Summertime Blues |
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by Richard
Kelsall, 12th July, 2004
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Stu
Long time no see, we drifted apart, c'est la vie. But, hey, I've been reminiscing (cue for Buddy Holly song). It was a long time ago. We were teenagers, just kids really. Do you remember
our first band, Orion. Steve, Andy, Kel and Stu, rehearsing at Andy's
parents' house? Wishing Well, Brown Sugar…Those early days. The time
we got a write-up in the local paper. Excitement! A journo calls in and
interviews the band. The article in the paper. Except they got it wrong!
The band was Orion, the moron wrote an article about the O'Ryans, for
fuck's sake. We nearly cried. But as ever, we saw the funny side. Humorous
- next year we'll get a constellation prize, stars in their eyes etc. Our first guitars? Your Telecaster copy. Andy's Les Paul copy, slightly smaller than the genuine article, therefore referred to as a Les Small (no offence Andy, I rate you). My very short scale bass guitar, and the Hofner Club 40. A gig (Rotary Club?) where we got thrown out before we'd played, as the singer had sworn down the mike when we were setting up! Punning contests. The Dudes. Telepathy. Your mum's bacon and pickle sandwiches, kindly brought up to your room where we would be writing, practising or listening to music. The bottle of gin you brought round which my mother poured into a pot plant (my parents didn't drink gin, so it had to be water - I admire my mother's logic!). A trip to Cornwall in your Humber Sceptre (predictably referred to as a Humber Septic). Blown head gasket. Spending a day and a half in Bicester taking off the cylinder head, putting a new seal on and finding it still wouldn't run! Swapping it for a 62 Ford Consul which actually (just) worked. It got you to London. Getting arrested for being on a scooter which wasn't ours. The ludicrous behaviour of the police officer I'm Detective X and you'd better come clean or else I'll throw the book at you, the spell at the cop shop. They thought they'd rumbled some real big time villains, didn't they! Sorry we didn't actually get to reminisce together, but the memories remain and are coming back stronger, now. Rock'n'roll: Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran… Summertime Blues, indeed.
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