sees the prolific John Mayall showcase Eric Clapton and any number of temporary replacements before Peter Green joins, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band command the biggest fee paid so far at the club. The Herd are popular at the Island, even before Peter Frampton joins them. While Clapton returns with his supergroup Cream, further appearances include Jimmy Witherspoon, Jimmy Cliff, Alan Price ……

Sat. Jan 1 ^st  –  The Green Leaf Band  (£20)

Sat. Jan 8 ^th  –  Alex Welsh Jazz Band  (£45) from AC’s accounts

Sun. Jan 9 ^th  – Herbie Goins and The Nightimers (from Jennie Wyrill’s diary)

Sat. Jan 15 ^th  –  Eric Silk and his Southern Jazz Band  (£25) from AC’s accounts

Sat. Jan 22 ^nd  –  Brian Green’s New Orleans Stompers  (£25) from AC’s accounts

Sat. Jan 29 ^th  –  Mike Daniels Delta Jazz Band  (£40) from AC’s accounts

Sat. Feb 5 ^th  –  New Sedalia Jazz Band  (£25) from AC’s accounts

Sun. Feb 6 ^th  –  Jimmy James & The Vagabonds  (£45)

Jimmy James and his cohorts were down for two separate sets tonight

Wed. Feb 9^th – The Soul Show (from Record Mirror ad via Nick Warburton)

           Featured tonight are Elkie Brooks, Keith Powell, The Marionettes, and The Excels



Sat. Feb 12 ^th  –  Steve Lane’s Southern Stompers  (£25) from AC’s accounts

Sat. Feb 19 ^th  –  Alan Elsdon  (£40) from AC’s accounts

Sat. Feb 26 ^th  –  Spencer’s Washboard Kings  (£40) from AC’s accounts

Wed. Mar 2 ^nd  –  The Train  (£25) from AC’s accounts

Sat. Mar 5 ^th  –  TiaJuana Jazz Band  (£25) from AC’s accounts

Sun. Mar 6^th – The Five Proud Walkers (£10) from Colin Forster of the Walkers, via Nick Warburton

Sun. Mar 6  ^th  –  The Big T Soul Show feat. The Carols  (£40)

Wed. Mar 9 ^th  –  Heart And Soul  (£25) from letter accompanying payment

Sat. Mar 12 ^th  –   Monty Sunshine’s Jazz Band (£40)

Monty Sunshine replaces the contracted Ken Colyer’s Jazzband according to AC’s accounts

Sun. Mar 13 ^th  –  Dave Antony’s Moods  (£40)

Wed. Mar 16 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£60)  – only paid £40 plus £6 for ad to appear in Club Calendar Mar 19

Sat. Mar 19 ^th  –  Spencer’s Washboard Kings  (£40)

Sun. Mar 20 ^th  –  John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers  (£55)

With Jack Bruce having hied it over to Manfred Mann, John McVie is back on bass, having initially been elbowed on account of his drinking habit. Apparently tonight’s gig merited a rare advert in the Melody Maker

Wed. Mar 23 ^rd  –  The Curfew  ((£10) suggested by letter accompanying payment

Wed. Mar 23 ^rd  –  The Graham Bond Organisation  (£75)

A stalwart of the British R&B/Jazz scene, Bond graduated from a brief stint in Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated before ultimately forming the Organisation (such an appropriate, if obvious, name given his Hammond-based tendencies), initially with Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker and John McLaughlin. By now, however, Bruce was long gone, and McLaughlin’s guitar was replaced by Dick Heckstall-Smith’s sax, while Jon Hiseman came in for Ginger Baker, who had absconded with Bruce for pastures new. The fee paid tonight gives a clue as to how highly Bond was regarded. Incidentally, the band used a large rowing boat to ship Bond’s Hammond over to the Island, rather than have to lug it over the bridge!

