Supplied by Pete Fisher
Pete Fisher… I think these are early 70’s.
Alan Esdaile… I used to go through that door to work!
David Martin… Gallops there. it’s probably my dads car outside. He spent more time in there than anybody.
pete fisher
Claire Hamill Beat Instrumental March 1973
supplied by Pete Fisher
Peter Houghton… Thank you for sharing this!
Mullett Smith Music, Norman Road St Leonards write up 1971
Supplied by Pete Fisher (from Beat Instrumental)
Mick O’Dowd… Bird’s Music in Bexhill was going strong then and was nowhere near 40 miles away!
Chris Meachen… I remember going there with Roger to buy his first bass… Always think about that shop when I pass by..
Phil Gill… Chris, Me too. They had a Ned Callan SG on the wall that I coveted. They knew I didn’t have the money to buy it, but they always took it down from the wall and let me play it.
MM Poll Winners Concert, Rock At The Oval, London, 30 September 1972
photos supplied by Pete Fisher
Pete Fisher… MM Poll Winners Concert 30 September 1972 at the Oval Cricket Ground, Kennington, SE11 featured Focus, Genesis, Argent, Jack Bruce, ELP and Wishbone Ash. I was there with a crowd from Hastings and took a few pics.
Derek Clemans… You lucky man I am envious. I would love to have that memory.
Pete Fisher… Just lucky to have been of an age when I could go to gigs around that time Derek and to have known a nice bunch of like-minded people who also wanted to go to many of them. Also happened to have borrowed a camera for the occasion and recently digitised the photos, I’m very glad to say. Delighted to be able to share…
Edge St Leonards… I was there, have some photos, I wonder if anybody recognises them shelves, I have more in colours
Tony Court-holmes… seen a lot of them
Steve Kinch… Think I was there – all a bit of a blur. Didn’t Genesis have some tuning problems?
Pete Prescott… Big day and memory for me ! I was a few weeks shy of 16. I went to the one the year before when the Who played (amazing life changing gig for me) So I was excited to see this line up. I left just after E.L.P. So missed Wishbone Ash. I had a ticket to see Deep Purple at the Sundown at Edmondton ( Helen Tapp wouldn’t come with me as I was too ugly !) I sat with Martin Holliday and Ant Baker about twenty feet behind Martin’s brother Andy, Dave Morse and Barry Watkins (they were far too cool to sit with us). A week or so later Ant Baker convinced me to have another go at singing… with Andy, Dave and Barry ! I got the gig and was in that band (Village) for five years. Andy ended up doing the P.A. for 19 Beatles day’s ! I think Genisis were playing songs from Foxtrot. Gabriel had the red dress and Foxes head. Argent were booed (no idea why) Jan Ackerman did an impromptu jam with Jack Bruce. From the photos I think I was sitting near the Hastings guys. I would love to see anything from that day. For me it was a big deal ! Years later I was in Swiss/ English band at a festival in Austria. We played just before Wishbone Ash. I was too nervous to approach Andy Powell and do the big “I’m such a fan…” thing. I also remember a band called Fudd (I think they were an Irish band) opening up. A few weeks later the singer came and worked at Export Packing in Sittingbourne. Village all had day jobs there. He was a nice guy. We were all thinking “Wow ! You played at the Oval!” The son of the owner was into bands (he was the guy who financed and managed The Enid) maybe that’s why he was there.
Mike Curtis… I was there too!
Beatrice Lacey… I saw Emerson Lake and Palmer at there
Alan King… have you taken the cotton wool out of your ears yet ?
Andy Davies… I was there!, particularly remember Keith Emerson stabbing his keyboards with great big knives.
Bopper Bill… I was there and it was a cool trip. Too far back to see too much but I really dug
Argent. I thought they were a great live band. Hawkwind’s silver machine left an impression:)
Big Phil… It was 50 years ago today (if only the beatles had…..) ! It was my first concert; tremendous day out. At the time into ELP but as a result bought all Focus & Genesis albums. Still have all the tapes including Fudd through to Wishbone Ash. Just loved all the organisation and open air sound. Amazed by the ELP showmanship with Tarkus theatrics, ribbon moog, drum solo; astonishing for a 15 year old. Looking back, very lucky man to have been there!
