction')
June 29th Smile
July 1st The Mood
July 5th Onyx (' With their new record 'Tamaris Khan' heading for the hit parade...')
July 8th Universal Colour ('Incredible 4-piece from Cambridge - and for those who kindly asked Smile will be back on July 19th)
July 12th The Bobby Knight Show ('owing to objections from another club Misunderstood will now be appearing at a later date')
July 19th Smile ('The fantastic, beautiful...')
July 26th Good Times ('Welcome back to the fantastic new 4-piece)
August 5th The Red Squares
August 9th She Trinity ('Englands No1 All-girl group' ...Every week Kevin and Johnny Two of the best DJs in the country (theyre lousy in the town but great in the country!)')
August 16th Constable Zippo's Band ('this weekend featuring tow of the best groups on the Progressive Blues Scene')
August 17th Mr Lucifer
August 22nd The Embers
August 23rd The Late
August 29th Sky
August 30th Made in England ('At last!')
September 6th Easy Moses
September 13th Smile + Mr Lucifer ('a mind-blowing Progressive Blues Concert...with DJ and compere Kevin....DONT FORGET TO SMILE!)
September 14th Smile + Mr Lucifer
September 19th Chimera ('only 32 and a half new pence to members')
September 27th Mosiac
October 4th Great Expectations
October 11th Smoke ('recent hit My Friend Jack')
October 12th Locomotive (Recently in the charts with 'Rudis in Love')
October 19th Coconut Grove
November 1st Golliwog
November 8th Toast ('Radio One Stars!)
November 14th Onyx (Fantastic double event at PJs the opening of the the new coffee and griddle bar...Onyx who have a great new recrod 'Time Off' released on the same day. Next week Mr Lucifer)
November 23rd Mr Lucifer (The Best in Blues)
November 30th Mr Lucifer (Owing to thousands of requests (mainly from their agent!) we once again have pleasure in presenting the incredible....)
December 7th Bacchus
December 14th Mother Child
December 23rd The Onyx ('...A Cool Yule and a Hippy New Year')
December 26th Smile ('with surprise Guest Artistes')
December 27th Wishful Thinking

1970
January 17th 'Smile'
January 31st 'Safron'
February 1st 'Joseph's Gathering'
Febaury 21st 'Poor Fish'
Feb 28th 'Mr Lucifer'
March 7th 'Smile'
March 8th 'Smile'
April 2nd (Thursday) Talent Night
April 3rd 'Third Ear Band'
April 4th 'Made in England'
April 10th 'Mighty Baby'
April 11th 'Sky'
April 17th 'Smile'
April 18th 'Smile'
May 1st 'High Tide'
May 2nd 'Wizard' and 'Temple Creatures'
May 8th 'Formerly Fat Harry'
May 15th 'Warm Dust' (heads of the world unite and listen to more Friday night mind music...)
June 6th 'Mr Lucifer'
June 13th 'Marvelous Kid' (debut of new super group)
July 25th 'Queen' ('formerly Smile')
August 6th 'Free' (Truro City Hall)
August 7th 'No Joke' Tim Staffel, Mick Grose and Nigel Uren
August 15th 'Figg'
August 16th 'Group Contest'
September 5th 'Marvelous Kid'
September 12th 'T2'
October 3rd 'Ginhouse'
Octbober 10th 'Julians Treatment'
October 24th 'Gracious'
November 7th 'New Federation'
November 21st 'Orange Bicycle'
December 24th 'Marvelous Kid'

1971. PJs ads in the West Briton are less frequent and less prominent in 1971
January 9th Medicine Head
January 16th Julian's Treatment

smaller adverts with different logo from here on:
March 6th Safron
March 13th Cloven Spirit ('plus Kev Stuart')

Shortly before closing PJs briefly becomes 'Camelot Club' St Clement Street, Truro
April 24th New Federation
April 25th Kentucky
May 1st Swinging Blue Jeans (by popular demand we are now open every day except Monday)
May 4th Porky
May 8th 4 Wheel Drive
May 12th Marvellous Kid

Marvelous Kid and Mr Lucifer were bands local to Cornwall that may have members who are still in the county.

Dave Penprase's 'Room at the Top' had, by 1970, become probably the most significant folk music venue in Cornwall, and (apart from May and June when it was a surf-themed disco) throughout the year The Famous Jug Band, fronted by singer Jill Johnson, were resident there. (eg 'January 22nd The Famous Jug Band and friends introduce exclusive scoop: Gerry Lockran').

By mid 1971 there were no more PJs ads, and soon after Room at the Top ads dry up suggesting both venues had bitten the dust...

Mike and Pete were also involved with putting on Free at the City Hall. More on this later...

UPDATE 8/8/10 I've checked with Mike Grose and Tony Coxon: local bands that Tony was involved with included Jason's Mind (with Mike) Bent Cement (with Mike) and Marvelous Kid. Mike was involved with Safron and Made in England...We know too that Onyx and Ginhouse were Cornwall- based rock bands, as were lesser known Scorpions, Constable Zippo and Vigilantes (later Coconut Grove). Temple Creatures were a psych folk outfit from Penzance that included Clive Palmer (Incredible String Band) in their line-up. If anyone can help with the describing the other bands that played at PJs that would be great. I'm going to get the other adverts for 1969 soon - probs tomorrow.