Sat. Mar 26 ^th  –  Monty Sunshine’s Jazz Band  (£40)

Sun. Mar 27 ^th  –  Body And Soul  (£10) from letter accompanying payment

Sun. Mar 27 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£40) (£60 according to AC’s accounts)

Wed. Mar 30 ^th  –  Mark Four  (£25)

When bassist John Dalton later left to join the rather better known Kinks, The Mark Four themselves regrouped as the fondly referenced Creation, in which guitarist Eddie Phillips discovered the art of playing the guitar with a violin bow, long before Jimmy Page did the same trick. On the other hand, of course, he may have performed his party trick tonight

Sat. Apr 2 ^nd  –  Steve Lane’s Southern Stompers  (£25) from AC’s accounts

Sun. Apr 3 ^rd  –  John Lee & The Groundhogs  (£50)

Wed. Apr 6 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£40)

Sat. Apr 9 ^th  –  Brian Green’s New Orleans Stompers  (£25)

Sun. Apr 10 ^th  –  The Jimmy Cliff Show  (£50)

Having been signed by Chris Blackwell to his Island record label, strangely, given Blackwell’s own Jamaican roots and later promotion of Reggae as a musical genre, Jimmy Cliff was initially marketed for the ‘rock’, or more properly given the era, R&B audience, and thus was backed by the likes of The New Generation (featuring a young future Fairport mainstay, Dave Pegg), and The Sound System, who included a very young Ayshea in their ranks, some years before setting young lads’ pulses racing on TV’s “Lift Off”. Confusingly, I have seen references to The Soul System (precursors to The Attack) backing Cliff, but that appears to be someone getting their “Sound” and their “Soul” confused, as this is not so, having been repudiated by one of the band recently. As for Cliff, of course, Reggae indeed became the making of him in 1969/70 with “Many Rivers To Cross” and “Wonderful World, Beautiful People”, as well as a bunch of other hits, before becoming a Jamaican ‘superstar’ following his role in the movie “The Harder They Come” in 1972, and is still going strong today

Wed. Apr 13 ^th  –  Micky Finn  (£25)

Sat. Apr 16 ^th  –  Alan Elsdon’s Jazz Band  (£40)

Sun. Apr 17 ^th  –  The Anzacs  (£10)

Sun. Apr 17 ^th  –  Jimmy Witherspoon  (£60) from AC’s accounts

Wed. Apr 20 ^th  –  John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers  (£40)

Two nights before this, a callow youth called Mick Taylor got the courage to ask Mayall if he could stand in for an obviously no-showing Clapton at a gig in Welwyn Garden City. I doubt he got the same chance tonight, though, but his time would come. On another occasion, recalled by Top Topham, when Clapton was late in showing, Robin Trower (later guitarist with Procol Harum before becoming quite big in his own right) got up on stage until he arrived

Sat. Apr 23 ^rd  –  Spencer’s Washboard Kings  (£40)

Sun. Apr 24 ^th  –  Mike Stuart Span  (£10)

Sun. Apr 24 ^th  –  The Herd  (£40)

Wed. Apr 27 ^th  –  Dave Antony’s Moods  (£35)

Sat. Apr 30 ^th  –  Terry Lightfoot’s Jazzband  (£45)

Sun. May 1 ^st  –  A Q Blues Band  (£10)

Sun. May 1 ^st  –  The Artwoods  (£60)

Wed. May 4 ^th  –  The Alan Price Set  (£50)

Was “Simon Smith and His Amazing Dancing Bear” in the Set’s set? I ’m being flippant, but I’m sure “I Put A Spell On You” would have been

Fri. May 6 ^th  –  Spencer’s Washboard Kings  (£30)

Fri. May 6 ^th  –  John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers  (£40)

This apparently is the day following the photoshoot that yielded the famous ‘Beano’ shot for the “John Mayall Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton” LP cover. However, the presence of The Artwoods on the bill the same night (see below) suggests one of the bands did not appear: my money would be on The Artwoods indeed getting paid their dues tonight, though all three contracts for tonight were dated February 9 ^th  1966, and it being a Friday, there may have been something special going on (there’s a mention on all three contracts of “Special Concession Fee”)

Fri. May 6 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£40)

Fri. May 6 ^th  – Champion Jack Dupree (£25) from letter accompanying payment

According to the same letter, Jack’s backing band, The Vagabonds were paid £50 in cash. Obviously a big night!

