Black Swan Pub

[Freebooter 10]

We were regular visitors there. We started the week after Status Quo appeared, Pictures of matchstick men had just been released, we were not impressed with it so didn't go!!.

Another band I haven't seen mentioned were Ballard, Russ Ballard after Argent.

I don't think Curved Air appeared, some of their equipment did though, another band, Patto perhaps had a number of WEM speakers stencilled "Curved Air". Speaking of Patto, they appeared on at least one occasion with the addition of Boz, not Boz Scaggs, playing a fretless bass, under the name of Dirty Dick and the Firemen.

Another band to appear were Mothers Pride who had previously been the Steve Walker Band. Dave Seville ex of McCluskys was on drums, a brilliant band. On keyboards was Simon Clarke who later went on to tour with Bill Nelson, later still with David Bowie and Peter Gabriel.

[lobster 54]

Dave Allen claimed that Alfredo was cutting his hair and mentioned that Wednesday were looking for investment. It could be true, I know Alfredo was a regular in his casino under the Cav.

 

Dave Allen was a member of the mafia of the mediocre ,he was approached at a Lodge meeting by I think the then Chairman about investment

[Albert smith 11]

Dave Allen was a member of the mafia of the mediocre ,he was approached at a Lodge meeting by I think the then Chairman about investment

You are wrong, I asked him to help out while at a pigeon meeting at the Matilda Tavern on Matilda street he was a fancier .

[pattricia 578]

Seem to remember the barber at Alfredos working at Scotts but could be wrong.

 

I was told that Alfredo was the brother of the celebrity hairdresser John Frieda but don’t know whether this is true.

[Freebooter 10]

Seeing the posts about Alfredo, and yes I did have a haircut there, reminded me about the Boardwalk. I can't quite remember if it was used as an extension to the Black Swan before being called the Boardwalk or not, but we did go there quite a lot, as regulars we were allowed a couple of times to go down the stairs from the concert room.

A band we did see down there were Harpers Bazaar, an American band on tour follow some chart success. A bit too "pop" for our taste but still quite good. An interesting thing was that they were all left handed, the drummer even had his drums set up left handed. How about that for trivia!!

[St Petre 85]

I was told that Alfredo was the brother of the celebrity hairdresser John Frieda but don’t know whether this is true.

 

Alfredo the barber, his surname is Barbetta and he was born in Italy.

[Ontarian1981 10]

Seeing the posts about Alfredo, and yes I did have a haircut there, reminded me about the Boardwalk. I can't quite remember if it was used as an extension to the Black Swan before being called the Boardwalk or not, but we did go there quite a lot, as regulars we were allowed a couple of times to go down the stairs from the concert room.

A band we did see down there were Harpers Bazaar, an American band on tour follow some chart success. A bit too "pop" for our taste but still quite good. An interesting thing was that they were all left handed, the drummer even had his drums set up left handed. How about that for trivia!!

 

How do you set up drums left-handed? Not being an arse, just genuinely curious. If it was a joke,I confess to taking the bait.LOL

[Freebooter 10]

Sorry, I have been told that I have a strange sense of humour, but on this occasion I was being serious.

From where the drummer sits the conventional set up, even for the left handed is, Bass drum at the front, snare drum and Hi Hat on the left, floor tom-tom(s) on the right, cymbals and Tom-Toms in front of the drummer. This groups drummer had the Snare and Hi Hats on the right and Floor Tom-Toms on the left. Might just have been his preference of course, it's not a law!

BTW if my reply appears elsewhere, apologies, I posted it and it disappeared, had to do it again. Sorry also for any resulting boredom, I'm not really a nerd honest!!

[Strum 10]

Another band I haven't seen mentioned were Ballard, Russ Ballard after Argent.

I don't think Curved Air appeared, some of their equipment did though, another band, Patto perhaps had a number of WEM speakers stencilled "Curved Air". Speaking of Patto, they appeared on at least one occasion with the addition of Boz, not Boz Scaggs, playing a fretless bass, under the name of Dirty Dick and the Firemen..

 

Dick and the Firemen (not Dirty Dick) were an occasional band (a bit like the later Hinkley's Heroes) who featured whoever was available on any given night. Personnel included members of Patto, the Grease Band/Kokomo, Bad Company, Streetwalkers, and others, including the likes of Carol Grimes & Zoot Money.

Edited March 28, 2018 by Strum

[martindale 0]

I'm surprised we've had no mention of the mucky duck as being the Sheffield musicians' labour exchange. Work could be a bit thin in the early 70s, and everyone would go there at lunchtime to hear the (cheap) local bands and hope for a gig when your own band wasn't booked that night.

We were a soul band - Lemon Soul (corny) - managed by Ray Stuart. Joe Patrick (vocals), Ernie Fawcett (drums) Glynn Thomson, Roy Barber (guitars - both now dead), Peter Piper (bass), Dolly (sax), me (trumpet) Chris? (Hammond organ).

We'd see the local bands of the time - Tom Browns Schooldays, Bitter Suite, O'Hara's Playboys, Johnny Johnson, the Grumbleweeds, the Cruisers (without DB, who was too grand by then) and would often get pick-up work with them.

I often wonder what happened to those guys.

In another era I remember a wonderful performance by Hogan's Heroes, fronted by Albert Lee.

[Ontarian1981 10]

4 hours ago, martindale said:

I'm surprised we've had no mention of the mucky duck as being the Sheffield musicians' labour exchange. Work could be a bit thin in the early 70s, and everyone would go there at lunchtime to hear the (cheap) local bands and hope for a gig when your own band wasn't booked that night.

We were a soul band - Lemon Soul (corny) - managed by Ray Stuart. Joe Patrick (vocals), Ernie Fawcett (drums) Glynn Thomson, Roy Barber (guitars - both now dead), Peter Piper (bass), Dolly (sax), me (trumpet) Chris? (Hammond organ).

We'd see the local bands of the time - Tom Browns Schooldays, Bitter Suite, O'Hara's Playboys, Johnny Johnson, the Grumbleweeds, the Cruisers (without DB, who was too grand by then) and would often get pick-up work with them.

I often wonder what happened to those guys.

In another era I remember a wonderful performance by Hogan's Heroes, fronted by Albert Lee.

Would the Chris on Hammond be Chris Stainton by any chance?

 

Edited June 6, 2019 by Ontarian1981

[Dave Robinson 0]

Looking for members of The Nocturnes or Who’s Who - Zeke Fisher are you there ? Eric Wells is looking for you.