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Nice to see my older brother acquiring a
presence on the internet 41 years after his untimely death - thanks,
Alan - although I'm sure James would have been amused that it's on a
showband site. I know that he (and probably the rest of the band)
regarded showbands as a relic of the '50s. The trouble was, it was
the only way to get gigs, since dancehall owners didn't like rock
bands, and there weren't really any other places to play then. Pubs
closed at ten, and Kelly's was only just getting started. So that
meant white corduroy suits and floral shirts and ploughing through
dreadful country and western crowd pleasers just to get to play
Knock on Wood and Midnight Hour etc. I remember that Barry had a
copy of Solid Gold Soul Vol 1, which was my introduction to Otis
Redding (Barry did a great version of Mr Pitiful).
I was an occasional bass player with the band
for a few months in 1966/67, I think after Alan left and before Ivor
Gordon took over, and James still had his Fender Jazz bass then, so
I got to play that, through a Selmer treble'n'bass 50, part of a
full brand new Selmer backline (couldn't afford Marshalls) which
looked very impressive at the time, In fact, we played support for
The Fortunes - in Edendork Parochial Hall of all places - and when
they saw our gear already set up they asked if they could use it, to
save the trouble of hauling their stuff up the stairs. Couldn't
really refuse - these people had a hit record after all - but
afterwards Charlie looked in the back of their van and realised
their gear was a pile of old junk. Chancers.
The Scene also supported Peter Frampton's first
band The Herd in the Strand ballroom, and Portstewart was covered in
DayGlo posters reading HERD + SCENE. I wish I had kept one of them,
but the best poster of all was the one that read CREAM + TASTE +
SCENE in the Strand and then the following night in the Guildhall in
Derry. Well, Cream didn't turn up* (their gear was stuck in America)
but it was no big deal because we were completely blown away by a
nineteen year old Rory Gallagher. The next night in Derry I remember
standing on the stage after the equipment had been set up staring at
Rory's strat (which even then had half the finish missing) and when
everybody else was backstage I lifted it, strummed a single chord
and quickly put it back on the stand, terrified I might break it.
Like Alan says, those were great times. I had
just turned 16 and feel very lucky that James let me experience some
of it. Most big brothers - he was six years older - would not have
tolerated their little brother hanging around. We played in the Quay
Road Hall in Ballycastle, the Floral Hall, Queen's Students Union
(good audiences - the students wanted to hear soul), and one night
in the Ulster Hall - opening for Eileen Reid and the Cadets
(ridiculous uniforms), before shifting all the gear up the road to
the Dub for a Queens rugby club dance. Best gig of all was the
Coleraine High School Formal in 1967.
Thanks, James
Glenn Atchison, Belfast. May 2012
Acheson, Atchinson, Atkinson, Aitchison. A few
alternative spellings (being for the benefit of Mr Google)
*Cream did play a couple of months later, but
they could only honour one date, so Bobby Platt won on the toss of a
coin, apparently. |
