The Who returned to High Wycombe for the first time since November 1965. They had previously appeared at The Town Hall on four occasions during 1965 and their April 1967 return came during a period when their original ‘mod’ roots were seeing a decline in popularity.
The Who – High Wycombe Town Hall – 25th April 1967 – Bucks Free Press advert – enhanced for wycombegigs.co.uk
They had originally been booked to play at The Town Hall in February 1967 but it appears that a four date tour of Italy may have taken preference? The 25th April 1967 appearance also took place a few days before dates in Norway and Sweden.
Released on the weekend before the date at High Wycombe Town Hall was the single ‘Pictures of Lily’. Written by a then 21 year old Pete Townshend, it was described by The Who’s guitarist in an interview with NME published in May 1967, as ‘power pop’.
This is footage of Pictures of Lily being recorded:
The live music scene in High Wycombe during 1967 appears to be generally centered around the Town Hall. But for whatever reason, as the year progressed, other venues appeared eager to grab a piece of the action. These are some key dates and venues from January 1967:
Montage of press cuttings from the Bucks Free Press – January 1967
Friday 6th January 1967 – No Urging Action (Disco) – Nag’s Head
The Nag’s Head in London Road was not a current live music venue back in January 1967 but there were efforts to bring some sort of ‘scene’ to the East of the Town with the opening of a new Friday Discotheque night. ‘No Urging Action’ was an ’18 and over’ event debuting in the first week of January 1967 with a crowd of around 50 turning up. Organiser was Ian Tilbury, whose plans were said to include fashion shows and top American artists in ‘guest appearances’. Were you one of the Disco goers at The Nag’s Head?
Tuesday 10th January 1967 – Amboy Dukes – Town Hall
A band by the name Amboy Dukes was around in 1967 and included a young Ted Nugent. They were a US based band. However, this gig was by the closer to home, mainly Reading based band of the same name. Admission was 6/- (30p) with Don Jordan playing ‘Top Discs’ at the regular Tuesday ‘Dance Night’ at The Town Hall organised by Ron Prior.
Saturday 21st January 1967 – Force Four – Needham’s Bowl
Needham’s Bowl was on Desborough Road, High Wycombe and on the same site on what would later become the Chiltern Rooms (opened in 1972). Not much background on Force Four – although they appear to have supported Geno Washington in Dunstable on the Friday evening before they were billed to perform in High Wycombe.
Sunday 22nd January 1967 – Al Stewart – Rose & Crown
This appears to be the debut of what was billed the ‘Folk Chamber’ at the Desborough Road/Mendy Street pub. Al Stewart went on to become a renowned artist – best known for his 1976 Year of the Cat, album and single. Glasgow born Stewart was 21 at the time of this advertised appearance in this small pub in High Wycombe. Did he really play The Rose & Crown in his early days?
Tuesday 24th January 1967 – Small Faces – Town Hall
The visit of The Small Faces to High Wycombe in January 1967 was quite possibly the highlight of the month for the local gig-goers of the time. However, technical issues marred the night with The Small Faces forced to abandon their set 30 minutes into their planned 40 minute slot due to £300 worth of their amplifiers going, according to press reports, ‘phutt’.
Speaking to the press after the gig. Small Faces front man Steve Marriot said:
“We just lost four amplifiers out there. But apart from that it was great. We’ve played before the Wycombe audience before and we went down well then, but tonight was good, yes it was really nice”.
Directly after the gig The Small Faces went to Barnes where were due to start work on their new LP, with songs written mainly by members Marriot (still a week away from his 20th birthday at time of the gig) and Ronnie ‘Plonk’ Lane (a couple of months short of his 21st birthday).
At the time of the January 1967 gig The Small Faces had already penned classics including ‘All or Nothing’, ‘Sha-La-La-La-Lee’ and ‘Whatcha Gonna Do About It’.
Admission was 8/- (40p) with support advertised as Respect.
Saturday 28th January 1967 – Jay Brothers – Needham Bowl
Advertised as ‘Cabaret Night’ down The Desborough Road venue with entry 2/- (10p) for Members and 4/- (20p) for Non-Members. The additional tag line of ‘Saturday Moonlight Bowling’, suggests that the Ten-Pin bowling venue kicked into life after the band had finished?
