I'm sure a lot will remember Avenida. My memory isn't great, and I will try to get this confirmed when my mate is back from hols. We walked past and a sign in the door said George Williams of the Tymes was on that night. We went in and couldn't believe we saw him there. If I remember rightly he had either bought the restaurant or part of the restaurant. My mate kept asking him to sing a song called 'The Crutch' !! Anyone add to this?
I'm sure a lot will remember Avenida. My memory isn't great, and I will try to get this confirmed when my mate is back from hols. We walked past and a sign in the door said George Williams of the Tymes was on that night. We went in and couldn't believe we saw him there. If I remember rightly he had either bought the restaurant or part of the restaurant. My mate kept asking him to sing a song called 'The Crutch' !! Anyone add to this?
That's a great story! Avenida still stages tribute acts. Are you certain you weren't entertained by George Williams' lookalike?
I'm sure a lot will remember Avenida. My memory isn't great, and I will try to get this confirmed when my mate is back from hols. We walked past and a sign in the door said George Williams of the Tymes was on that night. We went in and couldn't believe we saw him there. If I remember rightly he had either bought the restaurant or part of the restaurant. My mate kept asking him to sing a song called 'The Crutch' !! Anyone add to this?
That's a great story! Avenida still stages tribute acts. Are you certain you weren't entertained by George Williams' lookalike?
Cannot imagine a George Williams tribute act would make a living. It was him.
The Bal Tabarin, believe it was alongside the Downham Tavern if memory recollects, and was a good venue. Amongst many bands, I saw Procol Harum there back in '67 when A Whiter Shade of Pale was at No. 1.
Popular Ska band I used to see all over the place was Gino Washington and the Ram Jam Band, great stuff.
Last saw them about 8 years ago at Blackheath. Can't say whether they were any good or not as I was absolutely smashed (not sure why, didn't intend to). Last thing I remember was talking to @Charlton Dan dad at the bar. God knows what he must have made of me.
anyone ever go to the huge ballroom, the 'Purley Orchid' ? .
Have great memories of the Orchid in the mid-60's, 5 or 6 of us used to pile into a mates Ford Anglia and head for there from St Paul's Cray, after playing for Royal Park (Sidcup team) in the afternoon. Met my 1st Mrs there. Also Bromley Court on a Monday night, we saw the Who there when their first hit ''Can't Explain' was just out. Also remember a club right next door to Bromley South Stn. Also club in St Mary's Cray (name skipped my memory). On a Sunday night a few of us would go down to the Tigers Head (Bellingham) where the Bonzo Dog DoDa band were playing in the hall behind the pub. Any other CAFC supporters remember those great days!
Popular Ska band I used to see all over the place was Gino Washington and the Ram Jam Band, great stuff.
Last saw them about 8 years ago at Blackheath. Can't say whether they were any good or not as I was absolutely smashed (not sure why, didn't intend to). Last thing I remember was talking to @Charlton Dan dad at the bar. God knows what he must have made of me.
They were soul, slightly adopted by the Northern Soul crowd. Not a ska band.
Still haven't found anyone else who saw the Barren Knights at Billy Smart's circus (or was it Chipperfield's?) in about '64 or '65. Probably never will!
Yes viewfinder, Camel are really brilliant......Andy Latimer is without doubt a superb and very underrated guitarist. Stationary Traveller is my favourite track......the live version at Hammersmith Odeon being the best version but rather difficult to find?
Apparently, live footage is intermixed with rather hammy visuals set in East Berlin and directed by Mike Mansfield. A DVD of concerts in Japan last year is just out.
Yes viewfinder, Camel are really brilliant......Andy Latimer is without doubt a superb and very underrated guitarist. Stationary Traveller is my favourite track......the live version at Hammersmith Odeon being the best version but rather difficult to find?
Apparently, live footage is intermixed with rather hammy visuals set in East Berlin and directed by Mike Mansfield. A DVD of concerts in Japan last year is just out.
