CHAPTER 13 THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT JUNE 1967 to JULY 1969 Photos   ........Bang! Bang! Bang! It sounded like somebody was trying to break down the front door of 8 Prospect Place, at 1am in the morning. Ray opened up the door to find out what all the banging was about, to be confronted by his irate neighbour. Complaining about the noise the guitars were making, as he had done many times during the past couple of months. In a very unpleasant manner, he told Ray to give it a break, as he needed his sleep, having to be at work by 5am that morning. To make matters worse for Ray, he worked along side of the guy at the Richard Garrett’s Engineering factory. ........Two young people thrashing away on guitars, while oblivious at times to their surrounding, can sound a little deafening at times, especially to the untrained ear of an unappreciative irate neighbour. Now and again might possibly be acceptable, but not three to four nights a week. Playing through to the early hours of the morning would try the parents of many a poor soul. Ray’s big problem in teaching Dave to play the guitar was that in order to learn one must constantly keep playing the same piece over repeatedly. That coupled with the volume that seemed to have to accompany their style of music. Would be enough to turn the most placid of neighbours into axe waving maniacs and judging by the neighbour’s actions, this seemed to be the category that he slotted into. It was all Ray could do to calm him down and send him on his merry way promising to turn it down. Knowing Ray like I did, I would take a guess that while he was trying to make promises to the neighbour, he would have had his fingers crossed behind his back. ........In his teaching of the guitar to Dave, Ray had started at the beginning by going over the rudiments of music, which meant the complete basics. However, slowly they moved onto the hard-core of Rock n Roll. The twelve bar blues, everybody has to learn the twelve bar blues. This was all new for Dave and it took a lot of practice, playing it repeatedly. Sometimes Ray would accompany him on his guitar, while other times he would use his Farfisa keyboard. ........Slowly it all started to take shape as David picked it up. One of the first tunes that they practiced together was “Yellow Bird”, with Dave playing the rhythm and Ray picking out the melody line on his guitar. Ben and I were always watching on and giving them all the encouragement in the world. By telling them that it sounded just great and of course it did. To any person who hears themselves making music for the very first time, it is always awe inspiring, the word bad or awful does not seem to enter in their vocabulary. ........A couple of months later and I had managed to scrape the money together, to purchase a Bass guitar. By working overtime on Saturday mornings at Richard Garrett’s and by saving as much spare cash as would allow. I found it very hard, because at the same time I was still trying to bring up a young family. However, we always seem to find a way, especially if it is something we urgently need. ........One Saturday morning after taking directions from Dave, Ben and Ray, I drove to Lowestoft to find the music shop that had been described to me. Halfway up the main High Street and around to the left and there it was, Morlings Music shop. I did not have a clue of what I was going to buy, in fact I had never even seen a Bass guitar close up, let alone handled one. Most people who enter a music shop are never going to admit to the shop assistants that they know absolutely nothing about what they are about to purchase. Therefore, I spent a little time looking at all the different guitars all hanging up in neat rows. There were dozens of them and they all looked so different, indicating to me that they all sounded very different. Finally, I had to admit defeat and called over the shop assistant for some advice and to maybe point me in the right direction. ........The assistant started pointing to a few of them while calling out their names, Fender, Gibson, Hofner, Echo and Burns to name but a few. By now I was even more confused and when the assistant went into the terminology of the sounds that they made and all about their pick-ups. I found myself nodding my head in agreement with the assistant. I was allowed to take a few down from the racks just to handle them and was surprised by the weight of some of them. When he came to the Echo, I could not believe how light it felt. The assistant went on to explain that it was a semi-acoustic, unfortunately that meant nothing to me. However, I did like the feel of its curved body and especially the weight. Once around my neck it was well balanced. By that I mean that when I took my hand away from the neck it stayed in place, some guitars are neck heavy and will drop down wards, so that while you are paying you are constantly holding the neck up. At this stage even the name Echo sounded good to me. In addition, the cost was very impressive at £36, it being only about a quarter of the cost of the other funny looking Fenders and Gibson’s. Unfortunately, I had only brought £40 with me, so most of the other guitars were out of my buying range anyway. Nobody likes to part with big money when they are purchasing items and I was no exception. Now it was just a case of making up my mind as to whether the item was worth the money. Was it a good deal and more to the point was I being ripped off. I was satisfied that I had screwed the shop assistant down to their bottom price for that item. Although it did not really matter, because the shop is always going to come out on top, they have to, otherwise they would go out of business. ........I had managed to knock the assistant down to £35 and thought I had made a killing. After an hour of trying the assistant’s patience, I told him that I needed time to think about it and that I would come back later. Therefore, I went for a stroll and had a cup of tea to think the deal over. However, there was no need really, because deep down inside I liked the look of Echo and anyway on the financial side, it was all that I could afford. ........Twenty minutes later, I went back in the shop, to be served by the same assistant that I had spoken to earlier. In his haste to make the sale, he threw in a carrying bag for the guitar and all for the ridiculous price of £35. At least I thought it was a ridiculous price and I felt good that I had finally screwed him down. How was the shop going to make a profit on a deal as low as this, I thought. It clinched the deal as far as I was concerned and so I took delivery of my very first Bass guitar and walked out of the shop with the broad smile on my face. It felt great believing that I had beaten the system and pulled off the deal of the century, not only that I was now a fully-fledged Bass guitarist. ........It being a Saturday I knew Ray would be at home. I drove at break neck speed straight to 8 Prospect Place in Leiston, to show Ray my latest acquisition. It did not take long before the neighbour was receiving a full sample of what it was capable of and to what was to come over the next few months. The Bass guitar seems to have the ability with its very low frequency notes to penetrate most walls. Wooden walls were even better usually amplifying the note louder as it passed through. Unfortunately, the walls of 8 Prospect Place were in fact made of very thin timber, so the neighbour was going to be in for a rough time during the next few months. However, there was one little ray of hope for the neighbour, because for the moment I did not have a Bass Amplifier. For the time being I had to plug my guitar into Rays lead guitar Amp, a Vox AC-30 the same type that the Beatles used. This meant that I would have a severe reduction in the bass sound and volume that the guitar could pump out. Because I did not want to blow up Ray’s two very small twelve-inch speakers in his amplifier, as we would have to share them for now. ........Quite by chance, the Wild Oates had decided to call it a day and disband after a few internal problems. This meant that there was a possibility that some of their musical gear would be up for sale. Ben started to harass Styx Scarlett about his drums and to what he would be doing with them. At first Styx was intending to keep them, but with more and more pressure from Ben, he started to contemplate that maybe he should sell them. Depending on the price there was a slight chance that he might sell his beloved Ludwig kit. He had cherished the double-chromed demonstration kit for many years. It being the top of the range as far as drums went at that time. If you owned a Ludwig kit for some reason, you were one of the best drummers around, I don’t think playing them came into the equation. ........Ben’s persistence of constantly harassing Styx at work finally paid off. Styx got a little worried that his supervisor at work was watching the comings and goings of Ben every hour or so. Although, it was more the case that if he did not sell the drums he would more than likely lose his job and he could not afford that at any cost. Eventually Ben did a deal that included Styx teaching him how to play. Finally and just like myself, Ben had a big smile on his face as he considered himself a drummer. ........That first night Ben took his drum kit around to 8 Prospect Place was the night that Rays neighbour almost had a fit. His banging on the front door did not seem to make any difference. The drumming just got louder and louder and it did not even sound, like it was some sort of beat, it was a bit of anything and all over the place. It was so loud that he did not think that his banging on the front door would even be heard. That night as he tried to sleep, in his mind he started to think of the possibility that maybe he should gather up his family and emigrate, even in Africa the drums at least keep in some sort of beat and are not amplified. ........Styx would come around to Rays at least once a week to help Ben. At first, he only showed him a basic 4/4 time and how to hold a constant time. The fancy stuff would have to come later, when and if he could control the basics. However, Ben seemed to be able to pick things up quite quickly and started to take to the drums like a duck to water. Anyway if all failed he could at least twirl his sticks around his fingers. Just like, we practiced everyday while up on the roof tops of Richard Garrett’s engineering works. ........I approached Styx to see if I could purchase the Bass Amp and Speakers from the “Wild Oats” and received the surprised of my life. As he told me that, I could purchase the lot for £204. Feeling over the moon I told him that I would have it, but that I would just have to work out a way of raising the money and so could they hold on to them for me. Therefore, I had to work as much overtime as was possible and still keep my practice up with the boys. While also trying to put in an appearance with my family now and again, who were by now seeing less and less of me. ........It was now becoming apparent just how musically gifted Ray was, as he was showing me how to play the Bass guitar. At first it was just the simple single finger stuff and of course he had to teach me the famous twelve bar blues. This being fundamental in the music of the fifties and sixties, so I had to learn it, one way or another. Looking back it was one of the best things that Ray ever taught me. Wherever I have been around the world, it has meant that I could always join in and jam with the musicians. ........Poor Ray, as well as teaching Dave and I and the learning of new songs for himself. Now he was also assisting Ben with some of his beats, or lack of them, but mostly with his timings. When drummers first start to learn, they have a bad habit of speeding up and then slowing down and Ben was no different than any other drummer that had come before him. ........The practicing was getting better now, all four of us were managing to get a reasonable sound to the “Yellow Bird” tune that Dave and Ray had started practicing together. With my attempts at a walking bass riff, while getting the notes all wrong and Dave’s irregular rhythm strokes that were all over the place. Add to this Bens timing that was usually up and down, along with his fumbled attempts at a run around the kit. The neighbour must have been packing his bags or at least booking himself into the local mental institution. If he were not mad by now, he sure as hell would be by the end of the month. Because that was when I would be taking delivery of the Wild Oates VOX AC-100 Foundation Bass amplifier and two eighteen inch matching speakers in separate cabinets. ........Most evenings as we pulled up outside of Ray’s house to unload our gear for the evening’s bash. The neighbours would all be looking from behind their lace curtains and thinking, here we go again, another night of the old Chinese water torture. It was even noticed that one set of curtains that moved was six houses up from Rays house, surely we thought it couldn’t be heard that far up the street. Ben remarked that he bet the Rolling Stones never had all that trouble with their neighbours, when they were practicing. When in fact they did and they were even threatened with eviction. If we had known that, maybe we would have played a little quieter. ........Came the big night that Ray announced to us that he was going to introduce a second song into our repertoire, “Midnight Hour” by Wilson Picket. He’d been working on it for a week and reckoned that we were ready for it and we were, as we had just about flogged “Yellow Bird” to death. “Midnight Hour” opened up a complete new music sound to us and we took to it very easy. It all seemed to drop into place quicker and easier than “Yellow Bird”. In fact right from the start it sounded just like the song we were attempting to copy. Maybe this would quieten the neighbour down, after all here was a song that was in the hit parade so he could sing along to it. Unfortunately, we did not know that he was tone death and had an utter hatred of all forms of music. ........“Midnight Hour” the instrumental version, was receiving a lot of exposure at 8 Prospect Place, but sadly it was lacking a singer. Ray would do his best and sing where ever he could, but trying to correct our mistakes at the same time, was very hard. Trying to sing at the same time was just that little bit beyond even Ray’s musical skills. ........A couple of months had now passed since all four of us had been practising together. Word went out that we were looking for a singer, but this was going to be a hard position to fill. Leiston being such a small village, where everybody knew everybody, there were just no known singers around. Therefore, it was more than likely that we would have to settle on a complete novice just like ourselves. Although after practicing for two months, some of us felt like we were old hands in the business. At one time we were almost thrown a life line when it was suggested that there was a slight possibility that maybe we could poach one of the two singers from the “Wild Oates” out of retirement. However, became highly unlikely, because for them it would be like taking a step backwards. To play with beginners is just like starting all over once again. ........Life at Ray’s house was coming to a head because of the noise we were creating. The irate neighbour had been in touch with Ray’s parents who owned the house, complaining about the noise. However, they lived in London so they did not understand his urgency. To them the house was just a holiday home, a place to stay during the odd weekends break. Both Ray and David his brother liked Leiston and both had jobs in the town, their parents had allowed them to live in the house as long as they looked after it. Therefore, the hunt was suddenly on to find a new practice venue as well as a Singer. Unfortunately, things were not going our way, there always seemed to be another problem around the corner to deal with. ........I was experiencing big problems at home, because I was constantly practicing with the boys. Sometimes I was out as many as five nights a week. I was the only married guy in the group, so it was hard for me to keep up with the life style of the other single members. When we were not practicing and especially on a Saturday night, we would go out to see other bands in the area, at the Framlingham Assembly Hall or the Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall. I always wanted to be part of this, not wanting to miss out on anything. I had set my heart on becoming a musician and I felt that whatever it took, I would have to do it. Besides I now thought that whatever the little something that the group had, it was going to help us make it someday. However, my family life was suffering badly and as with any things in this life, whenever it is happening to you, you are the last person in the world to realise what is going on around you. ........Ben and Dave were unattached at the moment, while Ray had a steady girl friend named Sarah. With all this practicing Sara’s world had also been turned upside down. In the past a night out for her and Ray meant that they would spend it at his home in front of the TV, or listening to his records. Unfortunately, because he lived with his brother, during those nights David would have to go out for the night, so that they had the place to themselves. Suddenly Sara’s whole world had taken a drastic change, suddenly there were three other males in her life, but not only that they had taken over. We were spending more time with Ray than she was. In fact most nights they practiced Sarah would go home before we left, so there was no time for them to be on their own. Because of this, Ray was experiencing problems with his home life, just like I was with my marriage. Poor Sarah must have thought that she was having an affair with four guys all at the same time. ........As Ben, Ray and I all worked at the Richard Garrett factory an approach was made to see if we could use part of the social club hall as a practice venue and were very surprised to get the okay. Unfortunately, we would have to pay a fee and we would only be allowed to use it two nights a week and only on condition that we kept the noise level down. ........Ray’s irate neighbour was going to be one very pleased little cookie when he heard this news. Now he would be able put away the rope noose that he had thought about testing. Now if only he could disconnect the power to No 8, so he could stop Ray from having his nightly solo practices. Then once again he would be able to rejoin the human race as a sane individual and begin life as a normal person. Maybe there is such a thing as a normal life, especially after living next door to a pop group. If he was lucky and the band made it to the top, may be neighbours from hell might just go out and purchase a mansion on a desert island. ........The social club was based in a long timber building, with a pub at one end and a couple of other rooms leading off from the bar. For the practice, the band was told to go to the furthest end of the hut, away from the pub, so that the noise would not disturb the drinkers. The hut being made of timber was not the best of materials to muffle the sounds that could be expected from the practice. Unfortunately, the landlord was not aware of this until the first night that the band practiced. ........During one practice night a local guy turned up for an audition by the name of Bob Jarvis, one of the boys had got hold of him and talked him into coming for the trial. He was reluctant and very nervous, so nervous in fact that he would not come out of the toilet and face the band to sing a song. After a long period of time, with band members constantly trying to coax him out. It was decided to leave him inside and to pass him a microphone under the door. In this way, he could sing from inside the toilet and not have to face us. I made the remark that this was going to create a few problems. How on earth would we be able to cart a toilet around all the future venues and set it up on stage. Anyway, the band did its best and played in the practice room, while Bob was warbling down the mike from inside of the toilet. The end result was not very good and I remarked that I was sure that at one point I heard Bob grunt. Ben added that he thought he heard the rustling of paper in the back ground. “He’s only reading his words,” I told Ben. More like wiping his arse on them,” Ben replied. Bob Jarvis had claimed upon his arrival at the club, that he was not sure if he wanted to join the band. However, the sounds he made during his audition left a ringing in our ears that lasted nearly three days, so without hesitation we let Bob go. “Maybe another time” someone told him as he left, maybe when you have got over your nerves, you did look a little flushed. This episode led to all manners of toilet jokes amongst the band for the next few weeks. The best being when Ben told us that it was a good job we did not play “God save the Queen” otherwise he would have had to stand up. ........Then came the best news we had heard for a long time, somebody had located a would-be singer, the news got better when we were informed that he worked for Richard Garrett’s. This was becoming a family affair, now there would possibly be four of us. I just hoped that things would work out a little more easily at the audition, than it had for the last guy we tried out. Ben was wondering what strange quirk this guy would have, Dave added that he would probably be wearing a toilet seat over his head. That was a good joke from Dave who never said much, but when he did it was always a classic. ........Ron Knights worked in the light machine shop and was an apprentice working on a lathe. He had no experience of singing in a band, but was always singing at work. It was because of this, that the word had finally reached Ray and so it was arranged with the band for Ron to have a trial. This was all to take place at the new practice venue at the Richard Garrett social club, just off Haylings Road. ........Ben, Dave, Ray and I arrived at the club early in the evening to set up our gear and to get ready to try out the new guy. I had just taken delivery of the bass amp from Styx, so was eager to give it a good work out and crank it right up. Just to make sure that it was worth the money I had just parted with. Dave and I had never met Ron so we had no idea what to expect. 7pm came and went, the time that had been pre-arranged for the audition. 