Guitar Gods in Beds. (Bedfordshire: A Heavenly County)

By Mike Buchanan

Mike Buchanan is a Bedford-based author who interviewed eight well-known local guitarists, and wrote accounts of their colourful lives:

- Finger Pickin' Good Paul Bonas
- Hollerin' Bob Foley
- Amazin' Max Milligan
- Blindin' Dave King
- Lightnin' Hands Pete Rose
- Mumblin' Cliff Hanson
- Thunderin' Paul Carrington (star of the author's travelogue Two Men in a Car: a businessman, a chauffeur, and their holidays in France)
- Laughin' John Verity

• Language: English
• Publisher: eBookIt.com
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9780957168831

Book preview

you.

Thunderin’ Paul Carrington with his 2003 Yamaha Dreadnought DWX-8C outside The White Horse, Bedford, 26 February 2008. © Mike Buchanan.

Finger Pickin’ Good Paul Bonas and Fiddlin’ Nick Edwards set off for another gig on Paul’s Honda CD175, 1974.

Finger Pickin’ Good Paul Bonas with his 1978 Martin D41 at the legendary Guitar Gods in Beds. (and a Goddess) gig, The Red Lion, Stevington, 8 December 2007.

Gondolin’s last gig, in a field off Cardington Road, Bedford, 1974. Rockin’ Rob Felton (Wilson bass), Thrashin’ Trevor Riddy, and Amazin’ Max Milligan (Antoria Les Paul copy).

Amazin’ Max Milligan with his 1996 Martin 00028EC at a Tim Buckley tribute concert, 10 May 2008, at The Cockpit theatre, London.

Foley’s Follies. Peter Thorburn Walling, Hollerin’ Bob Foley with his 1942 Gibson J45, and Diana Strange, performing at the London Hospital Autumn Ball, 1965. Hollerin’ Bob reports that Peter is now a ‘gas man’ (an anaesthetist) in Dallas, Texas, and Diana a ‘gas bag’ (a lady anaesthetist, hopefully) in Queensland, Australia.

Hollerin’ Bob Foley with his 1998 Gibson Mastertone banjo, Pete Bonas and Patrick Knight, at The Bedford Arms, Oakley, 16 July 2006. © Mike Buchanan.

The Painful Truth, later to become Soft Touch after a few personnel changes. This is the band which came second in the Saffron Walden ‘Battle of the Bands’, a self-declared crowning moment in Lightnin’ Hands Pete Rose’s musical career. Martyn Atkins (bass), Steve Godden (drums), ‘some kid that sometimes played the saxophone’, Don Musto (guitar), Stan the Man (vocals), and Lightnin’ Hands Pete Rose (1989 blonde US Fender Stratocaster Plus).

Lightnin’ Hands Pete Rose with his 1997 Fender Roadhouse Stratocaster at The Ship, Bedford, summer 2006.

Thunderin’ Paul Carrington flies through the air with the greatest of ease and breaks a 4" thick breeze block with his foot. As you do. Bedford College, 1990.

Mumblin’ Cliff Hanson with his 1998 Taylor CE310K at The Ship, Bedford, summer 2006.

Cookin’ Neil Cook, Blindin’ Dave King with his Fender Telecaster, and another bloke with another guitar. The Crown in Kempston, 1985.

Blindin’ Dave King with his Stagg jazz guitar at Danny’s Bar, Bedford, 13 April 2008. © Mike Buchanan.

Laughin’ John Verity leading Phoenix with his 1961 Gibson Les Paul Custom, Zurich, 1976. Photograph © Ueli Frey.

Laughin’ John Verity with his 2007 Vintage V300 at The Northill Blues Festival, July 12 2008. Photograph © Carole Verity.

Thunderin’ Paul Carrington and the author next to a village sign in the Jura mountains, France. The photograph was taken during the second of two holidays described in the author’s bestselling travelogue Two Men in a Car (A Businessman, a Chauffeur, and Their Holidays in France). © Mike Buchanan.