Sat. May 7 ^th  –  Bill Nile’s Delta Jazzband  (£25)

Sat. May 7 ^th  –  Tia Juana [sic] Jazzband  (£25) (See Sat May 21)

Sun. May 8 ^th  –  Deakin Lewis Band  (£10)

Sun. May 8 ^th  –  The Vagabonds  (£50)  see above: also from AC’s accounts

Wed. May 11 ^th  –  Don Shinn’s Soul Agents  (£25)

Rod Stewart having left the fold, organist Don Shinn steps up to the plate. Doesn’t carry the same gravitas, really, though, to be fair, Rod did rate him, according to his autobiography. He had a couple of albums out in his own right at the end of the 60s, and went on to feature in Dada (alongside Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer) and recorded with Renaissance. The letter accompanying payment by AC states “The Soul Agents seemed to have great difficulty in exceeding two three quarter hour spots with their programme. I think we ought to delete them from the list”!

Sat. May 14 ^th  –  Monty Sunshine’s Jazz Band  (£40)

Sun. May 15 ^th  –  The Seventh Sun  (£10)

Sun. May 16 ^th  [sic] –  Herbie Goins and the Nightimers  (£50)

Someone’s typing finger must have slipped when entering the date, clearly. At some stage this year, The Nightimers featured future jazz and fusion guitarist John McLaughlin 

Wed. May 18 ^th  –  A Q Blues Band  (£10)

Wed. May 18 ^th  –  Dave Antony’s Moods  (£35)

Wed. May 18 ^th  –  John Lee’s Groundhogs  (£40)

Sat. May 21 ^st  –  Tiajuna  [sic]  Jazzband  (£25)

“This cancels contract for Saturday May 7” 

Sat. May 21 ^st  –  Bill Nile’s Delta Jazzband  (£25)

The Tia Juna [sic] Jazzband were contracted to play tonight, though the contract is annotated with “This cancels contract for Saturday May 7”, so they must have swopped dates with Bill Nile’s Deltas from two weeks earlier, who was paid for tonight

Sun. May 22 ^nd  –  The John Dummer Blues Band  (£10)

Sun. May 22 ^nd  –  The Jimmy Cliff Show  (£50)

Wed. May 25 ^th  –  Deakin Lewis Band  (£10)

Wed. May 25  ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£40)

Fri. May 27^th – Jimmy James & The Vagabonds (from advert in Beat Instrumental, via Nick Warburton)

This advertised date from Beat Instrumental for a gig on a Friday suggests a College do

Sat. May 28 ^th  –  Spencer’s Washboard Kings  ((£40) (from payment letter)

Sun. May 29 ^th  –  The Foot Prints  (£10)

Sun. May 29 ^th  –  John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers  (£55)

Wed. Jun 1 ^st  –  The Vibro  (£10)

Wed. Jun 1 ^st  –  The Worrying Kynde  (£25)

Sat. Jun 4 ^th  –  The Temperance Seven  (£60)

Sun. Jun 5 ^th  –  Deakin Lewis Band  (£10)

Sun. Jun 5 ^th  –  Champion Jack Dupree & The 5 Proud Walkers  (£50)

The Walkers got £20 of this, according to the payment letter

Wed. Jun 8 ^th  –  A Q Blues Band  (£10)

Wed. Jun 8 ^th  –  Jimmy Witherspoon  (£50) from payment letter and from AC’s accounts

Sat. Jun 11  ^th  –  The Delta Jazzband & Big Band  (£40) Mike Daniels Big Band from AC’s accounts

Sun. Jun 12 ^th  –  The John Dummer Blues Band  (£10)

Sun. Jun 12 ^th  –  Dave Antony’s Moods  (£40)

Sun. Jun 12 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£60)

Sat. Jun 18 ^th  –  Steve Lane’s Southern Stompers  (£25)

Sun. Jun 19 ^th  –  The Anzacs  (£10)

Sun. Jun 19 ^th  –  The Jimmy Cliff Show  (£50)

Wed. Jun 22 ^nd  –  The Kleek  (£10)

Probably not to be confused with phonetically similar The Clique, who had two well-regarded singles the previous year, produced by Kinks manager Larry Page, and who could be seen as precursors to The Troggs. Which is a shame

