The Reaction: two really important bits of memorabilia!!

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

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

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

                          

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

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

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...

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

                             

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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...

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

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

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

   

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

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.