INDEX OF SEARCHABLE TERMS

The following is an index of key terms and names used in this book. Please use the ‘search’ function on your e-reader to locate all instances where these terms are used.

A Hard Day’s Night

A Tune a Day Classical Guitar – Book 1

ABC Paramount Records

AC Milan (a football team)

Advances, not a gift

Adriatic coast

Africa, North

Agajari (Iran)

Age Concern

Agostini, Giacomo

Albert, the author’s cat

Aldeburgh

Aldershot

Aldershot, Billy J Kramer’s unfortunate choice of pint in

Ali the magician, the ‘gucking chapatti twat’

Alice’s Restaurant

All Along the Watchtower

Alzheimer’s disease

Ampthill

Anderson, Daniel

Annie’s Song

Antoinetta

Antoria Les Paul copy

Apache

Apsley

AQA

Aran, Dave

Architectural Association

Argent

Argentinian soldiers

Army

Arran jumpers

Ashwell, Pete

Asperger’s syndrome

Aston, Clint

Aston Martin Lagonda

Athens

Atkins, John (‘Akkie’)

Atkins, Martyn

Austin A40

Austin Somerset A55

Austin, Mike

Auto-harp

Average White Band

Ayr

Aznavour, Charles

B, Mr, the abusive headmaster

Babcock & Wilcox

Bad Company

Bad To Me

Baez, Joan

Bailey’s (nightclub, Watford)

Bakewell

‘Baldrick’ (Marcus)

Balfour, Dave

Ballard, Russ

Balliol Primary School (Kempston)

Band members, the disappearance of

Banjo

Barmaids, blonde, buxom, German

Baron Knights

Barrett, Maurice

Baslow

Bath

BBC Light Programme

BBC Radio Cambridge

Beagling

Beatty, Dave

Beck, Jeff

Beckett, Graham

Bedford College

Bedford Corn Exchange

Bedford Court #2

Bedford Court #3

Bedford Fire department

Bedford Hospital

Bedford magistrates’ court, the daring theft of chocolate digestives from

Bedford Maternity Hospital

Bedford Post Office

Bedford Road School (Kempston)

Bedford School

Bedford rail station, sleeping in

Bedfordshire Times

Bedfordshire Youth Theatre

Bedsit, ‘a shithole of a’

Beer drinking, the ultimate sin

Belgium (in WW2)

Belsen concentration camp

Benedictine monks

Bennett, Tony

Benson, Gerald (‘Jez’)

Berlin

Berlin (in WW2)

Berry, Chuck

Berry, Dave

Best, George

Betty Ford clinic

Beverlaquas (family)

Beverley Hills

Biddenham, bijou

Bielic, Martin

Biggleswade

Bilk, Acker

Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings

Billy Liar

Bingley Nursing College

Black Dyke Mills Band

Black Sheep Boy

Blackadder

Blackmail, to finance first guitars

Blackpool

Blair, Captain Hamish

Bletchley

Bletsoe

Blood, Sweat and Tears

Bluegrass music

Blues Image

BMI (guitar shop, Bedford)

Boar’s Head (tobacco)

Bolton, John

Bomb disposal (in WW2)

Bonas

Brian

Celine

Charmaine

David

Elaine

Georgia

Lucy

Paul, Finger Pickin’ Good

Pete

Raney

Steve

Bond, Rob

Boots (Bedford)

Bow Wow Wow

Bowie, David

Boyd, Patti (Mrs Harrison, then Mrs Clapton)

Boyfriends, jealous

Boys’ Brigade band, Kempston

Bradford

Brand X

Bray (Ireland)

‘Breakfast’s off, dear!’