Mighty Baby, Warm Dust, Empty Vessels, Tanglewood, Third Ear Band, and Smile themselves were touring bands from out of the county, many Roger Taylor would have helped Pete book at PJs. Third Ear Band were very experimental and prog rockish included a cellist who played with Clive Palmers COB. Empty Vessels and Tanglewood became Wishbone Ash, Temple Creatures became COB, and (have I mentioned this before?) Smile became Queen.

9/8/10

Spoke with Colin Brokenshire of Ginhouse tonight: he remembers PJs seeming very isolated - with few if any other buildings around it. He likened it to a clubhouse in the middle of a football field. I think this is a reminder of the extent to which this area had been demolished. Thanks to http://www.kernowbeat.co.uk/ for image below of Ginhouse.

In Truro during 1970 there were lots of interesting comings and goings...

2010-07-14T14:29:00.019+01:00

re Smile gigs: here is the list I made earlier...

26.10.1968 Smile Imperial College London UK
31.01.1969 Smile Imperial College London UK
27.02.1969 Smile Royal Albert Hall London UK
28.02.1969 Smile Athletic Club Richmond UK
15.03.1969 Smile Imperial College London UK
22.03.1969 Smile Flamingo's, Redruth UK
28.03.1969 Smile PJ's Club Truro UK
29.03.1969 Smile PJ's Club Truro UK
18.04.1969 Smile PJ's Club Truro UK
19.04.1969 Smile Revolution Club London UK
31.05.1969 Smile Whisky A Go Go London UK
28.06.1969 Smile PJ's Club Truro UK
29.06.1969 Smile PJ's Club Truro UK
19.07.1969 Smile PJ's Club Truro UK
??.08.1969 Smile Fowey Carnival UK
13.09.1969 Smile PJ's Club Truro UK
14.09.1969 Smile PJ's Club Truro UK
18.10.1969 Smile College Union Watford UK
01.11.1969 Smile Imperial College London UK
06.12.1969 Smile Imperial College London UK
13.12.1969 Smile The Marquee Club London UK
26.12.1969 Smile PJs Club Truro UK
31.01.1970 Smile Imperial College London UK
17.04.1970 Smile PJs Club Truro UK
18.04.1970 Smile PJs Club Truro UK
24.04.1970 Smile Eel Pie Island Twickenham UK
09.05.1970 Smile Imperial College London UK

But I ve noticed three more in 1970 that were obscured in the creases of the microfiched newspaper ie

17.01.1970 Smile PJs Club, Truro UK
7.03.1970 Smile PJs Club, Truro
8.03.1970 Smile PJs Club, Truro

So thats a total of 13 gigs at PJs...wow. The ads will all feature in the exhibition - but I wont post them here.

UPDATE 10/8/69 Make that 14...theres a cool one for Boxing Day 1969 too!

UPDATE 23/7/10
Checked Cornishman Jan - Sept 1969 and found another ad confirming that they played at the Winter Gardens so thats:
05.04.69 The Winter Gardens, Penzance

Mike Dudley said to me that he played as part of a Smile gig at the Winter Gardens...so maybe that was it...

I should add that there were some other ads of historical interest. In particular the gig that Smile played at the end of June - now acknowledged to be the first ever Queen gig - was advertised by Roger Taylor's mum not once but twice. And the first ad (which hasn't been reproduced before) was placed four months earlier, in February (above). This is proof that it had been a seriously long-standing commitment to play as Smile, helping to explain why they did so despite the fact that by June they had become Queen...

Might seem an obscure point but for Queen buffs this is a crucial issue!

The other ad from the first part of that year that is also obscure but interesting, is this one which mentions Freddie Mercury's shortlived band Sour Milk Sea. He had obviously intended to come down with them, but in the event Smile - even though they had broken up - played the gig themselves with Mike Grose on bass...

The Strangers pre-1965

2010-07-14T09:37:00.002+01:00

Met with Rick Penrose again yesterday. He was able to give more detail about a number of The Reaction gigs - including one in Bodmin that involved a stripper...

This picture is of his pre-Reaction band The Strangers in Newquay. Rick is the handsome blond lad on the left and he is pictured with Valerie...

Doug Puddifoot images of Mike Grose: Queen's first bassist

2010-07-12T23:05:00.004+01:00

Mike remembers - at one point - having 30 or 40 images of Queen that were taken by Doug Puddifoot in 1970. But over the years he has given them away to friends, family and journalists and only has a handful left. This one is another that was taken at Imperial - probably in the lecture theatre that the band rehearsed in...

Mike also kindly let me make some copies of photos he has of 'The Individuals' who were rivals to 'The Reaction' and beat them in the 1965 Rock and Rhythm Championship in Truro. I'm not putting all this stuff on the blog though - need to keep some it back for the exhibition!