7-30pm and still he had not arrived. A few grumbles where starting to be heard from the boys. Ray decided to go down to the bar to get a drink with Ben, maybe he did not know where they were set up. On their return, with smiles on their faces, they explained that he had arrived but was in need of a drink to calm his nerves. I asked them how long had he been in the bar, to which Ben told me about an hour. An hour, I couldn’t believe it, Ben went on to tell us that he needed a few whisky’s before he could pluck up the courage to sing in front of people. I could not resist making a remark that it was going to cost us a fortune in whisky when we are on the road, just to get him to sing. “Where did you find this guy, at the brewery”, I asked. ........Ron finally staggered into the room along with a couple of his mates for moral support, one of them was Nigel Miller another apprentice from the light machine shop. Ron looked at the song list that we had been practicing through his blurry eyes. Then after a discussion with Ray, a song was finally chosen. To my delight, it was to be our favourite song at that time, “Midnight Hour”. This was a good choice for the band, as it was the best song that we played, so musically it would sound okay, mind you it was one of the only songs we knew right through. After a few false starts, Ron got into it and together we went through the song a number of times. It did not sound too bad, however after an hour, everybody was starting to feel a little relaxed and it got even better. The night lasted until 10-30pm, when the manager Colin came down to tell us that he was shutting up shop for the night, he also mentioned that he thought we had been a little too loud. Mentioning that the next time we practiced, he hoped that we could turn it down just a little. ........We had run through about seven songs and we were all very pleased with the way the audition had gone. It looked like Ron had got the job, well at least he didn’t seem to have any competition, being the only guy in Leiston who was game enough to sing with us. Although I was worried about Ron's drinking habit, but decided not to make a big issue of it at this point in time. I thought I would see what the next practice brought, on the other hand maybe it would be cheaper if we bought the whisky in bulk from the local co-op. ........Ray had obtained a new LP record by “Gino Washington and the Ram Jam Band”, it being a live recording made in one of the London Clubs. The music excited Ray so much that he wanted to do covers of most of the songs, as did the other members of the band once we had heard it a couple of times. What we liked was the constant drive that the music seemed to be pumping out, and it was nearly all in medley form with the audience joining in with lots of clapping and yelling. This we liked as it meant that we could keep the music pumping for at least fifteen minutes without a break. Therefore, we wasted no time in adding some of these songs to our repertoire. Songs like, “You Don’t Know Like I know”, “I Can’t Turn Me Loose”, “Que-Sera-Sera”, “Think”, “All I Need” and “Michael”. These songs required Ray playing on the keyboards and all seemed to suit Ron's voice. By a quirk of fate we also found out that Gino Washington had been an American Serviceman and had been based at the nearby RAF Bentwaters Airbase. Making a name for himself singing around the clubs in the Ipswich area. Realising the potential that he had in the entertainment world, on his return to the states he had bought himself out of the service and returned to England to take up a career as a singer. ........The group was now practicing twice a week at the social club, but we were taking a lot of criticism because of the volume the band was playing at. Unappreciative bystanders do not seem to realise that some music has to be played at a certain volume, just to obtain the sound required, or at least that is what we told the manager of the club. However, it did not look like Colin was buying in to this argument, as he insisted that we keep it turned down. He claimed that his regular drinkers were complaining that they could not talk to each other in peace and they were about a hundred metres down the other end of the club. It was not looking good for us, as we all felt that our presence at the club was not going to be a long-term engagement. Maybe the time was right to start looking once again for a new practice venue. ........However, for the meantime it was practice as usual at the sports club. Ron settled in very quickly with the group. After only just a few practices, he slowly gained a little confidence in himself and felt at ease with band. The boys gradually helped to wean him off his whiskey confidence booster. Much to the delight of myself, I was pleased that we would be able to keep our money in our pockets. Ron put the whiskey drinking behind him and surprised everybody how quickly he could learn the words to a new song and produce good results immediately. Some nights he and his friend Nigel Miller would go into another room, with an old record player that the group took to all practices. Together they would get the words to a new song in about ten minutes and then come straight back to the practice room with the band and sing the song without too many mistakes. For a guy who had never sung with a band before, this was a quite remarkable feat. If he were good now, what would he be like after some good practice sessions. ........With the ease that Ron had settled in and the ability that the other members had of learning a new song. The practice sessions were moving along fine. However, it was also noticed that the major praise was to be heaped on to Ray, for the progress of the band so far. By this time, all the members had realised that Ray was a major influence on the band and appreciated it. He had the ability to find the right songs and very rarely did a song have to be thrown out, because it was in the too hard basket. He was a very talented musician and it seemed that he was destined to go far in the music industry. It was also hoped that he would not succumb to a better offer and move on to another band. With his talent, he would have been able to play for any top band of that era. It was Ray that had brought us this far. It was his skill in choosing the right material that he knew we were capable of learning quickly and they were also songs that we all liked and wanted to play. It did not take long for us all to realise that maybe, just maybe we had what it takes to go further and to be serious about the band. Suddenly we were thinking that maybe we had that little something that it takes to get a band on the road. ........The style of music that we had been practicing so far was, Black Soul Music from America that was sweeping the country at the time and dominating the British Hit Parade Charts. It was because of this style of music, that Ray had concentrated his playing mostly on his Farfisa Organ. “Midnight Hour” by Wilson Pickett had been one of the first songs that we had learnt. Moving on, we had learnt almost all the tracks from the live Gino Washington album. An album we all liked to listen to regularly and hoped we could emulate the same crowd response that Gino achieved on record. Later we had moved on to Eddie Floyd and his, “Knock On Wood”, Sam and Dave’s, “Hold On” and “Soul Man”. Even having a go at Aretha Franklin’s “Respect”, to which Ron had done a great job. ........It was with great excitement that the boy’s greeted the news from Ron that he had been successful in his quest to find another practice hall for the band. Ron lived with his parents up by the Leiston High School. Within the grounds of the school was a hut that housed the Leiston Youth Club. Ron’s Father was one of the local Councilors and had given him the idea, to approach Ken the Manager of the club. Which he had, while not expecting too much, he had been very pleasantly surprised when Ken told him that there were no problems, that we could use the club and at no costs. That seemed the best part of the offer. Ken had thought that it was a good idea, maybe the word would spread and attract more young people to the club. I lived on the same road as the club and had no idea that it even existed. ........So that very same night the whole band went up to the club and was introduced to Ken. We explained what we were looking for and what we intended to do in the way of practice. Ken gave us a guided tour ending up in a very large room at the back, just for us. The group could not believe its luck, here was the absolute perfect place for a band to thrash out a good practice session. We would be on our own and undisturbed. It was perfect having curtains in front of the windows and a thick pile carpet on the floor. The nearest houses looked miles away, so it did not seem like we would interfere with anybody. Coupled to this, all the young people at the club would love every note we played, or at least that’s what we hoped. We agreed with Ken that we would practice on a Monday and Wednesday nights, 7-00pm to 10-30pm. We were even allowed to back our vehicles right up to the main front door to unload the gear. It just kept getting better and better for us. Ben made the remark, that at this rate it was a good bet that each night they arrived Ken would be there with the kettle on, so we could have a cup of tea before the hard nights slog. All this and all Ken wanted in return was a couple of free shows when and if the band did make it on to the road. This was an offer we could not turn down. ........What of Ray’s irate neighbour, well he had calmed down by now, this practice venue was at least a mile away from his home. Now if only he could convince Ray to practice with an acoustic guitar at home, or better still, maybe he could mime to the record player, somehow he might be able to manage a complete night’s sleep. I suggested that after all this time without the sound of guitars twanging away and coming through the walls of his house. It would be more than he could bare and that with the quietness of the night, he would properly not be able to get to sleep anyway. ........We did not take long to settle into our new practice venue. Gradually the young members of the club got used to us and the novelty wore off, leaving them to get on with whatever it was that young people do in a Youth club. This was not good for the group, because the constant stream of young people in to the practice room was holding us back. At any one time there was always at least a dozen onlookers watching every move that we made and listening to every note that was being played. With this amount of eyes on you the worst thing you could do was to make a mistake. So not wanting to look silly in front of these people, the group would only practice the well-rehearsed songs that we knew off by heart, so that there would be very few mistakes made. So most of the time during those early practice sessions, the only music that could be heard coming out of the new practice room was the sounds of the by now well rehearsed old faithful “Yellow Bird”, and the Wilson Pickett hit, In “The Midnight Hour”. The record had gone to No12 in the British top twenty charts on 23.09.65 and stayed in the charts for eleven weeks, it then re-entering again in September 68 for a further six weeks. ........I was set up with my back to the door, preferring it this way. Being very nervous, I did not want to stare at all the onlookers as they came into the room. Ben was set up with his drums on my left-hand side just in front of a window. On my right was Ray with his keyboard, amp and guitar, with his back to a solid wall behind which was the garage come-storeroom. Dave was in front of me but to the left with his amp and guitar and Ron was in front, but to the right with his microphone. This was a good way to set up as all the boys were looking at each other so it was easy to talk to one another and to hear what we were playing. ........Two regular faces that spent many hours with the group during those early months was Nigel Miller, who was always willing to help the boys carry all their gear in and set it up. Shaggy was the source of all our new record material, which we were in constant drawing on, in our never ending quest for new songs. In fact it was this constant requesting of records that led to Shaggy realising that he had one of the biggest and best record collections in the area. He would always be playing the group new songs that he had found. This was to lead to him considering that maybe he should start a discotheque, something unheard of in those days. Maybe he could play a few records with the group during its breaks, if they ever made it on to the road. ........One young girl was always in the room watching and talking to me whenever she got the chance, this was a little embarrassing, as I knew that she was still a schoolgirl and at that time I was twenty-five, but it was all innocent fun. I believed her name was Sonia. One day she turned up and gave me a very small rag doll that she had made. I hung it on the tuning pegs of my bass guitar and did so for the next couple of years. Forty years later and I still have that little rag doll, it is a little tatty and battle scared, but at least I still have it and all the memories that go with along with it. For many years it became my lucky charm. ........Styx Scarlett came along to help Ben whenever he could, who was surprising everybody with the speed at which he was learning. Styx was mainly showing him fills that he could drop into the songs during the odd occasion. At one time he was so impressed with the group’s progress that he started to wish that maybe he should have kept playing and not sold his drum kit to Ben. ........Dave was also improving dramatically with all the help that Ray was giving him. Unfortunately, he became the brunt of many jokes concerning his speeds. On some songs, the group would give each other a nod and quicken up on purpose catching Dave out. We would get quicker and quicker leaving poor old Dave thrashing away at his rhythm struggling to keep up, but it was all in good clean fun. In fact we did this so much that in the end it actually helped Dave to play faster on some of the later songs that they under took. ........Ron’s singing was also getting stronger and stronger, he had fitted in well with no problems and was now an old hand in the band. The singer is always the front man, so it would be down to him to talk to the audience, something he was not looking forward to. In fact he did not have a clue how he was going to undertake this task. One of the most amazing things with this group of people was that we all got on very well with each other, there was no friction no bickering, as we were one big happy family. ........After only two months at the youth club, Ken the manager was approach to see if the group could practice on a weekend. To our amazement, it just kept getting better and better. It was unbelievable as Ken agreed that we could use the club on Saturdays and Sundays. He even gave us a set of keys so that they could come and go as we pleased. Now we were practicing four days a week, this music thing was really taking over and nothing else seemed to matter. ........During the day while we were at work Ben and I would tour around the factory in a sort of pattern, talking to Ray then moving on to Styx and finally on to Ron. It was always music talk and the department supervisors were constantly telling us off, while the people we spoke to would also get a blast. However, it did not stop us, we could not help ourselves, it was an infectious bug being in the music industry and nothing got in its way. ........What with trying to see bands that came into the area and my daytime work I was never at home, so the strain on my marriage was almost at breaking point. I was never at home to see my family, my children were still in bed when he left for work and they were in bed when I rushed home to wash and change, only to rush straight out to the band practices. Life between Margaret and me was becoming unbearable, especially with our constant augments over the situation. We were living like two strangers living under the same roof. Unfortunately, I could not read the signs, I was blind to all these things in my pursuit to become a successful bass player in a Rock n Roll band. ........Ray came up with the suggestion that the group should purchase the public address system that the “Wild Oates” owned, as it was still up for sale. It was agreed and Ray should try and talk Styx into a free trial, as we wanted to try it out before we purchased it. It was a Selmer Treble and Bass 100watt amp, pumping two Vox column speakers, each containing four eight inch speakers. That had chrome frames so they could be angled back rather than sit up straight on the front of the stage. Also in the deal was an old brown leather suite case that contained a selection of wires and five beautiful Shure microphones. We had struck gold once again all for the knock down price of £120. It did not take the group long to make up our minds and to have a whip around, we all paid a one fifth share of the money. Now that we had the gear, now all we needed to succeed was the talent to make good music. ........The weekends were the best times to get down to the serious practicing, as we were on our own, so there was no need to show off in front of people. During the week day evenings, there would always be a steady stream of young girls popping into the room or just sticking their heads around the door to see what or who was making the noise. Saturdays and Sundays were long practice sessions that went on from 9.30am to at least 4 or 5pm, with just a short break around midday. We would usually go to the Valdor café that was situated opposite the Richard Garrett’s main factory entrance by the Leiston railway station, for a bite to eat and a drink. Very often, we would meet up with somebody we knew, who would craze us to come back to the practice so they could have a listen, it was always hard to say no. ........Ray by this time had introduced the group to the sounds of Jimi Hendrix and we were busy learning some of his easier material. Songs like, “Hey Joe”, which got to No 6 in the British pop charts on 05.01.67 and “Purple Haze”, which went to No3 on 23.03.67 it then hung around the charts for the next fourteen weeks. For these songs, Ray was using his guitar. Therefore, the band had taken on a completely new sound. First we emulated the America Black Soul music when Ray was on keyboards and now we were in to the very heavy Rock n Roll with a three-guitar line up. Most bands sound pretty much the same going through their repertoire. However, with us, it looked like we would have two distinct different sounds. If we were to use this situation to our advantage, it would give us an edge over many other bands. ........Ray had also been spending a lot of time with me, showing me some new and very hard bass riffs. In trying to play a Hendrix song, it was realised that Hendrix's bass player was in fact a lead guitarist. Therefore, his bass runs were very involved and not easy to copy by a well-seasoned bass player, let alone a beginner like me. I had been used to playing American soul, with its constant repetitive riffs and I liked the style very much. However, this was more of an erratic style that was constantly changing, it still rocked along but it was going all over the place and it took me a long time to master it. Something I would never have achieved without Rays help. ........One Sunday morning while we where practicing somebody tripped over a live wire lying on the floor, pulling it out of the back of the PA amp plug. The music slowly died with everybody looking at one another wondering what had gone wrong. I knew what had happened and could see the bare live wire lying on the floor. I bent down to pick it up thinking that maybe somebody else might not know that it was live. I also knew that Ray had a bad habit of baring wires with his teeth whenever he put new plugs on to wires. In a way I was trying to protect Ray more than anybody else from getting a shock. I grabbed the wire a couple of inches back from the exposed wires tips, as I looked around for the switch to turn the power off. Unfortunately, in doing so the wire became tight and pulled back in to my hand, I now had hold of all three bare wires, Live Neutral and the Earth. I suddenly started jumping around making all sorts of strange noises and waving my right hand in the air. Ben thought I was being the comic once again and was impersonating the comedian, Jack Douglas. Who used to do this sort of thing, with an irritating twitch in his right arm and a catch phrase of “Ah, Ah, Har”. At the same time lifting his right arm and hitting his chest with his fist. My antics went on for what seemed like hours to me, but in real time it was actually only just a few seconds. Ray being electrically minded realised what was happening and grabbed the other end of the wire and yanked it out of my hand. By now everybody in the room could smell burning flesh and as I had slumped into a heap on the floor, they tried to work out what had happened to me. My right hand had a hole in the palm about an inch across and looked like it was about an inch deep. The flesh had been burnt and was raised around the hole, looking like a volcano. Ron tried to perk me up with a cup of tea and they all sat around laughing about the antics that they had just witnessed. I was the only one that could not see the funny side of the incident. This must have been the first time in my life that I had made people laugh without really trying. All this and I had not even cracked a joke, maybe I should try this more often. Ray replaced the plug using his teeth to bear the wires as usual and we attempted to carry on with the practice session. However, it was too painful for me and after a few false starts, Ben offered to take me to the Aldeburgh Hospital. Practice was suspended for an hour while Ben sped off at break neck speed with me to get the burn dressed by a lovely nurse at the hospital. Within the hour we were back and it was practice as usual, but with me taking it a little easy, as I had felt a little dizzy for a couple of hours. A footnote to this story is that Ray did repair the offending wire, just like I thought he would. While later, he replaced it for a new wire, using the old one that had burnt me at home, on another electrical apparatus. 