1968 and Captain Beefheart

I'd already seen 'The Magical Mystery Tour' in black and white on Boxing Day and 10 days later I'm going to Pete's to see it again this time broadcast in colour, there's quite a few friends there - colour TVs aren't cheap so not many people have them.  After we'd all crowded into Pete's parents' living room the consensus was that the show was a pile of crap. I kind of liked it, some good songs I thought, although to be honest some of the visuals were a bit trite.

Saw Bonny and Clyde at midnight in Leicester Square, great film, extremely good casting, Faye Dunaway, Warren Beattie, Michael J Pollard, brilliant.

January 20th - what a fantastic Saturday night at Middle Earth - Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band (Alex St. Clair Snouffer, Jerry Handley, Jeff Cotton and John French/Drumbo). It was like someone had reached into my brain and seen exactly what I wanted to hear. The rhythm section, the guitars, the Captain, everything. They take the blues to a strange and fascinating new place. I totally love this band.

Fleetwood Mac, this time at the Manor House, I can't believe how many times I can see these guys, they are so good.

A big blues night at Middle Earth, Fleetwood Mac, Duster Bennet, Boilerhouse, Doc Ks and John Peel. Very strangely enough, me and Pamela saw Doc K's Blues Band play in Southgate in March 2010, the more things change the more they stay the same.

An odd gig today, Graham Bond Organisation lunchtime at the Pied Bull, Angel. Was good to see them of course but Graham Bond at lunchtime? Surely a person of the night.

March '68 and Tariq Ali is down at the barricades, Mick Jagger, Vanessa Redgrave have been protesting at the American Embassy. The Vietnam War is on everyone's mind, particularly young American men who are one of the many pawns in the game and are desperate to dodge the draft.  Who could blame them?

Jeremy Spencer was on good form tonight, Fleetwood Mac were on at the LSE, in between numbers he held up a condom filled with water (we hoped), saying 'it would take Mick Fleetwood a week to fill this and let's face it he's king wanker.' Audience fell about.  Some good jazz on too. Don Rendell and the Ian Carr Quintet, we really like Chris Spedding, Ian Carr's guitarist.

Sometimes we visited the Arts Lab on Drury Lane, occasionally good stuff happened. I love the idea of performance art, but in practice it often promises more than it ever delivers.

We'd seen Peter Green FM at the Fishmongers, and a week later at the Marquee, then went on to Middle Earth to see Arthur Brown set his head on fire again. How I find time to go to work, eat and sleep I have no idea.

May '68 and students are rioting in Paris, in fact they're rioting all over. De Gaulle has run off to Germany, how ironic is that? My old boyfriend JoMa is studying in Munich and is now extremely political and anti the Vietnam war as many are. We still write to each other at this point, but eventually we stopped and lost touch.

May 6th is Pete's birthday, he gets a car from his mum and dad, and a Skip James album from me, lucky old Pete. The following night we go see John Mayall at Klooks Kleek.

Michael Winner's film I'll Never Forget What's His Name, was on, with Carol White, Orson Welles and Oliver Reed, Marianne Faithfull, Edward Fox - wasn't bad.

A few days later me and Pamela go to what turns out to be one of my all time favourite gigs, Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band at the LSE. The majority of the audience were sat on the floor, we were up and dancing, the Captain spotted us and sang right to us -how good is that? And the night didn't end there we went on to Middle Earth to see the Byrds and Spider John Koerner, an almost impossible to beat, top class evening.

Four nights later we're back at Middle Earth to see the Byrds again, this time Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull come too.

21st May and Brian Jones has been caught with hash again. The police are determined. The establishment really do not like the power and influence they have and will not leave them alone.

One of our favourites, Julie Driscoll is on tonight, she has the best voice and spectacular phrasing.  The Skatalites are on too, I picked up a really good poster of theirs from the gig. An especially nice souvenir and decades later is framed and hanging on my kitchen wall!

We're stood in the Manor House waiting for Jeff Beck, the band were late arriving, which was not a problem, except that sometimes Jeff did a runner.  It was OK this time, the entire group turned up and were bloody great.