Roger Brokenshire again

2010-07-12T21:37:00.002+01:00

Met up with Roger B again to discuss his career before The Reaction - partly because I wanted to get a feel for the kind of places that The Reaction played in the Torquay area. The key player here was Lionel Digby who was a very active and influential impressario in Torquay in the sixties...

He now, apparently, runs a successful costume hire business. Roger also described his appearance on the Carroll Levers show, which preceded Opportunity Knocks and indeed provided the template for it. Here is Roger pointing to himself singing in the City Hall as part of the show. I think he was eight at the time.

Reaction adverts from 1965 only

2010-07-08T13:27:00.011+01:00

Went through the adverts again for Roger Taylor's first band The Reaction, this time looking at late 1965. There are two interesting dates close together that allow us to date Roger 'Sandy' Brokenshire's involvement quite accurately:

21st October Godolphin Hall, Helston ('Beat Dance with Johnny Quell and the Reactions')
20th November Princess Pavilion, Falmouth ('Rikki and the Layabouts supported by The Reactions featuring the original Sandy')

The spelling mistake (Quell not Quale) is unfortunate if amusing. The Reactions did not play at the Flamingo before Xmas '65 but did play on New Years Eve 1965

31st December The Flamingo ('Grand New Years Dance: Your favourites Trendsetters Ltd, The Reactions and The Misfits')

More to come on 1965...but its going to be worth noting that The Who played at the Skating Rink in Camborne in October, and, also that Pete Bawden's group the Staggerlees were busy gigging in Cornwall over Xmas 1965, though Pete may have left by then as he was mainly active with them during '62 and '63

UPDATE: 10/7/10 Some more 1965 adverts sorry theyre a bit mixed up right now
25th September Princess Pavilion Falmouth ('The Couriers supported by Johnny Quale and the Reactions')

It seems Johnny Quale was cursed with a name no-one could spell (though spelling is corrected in the following Thursday edition of the West Briton)
19th April Truro City (Hall?) Beat Spectacular (Johnny Quaile and The Reactions with The Individuals)
This gig was significant as Roger and the others would have played on the same gig as Mike Grose who was in the The Individuals and later played in Queen.

15th March Truro City Hall Rock and Rhythm Championship 'sixteen groups from all parts of Cornwall will be competing'

18th March Rock and Rhythm Championship write up 'One long scream'

In this one the name is spelt wrong yet again:
14th August Princess Pavilion, Falmouth ('Johhny Quale and The Reactions support to The Dowlands and Soundtracks')

Mike Grose's guitar

2010-07-07T20:42:00.001+01:00

I met up with Mike again yesterday. Here he is holding the remains of the guitar that he played when he was with Queen. It was a Fender Precision that he'd had imported from the States in 1963....Fantastic.

Roo Fairbairn and Halford Road, Fulham

2010-07-06T21:22:00.009+01:00

Just been speaking on the phone to a man called Roo Fairbairn who still lives in Cornwall and was a contemporary of Roger's at Truro School. He remembers seeing The Reaction play several times. A guitarist himself, he later lived with Les Brown in Halford Road, Fulham. The fancy dress party that is immortalised on the back cover of Queen 1 took place in the Halford Road flat. He says he took lots of photographs that night, incuding some that feature on the album cover, and what is more he still has some of them (but sadly not the prints used in the actual collage because he would have given them to Queen, and the original artwork was subsequently lost in the EMI offices somewhere). More to come on this, but in the meantime Brian May himself has written about this on his own website recently:

And below ... here's the rest of the back cover ... including some pictures of the four of us at a fancy dress party given by our friend Les Brown, I seem to remember. (I think it's time Roger and I wrote that book!!!) I am a penguin, of course, Roger is a Mad Hatter, John is ...erm, I'm not sure ... and Freddie is ... some kind of dashing cavalier ... there are also live pictures of us playing the Albert Hall (as Smile, actually) - at the Marquee (as Queen), at least one taken in Trident Studios, and, at the bottom, stills from our first photo session at Freddie's flat in Victoria Road, decked out with Biba artifacts. This session produced our first poster. The chess piece and the playing card are of course the White Queen and the Black Queen, already in existence in our heads, but to emerge later on Queen II. And in the middle of it all ... Deacy hiding behind a feather, and, largely ignored for about 40 years, a 3-D Drummer.

http://www.brianmay.com/whatsnew.html

As it began: Doug Puddifoot and PJs (again)

2010-06-29T20:51:00.014+01:00

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.

Geoff Daniel

2010-06-29T08:32:00.008+01:00

Geoff Daniel - guitarist in The Reaction and Roger's schoolmate - has sent me an image of the band from the night they won the Rock and Rhythm championship...this is one that is not anywhere else on the internet to my knowledge. L to R: Jim Craven, Geoff Daniel, Roger Brokenshire, Roger Taylor, Mick Dudley, 'Acker' Snell.

This is the better known image, used I think in Queen: The Early Years but it's been heavily cropped.

And this is another more posed image. It's a photo in Roger Brokenshire's collection. I think other versions exist eg on the web but I can't remember where exactly...so it'll be worth my while going back to see Roger to get a better copy...

