Having watched the superb biopic Cilla, Sheridan Smith played the main role brilliantly; I have been recalling my memories of 1960’s Brighton. My introduction to rock music came in 1961 when a friend of mine obtained tickets to an Adam Faith show, at the Essoldo in North Street. The show included Gene Vincent, a wild rocking American with a reputation for hell-raising as well as playing proper rock music. Gene’s music was not played on the BBC as it only played music deemed suitable by the Governors. We had listened to some of his records thanks to a guitar-playing friend of my older brother. Having heard our parents tut-tut over stories of him in the press Gene was deemed subversive, rebellious and underground – perfect for us. Adam was considered a nice young man and if my sister had bought him home he would have been welcomed with open arms. Unlike the man we had heard so much about and wanted to see. Our leather-clad hero strutted onto the stage and Brighton rocked.
Brighton kept on rocking through the 60’s and into the 70’s as all the major tours came to town, usually at the Dome although up to 1965 some played the Hippodrome. Brighton had them all, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Donovan, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah band – you name them they played here. Sussex University also hosted some great gigs as did the Metropole Hotel and The Big Apple (what was the Regent Ballroom).
In the days before ‘health and safety’ was invented, or created like Frankenstein’s monster, Brighton had venues easily accessible and within a few streets of everyone. Most church halls put on band nights alongside youth clubs, boys brigade or scouts. It was always possible to find live music somewhere and everyone knew someone in a band. There was so much opportunity for creativity and developing talent by playing live. Bands built up their own followings which encouraged venues to book them as they ensured a crowd. It was natural selection with original talent, natural showmanship and quality rising to the top. A plethora of excellent bands rose up in Brighton, these included The Blues Creatures with brothers Pete and Eddy Sayer in the line-up. Eddy drummed in several bands and achieved success in Scandinavia with the band Shelley. Pete and Eddy also played together in The Dimensions. There was The Plain and Fancy featuring Alan Moscrop on keyboards, The Alex Lane Band (Alex played in several bands as did many of the best local musicians); Sound Around with the beautiful Carole Albon on vocals, The Mike Stuart Span and the legendary Gary Farr and the T-Bones. Keyboard virtuoso Keith Emerson played in the T-Bones 1965 -1966, the final year of the bands life. He had previously played in another Brighton outfit called John Brown’s Bodies. The Beat Merchants were officially from Horsham but they became a leading Brighton band.
Amongst the local venues there was Brighton’s own Cavern – The Starlight Rooms, The Florida Rooms, the original Concorde and The Klik in the basement of the Brighton Boys club in Edward Street. The Klik was a small, atmospheric venue showcasing Brighton bands interspersed with music from outside the ‘Hit parade’. There were occasional visiting bands from further afield such as The Longboatmen from Sweden. The Brighton College of Technology played host to some excellent gigs. The Move, just prior to releasing their first single Night of Fear, played there supported by Sound Around. We had not heard of The Move but Carole mentioned to a friend of mine that they were a great band. How right she was!
2nd December 1967 was a night to remember. Jimi Hendrix headlined the following line-up The Move, Amen Corner, The Nice, Pink Floyd, Eire Apparent and The Outer Limits. What a gig with tickets priced between 7 shillings and sixpence and 15 shillings (that’s between 35.5 pence and 75 pence in modern money). Afterwards we gathered at the stage door and I obtained the autographs of all three member of the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Back then the stars were available to the fans and would chat and sign before boarding a tour bus. Outside of London Brighton was definitely a great place for my generation to live in. We could get to London with relative ease but there was little need to as London often came to us. We had mods, rockers and then hippies with venues providing every genre of music as well as stores meeting all fashion requirements. In the Lanes you could pick up a copy of ‘subversive’ publications such as International Times or Gandalf’s Garden alongside the more main stream music press. There were plenty of independent record stores where you could find underground vinyl and discuss with like minded connoisseurs.
Brighton Music scene in the 60’s.
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