31 years later and Ray still has this piece of wire that coursed the problem (or at least that’s what he told me). I had also been having a lot of trouble with my guitar strap that was too narrow and cutting into my shoulder. Nigel surprised me one day and gave me a broader well-padded strap, he’d had at home for a long time and was about to throw it out. Therefore, it went to a good home I used it for many years and still have it amongst my treasured musical memorabilia. ........Some nights after we finished practice a couple of the boys would go down to Walter’s International Club for a coke and to unwind from the nights tensions. Just to talk to somebody about anything other than music was a nice way to relax. The club usually had a few people there. One particular occasion I was just sitting back taking it easy when a girl came running out of the toilets screaming, “There's a bomb in there”. Everybody started rushing around, with half of them not knowing what to do or where to go. This was the last thing that I needed, I had only come in for a quiet glass of coke and to unwind. The last thing I wanted was to end up flying through the air like an angel. ........Finally, order was restored after Walter’s wife called the police, who in turn called out the bomb squad. Most of the young people stayed around just to see what it was and what all the screaming was about. This was a bad move as it took hours for the bomb squad to arrive from RAF Bentwaters to defuse the suspect package. The girl said that it was on a shelf in front of the mirror in the ladies toilet. It looked like two rolls of something, she thought that it was dynamite with curly wires coming out of the ends. It also had a clock taped to it and that it was ticking very loud. All those who had stayed were kept for hours to be questioned, so it was hours before we were allowed home. To cap it off it was a false alarm, it was a fake bomb, a hoax. It turned out that it was a practical joke set up by Lee Southgate. Lee also worked at Richard Garret’s as an apprentice electrician and was well known for his practical jokes. In fact he was so well known that his jokes left us all standing, he would have been the best in the business. Ben and I used to spend a lot of time talking to him at work, he was a good laugh, but not this particular day. I did not get home till the early hours of the morning and Lee, well he had left just after he set up the device and headed straight home for a good night’s sleep. ........Another practical joke Lee played wrecked the local cricket field at the Richard Garrett sports ground, where we used to practice. Late one night he dug a large hole in the middle of the wicket area, throwing the dirt around the edges of the hole so that it resembled a large bomb crater. Then in the middle of the hole, he stuck what looked like a large body of rocket that he had made with large fins on its tail and some American flag stickers on it. This life like rocket stuck out of the hole at least four feet and was an exact replica of an Atomic Bomb. Legend has it that when the police arrived there was even smoke hanging around the site. Lee became a bit of a legend for these and other pranks that he participated in, although the police did not think too highly of him at the time for wasting valuable police resources. ........Ben and I walked on to Lee one morning in the long shop down on the bottom works of Richard Garrett’s, diving off the balcony, that was about fifteen feet above the ground, down into a very large heap of old fiberglass insulation material that was being stored there. As we walked in to the building there was Lee standing on the balcony giving a rebel yell at the top of his voice, to be followed by a long, Ahhhhhhhhhhhh as he dived into the heap at the bottom for the umpteenth time and emitting a large cloud of dust into the air. I tried to tell him that fiberglass was not good for him, it would make him itch and he definitely should not be inhaling the dust. Too late, he told me that he had been there for about an hour. Adding that he had felt a little itchy, by the time we left him he was scratching himself raw all over. That was Lee never a care in the world and if he wanted to do something, nothing in the world would stop him. ........One Friday night the group went along to the International Club to see what had been advertised as a Soul band. This was the style of music we wanted to hear, while learning from other musicians. Maybe we could learn what we were doing wrong and to get a few tips as to how we might put it right. We sat though the first bracket that consisted of only eight songs. ........Ben and I had been watching them very closely, when suddenly I noticed that the second bracket was made up of the very same eight songs as the first. Therefore, we were not long in informing the other members what was happening, it then became the topic of conversation. The third and fourth brackets were also the same eight songs. It was unbelievable and the only people in the audience to notice, was our little group. Not one other person in the club had noticed what was happening. We had a talk with the band at the end of the night and they explained that the band that had been advertised had let the club down. Therefore, these guys who had come from Ipswich, had just stepped in to help out. Unfortunately, between them, they only knew eight songs, but it was enough to get them though the night and they had just proved it. Our little group learnt a valuable lesson that night, of how easy it is to con a crowd. You can play anything you want, as long as you do it professionally. ........At the next practice session, Ray announced that he thought the group had improved and that it was time to think of a name, this was something that had been talked about in the past but not seriously when a few funny names had been suggested. Ben had been canvassing me with a couple of his ideas. “Bohemian Bipeds” was one of his better ideas followed by, “Grotesque”. He told me that a girl friend he once went with had told him that he was good looking, but in a grotesque way, at least that is what he told me. Funny but somehow he had always thought that she had paid him a complement. Then there was “Thespians”, although at the time I thought he had said “Lesbians”. That would course controversy and laugher around the clubs and would more than likely attract a different kind of groupie for us. Fortunately, the boys vetoed the ideas without putting too much thought into any of them. ........A couple more weeks passed and Ray turned up at a practice session with the name the “Forbidden Fruit”. It was a great name and everybody liked it from the start, it had no rival and so it was adopted right there and then, being unopposed. Ray never did say how he came up with the name, but it certainly was a good one. “The Forbidden Fruit” had been born. ........Shaggy worked for Hubbard’s an Electrical Shop in the Leiston high Street by the traffic lights. At that particular time they were running an advertising campaign and in their shop window they had on display a life size cardboard barrel full of red rosy apples. Ben and I picked up on this and talked Shaggy into getting it for us after the campaign was over. This was to become the major centerpiece of the band while on stage and was to have pride of place whenever we played, being positioned in front of the drums. Other bands had banners behind them but this band was to have its name out front, on the front of a barrel of apples, telling the world that we were the “Forbidden Fruit”. ........The group kept its word to Ken, to repay him for the use of the club, as a practice venue. A date was fixed for the very first booking to take place at the Leiston Youth Club. Now the nerves were starting to creep in as the intensity of the practice increased. From now on, it was to be full steam ahead. We stopped all the onlookers from coming into the room during practice sessions and the number of breaks was reduced. It was music, music, music and no other subjects were allowed to interrupt each session. Ray was trying to polish our skills and was doing a good job of it. Most of the songs that the boys had practiced were sounding good with only the occasional mistake. However, when you perform in front of a live audience it is another ball game completely. Nerves can play a big part and they are something that cannot be practiced or allowed for. On the odd occasion when people had walked into the practice room, while we were halfway through a song, each member had at one time or another made a mistake and somehow got through it. Unfortunately, this was to be different; this was to be a full show. Four hours of full on music with only a couple of short breaks in between. ........It was 29.03.68 a Friday night and the Leiston Youth Club was packed to the rafters, all anxiously awaiting the debut of the “Forbidden Fruit”. Shaggy had set up a disco and was enjoying his new role as the local DJ. He had the music blaring out to set the scene for the evening, while at the same time he was getting the young people into the right frame of mind before our appearance. Not that they needed any encouragement, because the word had spread around the area that the “Fruit” would be playing their first gig at the club. Many of the young people had travelled some distance to hear us. ........It was one of the hardest tasks that most members of the “Fruit” had ever tried to do. To walk out on to the stage area in front of all those people, there being at least a 100 of them, all shouting whistling and cat calling. My legs were like jelly, I was even scared to lift up my head and look at the crowd. I took up my position in front of the bass amp, which was on the left-hand side of the stage, Ben climbed onto his drums at the back and he was suffering the worst attack of nerves. Unfortunately, it was to be his job to count us in for the start of the very first song. Ron was standing at the front of the band looking at the floor with the microphone in his right hand held up in front of his face trying to hide behind it. David seemed a little calmer than the rest of us, standing in the middle of the stage hiding behind Ron, while in front of Ben. Ray was on the right hand side of the stage and in his element, enjoying and soaking up every minute of this new found fame and attention, standing behind his Farfisa keyboard with a broad grin on his face. ........Suddenly after a nod from Ray, Ben shouted, One, Two, Three, Four, and the “Forbidden Fruit” launched into “Midnight Hour”, our best song. It was now a reality the “Fruit” was on the road and its success was up to us and how we performed that night in front of our first live audience. ........Yes, we made mistakes, lots of them, but nothing to drastic, so they were easy to cover up from the audience. We were a big hit with the locals and that did a lot to the band's moral and confidence, giving us an appetite to play more. At the end of the evening we were all on a big high, the adrenaline had pumped us up to such a level, that it was going to be a long time before we came down. Later we sat around the club just talking and annualising the evenings playing, it went on into the early hours of the morning, as it took a long time to for the adrenaline to wear off and so bring us all back down to reality. The main thing that came out of the nights work was that we needed more gigs like it and so the hunt was on for more work. ........Another young local band in the area was known as the “Krums”, a three-piece unit with a very young 15-year-old on the drums. In a month’s time they would be playing at the Snape Village Hall. It was suggested that maybe we should approach the “Krums” to make a deal, so the “Fruit” could play on the same bill. Shaggy the DJ, who was by now receiving the same adoration as the “Fruit”, knew the “Krums”. This was why he was nominated to approach them at the first opportunity. ........The “Fruit” was very pleased with the news that Shaggy brought back to them. The “Krums” had agreed with the deal, on condition that they were top of the bill and went on stage last. In addition, the “Fruit” would not be paid, it was to be for experience only. Unfortunately, the “Krums” were not aware of the plan that was being hatch to ensure the “Fruit” a successful night at the Snape Village Hall. It was to be a lousy trick but if you want to get on in this very keen competitive industry, chances have to be taken. The “Krums” thought that they had secured a good deal, it meant that they would only have to play for two hours that evening and not four, plus they would still be able to hang on to all the door money that would be collected. They were mistakenly under the idea that all the “Fruit” wanted out of the deal was the experience of playing in front of a live audience, which was in one way very true. ........Friday 26.04.68 was a big night at the Snape Village Hall, dances were not held very often in those days and so they were well attended. People would come from miles around just to dance to a live band and each band had its own following. The “Fruit” had ensured that all their new won friends from the Leiston Youth Club were going to attend. We arrived early to set up the gear and because I had an old Austin A35 van to cart my gear around in, I assisted Ray, who was looking after the PA equipment. Ben had an old Austin A30 and somehow managed to get all his drums inside. Ron had a Bubble Car, a BMW Isetta the one that opens out from the front, it being the brunt of many a joke from the band at the time. However, to this booking he travelled with Nigel. The “Fruit” managed to talk the “Krums” into only setting up one of the bands sets of gear, to make it easy when the bands changed over at half time. After showing them that the “Fruit” did have a better PA system, it was agreed to use our gear. Plan A had been successful, because it is not wise to use other bands gear, because it is new to you and you never know what settings to use. It is always best to stay with the gear you have practiced on it over a long period of time. ........The hall was full that night, when suddenly the lights dimmed leaving just a single bare 60watt bulb hanging above the stage. After a nod from Ray, Ben could be heard shouting, One, Two, Three, Four and the band launched straight into the “Midnight Hour”. The crowd by this time was in frenzy jumping up and down shouting and calling out. The whole audience was divided that night, some were supporting the “Krums”, but the vast majority was there to support the “Fruit”. It was a certainty that there was going to be some sort of trouble during the evening. The “Fruit” played good and got the audience worked up especially when Ray went on to the guitar and started to play some of the new Jimi Hendrix songs that we had been practicing. Then it happened, what had been expected all evening, a large fight started, luckily it spilled out of the Hall and on to the main road outside. The band had just finished a song when suddenly Ray’s amp started spewing out a police message. “Reinforcements are requested at the Snape Village Hall, where a large fight is in progress on the main road”. The band just looked around at each other not understanding what was going on. Rays guitar strings must have been the correct length for that wave band and were on the same frequency to that of the police radio, something that we did not understand at the time. All those left in the hall at least knew exactly what was going on outside because the police radio was giving us a running commentary. The fight was soon over and everybody returned to the hall and the music that the “Fruit” was still pumping out. We never stopped playing, having been told by an older wiser musician that it’s just not done. Mainly because if you keep playing the crowd will not hear themselves trying to talk their way out of trouble and also it ensures that the band does not get involved and to possibly have their gear smashed up in the process. After what we had been through trying to get the cash together to purchase our gear, there was no way we were going to lose it, before we had even started. ........By the time we had finished our second set, the audience was in no mood to be told that it was our last song for the evening. They had been worked up into a Rock n Roll frenzy and the “Fruits” music had been responsible for it. They wanted to hear more and started to jeer and boo, and stamp their feet in a show of disapproval, being annoyed that the “Fruit” would not be back any more that night. It got very ugly and rowdy, so much so that the “Krums” did not want to go on stage while the audience was in an ugly mood, this was all new to them as well. In a hastily conferred meeting, the “Krums” agreed to let the “Fruit” keep playing and to finish the night, but that we would still be playing for no money. The “Fruit” accepted this knowing that all we wanted out of this gig was the experience gained on stage. Okay the “Krums” were going to be paid, having not even played a single note. However, the “Fruit” knew this before the night had started. Plan B had also been successful, Nigel, Shaggy and a few others from the Leiston Youth Club had planned it all, helping to whip the crowd up into the ugly scene that we were now witnessing. It was a dirty trick to play but it had worked giving the “Fruit” the valuable experience it needed. In addition, we would now be the main talking point during the coming weeks, by all the young people in the area and so insuring the “Fruit” of a very large crowd at the next venue where ever that was to be. ........Ben approached Mrs. Berry from Yoxford, about a gig at the Yoxford Village Hall. She was very interested, but insisted on hearing the band first. Therefore, a booking was hastily arranged to take place in about two week’s time. The band would be paid a small fee, but only if she liked us. She also added that she was looking for a band to play at the upcoming Yoxford Village Fete. This was usually the largest gathering on the Yoxford village calendar. ........I was trying to look good whenever the band played and was informed by Ron that his Mother was prepared to make me a flashy pink shirt, with large frilly cuffs and frills all down of its front, if she could get hold of some nice material. I was over the moon and could not wait for the day that it was finished, so that I could wear it at a gig. Remembering my first glimpse of Cliff Richard at the Gaumont Theatre in Ipswich, way back in 1959, when he walked out on to the stage in a bright pink jacket. ........Saturday 04.05.68 found the band at the Yoxford Village Hall, this was to be the third booking for the “Fruit” and if all went well, it would be our first paid booking. The hall was a large wooden hut with a very high large stage and the wooden walls helped to give the music a nice deep bass sound. We kicked off at 8 o’clock and played through to 11-45pm and it turned out to be a great night, so much so that Mrs. Berry gave us £10 for the nights work. Being paid made us feel good, it also meant that we were now classed as semi-professional musicians. We had been paid for doing the one thing that they all loved to do and that was to make music. ........Mrs. Berry had been looking for a band to play at the Yoxford Fete. Until the “Fruit” came along it was a toss up between the, “Krums” and another local band known as the “Trodden Earth”. The “Trodden Earth” she did not like, because in the past she had fallen out with their manager, Vic Last a Yoxford guy. Against all the odds, the “Fruit” picked up the gig and were highly delighted in beating the other local bands. However, a little friction was starting to build up between us and the other local bands owing to our below the belt tactics. The general feelings were who are these up start new kids on the block, who are stealing all of our bookings. ........Finding out about the “Trodden Earth” and that they had a manager got our group thinking. That maybe we should have a manager, maybe that was the way to go. After all, didn’t all the top bands in the country have managers. Therefore, Styx Scarlett was recruited to try to raise our image and to assist in the finding of future gigs. It was also agreed that he would receive 10% for any bookings that he set up for the band. ........It was also in May 1968 that one of the local newspaper reporters and cameraman turned up at a band practice session one night at the youth club, having been tipped off by some very quick thinking publicity seeking person connected with the band, namely Styx. The practice session was in total disarray by then. Therefore, everybody just accepted that no music was going to be played that night. We all just sat around giving details on one another and relaying stories to the reporter. Many of the details in that first newspaper article were incorrect. This can be put down to the constant skylarking that took place during the interview. However, the end result was good for the band, giving us lot of much needed publicity around the area, once our pictures had appeared on the front page. For a few weeks, we were the talk of the place and unfortunately one of the subjects was the age I had given. ........Like the time Ben went to the Friston Chequers public house, with a friend for a quiet drink. Standing by the bar was a couple of local middle-aged men, who were also having a drink. Ben could hear that they were discussing the newspaper article that one of the men had in his hand. Ben just stood there with his drink without identifying himself and had a good listen to what they were saying. One of them reckoned that the band would be on thousands of pounds a week, with twenty young girls by their sides, at any one time. The booze would flow every night at the big parties that they would throw and of course, there was the usual reference about drugs. These guys just did not have a clue and were totally living in a fantasy world. If only they knew that the boys only earned £10 a night and that was to be shared amongst the five of us. What we got out of it was the excitement of being on a stage in front of all those people and the adrenaline rush that it brought. There was also the dream that a chance just might come our way to make it big one day, if we were lucky and then the thousands of pounds could possibly become a reality. Ben left the pub in the knowledge that at least he was unrecognisable by the local drinkers. ........The Yoxford Village Fete was a yearly event and usually drew large crowds. During the afternoon, the fete would be held on the large grassy area in front of the Village Hall. This particular year the celebrity to open the fete was to be the BBC TV news announcer Michael Cole. ........It was 01.06.68 and it was the “Fruits” fourth gig. At 2.30pm, Michael Cole opened the Fete, to which the “Fruit” immediately followed on stage and played to those attending. With Ray’s nod of his head and Bens, One, Two, Three, Four, the band launched into our by now well rehearsed, “Midnight Hour”. The band played for a couple of hours for Mrs. Berry and we all enjoyed it, but it sounded a little strange at times. This was the first time we had played outside and were not prepared for the difference in sound. It was a beautiful sunny day and the event drew a large crowd. At its completion, the band moved all the gear inside the hall and set it up on the large stage ready to repeat it all during the evening dance, which was still part of the Fete. We then retreated to the local pub the “Griffin”, for a drink and something to eat, while trying to unwind from the afternoons show. ........The evening show was a mind blower, the stage being high meant that the band was looking down on the very large sea of seething, sweating people below us. The place was alive and rocking, every single person was having a ball. I was wearing my new bright pink shirt that Ron’s Mum had only just finished for me the night before. During the intervals, we all retreated to the dressing room behind the stage. Where we were inundated with girls all wanting to talk to us and in some cases were hoping to be picked up by the band members. Ben remarked that now he knew what the Beatles went through. From this point on it should get better, or at least we all hope it would, this was going to be fun, if we let it. ........This was also the first night I tried to ad-lib some of my playing. For some time now Ray had been trying to get me to move away from constantly playing the same exact riff all the time. A good example of what he meant would be when we changed chords. He had told me that instead of just going straight from one chord to another. I should try and walk up the notes until I reached the right one. Well I had been practicing at home for some time but had never had the courage to try it out. However, that night during one of the songs that was going well I just gritted my teeth and had a go. To my amazement it worked and I got away without making a single mistake. I can remember looking over at Ray as if to acknowledge his satisfaction of what I had just achieved. To be greeted by Ray with a broad grin on his face as he lipped the words over to me “Well done”. From that point on there was no holding me, as I used the ran many times during the nights entertainment. ........We all agreed that it would be good to play at the Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall, a venue that we had all visited in the past, to see some of the top acts that visited the area. Bands like “Tony Rivers and the Castaways”, “The Equals”, “Pinkertons Assorted Colours”, the American “Paul Revere and the Raiders” and “Crispen St Peters”, who had the hit record “Pied Piper”. Styx and his band the “Wild Oates” had been his backing band, during his previous appearance. If we could manage a booking at this venue then that would be a big achievement