Wed. Jun 22 ^nd  –  The Graham Bond Organisation  (£80)

Sat. Jun 25 ^th  –  Mike Peter’s Jazzband  (£25)

Sun. Jun 26 ^th  –  The Tea Set  (£10)

Formed for a contest to write a song called “Join the Tea Set”, this outfit won, thus gaining the name and a recording contract, apparently. It may have been the presence of this group on a bill in 1965 that caused another lot due to play at the same event, also calling themselves The Tea Set, to change their name to Pink Floyd

Sun. Jun 26 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£65)

Wed. Jun 29 ^th  –  Nocturnal  (£10)

Wed. Jun 29 ^th  –  Herbie Goins and the Nightimers  (£50)

Sat. Jul 2 ^nd  –  The Washboard Kings  (£40)

Sun. Jul 3 ^rd  –  Saints and Sinners  (£10)

Sun. Jul 3 ^rd  –  The Mark Leman  [sic]  Five  (£50)

The Mark Leeman Five sadly lost their eponymous leader in a motor accident a year before tonight. Roger Peacock had come in from The Cheynes as vocalist, but he would depart the following year to join Eel Pie regulars Dave Anthony’s Moods. Drummer Brian Davison would reappear a couple of years later with The Nice. However, AC’s payment letter details only £30 paid for a “replacement band”, so it’s likely The Mark Leeman Five were not on view tonight, with Soul System being referred to in Arthur Chisnall’s accounts 

Wed. Jul 6 ^th  –  Deakin Lewis Band  (£10)

Wed. Jul 6 ^th  –  Dave Antony’s Moods  (£35)

Fri. Jul 8 ^th  –  The Stormsville Shakers

  (from  http://www.stormsvilleshakers.com/bandhistory.html  )

A Friday date is unlikely, as this was not the norm, unless it was one of those pesky college gigs

Sat. Jul 9 ^th  –  Monty Sunshine’s Jazz Band  (£40)

Sun. Jul 10 ^th  –  The Seventh Sun  (£10)

Sun. Jul 10 ^th  –  John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers  (£60)

Wed. Jul 13 ^th  –  The Tea Set  (£10)

Wed. Jul 13 ^th  –  The Worrying Kynde  (£25)

Sat. Jul 16 ^th  –  Ken Colyer’s Jazzband  (£40)

Sun. Jul 17 ^th  –  The Vibro  (£10)

Sun. Jul 17 ^th  –  Champion Jack Dupree & The 5 Proud Walkers  (£50)

Sun. Jul 17 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£65)

Wed. Jul 20 ^th  –  A Q Blues Band  (£10)

Wed. Jul 20 ^th  –  The Mike Cotton Sound & Lucas  (£35)

Lucas was Bruce MacPherson Lucas, another US soul-merchant trying his luck over here. By this time, Mike Cotton had further moved on to a soul/Stax vibe, and at some stage, a certain Reginald Dwight failed an audition for the changed line-up as well as a Joe Cocker. A music mag described Lucas as “the nearest thing to James Brown to be seen in England”: praise indeed, but that seems to refer to his charismatic stage presence rather than his vocal abilities

Sat. Jul 23 ^rd  –  The London City Stompers  (£25)

Sun. Jul 24 ^th  –  The Deakin Lewis Band  (£10)

Sun. Jul 24 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£65)

Wed. Jul 27 ^th  –  The John Dummer Blues Band  (£10)

Wed. Jul 27 ^th  – The Herd (£35) from payment letter

Sat. Jul 30 ^th  –  Alex Welsh and his Band  (£45)

On the day that England won football’s World Cup, I just wonder what the atmosphere was like later that night when Alex Welsh took to the stage on the Island

Sun. Jul 31 ^st  –  The Kleek  (£10)

Sun. Jul 31 ^st  –  Dave Antony’s Moods  (£40)

Wed. Aug 3 ^rd  –  The Tea Set  (£10)

Wed. Aug 3 ^rd  –  The Anzacs  (£25)