PJs corner

2010-06-28T08:03:00.002+01:00

PJs is a venue that Smile and Queen between them played more than 10 times. I'm still hoping to find a decent picture of it but at the moment this aerial photo is best I have. The arrow is pointing down Moresk Road, and the building above it in the photo is PJs.

For a long time the whole area was mainly residential. The heavy black line was drawn on the photo to show the extent of the area that was to be demolished and redeveloped.

Mike Grose with Queen: thanks Jill

2010-06-27T22:27:00.000+01:00

Jill Johnson has sent me another picture of Mike Grose with Queen. Dont think this is elsewhere on the net - but it is another Doug Puddifoot promo shot. And it's rather good actually.

The Jays

2010-06-27T22:17:00.006+01:00

Known variously as The Jays, Jay-jays, Three Jays and then lastly the Jayfolk, Jill Johnson's folk group were close friends of The Reaction, and recorded with them and played live with them. Jill has very kindly e-mailed me more information about their history as well as some delightful pictures.

The group started in 1964. I was 14. The first line-up was myself, my sisters – Janet & Jennifer (twins) and my best friend Sue Johnstone (later ran the Queen fan club for years with her sister Pat – then EMI…). We sang mostly at special events, hotels, concerts, etc. The folk club scene wasn’t really established at that time.

In 1967 and 1968 the Jayfolk played regularly at The Navy Arms in Truro and the Roseland Inn in Philleigh, as well as a variety of concerts, holiday camps and clubs. In the summer Roger, with Reaction, ran a series of beach dances in marquees set up by Rik Evans. Reaction played the main set, and the Jayfolk would do the acoustic intermission. September 1968, Josie and Penny left for college. Sue and I continued the band – added a flute.

I was planning on joining Roger in London (he was at University), so I got hired by the BBC and was supposed to start working for them later that year. Then the JayFolk played a gig in Wadebridge where I met the Famous Jug Band and they recruited me for the band. Dumped the BBC offer, and I started playing with them in November ’68 (I think) and then we went on tour early in 1969.

Pat and Sue

2010-06-26T23:29:00.004+01:00

Jill Johnson has, very kindly, just sent me lots of fascinating information about the music scene in Cornwall in the late 60s...

I will post some of this tomorrow. But she has reminded me that Pat and Sue who were running the Queen fan club in the 70's were friends of hers and Roger's from Truro. Sue in fact was one of the other members of Jill's group The Jays.

Its a funny coincidence to think that earlier today I was looking at material that they had sent down to Karen Silverlock in 1974...Looks like they were very conscientious about it too...

Karen Silverlock

2010-06-26T17:25:00.018+01:00

Karen contacted the Queen in Cornwall blog a couple of weeks ago. She lives in Truro now and it was lovely meeting her today.

In '73 she was a Bowie fan, but bought the first Queen album from a shop in St Austell after a friend had recommended it. She was entranced, and leapt at the opportunity to watch them play when they came to the South West early in '74, seeing them both in Plymouth and in Penzance (see earlier post below re John Adams).

In Penzance Karen and her friend took lots of photos of both the performance and of the band backstage. She remembers Brian in particular being very kind and patient, and later that year he responded to a letter she wrote to him.

She was one of the first members of the fan club, having joined in 1974. Her membership number was 479, and as a member she received newsletters for several years which she has kept.

In these photos the stage at the Garden in Penzance looks like it's really small - but there was room for a grand piano in one corner. Karen remembers standing within touching distance of the band, who were lit by one or maybe two spotlights only.

These photos are the only known photos of Queen performing in Cornwall. When they played in Cornwall in 1970 and 1971 they were unknowns and perhaps that is why there are apparently no photographs from that time. But by March 1974 they'd had one top ten hit (Seven Seas of Rhye) and had a burgeoning teen fan-base.

Late in 1975 Queen had their monster hit: Bohemian Rhapsody which in the UK was number one for 9 weeks, and top ten or number one in many other countries. As a result Queen quickly went global. So, after a long and close association with Cornwall, which had started 10 years previously when first Roger moved to Truro, this gig in Penzance turned out to be the last they played here.

John The Fish

2010-06-26T11:49:00.012+01:00

Yesterday I spent more than an hour speaking to John The Fish in his tranquil front garden in Perranwell. Something of a legend in Cornwall, in 1964 John was one of the original artistes booked into The Count House at Botallack, the first of many folk clubs that would spring up all round Cornwall in the '60's.

Whilst there he began his long association with Brenda Wootton, whom he accompanied throughout the early part of her career. He recorded four albums with her during this period. We also talked about 'The Folk Cottage' in Mitchell and 'Room at the Top' in Redruth, both only ten minutes or so from Truro by car. The former was significant in the early careers of Wiz Jones and Ralph McTell both of whom lived nearby. During Summer 68 - the time that the Reaction were playing some of their last gigs - Ralph McTell made his first recording of Streets of London on the album Spiral Staircase, helped by musicians from Cornwall. Later some of the same musicians teamed up with Clive Palmer to form 'The Famous Jug Band' and 'COB'.