Something rather strange happened when Pressure Points was released......those days on vinyl, audio cassette and VIdeo Cassette. Stationary Traveller was left off of the vinyl and Video Cassette though was on the Video Cassette (which I have)! All very strange and I never did find out why. Later a CD was released.....same again no Stationary Traveller! Then later still a DVD was released and one assumes due to public pressure it was included! Thanks for the other comments VF.
It's funny, somehow Camel passed me by back in the day. Of course we didn't have the likes of Spotify back then, so unless you heard them on Sounds of the Seventies or something (I never did), or saw them live, you'd have to take a chance and buy the album. So I've finally had a listen and was surprised how good they actually were.
I had the HH& album, but it's never been reissued or released on Spotify for some reason, I used to sell most of my albums at school to finance the purchase of new ones. Including that one unfortunately.
I was at boarding school in Canterbury and had a 'Canterbury scene' phase. Hatfield & The North, Caravan, Matching Mole etc. Went to a lot of gigs at Kent university (including Captain Beefheart) and saw the MC5 at the Odeon.
I'm dead impressed that you were part of the Canterbury scene, James – I'm still raving over Caravan, first seen at the Marquee in Wardour Street in 1973, and most recently at the Mount Ephraim festival near Faversham last year. Pye Hastings, Geoff Richardson and Jan Schelhaas are still in the band. I got to know Richard Sinclair quite well in the 90s, doing the photos for his CDs.
My favourite of all the Caravan albums is 'For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night', 1973: rockier than many others, with John G. Perry (later in Quantum Jump) on bass, and drummer Richard Coughlan in his most urgent, driving form. Have a listen to the track 'A Hunting We Shall Go': written in the difficult time signature of 19 / 8, usually the preserve of rarefied jazz, yet Coughlan storms through it without batting an eyelid. Absolutely bloody marvellous!
Since this thread is set in south-east London, I must recommend Caravan's 'Live at the Fairfield Halls, 1974', released in 2002. Most of 'Plump In The Night' is here, along with other great stuff.
Did you attend King's School at Canterbury, James? In the footsteps of the great Somerset Maugham?
No, St Edmund's. Orlando Bloom. Lawrence Durrell. Less salubrious!
Popular Ska band I used to see all over the place was Gino Washington and the Ram Jam Band, great stuff.
Last saw them about 8 years ago at Blackheath. Can't say whether they were any good or not as I was absolutely smashed (not sure why, didn't intend to). Last thing I remember was talking to @Charlton Dan dad at the bar. God knows what he must have made of me.
They were soul, slightly adopted by the Northern Soul crowd. Not a ska band.
They were definitely a Ska/bluebeat band when I used to see them in the late sixties. Nice brass section. Maybe they changed their genre later, maybe I'm losing it. Used to go as far as Folkestone sometimes to see them.
Yes viewfinder, Camel are really brilliant......Andy Latimer is without doubt a superb and very underrated guitarist. Stationary Traveller is my favourite track......the live version at Hammersmith Odeon being the best version but rather difficult to find?
Apparently, live footage is intermixed with rather hammy visuals set in East Berlin and directed by Mike Mansfield. A DVD of concerts in Japan last year is just out.
Yes viewfinder, Camel are really brilliant......Andy Latimer is without doubt a superb and very underrated guitarist. Stationary Traveller is my favourite track......the live version at Hammersmith Odeon being the best version but rather difficult to find?
Apparently, live footage is intermixed with rather hammy visuals set in East Berlin and directed by Mike Mansfield. A DVD of concerts in Japan last year is just out.
Something rather strange happened when Pressure Points was released......those days on vinyl, audio cassette and VIdeo Cassette. Stationary Traveller was left off of the vinyl and Video Cassette though was on the Video Cassette (which I have)! All very strange and I never did find out why. Later a CD was released.....same again no Stationary Traveller! Then later still a DVD was released and one assumes due to public pressure it was included! Thanks for the other comments VF.
It's funny, somehow Camel passed me by back in the day. Of course we didn't have the likes of Spotify back then, so unless you heard them on Sounds of the Seventies or something (I never did), or saw them live, you'd have to take a chance and buy the album. So I've finally had a listen and was surprised how good they actually were.
