The Ozone layer, that’s another thing, what was Ozone? Maybe it was that new
washing powder that they advertised on TV.
Recession! What recession? As somebody famous once said ‘Crisis what Crisis’ - these
were the times of full employment, if you didn't like the job you were in you changed it.
It was that simple and this was the way of things in the early sixties.
For me, my life did change, I went on to cover those amazing live concerts and tour up
and down the country meeting and taking photographs of most of the famous groups of
the sixties. With the help of Brian Epstein and Andy Gray from New Musical Express
my work was now getting known and being published in Record Mirror, Fab208,
Melody Maker and many more magazines in this country and abroad.
The one-night tours were not easy, and the schedules were gruelling, working 12/14
dates two shows a night at various theatres and cinemas across the UK without a
break. The venue management were not always very responsive to having the Rolling
Stones at their cinema, and in many cases had a disdain for the changing face of
modern music or the people. You would arrive at a theatre around 2pm and be locked
in because of fans. Food was sent out for, sound checks were being completed for
all the supporting bands, and you knew you would be locked in until both shows had
finished this was usually around 10pm then you either had to drive to the next venue
or find a hotel locally that was prepared to put you up, and then move on the next day.
As the manager of the ABC at Romford once said, ‘Not only did I survive machine gun
and bomb attack on the cinema, I also lived through the live Stones concert unscathed’.
One particular night comes to mind, as it managed to gain notoriety with the Daily
papers of day. The incident that occurred, however by today’s standard of drunken
behaviour amongst the youth culture of binge drinking, would not even warrant a
mention. The Fifth U.K. Rolling Stones package tour was going to be very intense,
starting on the 5th March 1965 at Edmonton, and playing 14 nights across the country.
It occurred as the band left Southend late at night, and Bill was in urgent need to take
a leak as they were being driven back to London. They pulled into a service station at
Stratford to ask the attendant if he could use the toilet and was told NO there isn’t
one and get out of the garage. Bill was now bursting to go, so Mick and Brian also
asked but to no avail and were told to leave.
I can remember being on tour with The Who, when they had finished their performance,
and Keith Moon, dripping with sweat, a towel around his neck came off stage to find
that the manager of the cinema had locked his dressing room door to avoid anyone
stealing his belongings as keep sakes. Well to say Keith was not impressed would be
an understatement, he put shoulder to the door that didn’t budge, turned, and walked
down the corridor and came back with the fire axe, and took the door down. Another
incident involving Keith was a theatre where the dressing rooms were under the stage,
where there was a large open area full off panto-props and spare electrical fittings, well
Keith in his wisdom thought it would be a good laugh to throw the mains switch. We all
stood there in pitch dark, while Keith used the 6ft fluorescent tubes as javelins we were
petrified as all we good hear was the whoosh of the tubes heading our way! Luckily, no
one was injured.
These are great memories, which I hope you have enjoyed, but let’s not look back for
too long, because as the man said that was ‘Yesterday’. I was asked recently on a live
radio show “did I think at the time my work would become collectable in the future?” my
reply was that in those days anyone over forty was old, and no one had plans to live
that long.
If I was asked to recall my very own special moment from those days it would be of
being on tour with The Beatles and it will stay with me forever, I was in a dressing room
at the Poll Winners Concert at Wembley in 1964, when George Harrison picked up his
guitar put his foot up on a Vox AC30 Amp and played the intro to ‘I Feel Fine’ complete
with the feedback - just like the recording - I was simply gob smacked! we talked, I took
pictures, and they went on stage to perform ‘I Feel Fine’.