for us. So the Jubilee Hall became our goal for the future, it gave us something to head for. ........July saw another booking at the Snape Village Hall, arranged by our manager Styx, this time we were the only act on the bill. We also did another free booking for Ken at the Leiston Youth club. It was our way of repaying Ken because we were still using the Club for all our practices, still trying to pack in at least four a week. At the Youth Club booking, a busload of young people arrived from the Beccles Youth club for a night out. They had a great night and the band was invited to play their club in Beccles. ........On a hot August Friday night the band played the Beccles Youth Club, the music we made was good. Unfortunately, what the local Beccles boys did not appreciate was the interest that their girlfriends were paying to the band. Not realising what was happening, the band played to the girls, with a wink here and a remark on the microphone. This all added up to a highly charged atmosphere that started to get out of control. A couple of the locals started throwing things at the band. The band had suddenly realised what was happening but it was too late. I got hit by a couple of coins, Ron got some drink thrown at him, something hit Dave’s guitar and Ray was worried in case drink was thrown on to his keyboard. After an anxious time the rougher members of the crowd were thrown out of the club and the situation was defused for a time, so that we could carry on playing. I remarked to Ben that the Beatles did not say much about this side of the music business did they, boy we were nearly killed here tonight. The rest of the night was good, in fact it was better than expected after the louts were thrown out. The band had a better time playing to the girls left behind, the field was now wide open. ........Until that is, the time came to leave the club, nobody had expected a departure committee awaiting us outside. As we left the building to load up the gear in to the vehicles, we had to run a gauntlet of angry frustrated young men. All wanting to vent their anger on whomever they could get hold of. With the help of a few club officials, we managed to load the gear in to our cars and beat a hasty retreat from Beccles never to return for a repeat performance. It was a good thing that Ron was not driving his little Bubble car that evening. The mood the troublemakers were in, they would have picked it up and thrown it over the nearest hedge. One thing that we did learn from this experience was to be more careful with the girls, they can get you in to a lot of trouble even though it is just an innocent flirt. ........During a practice session at the Youth club one night, the boys spent a long time considering whether we should use Go-Go dancers on stage, during our stage show. This type of dancing was becoming very big, mainly because of the TV pop shows of the day that were using them. The idea was to have about four or five scantily dressed girls going through a sexual dance routine to the music being played. The more the girls wiggled and gyrated the better the audience liked it. However, there was a chance that the attention would be taken from the music being played. While on TV this would not happen because it was all very cleverly edited, but on stage, the audience would not miss a thing. The band had a vote on the subject and it was decided to give it a try. ........By the next practice session two young girls had been recruited as potential Go-Go dancers, one was Sonia who had given me the little rag doll to hang on my guitar. They spent the next couple of practices sessions working out and going through a few routines with us. The group was very impressed and liked what they saw. Unfortunately, that was the trouble, in spending so much time looking at the girls the mistake rate rose dramatically with our music. After a few long debates on the subject, the whole idea was dropped in favour of concentrating on the music side only. We knew that we could sell a sex angle very easily, unfortunately it was our music that we wanted to get over to the audience and we did not want to be side tracked. ........I got Ron’s mum to make me another couple of frilly shirts, one in yellow and one a lime green, thinking along the lines that the audience would notice me more. I also did a deal with Ben and we decided to swap our floral waistcoats. With me ending up with a bright pink and black one, while Ben ended up with a Japanese silk style one. I still have mine forty years on. ........September 1968 saw the “Fruit” playing once again at the Leiston Youth Club for Ken and again at the Yoxford Village Hall for Mrs. Berry, who had taken a big liking to the band and booked us whenever she held a dance. The other bands in the area did not stand a chance, because the “Forbidden Fruit” were the flavour of the month as far as she was concerned. ........September was also the month that my marriage took a turn for the worse. After a long flaming row, I had moved in to the spare room at home, convinced that the marriage was over. I had done my best to try and patch things up, but it had not worked, mainly because I was not prepared to give up the band. The band was all I lived for and so it seemed like Margaret and I were miles apart. At this point in time, we did not have anything in common. One night she went to the American Airbase at Bentwaters, with a local girl Sue from East Bridge, returning home in the early hours of the morning quite drunk. I am afraid that as far as I was concerned the marriage was over and we started living our own separate lives. From there, it went steadily downhill and was just a matter of time before we would finally part. Because of these incidents, I tended to spend even more time with the members of the band, just so there were no hostilities between us in front of the children. ........Looking back, I feel very sad and sorry over what the children had to go through during that time. I guess I was only interested in achieving my goals and that other people’s ideas did not come into the equation. I can only answer the criticism by saying that Margaret and I were not compatible and that neither of us would give an inch on our stance. It is also very hard to explain to those who were not there to experience the disagreements between us. ........At the beginning of October the boys clubbed together and purchased a Ford Thames 15cwt van, from a chap living on the Cupola Caravan Park site near St Margaret’s Church in Leiston, incidentally the church where I was married to Margaret. We paid him £65 for the van, along with all of its problems that the group intended to fix. Dave had played a major role in the looking over of the van, because of his trade as a car mechanic. It was Dave who considered it a reasonable bargain, and it was a descent size to hold all the gear. The other big deciding point was that nobody knew of any other van for sale around the Leiston area at that time. It was agreed that I would look after the van and to be its driver, so I sold my old Austin A35 van and took delivery of my new challenge. ........We wasted no time in getting the van on the road, the road tax was still current but the third party insurance cost us £3-18s. The mechanical problems also needed to be fixed up. This was to be achieved by booking it in to Keeble's Garage at Theberton. Ben was very friendly with Pat Keeble, and ironically, it was Dave’s Father who under took most of the repairs. As he was the head mechanic at the garage, that cost us another £33-19s-5d. While the van was at Keeble’s Garage Ben organised a friend, known as Toddy to do some artwork on the outside of the van for us. Along both sides of the van was painted the name of the band the “Forbidden Fruit”, on the front end of the van on its flat nose was painted two very large eyes and across the back double doors was painted the word Fruit Mobile, for this we paid him £2-3s-7d. Now everybody would know who we were and the parents would be able to lock up their daughters just in cases. ........On the 05.10.68.the “Fruit” reached their goal by playing at the Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall, we supported an out of the area band called the “Reformation”, unknown to most of the locals. However, a large crowd packed into the hall just like they did every Saturday night that a dance was held on the premises. The “Fruit” went on first and played a blinder of a set in front of one of the biggest crowds that we had ever played to. Most of which knew us and by now appreciated our style of music. Therefore, it was a hard act to follow for the “Reformation”. The bands had two total different styles of music and by the end of the evening, the “Fruit” had up staged a major band, but even more for us we had reached the target we had set ourselves, only a few months earlier. This band was pumping and most of the local young people agreed by following us around wherever they played. ........On the 10.10.68 Ben, Ray and I went to the International Club café, where we met up with many of the local people, who were chatting and having a drink. It was suggested that the “Equals” were playing at the Baths Hall in Ipswich that night. The “Equals” were our idols, we had been to see them months earlier when they had played at the Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall. Long before their hit record “Baby Come Back” had reached No1 in the charts on 15.05.68 and was in the charts for 17 weeks. We were so impressed with them that we had included the song into our repertoire. It did not take much to talk the band into a quick trip to Ipswich to see them. I was driving, also in the front was Linda Meadows and Emily Thorp, in the back was Ben, Ray, Bob and Les Jarvis, Shaggy, Leo Picket, Janet Jukes and Sandra Cook. Unfortunately Uncle Tom Cobbley was not with us that night. We stopped off at the Volunteers Pub on the way out of Leiston, so Les could buy a load of beer for the people in the back. ........The show at Ipswich was great, the support act being “Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds”, who had a No1 hit with “Out Of Time” which reached No1 on 23.06.68 and was in the charts for thirteen weeks. During the interval, most of our gang left the Baths Hall heading for a pub and a drink, because alcohol was not available at the dance. While walking down the street Linda persisted in calling out to a coloured guy on the other side of the road, asking him if he was Wilson Picket the American singer. I was a little worried in case an incident might arise and that as we were strangers in a strange town, the last thing they needed was a black eye and a couple of broken ribs. We were lucky nothing developed from the incident. ........Back in the hall when the main act finally came on stage there was pandemonium The “Equals” had a knack of whipping the people up into frenzy, with their driving beat. This was accomplished with two rhythm guitar players. When the band performed live, they did not have a bass player, unlike on record when they used a bass. As a live band there was nothing better, they had the crowd eating out of their hands. Eddie Grant the lead guitarist was a coloured guy with his hair dyed orange, playing some fantastic lead breaks. The singer also coloured would waltz around the stage as if in a trance and drugged up or drunk, you did not know which. The music was very infectious, there was not one person in that hall that would not have been tapping their feet. The hall was packed and the Full House signs were up outside long before the band came on stage. ........The excitement continued all the way home in the Fruit Mobile. In the back, everybody was singing and making merry after a stopover at a pub in Rushmere, where Les restocked up with some more beer. Linda and Emily were still in the front of the van and so I struck up a conversation with Emily. This was the first time that I had ever spoken to her, since the day I first saw her while following Ben to the Thorpeness Swimming Pool a couple of years earlier, when Ben had given her a lift home. ........On the 12.10.68 the “Fruit” played their regular monthly booking at the Yoxford Village Hall for Mrs. Berry. In front of a large crowd that was made up of, many supporters and followers of the band. It was becoming a dream debut into the pop world for us five guys from nowhere. After the booking, Ron and Nigel suggested that we all go to London for a skylark. Ray and Dave who stayed behind vetoed this idea, because they had girl friends. ........When it was sorted out where the gear would be left Ben, Ron, Nigel Miller, Shaggy and I set off for London in Nigel Millers Ford Cortina, or to be more precise in his Fathers Cortina. It was a wild ride with Nigel giving it the big foot on the accelerator, everybody was cracking jokes, singing and generally having a good time. By the time that we reached Brentwood somebody, notice a loud knocking noise coming from under the car, so we pulled over to investigate. The back axle was red hot but we still did not know what the problem was. After letting it cool down, we decided to turn around and head back home. Driving a lot slower and hoping that we made it safely and without further damage to the car. London was not to be this trip, but at least we had a good laugh amongst ourselves. Although it was thought that Nigel’s Father would not be in a very good frame of mind, when he heard the bad news. It turned out that the back axle was completely empty of oil and somehow we had all been very lucky not to do any sever damage to the car, much to Nigel's relief.  ........On the 13.10.68, Ben and I went up to the Ipswich Manor Ballroom. To see the London blues band, “Fleetwood Mac” with Peter Green on lead guitar. Where we hoped they would be playing such hits as, “Black Magic Woman” and “Need Your Love So Bad”. Both singles were released in early July 68. Ben at that time was dating Linda so he took her along and I persuaded Linda to bring along her friend Emily. “Fleetwood Mac” was at the height of their popularity at that time and gave an incredible show, finishing with an instrumental tune called “Albatross”. This tune became a No1 hit on the 04.12.68 and stayed in the charts for over twenty weeks. During a break in the show, everybody went up stairs to the bar for a drink. This was positioned in a small room and was crammed full of thirsty patrons, all trying to obtain a drink at the same time. All from the one and only bartender who was trying to do his best and serve them. I offered to get the drinks in, this being a first for me exclaimed Ben, as he stood back and let me go. ........I found myself leaning up against the bar waiting to be served, like most of the audience. However, I suddenly realised that I was standing beside the Bass player from “Fleetwood Mac”, who luckily had a drink in his hand. I suddenly found myself talking to John McVie and I was very keen to ask him an array of questions. He was very obliging and did not hesitate to answer everything that I threw at him. The conversation lasted nearly ten-minute’s and I enjoyed his company immensely. From that day on, I tried to base my playing on the way in which he played. To this day, it is a style that I still use and I’m proud to say that there are not too many other people playing this way. To me it is a type of blues, using mostly runs and riffs, with very few single notes. To those who over the years have asked me what style I play, I have always answered the “Callahan/McVie way”. ........Mean while Ben was getting thirstier by the minute and thought that I had done a bunk so I did not have to buy him a drink. They did eventually get their drink but they had to drink it in record time, as by this time everybody was returning to their seats for the second part of the show. ........On Saturday the 19.10.68 the “Fruit” played at the Benhall Village Hall, this was a new venue for us but at least it was very close to Leiston. It was a small wooden hut on the Village Green. The “Fruit” followers insured that all had a goodnight. By this time, many of the people who were organising the dances relied on cash taken at the door, while only paying a small fixed sum to the bands at the end of the evening’s entertainment. Most people had realised by now that the “Fruit” had a very large following, which meant money in the bank for them. Now the bookings were starting to pour in, so the up and coming entrepreneurs started moving in for what they hoped would be an easy kill. ........Then on Sunday 20.10.68 Ben and I returned to the Manor Ballroom to see “Chicken Shack”, another London band featuring Stan Webb, with a very beautiful Christine Perfect on keyboards. Later she was to marry John McVie of Fleetwood Mac. These trips were worth going to because Ben and I were learning from all the musicians we were watching. After watching John McVie I had started playing some very hard and long riffs that I attributed to him. The biggest problem that I had was in trying to remember a riff the next day at home, so that I could practice it. I worked out a system of notes that I said to myself, like boom bar boom bar boom. Another system I worked out was the way I tapped out positions on my leg, a type of code that only I could decipher the next day. However, it certainly worked for me. The other thing that I did was to only try to remember one riff per show, hence I had an excuse to keep going to lots of live shows to learn more and more riffs. During the bands weekly practice I would show Ray what I had picked up and Ray would help me where I had got it all wrong. ........On the 27.10.68 Ben and I returned to the Manor Ballroom. “Jethro Tull” was led by the amazing Ian Anderson playing flute, in a three-guitar rock band line up. This was an unusual act, not the type of music that we were performing, but never the less well worth seeing if only for the stage craft that they had achieved. ........Saturday the 2nd November saw the band once again playing at the Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall, another booking we had been looking forward to, because of the great atmosphere the place always seemed to conjure up. I can’t remember who the band was that we were supporting, but I do know it was a good booking and we all thoroughly enjoyed our selves. That night was also another land mark day for me, because months later I was to learn that it was the night when Emily had to make up her mind whether to continue going with me. Linda was back stage and I kept asking her if her friend Emily was coming to the booking. Later she was to disappear while she went looking for Emily. She found her in the Cross Keys Pub not far from the venue. Unfortunately, she was with another boy who had taken her out for the evening, being a friend of her neighbour Tishy. Linda called her to one side and explained that I was looking for her back at the Jubilee Hall. That evening Emily had a big decision to make as to whether she wanted to continue going with the boy she was with, or myself. Without going in to finer detail what I do know is that she turned up to see me back stage a quarter of an hour later. Emily has never told me how she broke the news to the other guy who had lost out on the deal. During the last booking that the band had played, I had noticed a funny sound coming from my speakers. The notes that I was trying to achieve from my Guitar were not clean, it was a type of fuzzy sound that seemed to be coming from the speakers. Therefore, Styx was brought in to try to tell us what the problem was. It only took him a few seconds to diagnose blown speakers. The cones next to the magnets had probably moved or had grit in between them. He went on to tell us that it was possibly caused by the volume that the band had been playing at. Styx being an Electrician he soon got out his meters to check his diagnoses. ........Ron and Nigel took the speakers on the bus with them one Tuesday morning, when they went to the Ipswich Civic College, as part of their apprenticeship. It was no mean feat carrying these two very large cabinets that housed the 18-inch speakers. They left them at the music shop opposite the college run by a Mr. J.O Donnell and kept their fingers crossed that they would be repaired and returned by Saturday when the band had a booking at Ipswich, these repairs cost me £17-10s. ........At the weekends when Ray’s parents came down from London for a holiday break in their house at Prospect Place, they would bring their other children with them, three very good looking young girls. Ron was spending a lot of time with Ray at the time learning his new songs, so he got to know the family very well. It was not long before Joyce the second eldest of the girls and Ron started going out with each other. Joyce would accompany Ron whenever it was possible to the Bookings. ........During our visits to the Manor Ballrooms on Sunday evenings, there had been no romance between Emily and me. It was just a case of making up an even number in Ben’s car. Ben along with Linda and me would pick Emily up outside of her house in Aldeburgh and after the show, she was dropped off at the same place. I would carry on with Ben and Linda to Leiston. I liked Emily’s company very much and there was the occasional kiss but that was about it. In fact after four visits to the Manor it was surprising that something hadn’t developed more positive between us, after all Ben was going with Linda. At that time, I had not told Emily that I was married, once or twice I had tried to. Unfortunately, I chickened out at the very last moment, thinking that it might upset the boat and that she would not come along on any future visits to the Manor. ........Saturday the 02.11.68 was a big day in the life of the “Forbidden Fruit”. We were playing at the Ipswich Baths Hall the biggest venue in Ipswich. Many bands would have given their right hand to play there. This was a venue we had dreamed of playing, but never thought that we would ever achieve it. The Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall had been a dream but we had reached that goal in only a few short months. ........We were the support band to the, “Shoe String Soul Band” and went on first to warm up the crowd. I always used to say that the best bands always go on first. If the first band is doing its job correctly, an Ape could take the stage last and still get applause. I drove the van with all the gear while the other members followed in their own cars, while bringing lots of friends with them including Joyce, Linda, Emily, Shaggy, his girl friend Sue and Nigel with his new girl friend Elaine. It was a great night and the “Fruit” played well, but were over shadowed by the main act and their very large vocal following. However, it did wet our appetites to play the big venues more often and we just loved the big stages. What we liked most about this gig was, that this was the place that we had come to see one of our favourite bands the Equals just a few months earlier. Once the band had finished its show we returned to the dressing room at the back of the stage. We walked onto the girls that had accompanied us to the booking, who were having a laugh and a joke with the main act. Emily was wearing a dress with a zip down the front, as I walked into the room one of the young band members had pulled the zip right down. I was not very happy with what I had just seen and felt like punching the guy between the eyes. Somehow, I managed to hold my temper, so the incident did not get out of hand. Suddenly I became aware that I was feeling very jealous and she was not even my girl friend. It was about this time