Cliff & The Drifters BBC live 10" latest news

[ecca]

Living Loving Doll has an unusual guitar tone from Hank.

[Ramon]

Are these the famous BBC sessions that couldn't be released for copyright/ ownership reasons? Glad that it's been sorted out if that was the case.

Good album picture with (what seem to be) spots on both Bruce's and Hank's faces ! I reckon they were roughly 15 years old at the time ...

[Pedro]

No idea who the drummer is (though not, I think, Terry Smart, and certainly not Tony Meehan).

The Gibson looks like an ES125, or maybe an ES125C - and even then, it had to be ten or eleven years old, minimum (because of the "old" script logo). Clearly, the picture dates from the period approximately January 1959 to when the red Strat arrived.

JN

Has anyone any idea where Terry Smart is now. It is common knowledge he joined the Merchant Navy (hope he did not become a Steward) when he left the Drifters. Did he stay at sea.???

[JimN]

Has anyone any idea where Terry Smart is now. It is common knowledge he joined the Merchant Navy (hope he did not become a Steward) when he left the Drifters. Did he stay at sea.???

I heard a rumour that he changed his name to John Prescott.

JN

[Pedro]

Either that or Tony Woodley.
When you stop and think about it Prescott and Woodley did women out of work at sea and end up in positions of power ashore

[JimN]

Are these the famous BBC sessions that couldn't be released for copyright/ ownership reasons? Glad that it's been sorted out if that was the case.

Some of them.

The ones more than 50 years old. The plan is to release more as the 50-year rule allows.

JN

[Geoff Alderton LH]

Hi all.
Just given the new 10" vinyl a spin and it's OK apart from the two track's, on side one, Move It and High Class Baby. The sound on these two tracks is well below par compaired to the other eight tracks. Is there a reason why these two tracks havent cleaned up like the other eight? I dont know the answer to this one. Maybe they cant be cleaned up, maybe the original tapes are in bad nick. I dont know but it's just a little bit disappointing on an otherwise super piece of vinyl.
Regards Geoff.

[Rumbolus]

Geoff,
if you have Rob Bradford's definative list of Sat Club recordings in front of you I can answer your questions.
Producer Bernie Andrews first recorded Cliff & Drifters for the 18th April 1959 edition of 'Saturday Club' (a live show in fact with a dozen or so teenage girls invited into Manchester's BBC studios. Hence you can hear occasional screams during 'Apron Strings', 'Ready Teddy' and 'Don't Bug Me Baby').
Andrews professionally recorded a total of 12 shows between 18th April '59 and the 14th October 1961. In each of those dozen shows Cliff and/or The Shads recorded an average of 6-8 tracks. Andrews preserved all those in beautiful quality.

Prior to that 18th April '59 show Cliff & Drifters had appeared on three Saturday Clubs: 25th October 1958 (Cliff without Drifters of which nothing exists), the 27th December 1958 and 14th March 1959. These last two shows were fortunately recorded off-air by a rock 'n' roll fan from Bristol - and it is his versions of 'Move It!' and 'High Class Baby' (both from the 27th December edition) which are featured on the new LP. They are probably the only surviving copies in the world, so i think the decision to include them in the final LP selection is justified.
A very comprehensive CD will hopefully follow before Christmas, and should include every single one of the Saturday Club recordings made during 1959.
I have been involved in this project and the intention is for Rollercoaster to release two more volumes of Cliff/Shads 'Saturday Club' sessions (for 1960 and 1961) next year and in 2012.

[Geoff Alderton LH]

Hi Paul.
Thank you for your reply. You are quite correct in saying the decision to include them on the LP is the correct one and considering what you have said regarding the way they were recorded, I for one am greatful they were. Do I take it we will be getting two more LP's then in the future and not just CD's.

Regards Geoff.

[Rumbolus]

Yes that's the intention Geoff!

Interesting comments re. the picture sleeve and top marks to Martin for suggesting that the drummer in the pic is Don Storer, I think he's right! ..though i can't confirm that. Don was the partner of organist Cherry Wainer and both were regulars in the Lord Rockingham's XI on Jack Good's 'Oh Boy!' tv series at the time.
My hunch is this 'posed' picture was taken at the Commodore Theatre in Hammersmith during the run of the "Oh Boy!" Stage Show between Sunday 25th January and Friday 30th January 1959. Lord Rockingham's XI all wore outlandishly colourful pink suits for the tv series and the stage show.. (just look at the 'Oh Boy!' LP cover) - a spectacle which was totally lost when tele-broadcast in black and white of course. Don Storer is in a pink suit on this new Rollercoaster LP release (if you look closely you can see he's wearing pink trousers) which lends support to this theory.

I've done a small write-up about that week-long stage show here......
http://ohboy.110mb.com/id38.htm

Cliff was very close to Cherry and Don at this time. Cherry often chaparoned Cliff to venues in her car and Cliff often slept at their flat in the Edgeware Road when he couldnt get back home to the sticks in Cheshunt after gigs. Cliff would go on to rent his own flat in Marylebone High Street shortly after in February '59.
It was also in January 1959 that Cliff first met his new manager-to-be Tito Burns - and it was Cherry who initiated that first meeting.

The only thing that doesn't fit is the absense of Tony Meehan. If this picture does indeed date from late January 1959 wouldn't Tony Meehan have been a full-time Drifter by then? Perhaps he was just on the verge of joining or alternately his services at the "Oh Boy!" Stage Show were not required. It would be wonderful to hear the recollections from somebody who was actually there!