Sat. Aug 6 ^th  –  Eric Silk (£25) from payment letter and from AC’s accounts

Sun. Aug 7  ^th  – The Charge (£10) from payment letter

In the early days of the Eel Pie Project, George Hill contacted us, telling of his band The Charge playing at the Island, and that it included Phil Collins on drums at some point. Given that Collins would have been 15 at this point, it may be fanciful to assume he’s on display tonight, but then again, he’d been playing drums since the age of five, so why not? George also verified that they supported The Artwoods, amongst others

Sun. Aug 7 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£65)

Wed. Aug 10 ^th  –  Wynder K Frog  (£10)

The curiously named Wynder K Frog was former Fairies’ (on view here a year earlier) keyboard player Mick Weaver’s brainchild, and he adopted the name as his own in numerous session-based instances. Alan Spenner and Neil Hubbard became sometime Greaseband members, and trod the Pub-Rock boards with Kokomo. Guitarist Hubbard was even involved in Kevin Rowland’s Dexys resurrection in 2013

Wed. Aug 10 ^th  –  The Graham Bond Organisation  (£80)

Sat. Aug 13 ^th  –  Bill Nile’s Delta Jazzband  (£25)

Sun. Aug 14 ^th  –  Soul System (£40)

AC’s payment letter for this gig details no fee payable to the contracted John Dummer Blues Band (£20) as they did not arrive, owing to “transport problems”, however Soul System were paid £40, presumably as replacement, as the contracted Jimmy Cliff (£50) also does not figure in the letter; also Soul System from AC’s accounts

Wed. Aug 17 ^th  –  The V.I.P.s  (£10)

This outfit later included one Keith Emerson within their ranks the following year before he went off and formed The Nice, appearing here with that band in 1968, and further created the prog-behemoth of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer in 1970. Remaining VIPs later became Art, and further spawned Spooky Tooth, under which name they’d be back on the Island two years later. Whilst the contracts drawn up by Arthur Chisnall invariably quoted times that the band were expected to arrive at the venue, usually 7.00pm, and also “bands arriving late at venue will suffer a reduction of fee pro rata”, both tonight’s VIPs and Wynder K Frog a week earlier had additional clauses specifying that each “group [had] to be away by 10.30pm”. What did that say about them, I wonder. Also, it’s noticeable that the arrival time clause never seemed to feature in contracts for the Saturday Jazz bands….

Wed. Aug 17 ^th  –  Five Proud Walkers  (£25)

The Five Proud Walkers in their own right, not backing Champion Jack Dupree tonight, only command half the fee as a result. Drummer Richard Hudson and bassist John Ford would later serve in The Strawbs, via Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera

Sat. Aug 20 ^th  –  The Washboard Kings  (£40)

Sun. Aug 21 ^st  –  A Q Blues Band  (£10)

Sun. Aug 21 ^st  – The Jimmy Cliff Show (£50) AC’s payment letter states that “Sunday 21st Jimmy Cliff did not arrive” but does feature in AC’s accounts, which is all very confusing

Wed. Aug 24 ^th  – Seventh Sun  [sic](£10) from payment letter

I have been informed that these are Seventh Son

Wed. Aug 24 ^th  –  The Cream (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Baker)  [sic] (£60)

It’s not often that individual band members get an individual name-check on the contract: must have been something special about this lot. In reality, at the time the contract was drawn up, they hadn’t yet settled on a name, and at a number of their earliest gigs, they were billed as their respective names, sometimes prefixed as “The Cream”, referring to their reputational standing. And, in a self-fulfilling way, so they became. Tonight was only their 11 ^th gig, coming a mere 26 days after their debut

Sat. Aug 27 ^th  – Collie’s Rhythm Aces (£25) from payment letter and from AC’s accounts

Sun. Aug 28 ^th  –  The Deakin Lewis Band  (£10)

Sun. Aug 28 ^th  –  Jimmy Witherspoon & Dick Morrissey Qt  (£80)

Jimmy Witherspoon was an American “jump blues singer” who came over, and while touring (just over three months before tonight, actually), recorded a live set at The Bull’s Head in Barnes, with Dick Morrissey’s Quartet, “Spoon Sings and Swings”. I imagine that was tonight’s fare. As an eminent sax player, Dick Morrissey became a busy bee in jazz-fusion circles from the 70s onwards with If, and Morrissey-Mullen, and has probably played with more artists than I’ve had hot dinners