Tour Tales 2001 – 2008 by Pete Fisher
Pete says… I started out in bands back in the 70s in Hastings, where I grew up and went to school. The first band was called Black Ash, with Bernard Jeffery (drums), Iain Cobby (bass) and Steve (vocals). The next band came together in 1972, also with Bernard, but with Roger Carey (bass) and Kev Wood (guitar), and we called ourselves Mae West. Kev left in early 1973, but Bernard, Roger and I carried on as a three piece, and called the band Pueblo. We stayed together until 1974, also with Phil Gill as second guitarist for a couple of gigs, and we experimented with having Paul Waite as second drummer. I left Hastings in summer 1974 to live first in London, then Norfolk, and finally moved to Germany in 1995, playing in bands right through this time. I had a lucky break in 2001 and got hired to play professionally in a reggae band and tour internationally for 8 years. I’ve just published a book about my adventures called Tour Tales 2001-2008, available as an e-book and a large format paperback with lots of colour photos and memorabilia. You can dip into the book for free at the link below. Enjoy!”
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08L45WM6D
Tony Qunta… I am reading Pete’s excellent book on Kindle at the moment. Very enjoyable!
Pueblo – cutting January1974 & Pier ticket with Stallion 8th Feb 1974
cuttings supplied by Pete Fisher & Roger Carey and ticket supplied by Pete Fisher
Pueblo featuring Bernard Jeffery, Pete Fisher & Roger Carey.
Pueblo – Ore Centre & Langham Pub 1973/1974
photos by Chris Meachen
PUEBLO – Roger Carey, Pete Fisher, Bernie on Drums.
Bernard Jeffery….Yes it is definitely Pete Fisher and I’d say it was about 1973
Pete Fisher….Pueblo: Roger Carey-bass, Bernie Jeffery-drums, Pete Fisher-guitar/vocals
I remember this photo session was at a Pueblo rehearsal, in Ore Centre, photos taken by schoolmate and fellow musician (string/electric bass) John (Dai)Davis, and developed in his dark room at home. I’m pretty sure this is 1974 – going by the hair length – Roger and me were at Hastings Grammar School – I’d left the previous year, and Roger must have been coming up to his A-levels….Bernie started with me in Black Ash in 1970….I think Roger came into the fold around 72, have to check the archive! Back then Bernie was still playing his dad’s old jazz kit, Rog had a little Burns bass through a Laney top and home-made cab, I was playing my second electric guitar, a strange no-name thing with piano key controls that didn’t do much. By then I had my first decent amp, a Vox AC15, which was just loud enough to compete with Bernie’s drums, but I used a Cry Baby wah to boost for solos.
Bernie and me both liked Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, and West Coast…..Roger used to play me Allman Brothers Live At The Fillmore in the music room at school, but he was also really into Free, ( as we all were – All Right Now was one of the first songs me and Bernie attempted around 1970/71) and his melodic inventive riffs with singing vibrato were reminiscent of Andy Fraser. Our rehearsals were in fact long jam sessions, with endless solos, on various favourite themes. We cobbled together a short set list for the few gigs we played…various covers, and a couple of my early attempts at songwriting….and singing. I have a press cutting from 17th January 1974 from the Hastings and St Leonard’s news, which says we got a standing ovation at our recent gig at Hastings College….possibly the gig where Tony Qunta, my guitar guru and friend, lent me his brand new Orange 100 watt stack, which was a bit like driving a Ferrari when you’ve only got a provisional licence – it practically blew me off the stage! The article goes on to say we’d been playing together since September the previous year, and had already also played on the Pier, where we were again to perform on Friday February 8th 1974, in a “local band bonanza”. I still have the ticket (60p!) which lists us, a band called Butch, and local heroes Stallion (with Steve Dimitri on drums and Phil Gill on guitar). I remember we were on first, and I for one was very nervous, especially with lots of friends in the audience. It was a pretty big deal back then, having seen so many great bands on that stage…..the band expanded to include a second drummer (!) for a couple of months, but then I left Hastings and moved to London in September 1974, so the band broke up. I still have some crumbly old recordings and a couple more photos….time to delve in the archive!
supplied by Pete Fisher
Pete Fisher…an early gig, possibly 1973, guitarist Kevin’s 18th birthday party, at the Langham pub, near Quarry Road.
Terry Pack….I think I saw this band in 1974, or earlier…. Roger was a great inspiration to me aged 15.
Tony Qunta….Great band!
Pete Fisher….Thank you Tony! You and Andy, and Factory were a great inspiration!
Phil Gill… bloody hippies.