'Room at the Top' was a bigger venue run by Dave Penprase after he split with Pete Bawden, and the club moved from Truro. John the Fish described a memorable gig by Davy Graham at 'Room at the Top' performed by the pioneering guitarist whilst, allegedly, strung out on heroin.

The Famous Jug Band, with Jill Johnson, played at both venues and Mike Grose and other members of Reaction remember visiting. Below is a picture of Ralph, Brenda and John with someone (and her dog) who was probably a visitor to the club. John thinks the guitar is probably Ralph's.

Summer '68

2010-06-24T18:35:00.007+01:00

Jill Johnson, a Truro girl who was close to Roger and the members of the Reaction, was, with her sister and a friend, a member of Jayfolk.

This is an interesting advert because not only were Jayfolk apparently breaking up, but in the audience that night was Clive Palmer (ex Incredible String Band) who spotted Jill and asked her to sing with The Famous Jug Band. Although, at the time, she was only 17 within 6 months she would be touring with them and recording an album.

UPDATE 27/6/10: Jill has contacted me and confirmed the story above, and indeed, even sent a picture of her just before she went on to perform the gig above. The reason why Jayfolk were splitting was that she had planned to go up to London, and would have done if Clive Palmer hadn't asked her to be in his band.

e-mail from Tim Staffell singer and bassist with Smile

2010-06-24T08:46:00.000+01:00

Tim says his memory of the Smile gigs is very hazy but:

All I can really say is, (and please say Hi to Pete Bawden for me) Yes, Smile played at PJ's Club in Truro; I can remember that, and the 2 Sue's (can't remember surnames) who followed Queen later. As to how many times I played there, I genuinely have no idea at all. I did not keep any diaries or memorabilia , and I'm not naturally a nostalgic person.

Mistakes, tricks of the mind or poetic license?

2010-06-23T08:38:00.000+01:00

I've decided to keep a record of things that appear in other biographies that can't be true just so I don't get confused when compiling the info for the exhibition...sorry if it seems a bit anal.

I'm not criticising other biographers because as I'm discovering its difficult to know what is true and what isn't, and whose memory is the more 'accurate'. Remembering is a very subjective process and in the process of making a coherent story or narrative not only biographers, but also their subjects, elaborate or invent things, often unconsciously or becaused they're encouraged to do so by circumstances.

The other thing that happens is that biographers are prone to pass off as facts things that their subjects are actually much more unclear or tentative about...and some of that more nuanced stuff gets lost in translation. But in the end you have to do the best you can with the material you have.

Queen: The Early Years
I really enjoyed reading this book and it was this that stimulated my own research. There are lots of mistakes particularly relating to dates and places though. eg The Reaction could not have played at PJs because it did n't open until late in 1968. They only played once in a marquee on Perranporth, ie it was not a regular gig as implied in the book. Smile played at the Winter Gardens in Penzance (and Mike Dudley has a recollection along those lines), but Queen probably played there on more occasions. The advert for 'Legendary Drummer' playing at Driftwood Spars in St Agnes was in relation to a Queen gig not a Smile gig.

Record Collector 1995: Roger Taylor's Reaction
There is the implication that Beat Unlimited/Cousin Jacks formed in 1964, but it was probably a shade earlier than this. The Individuals won the Rock and Rhythm championship in 1965 but not whilst wearing parkas, that was another group. Jill Johnson's singing group The Jays or Jayfolk were never called the Three Jays and Pat Johnstone was not a member (see earlier posts below)

As it Began
As it Began is derived from interviews with the band, and is still the most authoritative of all the biographies, though goes into less detail regarding the very early years. It says Roger was lead singer at the '66 rock and rhythm championships, and, amusingly for the Reaction members who have read it, that Acker Snell replaced a saxophonist called John Snell (they are of course the same person). Both these are probably examples of the biographers misunderstanding something that Roger had told them. It says that Reaction played at PJs (The Early Years must have copied this error). Another strange one: it also describes Mike Grose's windscreen smashing on the way up to London: something that he has no recollection of now.
There are others which I will add gradually...

Queen: the definitive biography
Written by Laura Jackson, and the last of the four to be published. Its enjoyable to read and has a fair bit of new material eg some good stuff by Tim Staffell on Smile. But it has repeated the PJs/Reaction error! Poor old Roger Brokenshire gets a name check but again his name is spelt wrong (Brokenshaw). There are a few other names spelt wrongly, like Doug Puddifoot who helped with a lot of the early publicity shots. Mike Grose feels that Laura misunderstood what he said when he said he stayed with Roger Taylor in Earls Court. He may have stayed there for a night or two but mainly he was with Brian in Barnes and thats where many of the rehearsals took place. Finally the second bassist, Barry Mitchell, was not from Cornwall, though may have been contacted via a friend in Cornwall.

Mike Grose: Queen's First Bassist

2010-06-22T07:30:00.008+01:00

Met up with Mike today. Thats him second on the left. He said that Doug Puddifoot took a whole lot of photos of the band mainly in and around Imperial College, and that the better known image of him with the other band members (see below) was also taken there.