Wed. Aug 31 ^st  – John Dummer Blues Band (£10) from payment letter

Wed. Aug 31 ^st  –  Dave Antony’s Moods  (£40)

Sat. Sep 3 ^rd  –  The Bob Wallis Storyville Jazz Band  (£30)

Sun. Sep 4 ^th  –  The Object  (£10)

Sun. Sep 4 ^th  –  Sounds Unique  (£40)

Sun. Sep 4 ^th  –  John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers  (£60)

By now, Clapton having jumped ship, Peter Green was filling his boots on guitar, but apparently John Mayall and chums fulfilled a date at The Marquee tonight, so, given there are two other acts booked, above, it’s likely this one didn’t take place

Wed. Sep 7 ^th  –  The Charge  (£10)

Wed. Sep 7 ^th  –  Herbie Goins and the Nightimers  (£50)

Sat. Sep 10 ^th  – Brian Green’s New Orleans Stompers (£25) from payment letter and from AC’s accounts

Sun. Sep 11 ^th  –  The Naz  (£10)

Sun. Sep 11 ^th – The Artwoods (£65) from AC’s accounts

Wed. Sep 14 ^th  – The Carpet Baggers (£10) from payment letter

Wed. Sep 14 ^th  –  The Herd  (£35)

The future “Face of ‘68” (courtesy “Rave” magazine) Peter Frampton is now in The Herd’s line-up at the precocious age of 16. While The Herd had played here before, and were cited by many as one of the best acts remembered, that was as an R&B outfit. With success eluding them, their label Fontana got rid of their manager and half the band, brought Frampton in, and co-opted songwriters / producers Howard and Blaikley, and the rest is pop history. Well, it was for a while

Sat. Sep 17 ^th  –  The Washboard Kings  (£40)

Sun. Sep 18 ^th  –  A Q Blues Band  (£10)

Sun. Sep 18 ^th – John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (£60)

With Jimmy Cliff also being contracted this would have meant two headline acts on the same night, which is unlikely, though the Mayall reference was obtained by Christopher Hjort from Micky Waller’ diary, and he was a sometime drummer in Mayall’s band. Fortunately, AC’s payment letter does include John Mayall, with no mention of Jimmy Cliff: also it’s John Mayall according to AC’s accounts

Wed. Sep 21 ^st  –  The Convention  (£10)

Wed. Sep 21 ^st  –  Dave Antony’s Moods  (£40)

Wed. Sep 21 ^st  –  Stormsville Shakers

(from  http://www.stormsvilleshakers.com/bandhistory.html  )

Unlikely given the other two names already contracted, unless someone pulled out 

Sat. Sep 24 ^th  –  New Sedalia Jazz Band  (£25)

Sun. Sep 25 ^th  –  The Deakin Lewis Band  (£10)

Sun. Sep 25 ^th  –  The Anzacs  (£30)

Wed. Sep 28 ^th  – The Objects (£10) from payment letter

Wed. Sep 28 ^th  – The Artwoods (£45) from payment letter which implies that the contracted Coloured Raisins did not appear tonight, also Artwoods from AC’s accounts

Sat. Oct 1 ^st  – Spencer’s Washboard Kings (£40) from payment letter and from AC’s accounts

Sun. Oct 2 ^nd  –  John Dummer Blues Band  (£10)

Sun. Oct 2 ^nd  –  Dave Antony’s Moods  (£45)

Wed. Oct 5 ^th  –  The Tea Set  (£10)

Wed. Oct 5 ^th  – Seventh Sun  [sic](£10) from payment letter with no mention of The Charge nor Graham Bond, both contracted to appear, implying they did not appear; also no Bond from AC’s accounts

Wed. Oct 5 ^th  –  A Q Blues Band  (£25)

Sat. Oct 8 ^th  –  Mike Peters Jazzband  (£25)

Sun. Oct 9 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£65)

Contemporary poster quotes Soul System playing

Wed. Oct 12 ^th  –  The Kleek  (£10)

Wed. Oct 12th – The Alan Bown Set (£30)