that I had to admit to myself that I did have a soft spot towards her. ........Sunday 03.11.68 was the first time that I had taken Emily out on our own and we went to the Manor Ballroom to see the “Nice”. We sat in the front row awaiting the band to come on stage, but they were delayed by bad snowy weather or at least that is what the promoters told us. Then after a one and a half-hour wait the “Nice” finally arrived on stage and proceeded to play an immaculate set. At one time Keith Emerson the keyboard player started doing all sorts of tricks. During the playing of one tune he went around the back of his Hammond Organ and pulled the thing over to about 45 degrees while still playing it, by leaning over to touch the keyboards. He then dropped it down onto its back flat on the floor with a terrific crash, all the time the Hammond was still letting out the weirdest of noises. During another song he crawled inside the back of the organ and used drumsticks to tap on the valves, giving the thing an unusual sound, the audience enjoyed it all. With the playing of their hit tune “America” that went to No21 in the hit parade on10.07.68 and stayed in the charts for fifteen weeks. Emerson then brought the house down by burning the American flag. This song was later to become one of the most rehearsed and confidently played tunes in the “Fruits” repertoire. It was one of the best shows that I had seen. Although the show only lasted one and a half-hours and the audience had to sit around waiting for them, at the end the band got a standing ovation. Not one person was heard moaning or complaining, all agreed that it was a fantastic show. ........Another reason why I remember this gig is because it was very cold and the hall was not heated. Not only that, while we awaited the bands arrival I could feel a cold coming on and it was making me feel very uncomfortable. By the time the evening had come to an end my cold had broken and I felt absolutely terrible with an uncontrollable running nose. ........Friday the 08.11.68 and the “Fruit” played at the Airman’s Club on RAF Bentwaters, the American Air base near Leiston. This was a surprise gig being a hard club to get into, but an Ipswich agent had given us the booking. We played well but were plagued with the Servicemen all wanting to get on the stage and borrow our instrument to play with a long the band. An action that was new to us and at no cost would we allow it to happen. We were all glad when the booking was over and to get away from the club. However most of the Airmen had enjoyed our music especially the Gino Washington songs, Gino had been an Airman at this particular Airbase a couple of years earlier and was well liked and remembered. ........The “Fruit” played at the Yoxford village hall on Saturday 09.11.68 for Mrs. Berry, by this time a deep relationship had developed between her and her band as she called us. At the moment, the “Fruit” were the flavour of the month and could do no wrong. However, Mrs. Berry was also a very shrewd businesswoman who saw a pound in everything she looked at and the “Fruit” to her had pound signs, all around them. She was happy because she was making money for her beloved village hall fund. Therefore, while the “Fruit” had the draw power she was not going to use any other band and lose out on a good thing. The band played from 8 to11-45pm to a packed house made up of all the usual supporters. By now there was a regular contingent consisting of about one hundred young people who would attend every dance that was held at Yoxford and that the “Fruit” played at. The band always looked forward to a full house at this venue. ........This was also the night, while during one of the band breaks that I told Emily that I was still married, as we took a walk outside of the hall. Unbeknown to me, Emily had known from the start that I was married. However, she had made up her mind to give me a chance to explain myself. She had decided that if I came clean and told her within four weeks and that I was honest in my explanation that I was completely finished with my wife. She would know that I was not stringing her along. Otherwise, she would stop seeing me, not wanting to go out with a married man and become the gossip of the local area. I had been trying to pluck up the courage for a couple of weeks. However, it was Linda who finally persuaded me to do it sooner than later. Because she informed me on the quiet, that if I did not, and then I would lose Emily forever. ........Lucky for me, Emily accepted and trusted me in what I had to say and we started to meet each other on a regular basis. Up until now, we had only been out together on a couple of occasions, to visit the Ipswich Manor Ballroom. From now on Emily started to attend the “Fruit” bookings on a regular basis to watch me play and to later meet up with me after the booking. She usually made her own way to the bookings, but after the gig I was allowed to take her home. ........After the Yoxford booking, while we were packing up the gear on stage, Shaggy suddenly announced that he had heard on the grapevine that Lord and Lady Batho, who lived just a few miles down the road, were having a party for their daughters coming out Ball. Something the rich people of the day would do when their children reached the age of twenty-one. Shaggy added that he had heard they were also looking for a band for the night’s entertainment. It being very late at night did not seem to worry Shaggy, even after somebody pointed out that it was already way past midnight. No worries he said they are probably only just starting to get into the swing of things. It was hastily agreed that we would all drive down there in convoy and give it a try. ........With all the cars parked the band including Emily, Linda, Joyce, Shaggy his girl friend Sue, and I believed Ray’s girl Sarah, we all approached the front door of a very large stately home. Music could be heard coming from inside. Nobody knew what to say if the front door was answered or indeed, who was going to have the courage to knock in the first place. In doing so they would be the one to confront the Lord or Lady, or whoever was going to answer the door. I dealt with the problem directly and told everybody to follow me. Then holding Emily’s hand I dragged her along with me, I strode up to the front door and rang the bell. As the door opened, I got a shock when it was answer immediately by a lady with a glass in one hand and a bottle of bubbly in the other. “Mrs. Batho” I blurted out, telling her that we a pop group and that we had been told that you were possibly looking for a band for your entertainment tonight. She stuck the glass into my left hand and the bottle in my right and invited us all in side. Adding that we were welcome to come in, as she put it to play for them. We were all lead giggling and laughing to a very large room that contained a half a dozen tables. All laid out with every type of food imaginable and told to help ourselves while the speeches were going on in a Marquee adjoining the back door. Mrs. Batho then informed us that she would come and get us when it was all over. The food spread was just amazing there was every conceivable meat dish that had ever invented, from game birds to salmon and trout, you name it and it was all laid out in front of us. The band had just completed a four hour gig and as usual we were very hungry, so we did not need to be told twice to tuck in, plus we had been left on our own with no prying eyes. A lot of skylarking took place, with food being thrown at each other, while other culinary delights were rolled up in napkins and placed into our pockets for later use. We did not worry about making a mess because there was all ready food all over the place, including on the floor and in one area on the wall. It looked like a battle had already taken place in the room. After we had finished eating, we retreated to the large staircase and sat around awaiting a signal from the lady of the house. ........The band set up in the Marquee and completed a sound check, but before we struck up, the daughter of the house came over with a crate of Champaign for us. It turned out that Shaggy knew her, she was the one who had asked him to suggest this party to the band. Once we were well oiled with Bubbly we climbed onto our instruments, then with a quick nod from Ray, Ben went into his customary One, Two, Three, Four and we launched straight into the “Midnight Hour”. The band played well, but then we should have, as we had just played at Yoxford, only a couple of hours earlier, so this was a cinch. Most of the young people at this party were already drunk long before we had arrived and were lying around the marquee. While their girl friends seemed quite sober and ready to dance. The band was the only sober young people there at that time. However, it was not long before some of the girls started to eye up the band members and all this took place right in front of our girl friends, who were all sitting around at the tables watching every move that was being made by all parties. One particular girl was making it very obvious that she was after Ben. Another one danced in front of me, while wiggling and grinding her hips, pouting her lips and trying to look me in the eyes. I am sure she was teasing me while trying to pick me up, at times it became so blatant. She also had a boy friend or husband with her, who had to watch what was going on in front of me. Eventually he just came over and grabbed her, dragged her away because she was so drunk. It was all a little embarrassing for those who were watching. ........The band was a little worried in case a scene would arise from a drunken boyfriend, if he were to realise what was going on. However, it did not stop the Champaign flowing freely with the band. It was not long before we were starting to get merry our selves. It was amazing just how much bubbly was lying around the area. I had four bottles standing by my amp, while most of the other members of the band had pretty much the same at their disposal. During one of the breaks that we took, Ben laid a couple of bottles inside the brown leather case we used to carry the microphones and wires in. Ray’s speaker cabinet was hollow in its back and so he neatly laid a couple of bottles in amongst the speakers, while I placed one inside a bag I used to carry a lot of my junk in. The band played through until almost 4am, by which time most of the party guys had passed out. It became a little embarrassing for the host and it was becoming a bore for the band, as we were becoming a little tired having played for so long. ........To our relief the lady of the house informed us that we might as well call it a day, so we started packing up the gear. While all this was going on most of the band were smuggling Champaign into their equipment to take home. After all, there was a lot of the stuff just lying around and nobody seemed to be worrying about it. With the contraband all neatly stowed away and ready to leave, the lady of the house came over and gave me some money for the night’s work and thanked us all very much for playing. She then proceeded to apologise for all the drunks in the place and for the mess that they had all left. Then she said, “Do you know we have had some rotten people here tonight, they have all been stealing our Champaign”. With a grin on my face and a secure hand on my junk bag with the Champaign neatly hidden inside, I said, “Oh that’s terrible Mom, you can’t trust anybody today can you”. With that, we exchanged our farewells and headed to the vehicles were a shock awaited us. The whole area was bathed in a thick pea soup of a fog, so thick that you could not see your hand in front of your face, so the convoy of vehicles limped back home at a leisurely 15 to 20mph. ........That night I took Emily straight home arriving just after 5am, I left her very worried at what her father was going to say about getting home at this hour of the morning. Emily told me that she crept in trying not to make any noise, but soon as she got inside, she heard her father moving around the bedroom up stairs. More than likely getting ready to go fishing, as his full time job was a long shoreman. As she heard him approach the top of the stairs she just laid down on the bottom part of the stairs and pretended that she had just fallen asleep there after coming home a little the worse for drink, from the party she had been to. The explanation seemed to satisfy him and Emily got away with the whole episode very lightly. ........A further footnote about the night for Emily and me, we kept one bottle of our Champaign, on the understanding that it would only be opened on a very special occasion. That special occasion became the Christening of our first child Sharon. At that time, we were living at the Black and White Bungalow in Aldringham. Upon opening the bottle, the cork flew out of the garden and across the main road almost hitting a young boy on a motor bike. Many years later and we still have that very same Champaign cork and a silver coin that was given to Sharon stuck in its end. ........I took Emily to the Ipswich Manor Ballroom that Sunday 10.11.68 to see the “Taste” that featured Rory Gallagher on lead guitar. I had waited a long time to see this guy, being one of my all-time guitar heroes. As usual, it was packed and we had to queue up a long time just to get into the venue, however it was well worth the wait. It was a pity that all the other members of the “Fruit” did not witness this extraordinary guitarist and the stage show that he was part of. The guys would have learnt a lot from this band. I tried to explain it to them, but sometimes it is hard to put into words what you have just seen. If only they had taken just five minutes of their time to watch this show it would have lasted them a lifetime, as it has for me. ........The running of van was costing the band a little money, like on 06.11.68 when we had to fork out £15-15s to the East Suffolk Council for road tax. At least we were earning a reasonable amount of money from the bookings that we were playing at. After costs were taken out from the gigs we still ended up with a little cash in our pocket. I kept the van at my house along with most of the gear. Every night without fail, I had to unload all of the gear into the house and store it all under the stairs. I was always paranoid, (that’s a good name for a song), about thieves taking it from the van as other bands had found out to their horror and cost. I felt that it was my responsibility and for this hassle, I was allowed to use the van for my own use, but making sure that I used my own petrol for my running around. ........In December, the “Fruit” played at the Leiston Labour Club in Valley Road. This was the first time that the band had played in Leiston to some of their loyal followers since the Youth Club gigs at the start of their days on the road way back in March. The gig turned out to be one of the best attended and one of the best atmospheres ever generated during an evening’s playing. The hall was packed, there was not a spare space to be had anywhere. Most of our followers had been loosened up at the local Volunteers public house before they attended the dance. Unfortunately, there was no stage and so the band had to set up on the floor at the far end of the hall. Unfortunately, from this advantage point all we could see was a mass of bouncing swirling heads. Although it was December and cold outside, in the hall it was like an oven. The sweat was just pouring off the band members who were putting as much into their playing as they could. In fact the band knew no other way to play, for us it was full on or nothing that was the only way. We believed that the public had paid to hear a band and see some sort of show and that is precisely what they got, an attitude that stayed with us to the end. During the night, a young fellow with a large mop of curly hair came up to the band and asked if he could sing. This was a new challenge for us, we had never backed anybody before without practicing first. While the band was taking a break Ray spent some time talking to the guy. Finding out what song he wished to sing and more to the point did the band know it. It turned out that he was a big Rolling Stones supporter and liked most of their songs. One in particular was “Jumping Jack Flash”, this was a big hit for the Stones it reached No1 on 29.05.68 and was in the charts for eleven weeks. Lucky for the band we had tried practicing the song, but for some reason we had not included it into our repertoire. ........Halfway through the next bracket Ron announced that a local guy was going to sing them a song and he approach the stage to a rapturous applause and cat whistling, the usual thing that young people do to encourage anybody who wants to try his hand at something different. Ray had pre-warned us to play exactly what we had practiced just a couple of months earlier, any problems we were to watch him and he would tell us where to go. Ben called out his usual One, Two, Three, Four, the band dropped straight into “Jumping Jack Flash”. The new guy just took the microphone from Ron and went straight into his Mick Jagger routine surprising everybody in the hall including the band. This guy was good, in his singing and his Mick Jagger impersonation that he was pumping out. It also went well for the band who were not making too many mistakes. Coupled with this the guys performance went down well, ending to a rapturous applause and many shouts of more. That was a great night to be remembered for a long time to come. ........On the 07.12.68 the “Fruit” played at the Brampton Village hall just opposite the Brampton Dog public house. This was another good booking with most of the usual followers turning up, even this far out from Leiston. Most people would meet up and a few car loads would make the trips to the venues. Emily had to work that night so she had not arranged to meet me later. However, she changed her plans after she was able to finish work early (she was a cook at the Aldeburgh hospital) having talked her neighbour Bambi Churchyard in to taking her to the booking on the back of his motorbike. I thought a frizzy haired groupie was picking me up, when she came up to see me on the stage, after pulling off a crash helmet that her neighbour had loaned her. ........During the night the Mick Jagger clone arrived and once again asked to sing a song. This time the band got him up on stage straight away. Where he did another immaculate version of “Jumping Jack Flash” and had the crowd chanting for more. The band had spoken to the guy at the Labour Hall and had agreed on some other songs the next time that they all met. So we immediately broke into a couple of different songs just to satisfy the audience and to keep the whole night flowing. He certainly was a big hit and the band got a lot of praise by giving him his big break on stage and in front of a large audience. Unfortunately, the other two songs that he sung were not as good, they did not quite gel as “Jumping Jack Flash” had. That song was certainly the big hit of the night, but the others needed just that little bit more work doing on them, if the band were to play them in the future. Later “Jumping Jack Flash” became a regular song in the “Fruits” repertoire but with Ron on vocals. Ron also gave justice to the song and in the end I preferred his version. The only thing that Ron lacked was the jumping around and gyrating that Jumping Jack had under taking. I must also add that Ron also accepted this guy on his stage to sing in front of his fans quite graciously and for that I give him full credit. After all Ron had whipped the crowd up in to a frenzy and here was this guy reaping its rewards. Not many other singers would have allowed him to grab their audience like that. ........Saturday 14.12.68 saw the “Fruit” at the Framlingham Assembly Rooms supporting, a London band with the name of “Kiss”. After setting up all the gear and going through a sound check with the main act. The band retreated over the road to the Castle public house to unwind and have a drink, before it was our time to go on stage. I had been talking to the band for a long time, planning on back combing my hair into an Afro style, so it looked like Jimi Hendrix. It was while I was sitting in front of a large log fire with a pint of beer in my hand that I talked Emily into having a go at my hair. It took her well over an hour to back comb every strand and to stop it from collapsing she lacquered it all, using up almost a half of a can of spray. My hair was very long, so with all the backcombing it bushed out so it looked like a giant halo around my head. Ben remarked that I looked more like a Golliwog than Jimi Hendrix did. However, that did not deter me, I was adamant that I was going to go on stage that night with his new hairstyle creation. The truth is I had no option, by now we had run out of time and we were due on stage within ten minutes, so that meant that there was no time to comb it back. If it took over an hour to get to this point, then it would take at least half an hour to get it back into some sort of order. I had made up my mind I was going on stage however it looked. Dave admired me saying that I was very lucky, as I at least had hair to play around with and wished that he could have been able to do the same. ........I played like it that night and got a taste for the style, yes I got a few cat calls from the crowd, but I also got some good remarks. On the other hand, was it that they wanted me to stay with the style, so that every time they saw me they could have a good laugh at my expense. Either way I stuck with it for a few weeks. I had the philosophy that any news is good news. At least if the locals around Leiston were talking about me well that was all publicity for the band and that could not be all bad. The night went off well and the agent from Norfolk, whom Styx had introduced us to, had liked the band. As he did all of the hiring of acts for Framlingham, that could only be good for us. He left Styx with promises of more future work at Framlingham and Aldeburgh in the not too distant future. ........After the band had loaded all the equipment into the van, most of them drove off leaving just Emily and me in the van. I drove down the road to the town centre to turn around. As was heading back up the road to go passed the Assembly Rooms on our way out of town and home. When a very young policeman stepped out into the road and flagged us down. I pulled up and wound the window down, expecting a drugs bust or something like that. The policeman came right up close to the window and said, “Are you the driver of this vehicle” I looked at Emily and said, “Because I am I’m the one behind the wheel, aint I”. Emily and I both started to giggle a little bit. The policeman must have realised what he had just said was silly and in a flustered sort of way said, “Go on then, you can go”, to which we both burst out laughing and drove off. This young copper must have been on his first day out or something, trying to use his powers of authority and got it all cocked up. Either way we both got a good laugh out of the incident, as did the band members when they were told about it the next day. ........The 20.12.68 was a Friday night and we were playing at the Saxmundham Queens Head Hotel. Normally this venue was reserved for Country acts, but Brian Kirk the landlord could see a buck in the local band. Therefore, he gave us a booking as a trial, only agreeing to pay us on the condition that, we would be paid a certain amount of money after a certain amount of people had passed