COVENTRY Music Museum Curator Pete Chambers writes for the Observer.
Happy Birthday Bob Jackson
BOB Jackson is the musician’s musician – a multi-instrumentalist with a superb singing voice to boot.
It’s Bob’s birthday tomorrow (January 6) so I thought it was time to share an interview I did with him at the museum a few years ago about his days before he became a member of Badfinger The Dodgers, Ross and The Fortunes.
I asked him to tell me a little about The Rochester Beaks and The Perfumed Garden.
He said: “The Rochester Beaks was my very first band. I was about 17 at the time, and the experience was nothing short of thrilling.
“I played rhythm guitar. I hadn’t had any live musical experience, but it was pretty small time – we only played local pubs.
“It also featured Paul Hooper on drums.
“We played various covers from that era. I was approached by Malc Harker, from local band The Perfumed Garden, to play bass for a group that he was forming.
“I’d never played bass before, but Malc seemed quite adamant that I’d do fine.
“With this new found confidence, I agreed.
“It developed into quite an unusual band featuring many diverse elements, including a fully functioning exploding antelope’s head!
“Quite bizarre really – both musically and theatrically, but good fun nonetheless.”
I also asked him how Indian Summer came about, how long he had been a unit before Jim Simpson spotted him and where that was.
He said: “I started the band with Paul Hooper in the late 60s.
“The band went through various personnel line-ups, until we found Malc Harker (bass) and Colin Williams (guitar).
“This unit continued for around six months until we were noticed by Jim Simpson (Black Sabbath’s manager) at Henry’s Blues House in Birmingham.”
They had the same manager as Black Sabbath so I asked him for any Ozzy stories.
He said: “I can remember Ozzy asking us over to his place in Birmingham to discuss whether or not Indian Summer should sign with their management.
“He told us Sabbath was at the point of leaving to sign with Don Arden (Sharon’s father), which was the start of something much bigger than he, or we, could ever have imagined.”
And was the recording of the album a long process?
Bob said: “We used Sabbath’s producer at that time, Rodger Bain.
“We got the whole thing done in a week or so at Trident Studios in London.”
And what about any talk of a single or an EP?
“The record company wanted us to record a single.
“Their suggestion was Free’s ‘Ride on a Pony’.
“We didn’t like the idea, so we made a really bad job of the demo.
“Lucky it didn’t backfire on us – we ended up doing a track of our own.
“Unfortunately though, we hit management/record company problems, so the single release and projected album never saw the light of day.”
I asked for some Indian Summer trivia.
“We often stood in for the Black Sabbath boys when they couldn’t make a gig for some reason.
“We never ate any bats, but in those days neither did they!
“We regularly used to give Pete Waterman lifts home in our group van after gigs.
“Indian Summer was the first rock band to play in Coventry’s Cathedral ruins for an open air gig.
“I was once so broke that I pushed and dragged my Hammond Organ on a trolley from my home in Grafton Street, Stoke, to the Lanch College.
“That’s showbiz!”