A contemporary poster quotes Alan Brown [sic] Set playing, which would have really been The Alan Bown Set, featuring the eponymous former John Barry Seven trumpeter, as well as Jess Roden on vocals, who would later be replaced by one Robert Palmer. The Set’s first album featured their take on “All Along The Watchtower” which apparently led to Jimi Hendrix deciding to record it for himself. Confusingly, the payment letter states that The Alan Bown did not arrive, so “no fee is due” but Alan Bown does appear in AC’s accounts

Sat. Oct 15 ^th  –  Alex Welsh Jazzband  (£45)

Sun. Oct 16 ^th  –  Savoy Brown Blues Band  (£10)

Sun. Oct 16 ^th  –  Soul System  (£40)

Contemporary poster quotes The Artwoods playing: did they swop dates with Soul System for the previous Sunday? In any case, The Soul System evolved into The Attack, who are rather better known, or not, as being purveyors of wedding reception staple “Hi Ho Silver Lining”, but being beaten to the punch chartwise by Jeff Beck’s purloined version. Guitarist Davey O’List went on to join Keith Emerson in The Nice and various subsequent projects, including being a founder member of Roxy Music, while drummer Alan Whitehead popped up in “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” merchants Marmalade

Wed. Oct 19 ^th  –  The Deakin Lewis Band  (£10)

Wed. Oct 19 ^th  –  Ronnie Jones and The Blue Jays  (£40)

Ronnie Jones was another American soul-singer. Tonight he borrows The Blue Jays as backing band, rather than the usual Nightimers from Herbie Goins: Jones had been The Nightimers’ singer before leaving in 1965 and being replaced by Goins. The Graham Bond Organisation were contracted to appear for £80, but there is no mention in AC’s accounts, so presumably Ronnie Jones was a replacement. Meanwhile, in 2015, a CD compilation of Ronnie Jones was issued entitled “Satisfy My Soul: The Complete Recordings 1964-1968”

Sat. Oct 22 ^nd  –  London City Stompers  (£30)

Sun. Oct 23 ^rd  –  The Scots of St. James  (£10)

Scots indeed, as Onnie McIntyre and Allan Gorrie featured in this line-up, later to taste success in the Average White Band during the 70s

Sun. Oct 23 ^rd  –  Jack Dupree & The Five Proud Walkers  (£60)

The Five Proud Walkers did a set on their own, before backing Mr Dupree on his, though a contemporary poster suggests it was solely the Walkers tonight

Wed. Oct 26 ^th  –  The After Eight Blues Band  (£10)

Wed. Oct 26 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£50)  Only paid £45 according to the payment letter

Sat. Oct 29 ^th  –  Bill Nile’s Deltas  (£30)

Sun. Oct 30 ^th  –  Embers West  (£10)

Sun. Oct 30 ^th  –  Dave Antony’s Moods  (£45)

Wed. Nov 2 ^nd  –  The Coloured Raisins  (£10)

Future billing as “Those great soul stars of TV and radio” and “straight from the Stevie Wonder Tour” but not for a couple of years after tonight. Then again, Philip Hodges wrote to the museum, describing them as “a very average soul band”, with the gig being memorable because “the usually well-mannered audience ‘encouraged’ them off and screamed for the return of the support band”, who happened to be Ten Years After, so, clearly not tonight. Intriguingly, the only references to The Coloured Raisins are either as a reggae band who went on to become Black Velvet, who themselves appear on the island during the Colonel Barefoot’s era in 1970, or as a band who seem to crop up in similar roll-calls to this one, but with little info. I have seen a reference to fearsome batsman Gordon Greenidge being involved with them at some time. I’ll continue searching…

Wed. Nov 2 ^nd  –  Herbie Goins and the Nightimers  (£50)

Sat. Nov 5 ^th  –  Alan Elsdon’s Jazzband  (£40)

Sun. Nov 6 ^th  –  Exile Blues  (£10)

Sun. Nov 6 ^th  –  Free At Last feat. Alexis Korner & Cliff Barton & Hughie Flint  (£40)

Hughie Flint was added in by biro on the contract

Wed. Nov 9 ^th  –  Rhythm and Soul Band  (£10)