through the doors. A trial we surpassed very quickly, but we never received very much money for our efforts. The whole event went off so well that Brian changed every Friday night over to local Rock n Roll bands. As a twist of fate, what we had started we did not help to finish, only returning to this venue a few times. In addition, for this particular night we were paid very little, most of the bands that followed were paid quite handsomely. ........Yoxford celebrated their Christmas Dance at the Village Hall on Saturday the 21.12.68 with music being supplied by the “Forbidden Fruit”. Mrs. Berry was delighted to get the band for this dance, knowing that by now we were becoming very busy. She made the remark that she should be given the first option on any bookings that she wanted to hold, because as she claimed to anybody who would listen, she had discovered the “Forbidden Fruit”. In a way she had, but it was very hard trying to explain to her that some bookings had been taken many weeks in advance. She could book them on any vacant date, but that they must honour all bookings already taken. If not they would get a bad name in the industry and would soon be out of favour and work. She did not seem to understand what we were trying to say to her, but for the moment, it was okay. It was just lucky that she had always been able to book us whenever the time arose. However, this was just luck, somewhere down the road, one day a clash was going to arise. Until then, it was just a case of shut up and to wait and see, why try to sort out problems that have not arisen. ........The night was one big party, with no alcohol being allowed in the hall. Most people had been down the road to the Griffin public house, where they had a skin full before going to the dance. Therefore, the atmosphere was very party like, in good humour and with no threats of a fight. On the one occasion that a fight had arisen at an earlier “Fruit” gig, Mrs. Berry had surprised everyone by wading into the aggressive offenders. Having grabbed one of them by the scuff of the neck, she dragged him to the door and then threw him out of the hall. Telling him that he was not welcome and not to come back, to the amazement of all the bystanders. The band had been playing at the time and witnessed all the developments from high up on the stage. Mrs. Berry was not somebody to tangle with, plus she had a couple of decent size sons who looked after her. While the band played on the stage, she had a little tea room alongside the stage and from here she and her sons sold cold drinks and hot-dog’s another little earner for her. She was very honest and all the money she raised went to the Yoxford Village Hall fund. ........News of the relationship between Emily and I started to spread around the Leiston area and steadily people stopped talking to me, however nobody ever said anything to my face. Ben remained very loyal. Whereas with Margaret our courtship had been a whirlwind affair and we had not really got to know each other before we were married. Emily and I were slowly getting to know each other over a long period of time, giving our relationship a chance to grow. ........Two big disappointments that the band experienced was the cancellation of a couple of bookings. At one time, we were booked through the Norfolk Agent who handled the Framlingham Assembly Rooms venue. To play at Sheringham as the support act to the “Small Faces”, a big act at that time with a few hits in the top twenty hit parades to prove it. With hits such as “Itchycoo Park” which reached No3 in the hit parade on the 08.09.67 and hung around for fourteen weeks. “Whatcha Gonna Do”, reached 14 in the hit parade on the 02.09.65 and was in the charts for twelve weeks. “Sha la la lee” reached No3 in the hit parade on the 10.03.66 and hung around for eleven weeks. ........The “Fruit” had been looking forward to this booking for a long time. The “Faces” as they were known came from the East End of London not far from where Ray and his family hailed from, so Ray was very keen to see them. At that time they had the name of being the loudest band in Great Britain. Later to lose the title to the “Who” another London band who then held onto the title for over twenty years. ........It turned out that Emily was very worried about this booking, because it had been mentioned that because Sheringham was so far away the band would properly stay the night somewhere. This was new to Emily she had never stayed out before and was dreading the day and how she could handle it. Although she did want to see the “Faces”, she did not want to put me off her. She kept her mouth shut thinking of a way to get around it as the day loomed near. Lucky for her the booking was cancelled so with a sigh of relieve she did not have to make any big decisions over the event and I never knew of her worry. ........The second big disappointment came with the cancellation from the same agent of a booking at Cromer in Norfolk as the support band to “Amen Corner”, fronted by Andy Fairweather-Low. Another top group with hits like, “Bend Me Shape Me” that reached No3 in the hit parade on 17.01.68 and was in the charts twelve weeks. “Gin House”, reached No12 in the hit parade on the 26.07.67 and was in the charts for twelve weeks. “High In The Sky” reached No6 on 31.07.68 being in the charts for thirteen weeks and “Half As Nice” reached No1 on the 21.01.69 and was in the charts for eleven weeks. ........Once again, the “Fruit” would have loved to have the experience of playing alongside such a big act’s as these. It would have been good for our moral, good for our ego and good for future publicity, while trying to drum up more good quality work. However, it was all part and parcel of being in the music business. The public only sees the good sides of the industry, but the band sees all of the bad and down sides. Believe me there are more bad sides than good sides. The whole industry runs on heartbreaks and broken promises and after a few years, the musicians just get used to it. It’s like water off a ducks back, they put it all down to experience. Saying to themselves that they will not be conned like that again, but when it comes around once more, they again become victims. A musician loves his playing so much so that given the opportunity he would probably play for nothing, just to hear the applause after each number, its infectious, just like a drug. It gets the adrenaline flowing something all musicians love, its better than any social drug and in most cases the musician will be on a high for several hours after a booking not wanting to come down. ........With the disappointment of loosing these two choice bookings, the “Fruit” had to pick it’s self up and look to the future. It was no good to keep going on about what might have been. It was best forgotten about and to become positive and look ahead. If lady luck were to assist this band, it would still happen, only it would be in a different way. ........Saturday the 04.01.69 and the band headed for London to assist Dave in his choice of new guitar. He was fed up with his old one mainly because it would not stay in tune and secondly it did not look the part. This was a time when most up and coming guitar players would have given their eye teeth to own a Fender Stratacaster. Something that all the top guitarist of the day played, people like Hank Marvin, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and many more were playing them at the time. David was no exception, so after saving up what he hoped was enough money, today would be the day. Ray being the Londoner amongst us directed Ben whose car we were all in, straight for the Soho area where he knew all the second hand music dealers were. ........Inside the shops, the boys just stood around with their mouths wide open, it was just wall to wall with guitars of every shape and size. Dave knew what he wanted but it was Ray who knew his way around pointing Dave to the Fenders and a beautiful Red Stratacaster. In Dave’s eyes, there was no other guitar in the shop that mattered. This was the one for him and nobody was going to talk him out of it, financially it was just within his budget. Okay it was second hand but that is all he could afford, that is what he wanted and that is what he had made up his mind to buy. Something that Dave did not know at the time, but it worked out in his favour. It had leaked out that Fender where having most of their guitars made in Japan under license. At that time the craftsmanship of the Japanese left a lot to be desired. So many people who bought what they thought was a genuine Fender Guitar, in fact ended up with a so-called Japanese copy. Therefore, Dave in buying a second hand Fender Guitar at least got the genuine thing. In a twist of fate, years later the Japanese made Fender guitars became the superior models of workmanship, when compared against the American models that were being made at that time. ........I was a little harder to please, because I had no idea what I wanted. The Bass Guitar that had been my first purchase did not have a masculine look about it. It was very small and light to hold, but it did not give me the impression of a manly looking Rock n Roll star. Unfortunately, I did not know much about bass guitars, I had no idea of the best ones to buy or of what brands my bass playing idols were playing. Therefore, for me it was more a case of does it look good and not how does it sound. It was hard because even if you were allowed to play it in the shop, it was usually through a very small amp and you would not be allowed to wind it right up. In addition, with guitars the sound is not all you take into consideration, what the amp will make it sound like must also be considered. Moreover, what the venue will do to that sound is the building made of wood, brick or any other material. Therefore, at the end of the day whatever you bought was a gamble, unless you had done your homework and bought a brand you had a little idea on what it sounded like or maybe you knew somebody who played one like it. I had no idea so I went for looks and found a Burns Bison. This very large monstrosity of a guitar weighed a ton and had two very large horns on it. This is the one boy’s, this is what every keen young bass player of the day should be playing, is what I remember tell them. It’s masculine, it looks the part and it is a Burns. That was the only bit of information I had to draw on, knowing that the “Shadows” had at one time all played Burns guitars before they changed over to Fender. If it was good enough for them, then it was good enough for me. Unfortunately, what I did not know was that nobody in the “Shadows” ever played a Bison, because they were too heavy to hold on their shoulders all night. In fact in later years I would always blame this monstrosity of a guitar for causing my rounded shoulders. After a lot of persuasion from Ray not to buy it and to go for a Fender, I took no notice and bought the Burns. Mind you, it was all that I could afford at the time. However knowing what I know today I would probably admit that if I’d had borrowed a few pounds from somebody in the band, I would have been better off buying a Fender. Moreover, in later years it would have spared me the chore of once again changing my guitar. Yes to end the saga, I did eventually end up playing a Fender Jazz Bass guitar but that was a couple of years later. ........Wednesday the 08.01.69 and the “Fruit” played at the Ipswich Baths Hall as the support band for “Jimmy’s Jamboree Bag”. This was good for us because it meant a midweek booking, something that was a very rare commodity. Normally the only bookings that could be picked up were Friday or Saturdays. The band was very excited with the booking because tonight would be the night that Dave and I would be trying out our new second hand guitars. We’d had a practice at the youth club on the Monday night just to make sure that everything worked out okay. Now tonight would be the night. Our band was on first and we went straight into our usual routine starting with our well-oiled “Midnight Hour”. The bracket that we played was full on, grabbing the crowd’s attention right from the start we had them all jumping up and down in time with the music. However, the pace of the band went up a couple of notches when Ray picked up his guitar and we went into the second half of our show, playing the “Equals” and “Jim Hendrix” material. By the end of our bracket, we had the crowd eating out of our hands. Making it very uncomfortable for the “Jamboree Bag” to follow our act. The aim of the support band is to warm up the crowd for the main act, so that they would have an easier job to get into their bracket. Not to do what the “Fruit” had just done and make it a hard act to follow. It took Jimmy at least half an hour to get the crowd on to his side and by that time several people had left. When most of the crowd had by then forgotten the first act and were by then prepared to dance and bop along to the swing of any band that cared to play to them, however bad they were. ........09.01.69 and the “Fruit” had to pay Pat Keebles Garage £5-3s-4d, for repairs on the van and to get it ready for its annual, M.O.T test certificate. To us it was just another expense and a total waste of money, because David made sure that it was kept in good repair. ........Saturday 11.01.69 was one of the first Saturdays that the band had not had a booking for a long time. Therefore, a couple of us went along to the Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall to see a London band that was visiting the area. The name “Harlem Shuffle” sounded like it was the type of music that we were trying to recreate, it being black American Soul. We were not disappointed, “Harlem Shuffle” where a ten-piece band with Alto and Tenor Sax players, Trumpet, Keyboard, Lead, Rhythm and Bass Guitar, Drummer and Singer. There sound was immaculate and had the Jubilee Hall rocking that night. Nobody was disappointed and the members of the “Fruit” were convinced that they had seen an exceptional show. We went away with all the new ideas under the sun, on how we could use this experience to improve the sound of the “Fruit” in the future. ........Friday the 17.01.69 and the “Fruit” finally managed to get back to the Saxmundham Queens Head Hotel, to another sell out booking that had all our local followers there. Much to the delight of Brian the publican, who I found later after I had hung back after the show. Finding him counting the taking for the night, with his one for you and three for me routine all covered by a very big smile on his face. ........On Saturday 18.01.69 we returned to our ever-faithful Yoxford and Mrs. Berry and played our usual gig to the same crowd that this venue attracted. After the booking, a few of us decided on, an on the spot decision to go to London, to have a hot-dog. Dave, Shaggy, Ron and I all packed into Ben’s car and off we sped with Bens lead foot on the accelerator. The trip was uneventful considering the break neck speed that Ben drove at. We were soon in London and in the Soho area, which seemed to attract many people at that late hour. It was about 3am and there were still a lot of people around. We had a drink and a hot dog at a roadside stall and then had a walk around looking at the sites. At some time we all went down to the underground and took a train just a short distance. Unfortunately, we had to get Ben off a couple of stations before the one we were actually looking for. Just as he stepped out of the carriage onto the platform he slumped forward on to a seat and past out. We put it down to his lack of sleep and food, anyway he soon recovered and we continued on are skylarking way. ........As dawn broke, we found ourselves sitting on the steps of a government building laughing and cracking jokes. I was up to my usual tricks shouting to the all girls, with my by now very well known one liners like. Hey dream boat, not you shipwreck or, the last time I saw a face like that it had a hook in its mouth. At times, we were calling out to the taxis as they passed, it was all a good laugh. As soon as it was daylight, we made our way towards the Tottenham Court Road where we stopped to look into the Burns Guitar Shop window. The Shop window had a very funny sloping angled window that was rounded at the top and dropped away from you, it then sloped inwards and down to the ground. Dave leaned over to look at the guitars that were on display. Suddenly there was a loud bang as he hit his head on the specially toughened glass, reeling back holding his forehead groaning. Ben asked him what had happened, with that Dave went through the same routine that he had just been through to show the boys, when bang he hit his head again, this time almost knocking himself out. By this time, the others were all rolling around laughing. However, I noticed that of all the guitars on display in the window, there was every model except the Burns Bison. By this time I had come to the conclusion that I had indeed bought the wrong guitar, but for now I was going to have to put up with it and all that weight on my shoulders. ........With all the band’s commitments and practices that we were doing, the strain on Ray’s relationship with Sarah was starting to show. It was noticeable that Sarah had stopped attending most of the bookings, she had also stopped coming to practices sessions months earlier. It got to the point where she gave Ray an ultimatum, to choose the band or their relationship. Ray like me had waited a long time to get a break in the music industry and wanted to give it a good try, just in case there was a chance that we might make it. Unfortunately, Sarah took a dim view and gave Ray the brush off, calling it a day with their relationship. Ray was very upset for a few weeks, however it was the music that took his mind off the loss that he had just experienced. ........Saturday the 25.01.69 and the “Fruit” were back at the Framlingham Assembly Rooms as support act for a band called “D’Jangos Castle” from Norwich, a strange name for a band, but a band that the boys would always remember. At the sound check the “Castle” had very little gear to set up, in fact it was a little embarrassing. The support band had twice as much equipment dwarfing everything on stage. However, when it came to making music the “Castle” left nothing to the imagination, they were superb. Technically, they were the best band that the “Fruit” would ever play with, but unfortunately, they had not the money to purchase any good gear to play their music through. It was a memorable night, one that would stay with some of the members for a long time. ........On the 08.02.69 the “Fruit” were once again the support act at the Framlingham Assembly Rooms, this time for an Ipswich Soul band called “Sleepy Talk”. This was the first night that I did not have my hair back combed up in to my by now customary “Jimi Hendrix” Afro style. For this nights act I wanted to go as I normally walked around. I had grown tired of all the work that Emily had to put into my hair styling before each show, it had now become a hassle to us both. ........Friday the 14.02.69 and we were back at the Leiston Labour Hall in Valley Road, returning to the place that rocked so well for us in early December. When the local guy had climbed out of the audience and sung “Jumping Jack Flash” with us. Sadly, he was never to sing with the “Fruit” again, in fact we never heard from him again. The gig that night was a good one, but did not have quite the same edge on it, that the earlier one had. The hall was about three-quarters full and those that were there had a good time. However, a band can feel the atmosphere, they can sense if that little something is different in the air and tonight was that night. The band could not put their finger on it, but somehow there was something different. Most of who attended, after a few drinks up at the Volunteers public house, where the usual faces, including the Jarvis brothers Bob and Les, plus all their usual mates. Although the two sisters who ran the dance and lived up Waterloo Avenue, were well pleased with the turn out that night. Mainly because there was another dance in the area, so they knew that they would possibly be down on the crowd compared with their first dance in December. ........Saturday the 15.02.69 and we were at the Framlingham Assembly Rooms, this time we were supporting a band called the “Ketas”, a group of young musicians with a big line-up of brass, including Trumpet, Alto and Tenor Sax, from the Stowmarket area. An area that I had grown up in, in fact I recognised one of the trumpet players, as the brother of a guy who was a member of the Stowmarket Swimming Club. We had swum many a race against each other, way back in my latter school day years. Before going on for the show we spent an hour across the road at the Castle talking about old times back at Stowmarket, or Combs Ford to be more precise which was where he lived. ........The “Fruit” played the only way they knew how, one hundred and ten percent for the whole night and stole the show away from the “Ketas”, who lacked that little bit of experienced edge to their music. This booking brought something home to the band. We were always the support act at Framlingham and sometimes to some mediocre acts. Surly it should soon be time for us to head a show. An approach was made to the agent and he fobbed us off with the usual story that he needed a good solid band that he could rely on each week. Somebody who could pull a good crowd and warm them up for the main act and the rest of the rubbish that dribbled out of his mouth that day. I could not help telling him that was exactly what we did each week for him. Unfortunately, the rest of the band believed him and strangely things stayed just as they were. Mainly in the department, that he was making good money out of the night’s entertainment and the “Fruit” was still the support act. On the 18.02.69 the band got hit with a bill from Pat Keebles for repairs carried out on the van to the tune of £6-6s, unfortunately it had to be done. The Fruit Mobile was by now so well known around the area that the police, who usual went over it with a fine toothcomb and were constantly stopping it. Therefore, it was not worth the risk of being caught with something mechanically wrong with the vehicle. The police knew the histories of some bands and tarred them all with the same brush. If one was bad then they were all bad. However, I ran a tight ship, not wanting to be caught for anything. I never knowingly carried anything that the law might have seized me for. ........On the 22.02.69 the “Fruit” supported the “Brian Russell Showcase” at the Framlingham Assembly Rooms. These guys were good, being well polished and it showed in their act. However, their music was ordinary not doing much for the audience. By the end of their act, many of the people had drifted away. The “Fruit” were lucky, by going on first it ensured that most of the audience where there for the whole show, just to wait and see what the main act was going to be like. There was always the element of people who needed to get drunk before going into the dance. Some would have the attitude that oh it’s only the “Fruit” playing, we can see them anytime. Therefore, we will have plenty time for a drink and then drift down to the dance later just before the main act comes on. Mrs. Berry at Yoxford had a cure for this type of person, she would close the doors to the dance after a certain time and lock out the late arriving drunks and at no cost would she open the doors, whatever the excuse being given by the late arrivals. ........The Fruit