I started out as a bass guitarist playing in rock and pop bands in the 60s, performing mainly in pubs and clubs in the London area. My first recording was with a band called Santos Morados, we released a single on the Island label in 1968. Later that year I switched from playing bass to electro acoustic guitar and vibraphone and formed a progressive folk band called Synanthesia. The other two members of the group were Leslie Cook on guitar, mandolin, violin and bongos and Jim Fraser on concert flute, alto flute, nose flute, alto sax, soprano sax and oboe. We wrote all our own material, an eclectic mix of folk, jazz and psychedelia. We recorded one album called Synanthesia on the RCA label in 1969. We played on stage alongside some big names of the period such as King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Greg Lake, Jeff Beck, Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and Bonzo Dog. We also did several gigs with the late John Peel. After just eighteen months together the band split up and we all went our separate ways.In 2005 I was approached by Sunbeam records who wanted to re-release the album on CD. Apparantly, and unbeknown to me, a new interest in Synanthesia had emerged and had gained something of a cult status. Vast sums of money (up to £350) were being paid for rare copies of the old vinyl album on ebay and there had even been a bootleg version of it issued. Our style of music had now gained the new name of Acid-Folk. It was re-issued in December 2005 and the CD also contained a bonus track called Shifting Sands. This was a song that I wrote that was to be released as a single, but the band split up shortly after we recorded it. On this particular track we were backed by an orchestral string section with a beautiful arrangement scored by Jethro Tull's keyboard player David Palmer. In 2006 tracks from this album were also issued on two separate compilation boxed sets on Sanctuary Records, Anthems in Eden and Scarborough Fair (the Best of English Folk). Both these albums featured tracks by many of the greatest names in British folk music such as Ewan McColl, Donovan, Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, Nick Drake, The Spinners, The Dubliners, Lindisfarne, The Incredible String Band, Lonnie Donnegan, Marc Bolan (in his Tyranosaurus Rex days), and even Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty when they were part of the Humblebums group.After Synanthesia split I continued playing solo at folk clubs but then became quite interested in the theatre and joined several theatrical production companies and wrote the music and songs for a number of musical revues.
For several years I didn't play in public at all. I still played guitar and wrote songs but purely as a hobby. Then in the early 90s I once again returned to the folk scene and have been performing on a regular basis ever since.Over the years I've written in excess of 400 songs. I purposely have avoided writing in one genre, my influences are far and wide so I do not want to be pigeon-holed. I love writing and performing comedy songs, but at the same time I also like to write songs about serious subjects that I feel strongly about. "Love Through The Distance" which is one of the songs loaded on this page is about Alzheimer's. Songs can be a reflection on life from the poignant and sublime to the humorous and downright ridiculous. I have also written two song cycles or suites. The first is called "An East End Childhood" and is a forty minute collection of songs about growing up in the east end of London. The second is called "A Year in the Life" and is comprised of twelve songs and twelve poems each about a different month of the year spanning from January up to December. This suite of songs lasts one hour. The great thing about the present day folk music scene is that you don't have to limit yourself to one particular style, wide variation is acceptable. I have recently released a solo CD, Kites and Rainbows, which comprises of 14 of my own songs that hopefully reflects my music. For details on how to obtain the CD please e-mail
[email protected] For details on Synanthesia please visit www.sunbeamrecords.com.I am a regular performer at The Havering Folk Club every Wednesday at The Golden Lion, Romford, Essex, and at The FaB Club held on the 1st, 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month at The White Hart, Grays, Essex