Wed. Nov 9 ^th  –  The Anzacs  (£25)  No mention in the payment letter

Wed. Nov 9 ^th  –  Butterfield Blues Band  (£120)

The payment ceiling is shattered for US blues harpist Paul Butterfield’s Blues Band, also featuring Mike Bloomfield on guitar. On this visit to the UK, Butterfield recorded with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, resulting in an EP

Sat. Nov 12 ^th  –  Ken Colyer Jazzmen  (£40)

Sun. Nov 13 ^th  –  Syrian Blues Group  (£10)

Sun. Nov 13 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£65)

Wed. Nov 16 ^th  –  Crimes People  (£10)

Wed. Nov 16 ^th  –  A Q Blues Band  (£25) No mention in payment letter

Wed. Nov 16 ^th  –  Dave Antony’s Moods  (£40)

Sat. Nov 19 ^th  –  The Gothics  (£15)

Sat. Nov 19 ^th  –  Collie’s Rhythm Aces  (£30)

Max Collie having assumed leadership, this is a renamed London City Stompers

Sun. Nov 20 ^th  –  Tea Set  (£20)

Sun. Nov 20 ^th  –  Five Proud Walkers  (£60) Only paid £30 according to payment letter

Wed. Nov 23 ^rd  –  Fantastic Footprints  (£10)

Wed. Nov 23 ^rd  –  The Artwoods  (£45)

Sat. Nov 26 ^th  –  Steve Lane’s Southern Stompers  (£25)

Sun. Nov 27 ^th  –  Savoy Brown’s  [sic]  Blues Band  (£10)

While the contract gets the act’s name wrong, that’s understandable, unlike when a single of theirs cropped up on a jukebox in a pub in Isleworth that I frequented in the early 70s, credited to “Savory Brown” 

Sun. Nov 27 ^th  –  John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers  (£60)

John Mayall’s revolving door has spun round once more, with Hughie Flint vacating the drummer’s stool, and being replaced by Aynsley Dunbar – who had previously worked with the Merseysippi Jazz Band, though I would hazard a guess not on their own entry in this list, as that was back in 1957 – with Flint having joined Alexis Korner’s Free At Last outfit

Wed. Nov 30 ^th  –  Something Else  (£10)

Wed. Nov 30 ^th  –  The Graham Bond Organisation  (£80)

Sat. Dec 3 ^rd  –  The Savoy Jazz Band  (£30)

Sun. Dec 4 ^th  –  The Stalkers  (£10)

First of a number of early outings for singer David Byron and guitarist Mick Box who evolved into Spice, who turn up on the island in 1968 and 1969, before becoming “Very ‘Eavy, Very ‘Umble” hard rockers Uriah Heep

Sun. Dec 4 ^th  –   The Mike Stuart Span  (£35)

There was no-one called Mike Stuart in this band

Wed. Dec 7 ^th  –  John Dummer Blues Band  (£10)

Wed. Dec 7 ^th  –  Dave Antony’s Moods  (£40)

Sat. Dec 10 ^th  –  Mike Daniels Delta Jazz Band & Big Band  (£40)

Sun. Dec 11  ^th  –  The Laymen  (£10)

Sun. Dec 11 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£65)

Wed. Dec 14 ^th  –  Savoy Brown Blues Band  (£10)

Wed. Dec 14 ^th  –  John Mayall Bluesbreakers  (£50)

Sat. Dec 17 ^th  –  Brian Green’s New Orleans Stompers  (£25)

Sun. Dec 18 ^th  –  Exiled Blues  (£10)

Sun. Dec 18 ^th  –  The Herd  (£40)

Fri. Dec 23 ^rd  –  Spencer’s Washboard Kings  (£75)

Sat. Dec 24 ^th  –  A Q Blues Band  (£40)

Sat. Dec 24 ^th  –  The Artwoods  (£100)

Wed. Dec 28 ^th  –  Mike Cotton Band with Lucas  (£40)

Sat. Dec 31 ^st  –  New Sedalia Jazz Band  (£35)

Sat. Dec 31 ^st  –  Ken Colyer’s Jazzmen  (£90)

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