Mike was able to describe PJs in a lot more detail and was even able to draw a plan of the layout. He would have spent time with Queen and Smile there - partly because in the late sixties there weren't many other places in Truro where you could get food and other refreshments outside normal office hours.

He remembers Jill Johnson and the Navy Arms on Fairmantle Street, and in particular a drinking session with Tim Staffell, with whom he became friendly, the same weekend he split with Smile.

Early history of PJs: Room at the Top

2010-06-21T10:47:00.024+01:00

Smile and Queen played several times at Pete Bawden's 'PJ's'. When I spoke to Pete (see earlier post below) I promised to look up adverts relating to 'PJ's' and to 'Room at the Top', the club that Pete ran with David Penprase prior to PJ's.

Room at the Top was located, according to Richard Prest at 25 King St originally: upstairs in a building opposite the Cathedral (now Animal).

It seems that adverts for gigs at 'Room at the Top' were still being placed in The West Briton as late as February 29th 1968. In fact none other than Status Quo had been booked to play on the 2nd March (see above).

At the time, however, the club had moved to Moresk Hall which was possibly the building that became PJ's...

UPDATE: 22/6/10 Looking closely at the 'you are invited' pages of the West Briton, the last advert for Room at the Top at 25, King Street was on 25/1/68

UPDATE: 23/6/10 Contacted by David Penprase (who was cofounder of RATT with PJ) last night: he says that Status Quo didn't actually turn up for the gig having got stuck in snow in Devon, but the plan had been to put it on in the bigger Moresk Drill Hall currently used by the TA. Also, apparently, Empty Vessels who were from the Torbay area of Devon later became Wishbone Ash.

UPDATE: 24/6/10 Looking at the photocopied adverts again there are mentions of Room at the Top in Redruth opening on October 12th 1968 and PJs opening in Truro in time for Xmas on December 13th 1968. Onyx were the first band booked to play at PJs which they did on the 7th January. The first band booked at Room at the Top was, I think, called Underground Sound during early December 1968.

UPDATE: 28/6/10 There is an advert in The West Briton announcing the opening of Room at the Top in Truro on 29/9/67...but as there was a gap of around 6 months between the Truro club closing and the Redruth one opening then it was clearly quite a short-lived venture. It was advertised as a 'Discotheque Club'.

Creatively weird....neither Reaction or Smile gigs are well documented...

2010-06-19T18:41:00.057+01:00

Spent some time looking at the West Briton microfiches again today. Found a few adverts and articles of relevance to Queen in Cornwall. One advert for The Summer Coast Sound Experience was the pick of the bunch. I dont think it has been reproduced before...

The text is fantastic: 'Easter Monday Happening at Trevellas Cove...signposted specially...witness the sounds of the incredible REACTION...Creatively weird LIGHT SHOWS. Food and drink, all in the most LIT-UP MARQUEE ALIVE. We'll sell you this experience for only 6s'

This advert was probably placed by Rik Evans in consultation with Roger Taylor.

This gig at Trevellas Cove was described in Record Collector as one of Reactions last. May be someone told them it took place in September 1968, just before Roger and Mike went back to Uni. But unless there were two gigs at Trevellas (or the advert in the paper is wrong) it didn't, hence the line-up in the picture below with Rick Penrose still on bass...

Anyway for the record here, based on the adverts, are other Reaction venues and dates from 1968 (and all these adverts will be reproduced in the exhibition at the museum)

January 15^th, Truro City Hall, Top Group Championship as ‘The Fantastics’

January 19th Penmare Hotel, Hayle 'Beat Night with The Reaction 7.30 - 11.00'

February 17^th Princess Pavilions ‘The Peace and Quiet plus the Fantastics’

March16th, Godolphin Hall, Helston 'Fantastic New Reaction: Light Show, oils etc Records, best, latest, Go-go Girls, Cokes, in fact everything'
April 5th, Penmare Hotel, Hayle,

April 6^th , Blue Lagoon, Newquay, ‘Fantastic Harmony Action The Californians plus THE RE-ACTION’April 11th, Winter Gardens, Penzance;
April 15th Trevellas Cove, St Agnes ('Preview of the Summer Coast Sound Experience...creatively weird light shows)
May 3rd Penmare Hotel
May 18^th Princess Pavilions, Falmouth The fantastic Trucial State plus the Reaction
June 1st Perranporth Memorial Hall Perranzabuloe Improvements Committee
3rd or 17th May, Penmare Hotel, Hayle (the advert was placed twice - I think the first was a mistake);
July 7th, Perranporth Beach (Ladies Surf Championships)
July 13th Princess Pavilion, Falmouth;
July 27th, Mullion WI;
August 28th Godolphin Hall, Helston Recently returned from London Cornwall oldest-established and best group The Reaction!

These should be considered alongside the Summer Coast Sound Experience gigs that Rik Evans has described (see earlier posts below). As well as Trevellas Porth these were at Carnon Downs, Mevagissey, Perranporth, St Mawes and possibly Porthtowan. It should also be noted that Roger and Mike were at University in London and Oxford respectively hence, particularly in 1968, the gigs tend to cluster around holiday periods.