A new TV programme 'Colour Me Pop' an extension to Late Night Line Up on BBC2 started tonight 14th June. It helped if you had a colour TV, but it was good to have another music show nonetheless.  Manfred Mann was on, could be interesting, but not guaranteed, Free, Small Faces, Mothers of Invention. Brian Auger, Bonzo Dog (how we loved Viv Stanshall). A lot of dross too, but that's to be expected, dross is always king.

Truman Capote's film 'In Cold Blood' ooh this is good.

A good double today, a concert in Hyde Park- Pink Floyd, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Jethro Tull, Roy Harper. If there was a festival you could guarantee Roy would be there. You remember him - funny and folky with long blond hair. And on the way home as we walked up Kingsway we saw that 2001 A Space Odyssey was on at The Royalty Theatre so we nipped in to see that. A good weird way to finish the day.

July '68 Woburn, I'm there with Pete and Dave Ewer (he was in Rare Bird and Spinal Tap, probably other things too, but I don't remember). Paul Jones, ex Manfred Mann singer comes leaping on the stage shouting, ' Do you like good music?' about to enter into the well known song. Sadly the audience had moved on from sweet soul music and the loud en masse reply was, 'No'.  I felt a bit sorry for him, he had an entire set to wade through. We were all waiting for Jimi and his 'Purple Haze' - who of course did not disappoint. Jimi is a powerful presence - the other two not so much, but to be fair they were part of the magic, I don't know if it would have been better with other musicians - sometimes things work just because and together they surely made some great music.

Spent the night under canvas in a minute tent I'd borrowed from my brother - it's impossible to over state how much I loathe camping - the outdoors life does not call to me - ever, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Today's line up was good enough, Donovan, John Mayall, Champion J

ack Dupree, Tim Rose, Taste, Duster Bennett, but Jimi was the real reason for being there.

15th July opening night of Gary's (drummer in Pete's band) blues club in the Black Bull, Whetstone, Taste Rory Gallagher's band are on and  Pete is DJing. This is good news we have our own free club to visit.

The Country Club in Belsize Park is another good club, Tyrannosaurus Rex tonight.

The second of the Hyde Park Concerts, Nice, Traffic, Pretty Things, Action and Juniors Eyes, it was good, but not as good as the first one.

August and time for the Jazz and Blues Festival, this time it was being held in Sunbury. Jeff Beck lit up the place with some raging guitar. During Arthur Brown's dramatic set, a stand at the back collapsed and some people on or under the roof were hurt...but hey the show must go on and while the injured were being attended to Arthur brought on midgets, a choir, a fire eater and two jugglers.

The third Hyde Park concert, more Roy Harper, The Deviants, Ten Years After, Fleetwood Mac and Stefan Grossman, bit of a mixed bag from my point of view. I'm not that keen on outdoor music at the best of times - the sound is never very good and this line-up was of only partial interest for me.

Pete and I go to so many gigs, it is an endless stream and it seems like it will never end. Gary's club is going well, Pete is DJing there, and the bands Gary books are OK, not great but certainly OK. One night the Black Cat Bones are on, Gary tells them he doesn't have enough money to pay them, which goes down like a fart in a diver's helmet. A rumour goes round that the guitarist is carrying a gun and is not leaving without his money. Gary suddenly disappears and returns with the necessary dosh. Who knows how true the rumour was, but the threat worked a treat.

The lead is Marianne Faithfull, she'll be wearing a leather catsuit, riding a motorbike and having an affair with Alain Delon, this really must have been a difficult sell! 'Girl on a Motorcycle' wasn't the best film I'd ever seen, but I have to admit Marianne did look hot as did Alain.

Went to Camden Passage my friend from school Angela was working on a stall there, I bought a 1920's black beaded dress, which I do still have 40 years later, minus a few beads, it is a wonderful item.

The Jazz Expo is taking place at the Hammersmith Odeon, we see some top class American artists, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Reed, T-Bone Walker, Jerome Arnold. It's always a delight to see these guys, but would rather it took place in smaller surroundings.

Mothers of Invention at the Festival Hall, this is a really good band and especially love it when Frank and Captain Beefheart team up, they are hysterical together.

