In the early part of 1971 I did a few more gigs with Roy St John at
folk clubs but we then decided to try a band format again. Roy had
many songs that justified being played loud and with more of a rock
arrangement.
Chris Hall joined us on drums and we formed Swamp. We played the
Rainbow Club several times. Attendances were now much larger than
in the early days, particularly at the all night gigs. Steve
Crossley (formerly with skinhead band Bootlace Fungus) later joined
us on bass guitar.
Roy St John did return to the US and was living in St Louis,
Missouri, but he has since moved back to the UK. |
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Later that same year I began jamming and writing with vocalist /
pianist / bass guitarist Simon Wiltshire.
This marked the beginning of a more experimental approach to music -
avoiding the obvious and conventional rock styles. Chris Hall again
joined us as drummer - however, Simon's career in teaching meant a
move from Alton, Hampshire to London and much of our labours never
bore fruit.
Simon and I did a couple of local gigs at the end of the year, still
using the band name Phoenix Gnasha, but before he departed he did
put me in touch with a couple of local lads, Paul Coaker and Kev
Wilcox, who were planning to get a band together. |
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I started jamming with Paul (on bass) and Kevin (on drums) at the
music workshop near Fleet, Hampshire, and with Stan Bailey on
guitar.
This became the line-up of the band Rocharch. We did a few gigs,
including one at the end of the Santa Pod drag strip in
Bedfordshire but we split up when Stan left to pursue his main
ambition to become a classical violinist.
Windsor 1972
Paul and I played the Windsor Free Festival that August with a
stand-in drummer called 'The Baron'. Eventually, John Bland joined
us as regular drummer and this became the Ebling Mis band of 1973. |