UPDATE 8/7/10: Mike Dudley has been able to confirm that being at College in London and Oxford respectively was no impediment to Roger and Mike performing with Reaction in Cornwall: they would happily just drive down for the weekend, and this was particularly the case during their first term at College (Autumn '67)

Some sources have said that a gig at Princess Pavilion was the last one Reaction played...that will be worth trying to double check. There is no advert for a gig there, however, other than the one on July 13th.

UPDATE 21/6/10:
Two more 1968 gigs in the microfiches
March 15th, Penmare Hotel, Hayle
March16th, Godolphin Hall, Helston
The advert for the latter reads: Fantastic New Reaction: Light Show, oils etc Records, best, latest, Go-go Girls, Cokes, in fact everything

UPDATE 22/6/10
Mike Grose says he recalls playing guitar at the Penmare Hotel with Reaction shortly after the Goss Moor accident

UPDATE 27/6/10
As promised microfiched adverts from 1967 together with other significant events:
January 7th The Flamingo, Redruth (support to Wishful Thinking)
January 16th Truro City Hall Rock and Rhythm Championship (as guest artistes)
January 26th Penmare Hotel, Hayle
Feb 11th CRASH ON GOSS MOOR (en route to gig booked in Dobwalls)
Feb 18th The Flamingo, Redruth (support to The Quiet Five)
Feb 24th Penmare Hotel, Hayle
March 4th Princess Pavilion, Falmouth (support to The Charade)
March 10th Penmare Hotel, Hayle
March 11th Blue Lagoon, Newquay (support to Chris Lamb and the Irish Show Band)
March 30th Penmare Hotel, Hayle
April 7th Penmare Hotel, Hayle
April 15th Flamingo (support to the Mighty Anzacs)
April 21st Truro City Hall Annexe
April 28th Penmare Hotel, Hayle
May 4th Skating Rink, Camborne
May 25th Winter gardens, Penzance (support to Danny and the Belmonts)

UPDATE 28/7/10:
The rest of '67 West Briton ads
June Roger and others taking A-levels?
July 27th Skating Rink Camborne
August 4th Hayle Rugby Club 'Beat Dance Barbeque: Open Air Floodlit Dancing'
August 9th Flamingo (support to the Kinks but not advertised)
August 23rd Truro City Hall Annexe (with Modesty Blues)
August 24th St Agnes Beach 'Barbeque and Dance'
Sept 2nd St Keverne Village Hall 'Beat Dance'
Roger T, Mike Dudley and Geoff Daniel go to University
October 20th Penmare Hotel, Hayle
October 21st St Keverne Village Hall 'Beat Dance'
November 10th Penmare Hotel, Hayle 'Beat Night'
November 24th Dungeon Cellar Club, Old Prison, Bodmin (with Sam's Brothers Band)
December 1st Penmare Hotel, Hayle 'Beat Night'
December 2nd Dungeon Cellar Club, Old Prison, Bodmin
December 8th Majestic Discoteque, Camborne
December 9th Moresk Drill Hall 'St Kea Youth Club, Christmas Dance'
December 16th Truro City Hall 'Rave nite'
December 22nd Penmare Hotel, Hayle 'Xmas Entertainment'
December 23rd Princess Pavilion, Falmouth 'Beat Dance' (with The Cellar Rats)

UPDATE 30/6/10:
West Briton ads from 1966
8th Jan Princess Pavilion, Falmouth (support to The Couriers from Plymouth)
12th Feb Lambeage Hall, Coverack (Coverack Youth Club Grand Dance)
5th March Lambeage Hall, Coverack (Helston and Kerrier Young Conservatives Beat Dance)
7th March City Hall Truro, Rock and Rhythm Championship.
10th March West Briton article
12th March Princess Pavilion, Falmouth (Rock and Rhythm champions supported by Blues by Four)
17th March Flamingo, Redruth (supporting Gerry and the Pacemakers)
24/3/66 advert: 'Don't book a group book a spectacle'
7th May Godolphin Hall, Helston ('Big Beat Dance' Supported by Little Johnny and the Giants)
14th May The Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth (support to Don Shinn's Soul Agents)
20th May Penmare Hotel, Hayle ('Friday Night is Beat night with the Reaction Cornwalls champion group')
11th June The Old Barn Club Eastern Green Penzance

UPDATE
West Briton ads from late 1966
6th August The Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth (support to the Applejacks)
15th August Dartmouth (Ricky Penrose joins band to replace Tim Craven)
16th August Torquay (support to the Kinks)
Roger Brokenshire leaves after these gigs. Acker Snell leaves soon after, leaving Reaction as a four-piece.
15th September The Blue Lagoon, Newquay (support to The Creation)
23rd September The Old Barn Club Penzance
24th September the Guildhall St Ives '1966 Beat Champions just returned from Westcountry tour'
8th October The Guildhall St Ives 'By popular demand the return of the Reaction Cornwalls BIG sound'
15th October Blue Lagoon, Newquay (support to Anthony James Scene)
22nd Oct Flamingo, Redruth (support to The Mighty Anzacs)
28th Oct City Hall Annexe, Truro Halloween Dance TCGS Swimming Pool fund (may have been recorded by Neil Battersby)
1st Dec BCD entertainments ad 'Promoters Please note that we are now Sole Agents for Cornwall's top group The Reaction'
24th Dec Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth 'Christmas Eve Dance' with Circuit Five and The Spartans
31st Dec The Blue Lagoon ('The Night of the Year' support to Screaming Lord Sutch and the Roman Empire)

UPDATE 8/7/10: I spoke to Mike Dudley yesterday and he said that most of the info on the Record Collector article was obtained from him and Neil Battersby, but there are quite a few errors and inaccuracies and, in addition, he feels he was misquoted in more than one place.