Breeze

Bremen

Brian Currie

Bricks and Brussels

Bricks, manufacturing

Brickyards

Brighton

Brighton Steel Company

Brindisi

British blues scene

British Music Fair

Britland, Colin

Britten, Benjamin

Brookhirst Igranic

Broonzy, Big Bill

Broughton, Don

Brown, James

Brown, Joe

Brussels (in WW2)

Bryant, Teryl

BSA 250cc motorbike, ‘rubbish’

Buchanan

Kate

Roy (no relation, sadly)

Sophie

Buckhurst Hill

Buckinghamshire

Bugle, why it’s frustrating to play the

Burgundy (region)

Burnett, Jay

Butlin’s (Skegness)

Byford, Biff

Caesarean section, the traumatic

Cagliari (a football team)

Calais

Caldwell, Bill

Calleson, Richard

Cambi, Franco

Camborne School of Mines

Cambridge

Cambridge Corn Exchange

Cambridge Folk Festival

Cambridge University, Trinity College

Camper van, a dodgy, selling it to two lesbians from Luton

Canned Heat

Canny, Miss, the lovely

Capaldi, Jim

Cape Town

Carawan, Guy

Cardington

Cardington Camp (MOD)

Carlow (County)

Carlows (music shop, Bedford)

Carlton, Larry

Carolina, North

Carousels (Bedford)

Carr, Georgina

Carrington

Doug

Harriet

James

June

Kristien

Louise

Maria

Nicola

Pamela

Paul, Thunderin’

Sandra

Tina

Tony

Carshalton

Carter, Bob

Carthy, Martin

Catholics

CBS Records

Cedars (school in Leighton Buzzard)

Chamberlain, Dennis

Chambéry

Chamonix

Champagne (region)

Changing of the Guard

Charles Wells Bombardier

Charlie

Charlie, ‘Deaf and Dumb’

Chauffeuring rich people, cheating spouses, call girls...

Checkpoint Charlie

Chelmsford

Cherokee Studios (Los Angeles)

Chesterfield

Chicago

Chicago blues

Chicksands Wood

Chiltern Radio

Christian Brothers

Christians, born-again

Civic Theatre (Bedford)

Clapham

Clapham Hospital

Clapham Voluntary Primary School

Clapton, Eric

Clarke, Gary

Cleveland, Ohio, fed up in

Clifton House (preparatory school)

Clophill

Club Mezz (Bedford)

Club owner, ‘a typical Jewish’

Coast

Cocaine, packing of

Colindale

Colindale Hospital

Collings (guitars)

Collins, Phil

‘Colonials’ (in South Africa)

Colonoscopy

Columbus 335 semi-acoustic guitar

Colwyn Bay

Cona Bar (Peterborough)

Confederate Air Force

Connolly, Brian

Conservative clubs

Cook, Neil

Cooper, Harry

Cooper, Ray

Cople

Copperwheat’s (butcher’s shop in Kempston)

Cor Baby, That’s Really Free

Corfu

Corinth Canal

Cornelius, Walter, ‘The World’s Strongest Man’

Cornwall

Côtes du Rhône (region)

County Durham

Cowdray, Lord

Crawley

Cream

Crocker, Laurie

Crocodile Dundee

Croquet, in S Africa

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

‘Cup of tea and a fag’, the rejuvenating effects of a

Cutler Hammer

Cyprus

Dana

Danny’s Bar (Bedford)

Dansette (record player)

DAT Publicity

David Michel Chaput de Sontage (‘Mark’)

Davis, Graham ‘Wynn’

D-Day landings

Deakin, Mike

Dean, Hazel

Debenhams

Decapitation, threat of, at Ferrybridge Services

Delmar

Delphi

Delta

Denmark

Dennis, Pete

Denton, Reece

Denver, John

Derbyshire

Derbyshire Peak District

Derek & The Dominoes

Devaney, Dave

Devon

Diabetes

Dickson, Barbara

Dillon, John

Dimmock, Phil

Dire Straits

Dirty Cash

Do You Want to Know a Secret

Dobell’s (London music shop)