I had the HH& album, but it's never been reissued or released on Spotify for some reason, I used to sell most of my albums at school to finance the purchase of new ones. Including that one unfortunately.
I was at boarding school in Canterbury and had a 'Canterbury scene' phase. Hatfield & The North, Caravan, Matching Mole etc. Went to a lot of gigs at Kent university (including Captain Beefheart) and saw the MC5 at the Odeon.
I'm dead impressed that you were part of the Canterbury scene, James – I'm still raving over Caravan, first seen at the Marquee in Wardour Street in 1973, and most recently at the Mount Ephraim festival near Faversham last year. Pye Hastings, Geoff Richardson and Jan Schelhaas are still in the band. I got to know Richard Sinclair quite well in the 90s, doing the photos for his CDs.
My favourite of all the Caravan albums is 'For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night', 1973: rockier than many others, with John G. Perry (later in Quantum Jump) on bass, and drummer Richard Coughlan in his most urgent, driving form. Have a listen to the track 'A Hunting We Shall Go': written in the difficult time signature of 19 / 8, usually the preserve of rarefied jazz, yet Coughlan storms through it without batting an eyelid. Absolutely bloody marvellous!
Since this thread is set in south-east London, I must recommend Caravan's 'Live at the Fairfield Halls, 1974', released in 2002. Most of 'Plump In The Night' is here, along with other great stuff.
Did you attend King's School at Canterbury, James? In the footsteps of the great Somerset Maugham?
No, St Edmund's. Orlando Bloom. Lawrence Durrell. Less salubrious! </blockquote
Still haven't found anyone else who saw the Barren Knights at Billy Smart's circus (or was it Chipperfield's?) in about '64 or '65. Probably never will!
Still haven't found anyone else who saw the Barren Knights at Billy Smart's circus (or was it Chipperfield's?) in about '64 or '65. Probably never will!
anyone ever go to the huge ballroom, the 'Purley Orchid' ? .
Have great memories of the Orchid in the mid-60's, 5 or 6 of us used to pile into a mates Ford Anglia and head for there from St Paul's Cray, after playing for Royal Park (Sidcup team) in the afternoon. Met my 1st Mrs there. Also Bromley Court on a Monday night, we saw the Who there when their first hit ''Can't Explain' was just out. Also remember a club right next door to Bromley South Stn. Also club in St Mary's Cray (name skipped my memory). On a Sunday night a few of us would go down to the Tigers Head (Bellingham) where the Bonzo Dog DoDa band were playing in the hall behind the pub. Any other CAFC supporters remember those great days!
I think your missing St Mary Cray club might be The Iron Curtain.
Popular Ska band I used to see all over the place was Gino Washington and the Ram Jam Band, great stuff.
Saw them at the Falcon mid sixties.
Dave Hutton who ran the event hasn't stopped talking about about it ever since.....was one of the greatest nights of his life. He was right too.......I was there right at the front as I always was when Geno and the boys were in town. Greatest live act I have ever seen for pure energy, non stop action and connection with the fans. Completely bombed with their record sales unfortunately but live they were by far the most popular and best stage act on the club circuit at the time, for around four years or so.
A couple of other bits of info I have seen misquoted on here in the past. They were not named after The Ram Jam Club in Brixton......it was the other way around. If you go north bound up the A1, approximately 14 miles south of Grantham, there is a pub/ hotel called The Ram Jam Inn.......they were named after that after often using it as a stop off point to and from gigs oooop north whilst going by the name of The Zephyrs. They changed their name circa1963. The Ram Jam Inn closed down about 5 years ago and sadly remains empty. Secondly, they never played The El Partido in Lewisham (despite one or two people on here claiming they did)....way too small a venue for them. Strangely enough I don't ever recall them playing at The Ram Jam Club in Brixton either....had they have done I would certainly have gone there, and besides they were more or less in direct competition with Jimmy James and The Vagabonds, who were the resident band there at the time. Geno and the band were based and operated out of Spingbank Road, alongside Hither Green Station.
