The recent unexpected death of bassist Dusty Hill was a huge shock to the music business and fans worldwide. I have followed the career of ZZ Top since the early 1970s, feeling that this was the most worthwhile band to listen to since my other favourites, Vanilla Fudge. In those days I would have bet a large sum on their remaining obscure, so no one was more surprised and pleased at their meteoric rise to superstardom, which they richly deserved. Having cut my teeth in power trios I immediately understood how important Dusty’s subtle yet strong bass playing was to the band. For half a century they continued to experiment and evolve whilst still retaining a great sound, and also understanding along the way the importance of a strong image and visual stage show. I was very lucky to work on the bill supporting ZZ Top with my band Nasty Habits at a huge festival in Austria several years ago. When Dusty arrived, he treated everyone like a long-lost friend and it was an honour to meet and chat to a likeable man who will always be remembered as one of the best vocalists and bassists in the rock and roll business! Thanks for the music, Dusty. Sleep well.
I recently heard of another sad event, the death of Dave Langston, affectionately known as “Cy”, short for Cyrano. Dave joined up with his close neighbour and school friend Keith Dyett to form a group during the early 1960s. Making a play on Dave’s prominent nose, they dubbed themselves Cyrano and the Bergeracs, after the legendary French figure who is always depicted with a very long nose. With Dave singing and playing guitar and Keith playing bass, they added a succession of excellent West London musicians to become one of the best groups in the area, soon attracting a strong following. During the start of 1965 two members of the outfit in which I played (Buddy Britten and the Regents) departed to join the Bergeracs. Ray Soper on keyboards and Roger Pinah on drums were both great musicians and so I made several visits to see the band play. I was very impressed with them, and particularly with Cyrano who was a good front man and very able lead guitarist. Those who have read Chapter 6 on this website will already know the story of my own departure from the Regents and the surprising invitation from Dave to join him on lead guitar.
Although extremely rusty, I took over using Dave’s Eko guitar until I managed to borrow a Stratocaster from a friend. Without the encumbrance of a guitar Cyrano proved to be an even better front man than before. We toured the country with great success in the clubs and ballrooms and all felt that the Bergeracs had a good future ahead of them. When our old boss Buddy Britten offered Roger and myself a contract for a summer season in Jersey, where he had a huge following, the lure proved too much and so we left the Bergeracs in April 1965.
Cyrano and co. soon recruited two more excellent players. but after a short time, for reasons unknown to me, the band split and went their separate ways. Later in the year, on hearing that I had left the Regents for good, Dave Langston offered me the bass job in his new and we began to rehearse in earnest. However, in spite of Dave’s constant enthusiasm it soon became obvious the chemistry wasn’t there, and so we unanimously decided to call it a day. Cy was immediately recruited by another top outfit called Gary Farr and the T-Bones, so it was a shock to everyone who knew him when he suddenly announced his intention to quit playing to become road manager for local band The Who, already starting to become successful at that time. Most of Dave’s friends and associates felt that he could have made it as a musician, but determined to stick with it he soon became an indispensable member of The Who’s entourage, forging an excellent career for himself. He specialised in the field of recording and engineering and still kept up his guitar skills. During the 1980’s, I bumped into Cy after many years whilst visiting Shepperton Studio Complex where the Who had interests. We cheerfully reminisced for 15 minutes or so before parting company. Sadly, I was never to see him again, although I always retain fond memories of my time with him in the Bergeracs. So yet another of the Hanwell Marshall set has departed. A talented man and above all, a nice man, he will be sadly missed. Rest in peace, Cyrano.
Since the Unite for Freedom rally on May 29th, each month has seen a similar protest giving people a chance to show their disgust at the current situation. With the May and June gatherings estimated to have been in excess of one million it has been great to be among people, some of whom have travelled from all over Britain, and many coming from other countries all gathering peacefully together. July 24th saw a capacity crowd fill Trafalgar Square once more to hear speakers including doctors and lawyers tell the truth about this situation and utterly destroying the official line! On August 28th my son and I were proud to be part of the Medical Freedom march, this time from Hyde Park through to South London, where the marchers in their hundreds of thousands received great support from the local residents. Naturally you will not see this reported in our so-called media, but footage can be found on Oracle Films. Once again, I urge all musicians and fans to join in the forthcoming rallies.