Jon Hiseman's Colisseum are playing at Gary's club tonight, with Jimmy Litherland playing guitar and singing, Dick Heckstall-Smith on sax, a very interesting line up, I really enjoyed it.

Back at the Country Club for the Pink Floyd. Mostly enjoyed it rather a lot, although I did get a bit desperate during the solo in 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun' - silently praying for the return of that well known riff.

We've been hearing about someone called Dr. John and his album 'Gris Gris', my friend Stephanie who works in her Dad's record shop get's a copy for me and I take it to a DJ gig Pete is doing at Notre Dame Hall in Leicester Square. Wow the voodoo is powerful tonight, the audience made him play the title track and 'Walk on Guilded Splinters' over and over.

A sad moment for music fans this November - the goodbye Cream gig at the Albert Hall, with Yes as support. I guess we understood they had to split up - before someone got hurt! But these three are a lot better together than they are apart. Brilliant gig,

10th December at The Marquee and the first time I saw Led Zeppelin, I thought they were funny and old fashioned. Jeff Beck had been doing this stuff for sometime and a whole lot better too, although Led Zep has a powerful rhythm section which could be a bit of a dodgy area with Jeff's band.  Luckily I've never had the desire to work in A and R.

Pete was playing with John Walden's blues band and they were going to be working in Paris for a couple of weeks. Oh no, my boyfriend will be away for Christmas and New Year, that's too bad.

I am not going to go to Trafalgar Square for New Year's Eve again, instead I've decided to go to Alexandra Palace with my boss Vicky. Not a bad night - Small Faces (the gig when Steve stormed off and left the band), Free, John Mayall, Spooky Tooth, Bonzo Dog some good bands, but I think lacking a really top act. Definitely an improvement on the Square. I don't know how we got home, I can remember being outside in the rain, walking through the mud in the Palace Gardens. Very possibly I was drunk.

The last year of the decade has begun.

1964,The Rolling Stones, John Lee Hooker,

1st January was the start of BBC's Top of the Pops.  This new year's day show included The Rolling Stones 'I Wanna Be Your Man', Dusty Springfield's 'I Only Want To Be With You' and the desperately 'square' Swinging Blue Jeans 'The Hippy Hippy Shake'.  The show finished with the current no.1 - The Beatles 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'.  Who knew the show would have a 42 year run?  We were just thrilled to get another music programme.

The Stones were seriously not popular with a big section of society, parents, establishment, Mary Whitehouse were all predictably appalled and thought they were a threat to the way of life we were currently enjoying. Hooray.  Having said this, not all teenagers liked them either.  Many of the girls in my class found them, filthy, disgusting or depraved and sometimes all three. 

For me music was a refuge from a world I didn't feel part of, it made sense and spoke to me in a way nothing else did.  In April I got to see the Stones play live at the NME All Star Concert at Wembley Empire Pool. There were lots of other performers, some good, some bad, the Stones were no disappointment, Mick and Brian looked fantastic, the music was great. 

Now I have a burning desire to see more live music, trouble is me and my friends are a bit young and many clubs do not really want 14 year old girls on the premises.  The blues scene was not new in London but it was now expanding at an unbelievable rate. This tiny island was a hot house for music, over the next decade some of the most amazing tracks ever recorded would be made here and we would witness some of the best live acts ever seen on a stage.  The Beatles were certainly the start, but they definitely weren't the finish.

After much whining and pleading my friend Pamela's older brother David agrees to take us to a blues club, as long as we don't embarrass him by mentioning the Rolling Stones.  To the blues purists the Stones had sold out by having records in the charts, Mick and Keith were not rated very highly, and plenty thought Charlie had made a definite wrong move by joining. We agree to his condition and are taken to the Manor House Blues Club to see Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames. What a fabulous gig, they were brilliant, with the many members of the Blue Flames squashed on to the tiny stage.  The unmistakable sound of the Hammond organ with the Leslie was just great.  Georgie's taste was a mix of jazz and blues, his set included 'Seventh Son' and 'Love the Life I Live' by his hero Mose Allison, we weren't especially fans of Mose, but we liked the way the band played and Georgie looked good.