Can’t Stand The Heat – Cassette 1987
supplied by Pete Fisher featuring Pete Fisher, Robert Masters & Chris Hawkins
Link to tracks & other bands … https://www.reverbnation.com/petefisher/song/27228551-cant-stand-heat-where-are-you-now?
Pete Fisher…Can’t Stand The Heat Where Are You Now – Kitchen Studios 1987. My home-made cassette cover…if you look closely, on the right you might recognize Hastings harbour with my guitar floating above it, and on the left is the guitar I used to play in Pueblo back in 72-74, picture in my bedroom in Quarry Road…our house was called “Rockholme”..
Alan Esdaile… Interesting mix on the above link which includes Mae West and Pueblo from 1974.
Pueblo – 1973/1974
photo by Chris Meachen from Roger Carey Collection.
Pete Fisher Guitar & Vocals, Bernard Jeffery Drums and Roger Carey bass.
Sarah Harvey… Only last week I attended an AGM of a local support group I am involved in and it was held at Bexhill Youth and Community Centre. First time I have been in that building since the 1970s when I went went to see Pueblo play…. I seem to remember great performance by Pueblo but the audience of the Youth Club that night were rather difficult to please. I was talking to some people about that gig at the AGM and just reflecting that the hall looked very much the same.
Pete Fisher… thanks to Chris Meachen for taking these back then, and to Roger Carey for sharing them, especially as I only have the photo of Rog bottome right – maybe Chris could confirm, but I’m pretty sure the top (group) photo is Ore Centre, 1974. The bottom row of photos is (according to my little red book) Kev Blackman’s party at the Langham P.H., December 1973. And for Sarah Harvey, I only have one gig listed at Bexhill Youth Centre, on 21st December, 1972, which must have been Pueblo’s previous incarnation, Mae West, featuring Kev Wood.
Sarah Harvey… Could have been Mae West I saw Pete Fisher , I only remember seeing you Roger and Bernie…. I stand corrected. And yes, it does seem to be Ore centre… I recognise the curtains 🙂
Alan Esdaile… Sadly nothing as yet on Mae West. A couple of other bits Roger lent me on Pueblo but I think Pete Fisher has posted these before. This one says Langtham Hotel 1973 on the back. Butch were Dave Garland, Dennis Wootton & Cliff Wootton.
supplied by Roger Carey
Andy Qunta… Don’t know what kind of bass that is, but in that guy’s hands it would have sounded good!
Colin Fox… It looks like a left handed Burns
Sarah Harvey… Rogers left-handed Burns is legendary….stayed with him through almost a decade.
Yvonne Cleland… Dave Garland turned up at Will’s 60th birthday do recently.
Steve Kinch… Fabulous pics!
Iain Cobby… Its a Burns Trisonic 4 string bass Andy, the tuners were too small to get a standard set of bass strings in as I remember! Probably worth a fortune now. I had a red one, it came from Smiths second hand emporium in the high street.
Phil Gill… Dodgy looking buggers. I wouldn’t buy a used car from any of ’em.
Rare Bird – Hastings Pier 1972?
photos by Pete Fisher
Barry Newton… Is this the same RARE BIRD had a single released , Sympathy ?
Alan Esdaile… Same one Barry and still sounds excellent.
Barry Newton… I knew the band vaguley a long time ago. My brother had a flat in Battersea, by the park, and they lived in the flat above and I would visit for the parties. I used to leave the 58 club, jump on a fast motorbike and arrive when things were getting lively. Great times.
Alan Esdaile… Pete, the Rare Bird photos weren’t from 1974 when they supported Barclay James Harvest on the pier? Looks like you think this is 71/72 anyone confirm a date? I think the keyboard player is David Kaffinetti who went on to play Viv Savage in This is Spinal Tap?
Chris Sambrook… Former Rare Bird Keyboard player David Kaffinetti did join Spinal Tap as Viv Savage on Keyboards. He only spoke the words”Have a good time, all the time”.
Cliff Wootton… I remember that gig. Den & I had front row seats over on the right. Nice to see some pics. We didn’t have a camera with us that night.
Pete Fisher… As Chris Sambrook confirmed, it is indeed David Kaffinetti in this photo, who was one of the two keyboard players in the band and who went on to play Viv Savage in Spinal Tap.
Mick Bolton… I auditioned for Rare Bird when they were looking for a keyboard player – didn’t get the job though. It would have been in ’72 or early ’73 I think.
Alan Esdaile… Just as well Mick, otherwise you might have missed out on Mott The Hoople.