It was with great sadness that I learned of the death of Ali McKenzie on the last day of April 2021. I was privileged briefly to get to know Ali when I played with his band “The Birds” for a couple of gigs in the mid sixties, when bassist Kim Gardner was off sick. I immediately hit it off with Ali and guitarist Ron Wood, and was particularly impressed by the sheer energy that Ali and Ron exuded during their stage show which made it a very exciting spectacle indeed. Sadly The Birds never reached the heights they were aiming for and folded up not long afterwards. I didn’t see Ali for some years until he became a regular visitor to gigs by the Good Ol’ Boys and we were able to rekindle our friendship. He would often get up and sing a couple of songs with the band proving that he hadn’t lost the ability to perform, and was quite capable of sitting in a couple of times when the band’s vocalist Alan Barratt was unavailable.
Ali McKenzie with Nick and the Good Old Boys, 2005The Birds, L-R: Pete McDaniels, Kim Gardner, Tony Monroe, Ron Wood, Ali McKenzie
Although no longer a professional he retained an impressive vocal knowledge and proved time and time again that he could please an audience. Finally, in more recent years he began to gig regularly once again with his own band with great success. His passing has diminished the dwindling group of musicians that we know as the “Marshall Set” who got to know one and other during the heady days of the 1960’s when Jim Marshall opened his first shop in Hanwell. Ali always demonstrated a good reliable vocal ability, with a quite amazing knowledge of different songs. He was always good company and a pleasure to be around. Thanks for the memories Ali, I’ll miss you !
It was a great privilege to be at the Unite For Freedom rally on May 29th 2021 in London. This was probably one of the biggest gatherings of people since 1945 when similar crowds invaded the capital to celebrate the end of WW2. Naturally none of this was reported in the media but you can see it on Oracle Films, when over one million people expressed their disgust at the current situation by marching through London, an awesome spectacle sometimes forty people wide and over four miles long ! In spite of their huge numbers and massive strength the people marched in a dignified and well behaved manner, causing no trouble, but at the same time issuing a powerful message of anger to our so called rulers !
A video of the event:
It has been a great disappointment to witness the deafening silence from the music business, once renowned for their rebelliousness. Our whole industry lies in ruins, yet only a few lone voices such as Van Morrison, Ian Brown and Eric Clapton have put their heads above the parapet. Come on Rock ‘n’ Rollers, let your voices be heard !
On a lighter note, I was told of a recent interview with Roger Glover regarding the “Hall Of Shame” debacle. Although I consider the whole subject unworthy of further comment, I would like to thank Roger for speaking up on my behalf, thanks mate, you’re a true gentleman !
Once again I send my best wishes to all Purple people, thanks for your support.
We are now living through the worst time for musicians, their fans and all people in general, with the whole entertainment business ruined, possibly for good, by the greatest over-reaction ever seen in history!
Like all my fellow muso’s I’ve missed the gigs, and most of all the vibe generated by being in the company of others, so it was particularly uplifting to be present at one of the greatest gatherings I’ve ever seen on Saturday 26th September 2020, filling London’s Trafalgar Square and the streets nearby to absolute capacity!
Although it was a massive protest against current events it was also one of the happiest, friendliest and above all, peaceful protests ever, ironically overlooked from his column above by the figure of Lord Nelson, one of our greatest heroes who fought against the forces that sought to oppress us. Whilst the media tried to diminish the event in the press (for an accurate version about September 26th check the article written by Jacqui Deevoy), in fact this was probably one of largest gatherings that Trafalgar Square had seen, full to bursting point with people who showed up to voice their feelings, with not a mask in sight!
After three hours of uplifting speeches, the decision was made to send in the police to disperse the crowds, a totally unnecessary move as everyone was behaving themselves. I would say it was a great privilege to be present, and hopefully people will continue to protest against the tyranny that we are now living under, with fans and musicians joining with others, speaking out in one voice.