This year we are heading to Blackpool for our family holiday and my schoolfriend Carol is coming. We have to share a bedroom with my Nan, who could snore for Europe and along with her hearing aid emitting a ear piercing whistle in the middle of the night, we got little sleep.  My Dad hung a blanket between my Nan's bed and ours, but what we actually needed was to be in another town.

One night we were treated to front row tickets for the ice show.  Dear god it was dull that is until a skater in a dodgy gorilla suit came gliding across the ice heading straight for my friend and gave her a big monkey hug. Carol was horrified and terminally embarrassed, I wanted to laugh till I was sick, but managed to control myself.  She was still bright red when we got back to the ghastly flat.

Luckily we are back in London by 4th July to see the Stones on Juke Box Jury to judge this week's singles. An extra chair had to be added as there were usually only 4 members of the jury.  It was almost not broadcast because they behaved 'so badly' in rehearsal.  David Jacobs, the DJ/presenter was a bit miffed, they'd made comments like 'I guess it's OK if you don't have any aspirin in the house'. All very satisfying for us.

We're at the Majestic Ballroom in Finsbury Park tonight (July 15th) to see The Pretty Things for 4 bob. In a headline they are described as 'The Group that Ungassed The Stones' ?! I like The Pretty Things but I doubt they ungassed the Stones - whatever it means.

4th National Jazz Festival at the Richmond Athletic Grounds, and me and Pamela had ten bob tickets for the 7th, the Friday night. It was quite a long way, we took the overground train and got there early enough to find seats quite near the stage. The T-Bones, the Authentics and the Grebbels were on the bill and I'm sure they were good, but I have little memory of them. We were there to see the Stones, the audience were serious music fans, sitting quietly and well behaved in their seats.  We did the same and watched in awe, Brian looked stunning, particularly when he played tambourine. Loved Bo Diddley's 'Mona', the beat hypnotic, the guitar amazing. I was in a dream world, time had stopped. Unfortunately they over ran and we missed the last train, had to phone home for help.  My Mum told me to get the tube to Kings Cross and my Dad would meet us in the car.  This would not be good, dragging my Dad out was not going to be a happy situation.  Pamela was dropped at Canonbury Court and we continued home in an angry irritated silence.  I was not popular.  But the gig was what mattered and it was no disappointment.

A new girl joined our class, Sandra Ratcliff, who I knew from my previous school William Tyndale. She'd been expelled from Highbury Hill Grammar and parcelled off to us.  She was quite a hit and could be entertaining.  In the sewing class presided over by the scary Mrs. Sills, she pretended to swallow a pin, all hell broke loose, teachers appeared from everywhere, she was given bread to eat, milk to drink and taken to hospital.  I have the feeling she was nearly expelled from our school too, but in the end she left of her own accord. Sandra went on to do some modelling and acted in movies 'Family Life' and 'The Final Programme', she later appeared in Eastenders for a couple of years as Sue Osman.

Our second visit to Manor House with David, was to see the legend, John Lee Hooker, the backing band was the Groundhogs. We grabbed a couple of chairs right at the front. Mr. Hooker walked from the dressing room and on to the stage with his guitar, he looked straight at the audience and began playing. He had a powerful presence and initially I found him quite intimidating. I felt like I was being tested. Are you ready for this little girl?  'Boom Boom', 'Crawlin' Kingsnake', 'Dimples', 'Boogie Chillun'.  This was the real thing, was I ready? You bet your life.

Back again next month for Jimmy Reed, Jimmy was very happy to be here and appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the surprising attention of the British blues fans.  He did 'Big Boss Man', 'Bright Lights Big City', 'Honest I Do' and loads more.  Them, the band with Van Morrison, were the support and the backing band for Jimmy.  They weren't a half bad blues band. Van was not the prettiest lead singer, but he had a good voice and was determined to show how versatile he was by playing everyone else's instrument and elbowing them out the way. Not sure what the rest of the band thought, we were slightly puzzled, but none the less amused.

Long John Baldry and his Hoochie Coochie Men often played the Manor House, Rod Stewart played harmonica and sang a few numbers, he seemed quite nervous and sometimes turned his back on the audience. He was very popular and often turned up in a red velvet suit. A rumour circulating at the time was that he wore women's underwear, don't remember if it was confirmed. 