Doctor books

Doctor, a very good reason to become one

Dr Feelgood

Donegan, Lonnie

Donovan

Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

Double Vision

Dover

Downside school

Downside school, abuse at

Drill Hall

Drugs

Duffield, John

Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry

Duke of Edinburgh

Duke of Edinburgh’s Gold Award

Dungarees, the ‘well filled’

Dunstable

Durban (S Africa)

Durrell, Gerald and Lawrence

Dwile flonking

Dylan, Bob

‘Eartha Kitts’

East Anglia

East, Mr, the great music teacher

Edwards, Fiddlin’ Nick

Egos, the problem with, in bands

Elephant & Castle

Elhaddadi, Mohammed

Elliott, Ramblin’ Jack

EMI

Emmanuel, Tommy

Emphysema

Enfield

Epic Records

Epping

Epstein, Brian

Esquires (Bedford nightclub)

Essex

Esso

Estoril

Fair boys

Fairport Convention

Felmersham

Falklands War

Fallon, Martin (‘Black Cloud’)

Fame, Georgie

‘Fanny Stretford’

Farnborough

Father Christmas, the stoned

Felmersham

Felton, Rob

Fender (guitars)

Fenny Stratford

Ferris, Mick

Fir Tree Design

Firozpur (in India, then Pakistan, then India again)

Fisher, Maurice

Fishman, Dave

Flavour

Fleet Air Arm

Fleetwood Mac

Fletcher’s Food and Wine Bar (Rushden)

Fletton Grammar School

Fletton Secondary Modern School

Florida

Foley

Bob, Hollerin’

Christopher

Edward

Eleanor

Elizabeth

Hailey

Isabel

James

Patrick:

(Bob’s brother)

(Bob’s father)

(Bob’s grandfather)

(Bob’s great-grandfather)

(Bob’s great-great-grandfather)

Thomas

Vera

Foley’s Follies

Ford

Foreskin, the van which couldn’t pull one back

Fort George

Foster, Ray

Foulkes, Eric

France

France (in WW2)

Free

Freeman’s catalogues

Freeport, Grand Bahama

Freight Train

From a Glasgow Slum to Fleet Street

Funeral, the funny incident at a

Galway

Gang bang

Gaviscon, not what the doctor needed

German gigs, the ‘dreaded’

Germany (touring in)

Germany, East

Get Rich

Gibson (guitars)

Gill, Christopher

Glamorgan University

Glasgow

Glasgow University

Godden, Steve

Goldington

Goldington Green

Goldington Green Primary School

Goldington Green Secondary School

Goldington Road School

Gondolin

Gonzalez

Gordon, Richard

Gosport

Graham, Davy

Gramophone, 78rpm wind-up

Grange Boys’ Grammar School (Bradford)

Graves, why they’re dug deep in Africa

Gray, Steve

Great Barford

Great Yarmouth (clearing of land mines from, in WW2)

Greeks, the friendly

Green, Al

Green, Mick

Greene King Abbot Ale

Greenham Common

Gregory, Mr, the ‘nice chap’

Griffin, Guy

Grimethorpe Colliery Band

Grolsch lager, the unfortunate side-effect of drinking

Grossman, Stefan

Grubb, Norman

Grunwald

Karen, the lovely

Susan, who I’m sure is lovely too

‘Gucking’

Guevara, Wendy

Guildhall School of Music

Guitar, an iconic instrument

Guitar, first, a reward for passing O levels

Guitar, first, the dodgy financing of a

Guitar Gods in Beds. (and a Goddess) – the legendary gig in Stevington

Gulbransen, Jan

Gun, looking down the barrel of a

Guy, Julie, the pretty

Haas, Reiner

Hair

Halifax

Hall and Oates

Hallasz, John

Hallelujah chorus

Hamburg

Hammersmith Apollo

Hammond, Dave, and his massive organ

Hampton, Pete

Hangers-on

Hanratty, James, murder trial

Hanson

Cliff, Mumblin’