I'm sure a lot will remember Avenida. My memory isn't great, and I will try to get this confirmed when my mate is back from hols. We walked past and a sign in the door said George Williams of the Tymes was on that night. We went in and couldn't believe we saw him there. If I remember rightly he had either bought the restaurant or part of the restaurant. My mate kept asking him to sing a song called 'The Crutch' !! Anyone add to this?
That's a great story! Avenida still stages tribute acts. Are you certain you weren't entertained by George Williams' lookalike?
Cannot imagine a George Williams tribute act would make a living. It was him.
My mate who was with me is back and reminds me it was George Williams himself having moved to the UK. I always thought he had bought a part of the restaurant, but I'm told otherwise. To this day we have no idea why such a star was playing Avenida. The year , I am told, was 1980. George died in 2004. Having settled in the UK, he died on a trip back to The States to visit family. In those days we used to go to The Circus Tavern a lot. Remember seeing a group called Herb Reed and Sweet River. Turned out to be a spin off from The Platters as Herb Reed was an original member. The lead female vocalist was a beautiful lady called Regina Koco. To add to that, Eddie Holman once turned up at The Marlowe Rooms, and saw George Macrae at Downtown.
George Williams lived in Canterbury at some stage, great singer, Always packed the Herne Bay British Legion to the rafters when he appeared there. We would have paid good money to see him. Great singer and really decent all round nice bloke. I always thought he was too good for our Legion!!!
George Williams lived in Canterbury at some stage, great singer, Always packed the Herne Bay British Legion to the rafters when he appeared there. We would have paid good money to see him. Great singer and really decent all round nice bloke. I always thought he was too good for our Legion!!!
Comments
anyone ever go to the huge ballroom, the 'Purley Orchid' ? .
Have great memories of the Orchid in the mid-60's, 5 or 6 of us used
to pile into a mates Ford Anglia and head for there from St Paul's Cray,
after playing for Royal Park (Sidcup team) in the afternoon.
Met my 1st Mrs there. Also Bromley Court on a Monday night,
we saw the Who there when their first hit ''Can't Explain' was just out.
Also remember a club right next door to Bromley South Stn.
Also club in St Mary's Cray (name skipped my memory).
On a Sunday night a few of us would go down to the Tigers Head
(Bellingham) where the Bonzo Dog DoDa band were playing in the hall
behind the pub. Any other CAFC supporters remember those great days!
Probably never will!
He was right too.......I was there right at the front as I always was when Geno and the boys were in town.
Greatest live act I have ever seen for pure energy, non stop action and connection with the fans.
Completely bombed with their record sales unfortunately but live they were by far the most popular and best stage act on the club circuit at the time, for around four years or so.
They were not named after The Ram Jam Club in Brixton......it was the other way around.
If you go north bound up the A1, approximately 14 miles south of Grantham, there is a pub/ hotel called The Ram Jam Inn.......they were named after that after often using it as a stop off point to and from gigs oooop north whilst going by the name of The Zephyrs. They changed their name circa1963.
The Ram Jam Inn closed down about 5 years ago and sadly remains empty.
Secondly, they never played The El Partido in Lewisham (despite one or two people on here claiming they did)....way too small a venue for them. Strangely enough I don't ever recall them playing at The Ram Jam Club in Brixton either....had they have done I would certainly have gone there, and besides they were more or less in direct competition with Jimmy James and The Vagabonds, who were the resident band there at the time.
Geno and the band were based and operated out of Spingbank Road, alongside Hither Green Station.
In those days we used to go to The Circus Tavern a lot. Remember seeing a group called Herb Reed and Sweet River. Turned out to be a spin off from The Platters as Herb Reed was an original member. The lead female vocalist was a beautiful lady called Regina Koco.
To add to that, Eddie Holman once turned up at The Marlowe Rooms, and saw George Macrae at Downtown.
Always packed the Herne Bay British Legion to the rafters
when he appeared there. We would have paid good money to see him.
Great singer and really decent all round nice bloke.
I always thought he was too good for our Legion!!!