Tuesday 31st January 1967 – Spencer Davis Group – Town Hall
Once again 8/- would gain you entry to see one of top UK groups of the time. Spencer Davis Group had been formed in Birmingham in 1963 by Spencer Davis, Steve Winwood and his brother Muff Winwood. They had signed to Island records in 1964 and at the time of their January 1967 appearance at The Town Hall had just enjoyed enourmous chart success with their single ‘Gimme Some Lovin’. It reached No.2 in the UK charts in November 1966 and had only just dropped out of the Top 50 by the time they took stage at The Town Hall.
Birmingham based The Move came to High Wycombe at point of their first UK chart success. Formed in December 1965 with a line-up of Trevor Burton (guitar/vocals), Roy Wood (guitar/vocals), Chris Kefford (bass/vocals), Carl Wayne (vocals) and Bev Bevan (drums), they released their first single, ‘Night of Fear’, in December 1966.
The single peaked at No.2 in the UK on 26 January 1967 and just over a week later they were the headliners at High Wycombe Town Hall’s Valentine Ball.
The Move – Bucks Free Press advert for their 13th February 1967 appearance at High Wycombe Town Hall – the ‘A NIGHT OF FEAR’ caption is a reference to their single of the time. Note the added attraction of ‘TOP DISCS’!
The Move were grouped into the ‘Psychedelic’ tag that the music press of the time were starting to use. This was during a period of mass experimentation in not only the latest electronic music gadgets but also the mind altering substances prevalent in the music industry.
A quick look at the lyrics of ‘Night of Fear’ seems to reveal more, “Just about to flip your mind, just about to trip your mind”.
Their follow up single in April 1967, “I Can Hear The Grass Grow” reached No.5 in the UK charts and was also accused of containing references to ‘the synthetic effects of hallucinogenics’.
Wood, 20 at the time of the Wycombe gig, would go on to claim fame with Wizzard in the 1970’s, while Bevan (22), would become better known for his time in the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). They were both still performing at the time of this article, 50 years after their appearance at The Town Hall!
This is what they looked and sounded like back in early 1967.
Saturday 11th February 1967 – Tom Jones – Town Hall
I found a picture on the internet (Getty Images) that claims it’s from a Tom Jones performance at High Wycombe Town Hall on 11th February 1967.
The Bucks Free Press archives from February 1967 has no mention of the gig, before or after the suggested date. Looking at the picture, it is certainly not in the main Town Hall but could quite possibly be The Oak Room. Did it actually take place and on what date? Do you know anybody who may have attended?
This is another gig that I’ve had difficulty in verifying if it actually took place.
Numerous David Bowie archive websites list the 11th February 1972 as the 2nd night of the Ziggy Stardust tour. However, the gig was not advertised in the Bucks Free Press and the performance (if it took place), passed without comment in the local press.
The date came less than two week’s after Bowie’s legendary performance at Aylesbury’s Borough Assembly Hall. That 29th January 1972 date saw Bowie perform tracks from Ziggy Stardust for the first time. An advert for this gig appeared in both the Bucks Free Press and Midweek in the days leading up to ‘Friars’ show.
Advert for David Bowie gig in Aylesbury 29th January 1972 – from Bucks Free Press
But what about the High Wycombe show? A young Bowie had performed in High Wycombe back in March 1966 but by 1972 he was now reaching superstar status.
Any information on any of his High Wycombe performances, gratefully received.
These are links to two websites that list the 11 February 1972 gig
It would be fair to say if it wasn’t for Ron Watts, the live music scene in High Wycombe during the late 1960’s, through the 1970’s and the into the 1980’s, would have been a much duller place.