David

Grandad

James

Kyle

Lewis

Margaret

Nana’

Sarah

Steve

Tim

Harlow

Harman, Andrew

Harold Wood Hospital

Harpur, Roy

Harris, Bob

Harrogate

Harrold

Harvey, Dave

Harvey, Rory

Havell, Nick

Hawaii

Hayling Island

Haywood, Matt

Heavy metal

Hecklers, drunk

Helgas (buxom naked German ladies in saunas)

Hell’s Angels

Hell’s Angels ‘69

Hemel Hempstead

Hendrix, Jimi

Henrit, Bob

Henry, Charlotte

Hepple, Fred, and his sore ‘meat and two veg’

Hertfordshire

Heslop, Andy

Heslop, Tracey

Hess, Rudolf

Hillbilly music

Hitler, Adolf

HMV (Bedford)

Hodgkin’s disease

Hofner (guitars)

Holdsworth, Alan

Holland

Holland (in WW2)

Holloway, Johnny

Homage

Horizon

Hot Chocolate

Hounam, Dave

House of Commons

Hubbel

‘Hubbly Bubbly Kid’

Hugg, Mike

Hunting & Awlings

Hunting Engineering

Huntingdon

Hurt, Mississippi John

Hussein, Saddam

Ibbott, Mark

Ibbott, Paul

Iceland

Ickwell Green

If I Had a Hammer

If I Were a Carpenter

Igranic

Imagination

Impact amplifiers

India

Indian Ocean

Ingleton

Inside Track

Intelligence and testosterone, the brief contest between

Interrupted Journey

Interview, the politically incorrect

Interview, the shortest ever

Ipswich

Iran

Ireland

Irish potato famine

Irishmen, the wild

Isle of Skye

Isle of Wight

Islington

Italian band

Italian family, the devious

Italian police, drawing handguns

Italy

Jack of Diamonds

Jack Daniels, how to drink a bottle of

Jansch, Bert

Japan

Jeffs, Dennis, ‘the grower of the best bloody tomatoes’

Jewish landlords, the kind

Johannesburg

John Bunyan Centre

Johnson, Wilko

JoJo Cables

Joker’s Wild (club in Freeport, Grand Bahama)

Jones, Brian

Jones, Nick

Jones, Norah

Jones, Wizz

Joplin, Janis

‘Judy in disguise with glasses’

Katz, Dave

Keepin’ It To Myself

Kelly, John

Kemp, Sarah, the comely

Kempston

Kempston Folk Club

Kempston Hardwick

Kennedy Street

Kenning, Noel

Kenya

Keyhole (‘laparoscopic’) surgery

Kielty, Tony

Kind, Steve

King

Albert

Anthony

BB

Charlotte

Cyril

Dave, Blindin’

Diane

James

Maria

Phyllis

Sarah

Kingham, Michelle

Knight, Patrick

Kon-Tiki

Kramer, Adele

Kramer, Billy J

Kristonosic, Mary

Labour Exchange

Ladies, young, an attractively exotic species

Lake District

Lake Windermere

Laneast

Last Man Standing

Laurence of Arabia

Layla

Lecoshe, Trevor (‘Grolscher’)

Led Zeppelin

Leeds

Leicester

Leighton Buzzard

Lemmy

Les Cousins (London music club)

Lesbians, from Luton

Let It Be

Levi jeans and a leather jacket

Levin (guitars)

Levy, Andy

Lewis, Jerry Lee

Leytonstone

Liberal Democrats

Licentiate Society of Industrial Arts

Lidlington

Lightbody’s (Glasgow)

Limbrick, Alan

Lincroft School (Oakley)

Linear 30-watt amplifier

Linslade

‘Lionel Barts’

Little Children

Little Girl Blue

Little Staughton

Little Women

Livingston (London studio)

