Ventnor Pier early sixties: Ricky Shane aka Tim Henry
of Ricky Shane and The Shamrocks
Where is he now?
A ticket to Ryde
A summary of the 1960s
"I was jiving. I was going out with Trilda Shipley, the Bridget Bardot of the Island. We went jiving on the end of Sandown Pier when I was taking her out and that was jiving to the Cherokees.We were in jiving competitions and, for me, my forever amber memory is the summer of 1960 to 1962 on the end of Sandown Pier jiving to the Cherokees and all that jazz. Listening to those guys, being there, being in love, oh mate, it was absolutely fabulous.
They would come up and tap you on the shoulder when you were out in the jiving competition. We got pretty close to the end a couple of times. We were good.
And you would see all your friends, all the school kids and they would all be going down Pier Street, walking along the seafront and going down the Pier. You got this great funnel of young kids, girls dressed in all those wonderful flared dresses that used to spin out when they used to jive, these wonderful pinks and blues that we've got our guitars in, this pale ice blue colour.
It's 1960 through 1963 and that just sums up that whole era that shade of pale blue. The seaside, 'Here Comes Summer' Jerry Keller, what was that '58? We were cutting our teeth on that and we were listening to all the stuff they were playing like Ricky Nelson 'It's Late My Babe', which were '58 numbers but still good and kicking at the time, 'Move It', 'Apache', all those, Buddy Holly. Magic moments etched right in here mate, won't ever wash out." - Barry Millership, Midnight Creepers
BEATLES, STONES AND STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
The rush of adrenaline that had spurred rock'n'roll in the mid fifties was now channelled through an avalanche of beat bands headed by the Beatles and the Stones. Popular singers either headed for the cabaret circuit, disappeared or changed direction.
"There was Beatlemania hysteria at either the Ryde Scale or Commodore cinemas in 1963 when Pathe News showed the Beatles singing 'She Loves You' - Dave Wells
Nationally the Beatles and Stones remapped the sixties, locally Island venues started to burst at the gunwhales with beat bands. In prime position in a long list were the Cherokees which included the Midnight Creepers, The Knights, The Shamrocks and the Meteors. The groups were graduating from bottles of pop and jiving in W.I. halls to the seaside beer parlours. Anyone in their 'twenties' was a square. Cliff Richard, The Shadows instrumentals, Beach Boys, Beatles and Stones were 'in'. Twelve bar rock'n'roll was about to take a dive in favour of rhythm and blues. 1963 was to be Johnny Vincent's last stand with the rocking Island combo he discovered, The Shamrocks.
"Those days were great, they were absolutely wonderful. Politically, as a somewhat right wing individual, when my partner Brian talks to me about my fear of a Labour government it reminds me that the best days of my life were served under a Labour government and in fact I have to be honest I haven't had so much disposable income ever since. But I don't think that was anything to with a Labour government. It was just nobody gave a shit. We didn't have enough money to pay 98 per cent tax like those poor buggers in the Beatles. Music then was important, now it isn't." - Bob Watkins, Meteors drummer
The Rolling Stones played Ryde in 1964. Local band the Shamrocks took the Beatles trail to Germany where they headlined several tours. The Cherokees stayed put. With the addition of Graham Betchley as lead vocalist in 1962 the four piece became the Island's 'Beatles'. The Cherokees revitalised the Seagull Ballroom in 1965, the year that Ryde's mayor latched onto rock'n'roll:
"I remember when the Mayor of Ryde made a complete and utter **** of himself by sending the Beatles first class return tickets when the Beatles released Ticket To Ride. John Lennon was heard to say 'Where the ***** that?' And they didn't come. So all he did was waste some ratepayers money by sending out tickets that were never used. That was the kind of thing that used to happen. It was bloody crazy." - Bob Watkins, Meteors drummer
Royal York Hotel the site of the Cherokees 69 Club
From running the Seagull on Ryde Pier the Cherokees launched their legendary '69 Club at the Royal York. They had to see off stiff opposition from rival promoters as the Island became awash with the household names of rock including Status Quo, Moody Blues, The Move and the Pink Floyd. An Arena documentary on Gene Vincent portrays the sad sight of a fifties icon on his last legs performing at the 69 Club.
Snowy White with Perception at Hippocampo Club in Shanklin
In 1968 a teenage Freshwater guitarist Snowy White headed for Sweden the begining of a career which saw him with a top ten hit 'Bird of Paradise' and guitar for hire with the Pink Floyd and member of Thin Lizzy. Just as Snowy left the Foulks, also from Freshwater, took a tentative step towards the music history books. The Foulk brothers volunteered their services to help raise funds for a swimming pool. They staged the Godshill Festival. A one day event that featured The Move, San Francisco's Jefferson Airplane, Marc Bolan and Steve Took's Tyrannosaurus Rex, Fairport Convention and the Crazy World of Arthur Brown amongst the 14 band bill. The event drew a modest ten thousand people.
The Foulks ran a short lived Middle Earth club at Lake near Sandown which proved to be a preview of their line up for the 1969 Wootton Festival. The Foulks with South coast promoter Rikki Farr scooped Bob Dylan back from a long layoff to headline the festival at Wootton. The event, held on the heels of Woodstock, saw Dylan and his wife Sara spend a week in a Bembridge farmhouse which was visited by three Beatles, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Dylan headlined the three day festival with a one hour set accompanied by The Band. A performance that brought howls of disapproval from fans and press but was as stated in his contract.
With the success of the 'Dylan' festival under their belt, Fiery Creations aka the Foulkes and Rikki Farr began plans for an even bigger event in 1970. Against fierce local opposition from the cocktail classes Fiery Creations outmanoevred them finally settling on a field at Afton near Freshwater. The 1970 Afton festival was 'Five Days That Shook The World' according to the Melody Maker headline. The chaotic, hand to mouth organisation of the festival is caught on Murray Lerner's Message to Love film which was released to coincide with the twenty fifth anniversary of the event in 1995.
Amongst the major acts performing were Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, The Who, Ten Years After, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Melanie, Tiny Tim, John Sebastian, Supertramp, The Doors, Joan Baez, Leonard Cohen, The Who, Chicago and Kris Kristofferson.
It would be Jimi Hendrix's last UK appearance. 18 days later he was found dead in a London apartment.
Our favourite summary of the sixties comes in a quote from Island musician Doug Watson who played through the era:
"In the sixties there were lots of places to play. It was a close knit thing because it was both an Island and a holiday resort. I'm not saying that there aren't other good memories for people in other parts of the country, but it's special because it's an Island and people have memories of the summer.You were part of a big thing that everyone else was, like the Beatles. There were no videos then, just an odd write up in the Melody Maker. You had to go out and get the record. You couldn't tape it off the radio.
In the late sixties music opened up, Hendrix and Cream doing blues. Sergeant Pepper was so different to Please, Please Me. At the same time Tamla Motown came out in America. Local Isle of Wight bands followed Hendrix and Cream. Girls danced to Tamla Motown records while the Island guitarists were playing Pink Floyd, a key turning point.
Disco's began to take over. The rot set in for live bands who had become so diverse that they weren't interested in playing music to dance to." - Doug Watson, Island musician.