had for a long time been talking about the success that they were experiencing and were worried about somebody copying their name. Therefore, a unanimous decision was made for the band do something about it. On 25.02.69 the band went to Ipswich, to the offices of “Gotelee and Goldsmith” (that’s a good name for a band) Solicitors. Ben had dug them out of the phone book and made all the arrangements for the band to be at their office just behind the Ipswich Town Hall on the old Corn Exchange. A document was drawn up, for a partnership amongst the five band members and so the wheels were put in motion to register the name “Forbidden Fruit”. All this for the handsome sum of £13-2s that was paid by a cheque that Ben had signed over to them. Number 072500. ........On Friday the 28.02.69 the “Fruit” were back at the Saxmundham Queens Head Hotel for another booking for Brian the publican. Later Brian was to run a music agency and I was to undertake a lot of work for him as a member of the band that he looked after, when he became the manager of the “Nightriders”. A group who I would tour the UK and Germany with many years later. It was a good night with the usual full house, mainly because the young people of the area had nowhere else to go on a Friday night, in fact it was Brian in his own way that kept them off the streets. Once the booking was over and all the equipment was all stowed away in the van. It was customary for the bands to stay behind and have a few drinks with Brian and some of his close friends behind locked doors. Most of the members of the band had drifted away home, leaving me on my own with a few of Brian’s friends. Brian appeared with a couple of air riffles and then turning to me he said with a grin on his face. Now my boy it’s customary for the bands to give me a chance to win my money back. With that, he set the dance hall up into a shooting gallery with the targets lined up on the stage, the shooters all lined up on the floor down by the main door by the bar. It was ten shots each, the nearest to the bull won five shillings off the guy he was shooting against. Brian had no idea that I was a marksman in the Royal Marine Command’s, so he was on a hiding to nothing or at least that’s what I thought. As the night progressed it was even, I won some and Brian won some, as did a few of the friends who were there that night, one was Barry Seaman's, Brian’s partner in the music agency that they were about to announce. Barry was the lead singer in the “Nightriders” and they were to become the first signing to the agency, Barry at that time was using the stage name Bob Wayne. ........It soon became apparent to me that I was not going to get out of this pub until Kirky, as I called him, had taken every cent from me, that I had been paid for the nights work. Although I was winning by now Kirky, kept doubling the bets, so there must come a time when I would lose a round at some stage. By this time the drink was also playing a major part in the events, voices were starting to be raised as the excitement grew. Something I had not considered was the money I was also spending on the drink. Kirky was fleecing me in more ways than I had thought. ........Finally, around 3am I realised that it would be better just to give him the money and then I could go home to bed and get good night’s sleep. I decided to start a losing streak just so I could get out through the doors in one piece. I left the pub at 4am, with empty pockets, being ribbed that I had been beaten. By all those that had survived the night so far and there was not many of them. I called it a diplomatic and strategic withdrawal, it was a case of withdraw and regroup. The next booking that the band had at this venue I would make a run for the door when the last item of equipment was stowed safely into the back of the van. ........On the 29.02.69 the “Fruit” finally got a booking at Walter’s International Club in Leiston on Valley Road. The interior of the Club had very good acoustics. Therefore, Ron had decided to record the band on his father’s reel-to-reel tape-recorder. The band went down in the early afternoon to set up the gear and to do a sound check. This was always a good thing to do if you got the chance, it took the pressure off you in the evening and so you could take your time and not get all flustered and worked up. You could just turn up at the gig with only about three-quarters of an hour to go, you could have a drink and just take it easy. After the gear had all been thoroughly sound checked, Ron set up his tape recorder with the help of a couple of friends and stuck the one and only microphone up in front of the band. It picked up every little bit of back ground noise that was available, but it did not matter the “Fruit” were finally being recorded. The band then went into about a dozen of their better more polished songs. This recording was as raw as you could ever get, however, it is the only one that survives to this day and is owned by Ron. It is a pity because over this very short time span, the “Fruit” made some good music and were well liked by many people. Many a Leiston person had a good night at one of our shows and could recollect the good times that they had, during this short period of time. ........The “Forbidden Fruit” were at the height of their so far very short career. They were floating on a cloud and were the flavour of the month, with the booking agents and their supporters. We had the ability and support to pull large crowds at most of the venues that they played, so being able to guarantee a full house to the venue bosses. We were working most Fridays, Saturdays and occasional during the midweek and for a local based band, this was very good. Not many bands could boast this amount of work, in a low populated country area. ........The Norfolk agent contacted Styx, informing him of the good news that the “Fruit” had finally risen through the ranks of support act. To become a major act in their own right, that he intended to use them as top billing at Framlingham. The boys greeted the news with great excitement. The news was even sweeter for us, as one of the other local bands the “Trodden Earth” was to be the support act. A big cheer went up as the boys heard the news. However, the news was only short-lived, two days to be precise. Apparently, the “Trodden Earth's” manager had complained bitterly and at times, the meeting was very heated. The end result was that the bands would share equal billing and on the night a coin would be tossed as to whom would take the stage first and sadly become the dreaded support act on the billing. It looked like the highly prized top of the bill position was going to be stolen from us and by a local inferior band at that. ........Suddenly a little bit of anger had crept into the band, for the first time ever members were having words with each other. There was an air of betrayal from Styx, that he had not done his job properly. In allowing the “Fruit” to lose the first chance that we had in trying to pull themselves off the bottom rung of the ladder that we were trapped on. Like most bands and people, we were in a hurry to get to the top. We did not take kindly to anything that got in our way or hampered that progress. The bigger surprise was that for the first time we were arguing amongst ourselves. Styx was the first casualty, as the band dispensed of his services, in a polite way. Fortunately, in those days there were no golden handshakes, just a foot helping you out of the door. The scars from this first disagreement would hang over the band right to the end. ........Wednesday 05.03.69 Emily and I went to the Ipswich Baths Hall to see the Birmingham based band the “Move”. At that time, they were having a lot of record success with several chart hits to their credit. With “I Can Hear The Grass Grow” which went to No5 on 06.04.67 and stayed in the charts for ten weeks. “Flowers In The Rain” that went to No2 on 06.09.67 and stayed in the charts for ten weeks and “Fire Brigade” that went to No3 on 07.02.68 and stayed in the charts for eleven weeks. As usual, the Baths Hall was full to the brim with people, so we spent most of the night up stairs on the balcony watching a really good show. That had the people on their feet for most of the time dancing and chanting to the songs, that they knew every word to. ........Came the dreaded Saturday of the big gig. The joint billing between the “Trodden Earth” and the “Forbidden Fruit” on the 08.03.69 at the Framlingham Assembly Room’s. Who would be going on first? The Fruit got to the venue halfway through the afternoon so we could set up our equipment in our own time and not be disturbed by the other group. We wanted to arrange the gear where we wanted to place it and not be told by somebody else what to do. Therefore, we spent a couple of hours getting it exactly as we wanted it. Unfortunately, it was all to no avail. Because at five o’clock in the afternoon when the “Trodden Earth” turned up everything had to be changed or so they and their manager said. The “Fruit” were adamant we were not going to move a thing and the “Trodden Earth” were adamant that it all had to be changed to accommodate all of their gear. Phone calls were made to the agent and a compromise had to be agreed on. The end result was very disappointing for the “Fruit”, we had lost the argument, we had lost our place on the bill, we had lost our dignity and we had lost the battle. We were immediately reduced to the support act position. Losing to a local competing band was what hurt the most. Our bubble had burst and in a bad way, to us it seemed like the end of the world had arrived, we were on a slide in to obscurity. ........Sitting in the Castle pub over the road, the “Fruit” was having a quiet drink, all looking very dejected and nobody was talking. When in walked the opposing band, the air became very thick, and you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. I got into an argument with one of the “Trodden Earth” members, but it was all really useless and a waste of time. What had happened had happened, it was no good crying about it and life goes on. ........The one thing the “Fruit” could do was to go on stage and play the best set they had ever played and just blow these guys off stage. That’s exactly what we did, that night turned out to be the best that the “Fruit” performed so far. The act was full of drive and guts and just got better and better, as the act developed into something spectacular to watch and listen to. The crowd even realised that they were truly watching history being made, they were watching a Rock n Roll band at its best. Word spread over to the Castle pub and to the “Trodden Earth” who could not resist the temptation to return to the dance hall to see what they were up against. They walked into a hornet’s nest and knew it. When it was time to go on stage they were already very nervous, worried of what they had to compete against and what was expect of them by their manager. Right from the start, their act was full of mistakes and it showed very badly for them. Yes, the “Fruit” had made a few mistakes themselves, but when a band is pumping, it is pumping and the mistakes are very easy lost in the overall show. For the “Fruit”, it was as if a large halo was illuminated all around them and everything they played turned to gold. The “Trodden Earth” seemed to go from mistake, to mistake, to a total disaster and they could not get out of the rut. That night the “Trodden Earth” had dug a large hole and buried themselves into it. One unusual thing that did come out of all this rivalry and bad feeling was that Ben had struck up a conversation with Gary May the “Trodden Earth’s” keyboard player. A friendship was in the making and was to lead to other meetings further down the road of pop music. The only problem that night was that the agent did not see firsthand how well the “Fruit” had played and also how they had won the crowd over. ........On Sunday the 09.03.69 I took Emily along to the Manor Ballroom to see Tony McPhee and the “Ground Hogs”. Tony McPhee was the relatively local boy living in Haverhill Suffolk, were he had his own recording studio. He was not known for any big hit singles, but had concentrated mainly on the LP market and had a fairly large underground following of fans. I had waited a long time to see this act and was blown away right from the start. As the lights dimmed on a large empty stage, suddenly a very loud guitar started to wail. Everybody was looking around trying to see where the sound was coming from. It was the introduction to one of McPhee's songs and seemed to go on for few minutes. Then the other members of the band suddenly appeared from the side of the stage and proceeded to take their places on stage and on to their instruments. There was still no sign of Tony, but the guitar was still wailing out very loud. Suddenly to the accompaniment of flashing lights, Tony appeared playing his guitar from a side door next to the stage on the main dance floor. Shaking the neck of his guitar to a count of four bringing in the other members of the band into the song. As Tony who was still playing, made his way on stage, Emily and I had just witness for the very first time a guitar radio microphone being used at an Ipswich gig. History had been made, while today they are common place. ........Saturday the 15.03.69 and the “Fruit” were at a new venue, it being the Bramfield Village Hall. Bramfield was only a few miles away from Brampton, a venue where we had played and pulled large crowds in the past. Therefore, we expected and got a very large crowd on the night. The night was uneventful, apart from the crowd and its size that enjoyed the music, dancing right up to the stroke of midnight. That night nobody had left early, unlike with some bands that had played there in the past. They were in for an extra treated as the band played two encores that night, something we did not do very often, especially if we were a support band. On those occasions we would have had, our gear all packed up long before the dance was due to end. One thing that did stand out to the band was the absence of the “Jumping Jack Flash” man. This was his territory and it was expected that he would turn up and want to give his supporters a song. For some reason he had gone missing without a trace and was never seen or heard of again. ........The band put on our own dance night at St Margaret’s Church Leiston on Friday the 20.03.69. A few of our friends like Nigel were recruited to take the money as the people entered the hall. To handle any expected trouble that might arise during the night, Ben recruited his brother in law, Tubby and Doug the guy who looked after the Thorpeness swimming pool. These were two very big guys, so in a way you could call them bouncers, mainly because if they threw you out of a dance, you would indeed bounce. The band never did pay them a nightly wage, just a bonus for any trouble that they managed to sort out. In addition, we would usually supply them with beer that kept them well oiled. Unfortunately, they did seem to have the ability to put a few pints away each night. In all the time that the band used these guys, there was nothing that they could not manage to sort out. However, at times it did seem that they were earning almost as much money as the band members. ........The dance was a big success and was crammed full of the local Leiston people, who were all glad to see that the “Fruit” was back in town. Considering that the hall was a fair walk from the nearest pub, it did not seem to deter anybody and they kept coming and coming. What trouble developed Tubby and Doug managed to sort it out. The hall was a large wooden building with a high stage at the far end. Being wooden and with the band up above the crowd it had great acoustics, something the crowd enjoyed as well as the band. When a band sounds nice and it enjoys the sound it is producing, then it plays better, as happened on this night. Unfortunately there was an unfortunate incident during the night, when somebody got hurt being thrown out by the over zealous tipsy bouncers. However, the guy had been making a nuisance of himself in the dance hall, so he had to be removed. Unfortunately, a three-meter flight from the main doors to the car park was a little over the top, Ben had to have a talk with his brother in law about their tactics and handling of the situation. ........On Saturday 22.03.69 the “Fruit” were back to their normal role, as support act to the very popular Norwich based band the “Eyes of Blond”. A booking we had all been looking forward to since first hearing of them a few months earlier. In the Norfolk area, they were the most popular act around at that time and were working several nights a week. The “Fruit” got to the venue early as usual to get their gear in place before the “Eyes of Blond” arrived. When they did arrive, the “Fruit” were over powered by the professionalism of the band. They went about the task of setting up their gear and going through a sound check in a very precise and calculated way. Nobody did much talking because they all knew what to do, having been through this routine a thousand times before. Each member of the band knew exactly what was expected of him and achieved it, with the minimum amount of fuss. The sound check alone was enough to scare off the “Fruit”, if this was good what would the show sound like. ........As soon as the “Fruit” had finished their set, we all went out front in to the dance hall to watch the “Eyes of Blond” rock through a faultless set. It was a superb show, the atmosphere was electric and their three-guitar line up put a lot of power into the songs and it sounded like a wall of sound. A rock n roll wall of sound was something that was only achieved years later by bands like “Status Quo”. The show left its mark on the “Fruit” that night, giving us a future target. The “Eyes of Blond” was the band that we wanted to copy, this was the sound that we wanted and for the moment this was the way to go. ........Sunday the 23.03.69 Emily and I went to the Ipswich Manor Ballrooms, to see an up and coming new band called the “Free”. I was stunned by their very scruffy appearance as they entered the dance hall and walked to the dressing rooms just prior to them taking the stage. Their hair was very long even for those days and they looked unwashed and dirty. They were also wearing very old tatty looking Army Greatcoats. Unfortunately they did not look much better when they finally took to the stage. However, when they struck up their first song, all that was forgotten. The music was so good that nothing else seemed to matter. They were all excellent musicians and it showed in their flawless performance. This was in the days long before they had a record deal, but most people there that night knew that they were watching something special and that eventually they would have a hit record on their hands. ........During the next couple of weeks whenever we practiced, the topic of conversation was always the same and connected to the “Eyes of Blond” show that we had all witnessed at Framlingham. Because of this, our playing became a lot louder in an attempt to emulate them. The material we started to choose had that three-guitar line up sound to it, we wanted to become the “Eyes of Blond". ........The performance of the “Eyes Of Blond” on that Saturday night affected the “Fruit” so much so, that in the bands efforts to copy their sound, a few grumbles started to be heard amongst the band members concerning Dave’s playing. Alternatively, more to the point, his ability to pick up guitar licks in the new material that the band was now choosing. He was a little slower than the other members, but somebody has to be better than somebody else is. In this world, no two people are the same and given any identical task between two people, one person is always going to be faster or better than the other. However, the overall sound of the “Fruit” was still very good, a sound that a few other bands in the area would have given their eye teeth for. Just for the moment, it was just a few passing remarks and at no time was it ever mentioned to Dave. ........26.03.69 and the band had to renew the road tax on the van, this cost the sum of £15-15s a lot of money but it had to be paid. The police always wanted to search it looking for drugs, so they were now stopping the van on a regular basis. Drugs were the in phrase at that time, if ever the word Pop Group was mentioned. Then it was always assumed that drugs were around them somewhere. Hence, the easiest thing to do was to keep searching the van. Leiston was a very small community, everybody knew everybody and so the police knew where everybody was or was going to be. Therefore, they would just turn up at the dances or venues and target the regulars. However, most times they would come up empty handed and the whole exercise was to keep everybody on their toes. One night while I was driving out of Aldeburgh after having a few drinks at the Cross Keys pub. An over zealous young Police officer stopped me and asked what I had in the back of the van, “Nothing” I replied. “You could have a yacht mast in there” he said, “A yacht mast,” I laughed. Aldeburgh is a coastal boating area with its own mariner and boat yards at the far end of town. Anyway I had to open up the back doors of the van so a search could take place by the rookie police officer and as usual nothing was found, I might add that the back was completely empty anyway. The van would have been about ten feet long and a yacht mast would usually be at least twenty feet in length. Why that copper thought I was smuggling yacht masts I’ll never know. My mind boggled as to what I was going to be accused of next. ........One day at a practice session a local chap, who lived near the bottom of Waterloo Avenue turned up. Having been invited by Ray, who had met up with him during one of the gigs. He had presented himself to Ray claiming to be a Saxophone player and Ray not being one to miss out on an opportunity if it arose, invited him to a practice night. At that time we still liked the American Soul bracket that we were still playing and the opportunity to add a saxophone to give it a more authentic sound was too good to miss. We started to all jam together, so the Saxophone man could show us what he could do. Which turned out to be very little, but Ray thought that the whole idea had potential. However, it would need a lot of work done on it by both parties. Especially the Saxophone man, who would have to practice relentlessly on his own at home. The Saxophone man attended several practices but it did not seem to be leading anywhere. Finally, Ray made the decision that it was not worth pursuing any further and the guy was given his marching orders, but he did stay friendly with everybody and still met up with us at the local gigs. ........The atmosphere was strange, because we were still playing and enjoying the American soul numbers that needed Ray to play his keyboard on. However, since the meeting with the “Eyes of Blond”, we also wanted to drop that style of music, for the so-called three-guitar line up and its wall of sound. This would have mean that Ray would have to play on his guitar all of the time, we were one completely mixed up band. ........Saturday 19.04.69 and the “Fruit” were back at the Framlingham Assembly Rooms, doing what we did best, being the support band to the Northampton based soul band known as “New Era”. This was a good night for us and we played a blinder of a set, leaving the “New Era” one hell of an act to follow which they struggled to do. The “Fruit” had not