THE ACADEMY OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC (ACM), the world leader in music industry education, has announced that it is to take a 20-year lease charge for the Guildford arts venue known as The Electric Theatre. ACM’s 21-year history and 10,000 alumni legacy has made it a major player in the Guildford community, having generated and invested…
It is amazing to think that it took three bored art-school dropouts — suburban middle-class white boys from Surrey — to rekindle the flames of desire for the introverted music we now as the demon-ridden Delta blues. That was back in the mid 1960s and their reinterpretations have lived on. Inspiring a whole new and…
Lost in the Kent near-suburbs of the London Borough of Bromley, Beckenham (near the Surrey borders) is a small post town that boasted not only Peter Frampton and David Sylvian but also, perhaps more importantly, the star-man David Bowie. Born David Robert Jones, Bowie was born in Brixton, South London but his family moved to…
Meal Ticket were a country rock band that played the London pub circuit in 1970’s. The Canadian performer Rick Jones wrote many of their songs. Steve Simpson and Willy Finlayson played guitars (plus additional instruments ) in the original band. Now the two famous guitarists play local venues as a trio named (understandably) “Half a…
“Screaming Lord Sutch” created several horror-themed singles during the early to mid 1960s – including some revolutionary sounding recordings produced by audio pioneer Joe Meek [see below]. His outrageous stage antics pre-dated Alice Cooper and Marilyn Manson and he fully embraced the idea of ‘multi-media’ publicity in a way that few other musical artists dared…
“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is a song written by George Harrison, and first recorded by the Beatles for their 1968 “White Album” – the song was probably worked upon and elaborated at Harrison’s home in Claremont Drive, Esher, Surrey :- “Kinfauns” . The song features a lead guitar solo by Eric Clapton – born…
The ‘Yardbirds’ cut two singles in the 1960’s. One of these – “For Your Love” – sold over a million copies and was their first recording success. The single was written by multi-instrumentalist and composer Graham Gouldman – later of 10cc. (Gouldman also wrote the Sixties chidren’s favourite “No Milk Today” for ‘Herman’s Hermits.’) The…
In the long, cold January of 1963 the Jones’s (Paul and Brian) left the ‘Roosters’. (A young fellow named Eric Clapton shortly joined the ‘Roosters’ as the new lead guitarist – but that’s another story.) Slide guitarist Brian Jones placed an advert in “Jazz News” inviting musicians to join a new R&B adventure that he was…
In 1964 Jeff Beck appeared as a session guitarist on “I’m Not Running Away” a song recorded at Pye by the Manchester-based band ‘The Fitz & Startz.’ Although it was a one-hit wonder for ‘The Fitz & Startz’ it marked the beginning of a profitable career as a session musician for Jeff Beck. Related articles…
Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt married at St Mary’s Church Ewell. It is still a beautiful country church-yard – with an interesting history. The church is home to the 1889 ‘Father’ Henry Willis pipe organ. The name Ewell derives from æwell, which means river source. The Hogsmill River rises in Ewell and runs to the Thames via Kingston upon Thames.…
Rocking Surrey 