Like much of the London blues scene, this band had its beginnings with Blues Incorporated, run by Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies, and was the catalyst for just about every group you could think of.  Brian, Mick, Keith and Charlie of the Stones played with them, as did Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Paul Jones and John Mayall. Long John sang with them before he joined Cyril Davies All Stars - Cyril had split with Alexis due to 'musical differences'. After Cyril's untimely death, Baldry formed the Hoochie Coochie Men with Jimmy Page and Nicky Hopkins, who had been in the All Stars. Later Rod Stewart known as Rod the Mod joined and, Jimmy and Nicky left...

Have to mention The Joe Loss Pop Show (BBC Radio Light Programme), as we there on a regular basis. Joe who was not our cup of tea, an ageing bandleader who had a hit with 'March of the Mods', an uptempo little ditty that was very, very annoying, but did have a spot on his show featuring current performers. We would go to the recordings at The Playhouse Theatre on Northumberland Avenue, down by the Embankment, where you'd get in for free and see some really top class acts. His show ran for some time, we saw Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds with Jeff Beck, Donovan, Cream, Georgie Fame, Sounds Inc., the Kinks... The show had a surprisingly good atmosphere and was often quite anarchic. Joe liked a bit of a laugh and so did the audience. One time he had Keith Relf conducting the orchestra while he (Joe) was dancing, it was really funny - maybe one of those things where you have to have been there.

Me and Pamela's interest in the Rolling Stones was increasing by the minute, we absolutely had to meet them in person, and thought our best bet was London Airport. So one day in October we made our attempt. Pamela stayed the night at my place, the alarm was set for 5.00am. We got up, got ready and left in the dark for the airport. Unfortunately nobody really knew how to get there, we'd looked at the bus map and worked out a route which involved more than a few different buses. Of course it took forever and as we arrived a couple of girls were coming out of the terminal, it was clear we we'd missed them. We must have looked so devastated they took pity on us and gave us the address of Mick and Keith's flat in Hampstead - this kind of information was usually a very closely guarded secret and rarely handed out. So a huge amount of thanks to whoever you were.

Soon after they came back from the States me and Pamela took the morning off school ( if anyone checked I must have attended the doctor's and dentist's with alarming regularity, but apart from an occasional raised eyebrow nothing was ever said), we took the tube to Hampstead and as we walked towards their flat on Holly Hill, Keith was looking out the window, stretching and yawning, we knocked on the door, chatted to them both and returned to see them again later that night. They were both really nice guys and gave freely of their time and continued to do so for the next couple of years. (Photo is of Keith at the door to the Holly Hill flat).

They worried about the amount of school we were missing. Mick told Pamela she should study and pass her exams, she told him she would. I think she may not have been strictly truthful. Mick wanted to know what kind of music we listened to, what singles we bought, what bands we liked. What we thought  of Little Millie's Ska track 'My Boy Lollipop'. That kind of stuff.

We could have surprisingly ordinary conversations. I'm not sure what other people thought was going on when we were with them, but my guess it was something quite different.

Mick and Keith's autographs Nov 1964

Mick's girlfriend, Chrissie Shrimpton, Keith's girlfriend, Linda Keith and his dog Ratbag all shared the flat.  The entrance via a long flight of stone steps, led to the first floor kitchen and living room with stairs down to the two adjoining bedrooms.  Mick's at the front painted green with a double bed and tiny electric fire on the wall and Keith's at the back much the same, but painted blue.  The bathroom was down there too which had the only toilet.

On one visit Pamela was desperate to use the loo, but Mick had just gone in for a bath and Keith said they had run out of toilet paper. We ran down to the tube station to use the Ladies, and of course the only paper on offer was the ludicrous invention sold by Bronco. We took a few sheets back anyway, but shiny toilet paper?! Really?!

Previously Brian, Mick and Keith shared a flat in Mapesbury Road. Mick and Keith took the Hampstead flat together, but Brian hadn't found a new place and was staying wherever - with his girlfriend Linda, sometimes with Charlie and Shirley, Phil May (Chester Street).