Lloyds of London

Logic

London

London Brick Company

London College of Music

London Docks

London Hospital

Lorry driver, the ‘bastard’

Los Angeles, recording in

Los Lobos

Luger, the firing of a, in 1945

Lulu

‘Lurve’, falling in

Luton

Luton, Irish clubs in

Luton, the worst nightmare in

Lynx

MacColl, Ewan

MacColl, Kirsty

MacColl, Peggy

Madonna’s personal studio

Maidstone

Makin, John

Man of Mystery

Manchester

Manchester United (a football club)

Mander College (Bedford)

Manfred Mann

Manikin cigars, theme tune for

Manley, Ruth

Mann, John

Manor Studios

Marazion

March

Marcus (‘Baldrick’)

Marcus Garth (Peterborough club)

Margate

Maria, a beautiful Italian girl, and her abduction

Marsden, Alan

Marston Moretaine

Martin (guitars)

Martyn, John

Mason, Andy (‘Chi-chi-boom’)

Mason-Wilkes, Jess, the fetching

Mateus Rosé (an aphrodisiac)

Matinée, the, which went awfully wrong

Matt’s Place (Bedford)

McCaffery, Denny

McIndoe, Sir Archibald

McLaren, Malcolm, ‘not a happy bunny’

McPhee, Tony

McTell, Ralph

Mellow Yellow

Meltis

Mendips

Mercedes car, the trashing of a

Mercedes chauffeuring course

Merle Fest

Mesa Boogie amplifiers

Methodist Junior Youth Club

Mewis, Cherry Lee, the amazing

Miami

Midi City Studio (New York)

Midland Hotel (Bedford)

Milan

Miller, Glenn

Milligan

Diane

Donna, the lovely

Elizabeth (‘Betty’)

Ellis

Glenys

Marilyn

Max, Amazin’

Niamh

Tom

Milner, Mrs, the lovely

Milton Ernest

Milton Keynes

Milton Keynes Bowl

Mitchell, Sam

Mods and rockers

Moggerhanger

Moggerhanger, St John’s Hospice

Mojo

Monks, formerly barristers, submarine commanders, racing drivers

Monro, Matt

Moo-duk-kwan-tang-soo-do

Moore, Roger, ‘being slagged off’

Morden

More Greatest Hits (Bob Dylan’s)

Morey, John

Morgan, Kit

Morris dancer

Morrison, Van

Mortimer’s (Ipswich restaurant)

Morton, Tony

‘Mother’s knicker drawer’, cash found in

Motorbikes

Motorhead

Mountain

Mousehole

MP, the silent

Mr Music (Bedford shop)

Muir, Jack

Mullard’s

Munday, Robert

Murphy, Tony

Murray, Al, ‘The Pub Landlord’

Murray, Bruce

Murray, John

Music Man 65-watt twin amplifier

Music Recording Technology, teaching

Music therapy

Muzolf, Steve

My Back Pages

My Way

Napoleon, Teddy

Nashville

Ned Callen guitar

Neve valve mixing desk

New Faces

New York

New York, recording in

Newcastle

Newman, Mick

Newport Pagnell

Nichols (largest family in the country)

Nichols, Freddie

Nichols, Ron (‘Stud’)

Nichols, Trevor

Nicholson, Ray

Nicorettes

Nightmare, ‘the worst’

Noble Rot (Bedford Wine Bar)

Nobody Knows You, When You’re Down and Out

Norland Nanny

Norledge, Rob

Normandy landings

North Africa

Northampton

Northampton hospital

Norvell, Carole

Norway

Norwich

Nottingham

Nunn, Debbie

Nurdle pins (for use in dwile flonking)

O2 Arena

Oakley

Ocean

O’Hara, Sargeant, playing a trick on

Oil company, major, fooling a

Olney Wine Bar

Olympic Studios (London)

Olympus

O’Neill, Debbie

O’Neill, Kevin

Open University

Orkneys, the awful gig in the

Ottawa

Otway, John, the legendary

Oyster Box Hotel (S Africa)