played at Framlingham since the “Eyes of Blond” gig, when they stole the show, so we were looking for a good moral booster. This was our night, we were back with a vengeance and the “New Era” did not know what had hit them. The “Fruit” had the audience screaming for more and at one time the Norfolk agent nearly let us play a couple of more songs. However, realising that he had paid the Northampton band a considerable amount of money, he thought that they might as well earn it. The “Fruit” on the other hand, well he’d got them for peanuts, so he wasn’t paying them much anyway, but upon reflection if he’d had used his head right and only booked the “Fruit” he could have saved himself a fortune. The crazy thing was that he could at any time have been able to book the “Fruit” as an act on its own with no problems. The “Fruit” would have willingly played for the full four hours, for support act money. Saving the agent a lot of money, while the “Fruit” would have been happy just to play. ........During the middle of April, the group got Ben to sack his brother in-law Tubby and Doug as the band bouncers. The band had taken a long time to wake up to the fraud that they were running. It had earlier been agreed that the bouncers would only be paid for the troubles that they were settling, a type of bonus for services rendered. However, on an average night there just did not seem to be much trouble to sort out. Therefore, after a few drinks the bouncers would generate their own little bit of trouble, by inciting some of the dancers around them. Just so, they would have the job of settling the disagreements and then to collect the bonus later. When this little fraud was working at its height, the bouncers were earning more money than the band members. Later they also admitted that they had thrived on the fights as well, so as far as they were concerned they had enjoyed the night out. They’d had a couple of beers, a couple of fights and eant a couple of pounds and had a good night out. ........After the dismissal, Tubby and Doug stopped going to the gigs and suddenly the bands take home pay increased dramatically, while the amount of trouble at a gig went down by almost one hundred percent. With the extra money that was available the band was able to pay Pat Keeble £5-19s-6d on 24.04.69, for repairs carried out on the Fruit Mobile, to repair damage that had been done by over excited fans at the last Framlingham Assembly rooms booking. ........The question of Dave’s playing ability would not go away, it now became the major discussion point amongst the band members whenever Dave was out of the room or missing for some reason. In fact it became so bad that it was openly discussed that maybe the band should replace him. It was thought that there were not many guitarists around the area, who we could approach to replace him. Dave Brown was asked, but we were told that he was not interested and in a kind of way, we were relieved when he declined. It was a well-known fact that he could not be relied upon, he was forever letting people down. The “Fruit” had to have somebody very reliable, in fact as reliable as Dave was. ........So then, the subject came up that maybe we should be looking for a keyboard player. Because it would leave Ray, free to concentrate on his guitar playing. After all, the entire band was happier when Ray was on guitar. Ben made an approach to Gary May, the “Trodden Earth” Keyboard player that he had befriended when the two bands played together at Framlingham a few weeks earlier. The “Fruit” was very surprised to find out that the “Trodden Earth” was also going through many internal problems at the time and that Gary was very interested to meet with the “Fruit” and to may be talk a deal. A practice session was set up at the Leiston youth club and we ran through a few numbers that we all knew. That first practice went off well and right from the start, terms were being discussed for him to join the “Fruit”, the boys were happy with Gary and Gary seemed happy with the boys. Therefore, for the moment just to make sure there would be a few more practice sessions, while Dave was to be kept in the dark. Anyway if Gary were to join he would need over a month to learn the songs and to fit in. In the mean time the band would be happy to keep using Dave. Nobody in the band had any idea how or who would eventually do the dirty deed and tell him, but to be fair it should be all of us, as it should not be left to just one person. The four remaining members were all in agreement with the decision of the move. It should not be left with Dave thinking that it was only one member who was trying to get rid of him. ........Saturday 26.04.69, Framlingham Assembly rooms and the “Fruit” were supporting the soul band, the “Story Book”. The night was pretty much uneventful, with the “Fruit” playing their usual copy book set to the chants of their supporters, followed by their cat calls and jeers when the main act took the stage. There was a little bit of an atmosphere around the “Fruit” with all that was going on with Dave, it being assumed that he did not know what was happening. To make matters worse Gary’s band who had a free night, turned up to watch us go through our routine, in the hope of picking up a few things about us and how the boys presented themselves on stage. ........Shaggy by this time had stopped following the “Fruit” around, having successfully carved out a nice little career for himself as the local DJ. From his humble beginnings with the “Forbidden Fruit” he was now the most sort after DJ around this part of Suffolk, in fact at times he was working more than the “Fruit”. Picking up a lot of the Youth Club gigs and there were plenty of them. Each town or village had one, most would have their functions on during the midweek, at times when bands did not have a hope in hells chance of getting work. ........Rumours spread around the area that a London band was staying on a farm in the Aldeburgh area, writing songs for their up and coming debut LP. After a practice session at the Youth club late one night the group, having found out where the band was staying took a drive to Aldeburgh to go and introduce ourselves. ........With a loud bang on the door and an introduction that we were the local Rock n Roll band we were all invited inside. The band was called the “Screw” and was there just to write material for their new album. The “Fruit” could not believe their eyes, the gear was all set up so it could be played on at any time. The idea being that if they were all asleep and somebody had a dream and thought up some words or music they could all get out of bed and make music immediately before the idea had gone from their head. However, on this particular night they were all sitting around talking and smoking pot, so it was a good time for the two bands to get to know each other. I struck up a good relationship with their manager Sam Cutler. Sam was the man who staged the very first big outside gig in Hyde Park for the Rolling Stone, in 1967 or 68. Here he was financing the LP venture for the Screw, in the mean time he was looking for ways and means of feeding these guys, as they were all still on the dole. Somehow, Sam had wangled it so that their dole money was sent down to them, with nobody having to return to London to sign any forms. Sam quizzed me on any venues in the area that he could hire to put on a dance just to get his hands on some ready cash. The only place that was a consideration was the Saxmundham Queens Head Hotel. Finally, he asked who the local vicar was. In his search for a large venue, he was prepared to play anywhere. I added that he would not get a church, people around here were too religious. However, I did put Sam on to the Reverend Cowley and together on another night, we both went to see him. I could not believe what I was hearing Sam very easily talked the Rev Cowley in to the use of Aldringham Church, to be used as a future rock venue. What I saw that night convinced me that Sam could talk the hind legs off a donkey. I went down to the farm on numerous occasions and struck up a close relationship with him. The “Screw” did play at the Queens Head, Kirky rubbed his hands that night, it was a full house and a rumour went round that he had won all his money back, at the shoot out after the gig. In fact Sam was supposed to have left the venue with empty pockets. However, the Church deal with the Rev Cowley did not materialise after the parishioners got wind of what was about to happen. A quick local parishioners meeting and that was the end of Sam’s little venture into religion. ........When the “Screw” was ready to return to London, Sam offered me a chance to go with them and become a roadie for the band. It was all very tempting for me and I wanted to go. Mainly because, by now my marriage was over and that I had no ties to the Leiston area. In addition, I had always wanted to become a roadie with a top band and with Sam maybe, just maybe I might have a chance to go with the Rolling Stones. I finally turned down the offer, choosing instead to stay with Emily. A close relationship had developed between us, to me if I stayed with Emily I would be able to become a bit more stable and to maybe try and settle down. ........Wednesday 30.04.69, Emily and I went to the Ipswich Baths Hall to see the “Herd” with Peter Frampton on lead guitar and vocals. They had hits with “From Paradise” that went to No6 in the British hit parade on 13.09.67 and stayed there for thirteen weeks. “Paradise Lost” which got to No15 on 20.12.67 and stayed in the charts for nine weeks. “I Don’t Want Our Love To Die”, which got to No5 on 10.04.68 and stayed in the charts for thirteen weeks. Once again we witnessed a very good band from up on the balcony where we got a very good view. Down stairs was always just a seething mass of bodies, okay if you were searching out a girl friend, but once you had one it was best to go up stairs, where it was nice and dark and you could enjoy the show. ........The secret practice sessions with Gary were very successful and he fitted in easily. Once he knew most of the songs, a decision was made that he would be joining the “Forbidden Fruit” permanently and as soon as possible. The big stumbling point was who would be the one to tell Dave, that his services were no longer required. Whoever got the unpalatable job would not be able to do it easily, after all Dave had been with the band right from the start. The decision was made to tell him after the next booking was over and all the gear had been stowed away. ........The next booking was at the Leiston Youth Club on a Friday night, it was well attended, but the band did not perform as well as they usually did. It was the knowing that within a couple of hours somebody was going to have to say something to Dave. The whole night took on a very sombre atmosphere and it is hard to believe that Dave did not already know that something was about to happen. ........After the booking was over and all the equipment loaded up into the vehicles, the boys all went back into the hall, just like we usually did when we were to be paid for the night’s work. Most of the young people had left by then, so the band was on its own. They sat around on the stage each waiting for the other to start the conversation. It was terrible, there being a long pregnant pause, when nobody said a word or even looked at each other. Finally with Ben feeling very embarrassed by the long silence that was deafening to us all and to everybody’s relief just launched himself into a long drawn out speech, to tell Dave that the band wished to replace him. Followed by an explanation of why the band had decided to take this course of action. Immediately the other members all put in their money’s worth, so it looked like a one hundred percent band decision and not just Ben. Dave took it all very badly and admitted that he knew something was about to happen. You could see that he had a lump in his throat and was fighting back a small tear in his eye. After all, he had been in at the birth of the “Forbidden Fruit”, now all of a sudden his whole world had just crashed around him. He also knew that his chances of finding another local band to join were none existent. Therefore, in just a few seconds, he had gone from being a member of a very successful band, to nothing with no band and no prospects of finding another one. As the other band members left the club that night, we all felt sorry for Dave and wondered if we had done the right thing. However, the decision had been made and carried out, now we had to pick ourselves up and get on with the task in hand. If we were to progress we would have to forget the past and plan and executed the future. Gary was brought into the band right away and a couple of full on practices was held at the youth club. Two complete days, Saturday and a Sunday, after which the band was satisfied that it was now okay to hit the road. ........The first booking was at the Leiston Labour Hall and that was a good baptism for Gary, because the “Fruit” always pulled a good loyal crowd there. Although most of them got a shock when it was noticed that Dave was no longer member and a few of them told the band members that they missed him. The band members were also worried, just in case Dave came to see who had replaced him, not really wanting to face him. The booking did not go as well as had been expected. There was just something about the overall sound that did not gel. However, we put it down to the first booking blues, it would get better if we worked at it. The crowd had also noticed that the music did not have its usual drive to it and a few had left before the end of the gig, something that had never happened to the “Fruit” before. ........Saturday saw the “Fruit” back at the Framlingham Assembly rooms, supporting their favourite band the “Eyes of Blond”. This was a special Gala day that was being held in the town. The “Fruit” arrived just like we used to in the middle of the afternoon, so we could take our time in setting up. Now that Gary was in the band, it took a little longer, because everybody had to pitch in and help Gary carry in his very big and heavy Hammond organ. He had fixed it to a very large thick wooden base, so it was not damaged during transit and secondly to assist in it’s moving. Nevertheless, this had added extra weight to the already very heavy piece of equipment. It took four strong lads one in each corner to carry the thing in and at Framlingham it was a long distance from the road out front where they had to do all of the unloading, to the stage that was right down the furthest end of the hall. Upon reaching the stage, we were then faced with a very high five-foot lift up from the dance floor and that was a feat in its self, just lifting it up and positioning it. From now on, it would take just that little bit of extra time to set up the equipment. Unfortunately, what went into the hall had to come out at the end of the evening. ........The band was set up long before the “Eyes of Blond” arrived, so they managed to have a run through a couple of songs just to help Gary. The general feeling was that it sounded okay, we knew that the more we played together the tighter it would get. The “Fruit” went on first and did not play very well, we could not hold it together plus we were making many mistakes. Normally we would have been able to cover up many things, but on this day, it was just not working and the audience knew it as well. Halfway through our set, the music came to a halt so that the local Framlingham town council could hold their town beauty queen competition. While the event was being run out front on the stage, the “Fruit” retired back stage, with a few grumbles about our performance. It was lucky for us, because the beauty queen pageant took a little sting out of what might have become a possible argument over the night’s performance so far. With the girls all lined up back stage waiting there call and entrance onto the main stage a lot of horse play was taking place behind the scenes with the girls, by both bands. For a few moments, the “Fruit” forgot about the problems they had just experienced on stage. ........After the beauty queen had been announced and crowned and most people within a fifty-mile radius had managed to get a kiss from her, the “Fruit” returned to the stage. Sadly the problems just continued, the band could not get it together and the more we tried the more mistakes we made. We came off stage feeling very dejected and started having words with each other. All of us were trying to be diplomatic not wanting to offend anybody. Gary just stood back not wanting to get to involved, it seemed to be a “Fruit” problem and he wanted to see which way the argument was going to go. The “Eyes of Blond” played well that night as if to rub a little salt into the wounds of the by now very dejected “Forbidden Fruit”. It’s funny but a band can sense things like that and so took full advantage of the situation and blew the “Fruit” right out of the ballpark. This was something that we had done themselves too many bands in the past and loved doing it. Unfortunately, now it was happening to us and it was a hard pill to swallow. We had been sprung at our own game and it hurt. The “Eyes of Blond” came off to a deafening applause and shouts of more, more. They then went back on for a mind-blowing encore. By this time, we had started to realise that the three-guitar line up that we had tried to copy was indeed the sound that we had always wanted and here we were with a full-time keyboard player in the band. With the present line up, there was no way that we would ever be able to achieve the sound that we had dreamed of, the sound of the “Eyes of Blond”. Not much was said, amongst us as we packed all the gear away that night, in fact Gary felt very uncomfortable about the whole situation. It had not taken him long to realise that something was dreadfully wrong, but it was not his place to butt in on an internal problem. ........The next Saturday we played at the Benhall Village Hall and right from the start the atmosphere was not good. It was quite evident that a lot of soul searching had taken place during that week, on the subject of what had gone wrong and how were we going to correct it. For the moment, nobody had any answers it was a matter of, make the best of it for now and get on with the job. The music that night was not much better than the week before, but we had to do our best and make it look like we were enjoying ourselves. After all the public and many of them were our loyal fans, had paid to see us, somehow we had to put on a good show for them. ........May ran into June, but unfortunately the music did not improve, it was now accepted by most members that we had made a big mistake in getting rid of Dave. Even though we had found Dave to be a slow learner, his guitar playing had contributed greatly to the overall sound of the band and now that he was no longer with us that sound was missing. Even the loyal fans knew it and some of them had started to drift away from the “Fruit” gigs and in some cases, they switched allegiances and started to follow other bands. Gary May the keyboard player was left in the middle of all this bickering and in fighting, wondering what on earth he had done wrong to deserve what was going on. What had he brought upon himself, he had left a successful band to join the “Fruit” and now if he was not careful this whole venture could fall around his ears. ........Halfway through June a meeting was held at the Yoxford Griffin pub to thrash out what the band was to do with all its problems. Yoxford was chosen because it was near to Gary so he would not have to travel too far. Most people aired their views on what they thought had gone wrong and in particular what they thought should be done to put it right. Gary knowing by this time that he had made a mistake in joining the band and that he seemed to be the problem did the only thing he could do. He offered to leave the band even though it meant that he would be out of the music game for a while. It would be hard for him to find another band quickly and in this area. ........The bombshell came when Ben said that he wanted out of the band and stunned most of the members when he claimed that he could not work with Ray any more. Ray also surprised the meeting by saying pretty much the same. That he wanted out because he could not work with Ben. That pretty much stopped the meeting dead in its tracks. There did not seem to be anyway that the band could hold together after that. There was just no way of getting around what had just happened. The “Forbidden Fruit” had come to the end of its very short but successful life. Reluctantly for Ron and I, a vote was taken and it was decided that we would honour all existing bookings and then to wind up the “Forbidden Fruit” for good. ........On the 28.07.69 the “Forbidden Fruit” ceased to exist. We had £104-12s-9d left in the bank account, on 29.07.69 the money was equally divided amongst us, each member receiving the sum of £20-18s-6d. J........ack Whitehouse the Yoxford Accountant that Ben and I used had been hired to wind up the financial side of the band. On 28.07.69 he was paid £20 as a payment for his services and thankfully there were no taxes to be paid. ........Five ordinary guys living in the sleepy Suffolk countryside had instigated and witnessed the birth of something special and for those few short months during 1968-69, we had taken part in a little piece of history as it unfolded. We had all enjoyed the success the band had brought us, only to witness its slow painful death that finally led to the burial of the “Forbidden Fruit”. But the memories live on. To the reader of this chapter it must seem like I was a very hard, callus person to live with. Even when I read this chapter myself I have to stop and think, although I don’t believe I am. Because I have only mentioned my family in the briefest of references, the rest of the chapter is all about me. However, I have chosen to write it this way because I did not want to get into a, he said this and she said that situation. Admittedly you are only reading my side of what happened and there are always two sides to every story. It’s certainly not my intention to stir up any hated and bitterness, to offend or embarrass any of Margaret’s family over what happened, I guess I have to live with the Judges final words to me ”That I left the family home so I’m at fault” During those days divorce was always a nasty business and a lot of couples stayed together purely for the families sake. Although I strongly believe that the children know what’s going on around them, they know when there is no love in a relationship and probably suffer just the same as if one or other of the partners has left the family home. Divorce was not easy in those days, there was none of the easy ways out like today. In those days there had to be a reason for the break up and one party had to be found to be at fault. Not to mention that you had to spend several years apart before divorce could even be contemplated. The only thing I would like to add is to reiterate that when I first started going out with Emily my marriage was over, even though we were still living in the same house. I’ve tried to keep this book as honest as possible baring my soul to the world, otherwise there would be no reason to write it. I would also like to add that in writing this I hope I have not offended anybody after all what has happened cannot be changed we had to pick ourselves up and get on with the business of living.

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