Watts first promoted gigs in High Wycombe in 1968, with some of those early names including: John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, Jethro Tull, Status Quo, Thin Lizzy and Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Then, having taken a break from promoting gigs in High Wycombe, it was a chance viewing of the Sex Pistols at High Wycombe College in February 1976 that led to him giving them a series of shows at Oxford Street’s 100 Club venue. In September 1976 he would bring the Pistols back to The Nag’s Head just a couple of weeks before appeared at the famous 100 Club Punk Festival and less than three months before they hit national notoriety via the ‘Bill Grundy’ episode.
Watt’s would go on to bring the up and coming ‘punk’ and ‘new wave’ to High Wycombe during the remainder of the 1970’s and early 1980’s. The most well-known names include The Stranglers, The Clash, The Damned, The Jam, Generation X, The Jam, Siouxsie and The Banshees, XTC, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Tom Robinson Band, The Psychedelic Furs and U2.
Ron sadly passed away during the initial research for this website and, in the absence of a working version of wycombegigs.co.uk, I wrote an obituary that was published on chairboys.co.uk on 16th July 2016.
I introduced the piece thus:
Watts is best known for his involvement in the rise of the punk scene in 1976 and 1977, promoting gigs at the famous Nag’s Head venue in High Wycombe in addition to the legendary 100 Club venue in Oxford Street, London. However, it would be an insult to his legacy to leave unmentioned his part in bringing top Blues acts to venues in the UK during the late 1960’s and beyond, plus his front man role in legendary Cajun Blues band, Brewer’s Droop.
Ron’s name will pop up time and time again on this website and it would be great to hear your memories and tributes to the man responsible for so many gigs in High Wycombe, many of which provided the inspiration for future bands to form, or in my case, a leading figure in inspiring the creation of this website.
The Who make their fourth appearance at The Town Hall during a hectic six month period in 1965.
Formed in 1964, the West London based rockers had released their first single, I Can’t Explain, in January 1965 and at the time of their November 1965 appearance at The Town Hall, their ‘My Generation’ single had reached No.2 in the UK Charts. The same titled debut album was soon to be released too.
What would be their final appearance in High Wycombe, took place at the popular ‘Tuesday Club’ held at The Town Hall. The same venue had hosted The Small Faces the previous month, while December 1965 would see the visits of The Kinks, The Moody Blues and Dave, Dee, Doxy, Beaky, Mick and Tich. All four gigs would have set you back less than £2!
Tuesday 17th December 1963 saw The Rolling Stones play their third gig of the year at High Wycombe Town Hall. Formed in London, they had played their first ever gig at The Marquee Club in July 1962 and subsequently signed for Decca Records. Their first single, released in June 1963, was a cover of Chuck Berry’s ‘Come On’ and reached No.21 in the UK charts.
Rolling Stones advert from the Bucks Free Press. Enhanced by Paul Lewis for use on wycombegigs.co.uk
They made their High Wycombe debut at The Town Hall on 13th August 1963, with a second single following in early November 1963 – this time a Lennon/McCartney penned ‘I Wanna Be Your Man’ becoming a ‘slowburner’ and eventually peaking at No.12 in the UK charts in January 1964. The song had the honour of being the first shown on BBC’s Top of the Pops show broadcast on 1st January 1964.
Before then, they had time for two further appearances in High Wycombe – a 12th November 1963 showing followed by the 17th December 1963 pre=Christmas bash where the advert in the Bucks Free Press included the added draw of seeing a ‘selection of MISS HIGH WYCOMBE’.
Admission was 7/6 (37 ½p).
A picture taken backstage showing Mick Jagger and Keith Richards is archived on the SWOP site (www.swop.org.uk).
It’s worth recalling the ages of the band members at the time of the December 1963 gig. Vocalist Mick Jagger was 20, Guitarist Keith Richards was just 19 but would celebrate his 20th birthday the day after The Town Hall gig. Fellow guitarist Brian Jones was 21, Drummer Charlie Watts was 22, while the oldest band member was bassist Bill Wyman at 27.
Further reading
In February 2018 I had the pleasure of meeting one of the Stones fans featured in the picture taken at the Town Hall in December 1963. This was during guest slot on Wycombe Sound show Emperor’s Bits – read more here.
For your viewing pleasure
I Wanna Be Your Man- Rolling Stones – Released November 1963
