Pictures of 60s bands from West Sussex

[paul messis]

Hey Guys,

A few years ago, I got obsessed with 60s beat bands from my local county of West Sussex and neighbouring East Sussex, I had managed to source online a great wealth of pictures and also got in touch with band members who sent me hi-res scans.

Most if not all of these groups NEVER recorded anything, not even an acetate.


enjoy.

 

[paul messis]

 

[paul messis]

 

[paul messis]

 

[paul messis]

 

[pfft]

That's Gary Farr, isn't it? The double LP reissue on Sunbeam is great.

 

[paul messis]

Yeah bottom two bands are known.

Gary Farr and The Bones and Beat Merchants near the sea right at the bottom of the page.

Paul

 

[Phil Istine]

i could stare at these all day long Paul....*swoon*

good to see you sharing them with everyone. are these up on your blog?

 

[paul messis]

No.... but I have about 40 more, but I choose the best ones, the left overs are all kinda of the skiffle boom and early rock n roll/beat scene... they all looked pretty generic... the one's above are kinda like the cream of the crop really.

Nah they aren't on my blog I am afraid.

Paul

 

[Phil Istine]

fair enough.

i would love to see a book written on all the local scenes that cover the birth of British rock'n'roll though to the hippie era. One has been written for Northamptonshire - i got my Dad it for Christmas last year. Have Guitar Will Travel its called. I'm sure one exists for Liverpool. London would be a difficult one to not turn into an Encyclopedia volume...Sussex could be done if the right writer with the contacts could be found.

 

[paul messis]

There is a book Phil.... 'The South Coast Beat Scene'.... written by DJ Mike Read.... a few of the pics above are also featured in said book, although a great deal of the ones I have are not in the book strangely.

Sussex apparently had the biggest beat scene outside Liverpool, because during the early 60s they were planning to make Bognor Regis into some Hollywood of the UK.... the old 'Mods and Rockers' thing was huge here too.... there were thousands of bands based here, however only about 5 groups actually recorded anything.


Paul

 

[Phil Istine]

http://www.radiolondon.co.uk/sixties/mikereadbk/mrbook.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1903953146/radiolondon-21

 

[paul messis]

That's the one... the top link is the 1st pressing, full of typos and spelling mistakes.

I am assuming the bottom one is a 2nd newer pressing which has hopefully been copy-checked better.

 

[bosshoss]

Thanks Paul! A most excellent selection fully worthy of the Secret Society!

 

[beccabear67]

Hey Guys,

Coolness! But... forgive my ignorance what kind of obscure Fender-inspired European guitars are these? They look like they might actually be quite good. It looks like they had some commercial backing... same makes of gits, Beatle jackets... probably turned into a prog group in the '70s!

 

[paul messis]

I THINK Becca, that the group pictured above featured a VERY YOUNG Lindsay Muir from the Untamed (kid in the middle).... The Untamed were another local group from down in Worthing, I think this picture may feature a teenage Muir.

It's cool that you asked about the guitars.

A few years ago, I found two such guitars at a car boot sale, one was a Fenton Weill Guitar and the other a Hagstrom Futurama, the latter guitar has been used on all of my own recordings and could well have belonged to one of these groups.

During the early 60s beat scene in the UK.... instrument brands that were popular included, Burns; many groups used all manner of Burns instrumentation, Futurama was hugely popular, Hofner were big, Watkins guitars were very popular also.

Amplifiers that were used a great deal amongst the British Beat scene were VOX AC30's, Selmer Zodiacs, Burns amps.... The British scene kinda liked a crunchy sound.... the American teens used amps like Fender Showman, Fender Bandmaster, Tremolux's and Vox Royal Guardsmen.... the Fender amp sound rose from the Surf and even Rock-a-billy bands used Fender Amplification, Fender amps have a brighter sound.

I actually am on the look out for a Fender Showman amp and would swap my Vox Defiant amp head for one.

 

[beccabear67]

I've seen a few Futuramas with those cool chunky plastic toggle switches, and some Hofners too, was wondering if those Fender style gits were maybe Watkins but the heads are shaped a bit differently so possibly Burns? I don't know of Burns guitars at all. I've just heard of Grimshaw so I'm sure there are a lot of names I'm not familiar with from Europe. Selmer amps are really sharp sounding from what I've been able to hear. Trixon drums seem to have been popular in the 'beat' era in Europe but I've never seen them over here.

 

[Derf66]

Wow amazing stuff Paul!!!!

Freddy

 

[chas_kit]

Another one from Sussex area. This came from a glass negative!

http://www.garagehangover.com/?q=MysteryGroupUK

 

[The Swyne]

Another one from Sussex area. This came from a glass negative!

http://www.garagehangover.com/?q=MysteryGroupUK

Great picture!