He also said that the band played several gigs in Devon during Summer '66, and the following Summer too.

John Adams: Penzance

2010-06-17T22:53:00.013+01:00

Its been tempting to focus only on the very early years but Queen also visited Cornwall in 1973 and 1974. The former gig is not well documented, but John Adams, proprietor of The Winter Gardens in Penzance, e-mailed Queen in Cornwall to say that they were added in July of that year at the last minute as a support act to Caravan.

As this poster proves they were the headline act when they came back in March the following year, even though at this stage they 'd only had the one hit: 'Seven Seas of Rhye'.

UPDATE 18/6/10: John has just sent me a copy of an original poster still in his possession (below). Thanks very much John.

UPDATE: 21/6/10 email from John: Yo' Rupert, I am pretty sure it was last minute because I remember we did not need a support for Caravan as they took up most of the stage and played a long set. The agent phoned and really pushed me to take them on, telling me it was important for the band to get a support as they were in the area and the drummer in the band came from Truro. I agreed and paid them £25.00. Hence when they 'broke' six months later they wanted to play gigs where they had been well-received...

Mike Grose: Queens first bassist

2010-06-16T21:07:00.024+01:00

Mike Grose - Queen's first bassist (pictured above to the left of the picture) - hasn't spoken to any journalists or writers for more than a decade but he is still in Cornwall and I managed to get hold of him on the phone today.

He said it was PJ (Pete Bawden - see earlier post below) who persuaded him to pick up the bass and play with Smile at PJs in Truro after Tim Staffell left the band early in 1970. He said they were playing a lot of covers and blues standards so he didn't really have to rehearse beforehand. Also, significantly, with Tim the lead singer having left, that night he remembers sharing the singing duties with Brian and Roger.

A few days later Roger Taylor phoned him to invite him up to London to join the band permanently. He lived in Barnes for 4 or 5 months, and remembers rehearsing with them in the garden in Barnes and at Imperial College. Many of the songs featured on the first album, and were only half-formed when Brian or Freddie, the main song-writers, presented them as ideas to the rest of the band.

It was whilst in the garden in Barnes that he remembers Freddie coming up with the name 'Queen'. Everyone recognised the gay connotations of the word, and he thought it risky in that sense but memorable.
I'm expecting to meet up with Mike soon which should be great.

Wreckage (Freddie Mercury) Green

2010-06-14T21:49:00.005+01:00

Richard Thompson (drummer with 1984 (Brian May's first band) and IBEX and Wreckage (Freddie Mercury's bands in 1969)) has contacted Queen in Cornwall and provided some more information about Smile's many visits to Cornwall in the late sixties:

I didn't keep a diary then so most dates are very hazy.

I do remember watching the Moon landings at Roger's mums house in 1969.
They must have had a gig that night too.

We used to go to the beaches as well but we didn't surf !
I mainly stayed at Les Browns parent's house in Truro.

He was at Imperial with Brian, but I lost touch we he went to Paris
to work.
We went down almost every other weekend in those days as petrol weas cheap.

Richard

Graphite at Tregye Carnon Downs 1971

2010-06-14T08:30:00.008+01:00

Somebody at the Tregye Festival in 1971 had a tape recorder...this is a CD that was made using a recording of the Graphite performance...and what's exciting is that the sleeve notes include a photo of the stage at Tregye. Having visited the site with Rik Evans earlier this month (see below) the audience were actually sat on a naturally steep incline.

Although the West Briton took photos of the concert their published pictures were, sadly, of people in the audience only.

Graphite - Freedom (Live)

2010-06-14T08:20:00.001+01:00

Here is one of the tracks Graphite played at Tregye. There are more on youtube...

Paul Brown

2010-06-13T22:58:00.006+01:00

Paul Brown phoned me tonight. He was the keyboardist/synthesizer player with Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come when they headlined above Queen in Carnon Downs at the Tregye gig (see earlier posts below - and above).

At the time that he joined the band he had never seen a synthesizer before. But he learnt to play one of the very early EMS synths as used by the BBC Radiophonic workshop on the Dr Who theme.

He remembered the Tregye gig very well, and was able to confirm that although there were no burning crucifixes that night (shame), the set both musically and in terms of the 'visuals' was very similar to that at Glastonbury (see video below).

He spoke very fondly of Arthur Brown who he has stayed in touch with, and explained that the singer was held in very high regard by all the important artists of the late sixties/early seventies.

More to come on this!