Recent months saw the loss of two more people who were an important part of the Deep Purple story.
On May 13th 2020 the original Purple producer Derek Lawrence passed away. Derek began his career being involved with Joe Meek, England’s first independent record producer, and worked with his band The Outlaws, who featured Chas Hodges, Mick Underwood and of course Ritchie Blackmore. Derek had a good eye for local London talent and spent a lot of time recording the people who he considered special, musicians such as Carlo Little, Jimmy Page, Albert Lee and many others.
As you can read on this website, Derek beat his way to Deeves Hall to offer us the deal which catapulted the band to the U.S. top twenty, and it’s fair to say that without him the world would probably not have known about Deep Purple. Derek was not your conventional record producer, apparently having little knowledge of the recording desk, but he was a great catalyst between engineer and band, and he unfailingly knew when a “take” was the right one. Sadly, for reasons unknown to me, Purple dispensed with Derek’s services but he went on to further success with many others. Derek did the initial demo recording for my band Fandango, for which I will always be grateful, and also suggested that I team up with Mick Underwood for Quatermass 2, which led us to making an album together. Derek always fun to be around, and he knew his game. A nice man in the true sense the word, he will be sadly missed.
On August 9th 2020 we lost Martin Birch, another Deep Purple stalwart of the early years. When the band started in 1968, Martin was the tape operator for the great engineer Barry Ainsworth. His job was to press the buttons which operated the giant tape machine which sat at the side of the recording desk.
Martin was a cheerful, likeable man who didn’t say much, but all the time was learning the trade by watching Barry work. He and Barry seemed particularly keen on working with Purple, so much so that when they re-located from Pye Studio’s to De Lane Lea, the band went too, feeling quite rightly that we were all a good team. Barry, Martin and producer Derek together helped produce the vibe which resulted in the three mark one albums. When Martin finally set out as engineer and producer in his own right he showed a great talent, becoming in demand by many of the leading rock bands of the day, helped of course by his sunny laidback personality. A great loss to the recording business, he will also be sadly missed.
It was with great sadness that I heard of the death of one of my oldest friends, Ian Nelhams, who died on April 3rd this year in New Zealand where he lived with his wife and children. During my early teenage years he was a familiar figure where we lived in Hayes, being the assistant to Stan, the local milkman. This was when one of the local kids dubbed him “Rubbernose”, a nickname that stayed with him for years! Affectionately known as “Nelly”, Ian and his mate Rich Bennett came knocking at my door in 1960, when I had just acquired my first guitar.
They explained that they were members of a music group, with Nelly on drums and Rich on rhythm guitar and asked if I would join them. This was a huge boost to my musical beginnings and I teamed up with them straight away, in spite of only knowing a few chords. As well as being a good drummer, Nelly was also very practical, building a solid-body bass guitar which actually worked. This bass, known as the “Flatty” owing to its lack of contours, was my first introduction to bass, and this was my instrument until I felt capable of taking over as the group’s lead guitarist.
Always a problem solver, Nelly came to the rescue when the Flatty’s pick-up failed, and strapped a cheap tape recorder microphone on the back, just in time to save our gig! On leaving school Nelly had secured a job installing telephones for the GPO. Having access to miles of telephone cable, he came up with the idea of running a wire from the guitar amp on stage to a speaker at the rear of the hall, in order, he reasoned, to hear better. This seemed to work for a while at the next gig, until someone closed a door on the cable and cut it in half!
Our little group, called The Renegades, was not to last very long but myself, Rich and Nelly had one hell of a lot of fun along the way, playing at local youth clubs and church halls, becoming inseparable pals. Sometimes we would travel to gigs by bus, when Nelly would hide the bulk of his drum kit in a shop doorway, whilst one of us hailed the driver. Of course, mayhem would ensue at the bus stop when we attempted to jam the drums into the luggage compartment!
One bonus of being in a group with Ian Nelhams was that his cousin was Terry Nelhams, better known as Adam Faith, one of our biggest pop stars at the time. This not only lifted Nelly’s profile as a drummer, but also lifted our profile with the local girls too!
Showing great generosity Nelly also paid a local bass player to teach me the rudiments of bass guitar. Being still at school, this was something that I could not afford myself. Nelly was a real character in the true sense of the word, and, although always happy to argue with anyone, had a sunny optimistic personality that endeared him to most people. No matter what disaster happened, he would always soldier on and keep smiling! He would always try and come up with money-making ideas. One which did work for a while involved he and I starting a print company, after he acquired a small printing press.
Operating from a garden shed, we successfully knocked out wedding invitations and trade cards for local people, although the quality could be a bit dubious. Sadly, after the demise of the Renegades, when he and I tried and failed to form another band, he abandoned the drums for good. Had he persisted I am sure that he would have made his mark as a good player. I am sure that he would have made his mark as a good player. When Rich Bennett left England for Canada, and Nelly departed for Suffolk, our happy partnership ended. Nelly always kept in touch though. Whenever we met, he would regale me with stories of his various jobs and enterprises, always full of optimism and hoping to strike It rich!
Eventually, with his wife and children he tried his luck in South Africa, then returning to Suffolk and changing his name, for various reasons, to Ian Engels. by the time of his third marriage he was based on the Isle of Wight before making a final move to New Zealand. Sadly, for the last 15 years we became out of touch, but he was always thought of, and a mention of his name always raised a smile! Nelly was a lovely person and great company. I will always think of him with affection and remember him as one of my best friends. Keep smiling, Nelly!
Well, here we are now in the 52nd year of Deep Purple. Time, as they say, really does fly!
I would like to again thank all the people that have continually supported the band and showed such interest in the various musicians involved. It has been nice to continue receiving messages from you, and although I cannot do personal responses, I thought it time to address several subjects.
Thank you for sending information about past gigs, dates, and personnel, which I always find interesting. Also I am very grateful for all the support for my other projects aside from Deep Purple, which, although they didn’t set the world on fire, seem all the more worthwhile now.
Another recent question asked about a project called Rocket. Well, I will be covering this and other subjects in the future when I have completed my part in the Deep Purple story. I still get asked about the Hall of Fame debacle, which I know outraged many people, but it really was not worth worrying about. Thank you anyway!
People have often inquired about my guitars. As previously mentioned, for many years I have used my 1961 Fender Precision bass, which I now use only occasionally. During 1968-69 I also used a black CBS Fender Precision, and also bought one of the first 1951 Precision reissues, which was called the Telecaster bass. After a while I built a hybrid, putting the Telecaster neck onto a black Precision body, which looked amazing! The trouble was that so many people wanted to buy it that I eventually sold it for a handsome profit, which I regret to this day!
With Deep Purple I occasionally played a blonde Gibson EB2 which was a very rare guitar, but sadly useless on stage due to chronic feedback! About 20 years ago I was provided with a new candy-red Precision by my old pal Rich Bennett from Atlanta USA. This great axe has been resprayed black, and I play it a lot. When I celebrated my 60th birthday I was given a surprise gift from Jeff Bennett, Rich’s son. it was a beautiful ‘51 Precision reissue which looks just amazing. I also play this one a lot too! Over the years I have toyed with many others including Rickenbacker and Danelectro, but for me, nothing does the business like a good Precision!
Several people have asked about the Blaggards and Cowboys project. I am playing on the first two albums, but not on subsequent ones. I have played more recently on the first and second albums by Aeon Sophia, called “21 Hundred” and “Headphonauts”. Working on these albums, produced by Donagh Moloney and assisted by my son Richard, has been a lot of fun. They are available through CD Baby and various streaming services such as iTunes. Donagh and Rich were kind enough to send the following message:
Just a message to thank Nick, Pete Parks and also Richard Hudson for their help, advice and encouragement during the making of our first two albums (“21 Hundred” and “Headphonauts”). It’s a sound that is far away from their usual type of music, but their signature styles remain recognisable throughout. Our music would be equally at home on movie soundtracks as it would at low volume in your local coffee shop, combining electronica with live instruments, whilst switching from guitar tracks to sitar to dub reggae and then back to electronic. We look forward to the next one!