Pacific Gas & Electric

Page, Jimmy

Page Three models, miming a song

Pakistan

Palestine

Papworth Hospital

Pavenham

Pearl Assurance, the founding of

Pearson’s Potteries

Peavey Classic valve amplifier

Pedal steel guitar

Pedigree Petfoods

Peloponnese

Peluzzo, Tony

Pentangle

Penzance

Perivale

Perkins Engines

Persia

Petch, Doctor

Peter (the unfortunate canary)

Peterborough

Peterborough Hospital

Peterborough swimming baths

Peters, Bob

Phoenix

Piccadilly cigarettes

Piggott, Jim

Pilgrim’s School (Bedford)

Pipe and soldering iron, the painful confusion between

Play in a Day

Plymouth

Plympton

Polish girl, the ‘bonking’ of a

Pontypridd

Poole

Poplar

Popplewell, Val

Porter Black’s (PH, Bedford)

Portugal

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Power, Tyrone

Prague

Price, Alan

Prigmore, Graham

Princethorpe College

Probe Records

Promoter, an American, falling past apartment window

Protestants

PRT Records

Punk music, reflections on

Putnoe

Pye Records

Pyropress

Queen

Queen’s Park (Bedford)

Queensbury

Queensgate shopping centre (Peterborough)

Quinn, Paul

Qvist, George

Raecher, Mr, and his nuts-related activities

RAF bases

RAF Henlow

Ragtime music

Railroad Bill

Railway Modelling, buying as a part of courtship

Rainbow

Ratcliffe College

RCA Records

Reading festival

Redcar

Reddick, Eddie Joe

Reeperbahn, Hamburg’s red light district

Reeve, Karen

Reflex Blue

Reg’s Veg Van

Registry of Guitar Tutors

Reid, Mike

Reims

Reinhardt, Django

Renbourn, John

Renfrew

Rentokil

Riddy, Brian

Riddy, Graham

Riddy, Trevor

Ritchie, Shane

River Kwai, the bridge over the

River Nene

Robert Bruce Secondary School (Kempston)

Robert, Véronique

Robertson-Justice, James

Roche, Eric

Rodford, Jim

Roehampton College

Rose

Anna

Colin

Eileen, the charming

Ella May, the hefty

Fred

Harvey

Pete, Lightnin’ Hands

Rita

William

Rowland, Steve

Royal Air Force

Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough

Royal Aircraft Establishment, Twinwoods Farm Airfield

Royal Brompton Hospital

Royal Engineers

Royal Free Hospital

Royal London Hospital

Royal Navy

Rumpelsbergers, the, and their long-running legal dispute

Rupert the Bear (in Clapham)

Rushden

Safety Valve

Saffron (Donovan’s girlfriend, not the Indian restaurant in Bedford)

St Albans

St Michael’s Mount

St Neots

St Neots Folk Club

St Norbert’s School (Carshalton)

Sanderson’s Wallpapers

Sandy

Santana

Sara

Sassenachs, ‘bloody’

Saxon

Sayer, Dennis, the accidental death of

Sayer, Errol

Scandinavia

Scarborough

Scotland

Scotland, competitive drinking in

Seaton House Primary School

Second Sight

Seeger, Peggy

Seeger, Pete

Segovia

Selfridge’s

Send in the Clowns

Señor

Settle

Sgt Pepper’s

Shannon, Del

Sharnbrook

Shaw, Rob

Sheffield

Shefford

Shepherd’s Bush

Sheppard, Dave

Shoes, the incriminating ‘crappy’

Shotgun earplugs

Shotland, Graham

Shotokan

Shropshire

Sicily

Silsoe

Silver Face Twin Reverb

Simon, Paul

Simply Red

Since You’ve Been Gone

Singapore (the fall of, in WW2)

Skegness

Skiffle

Skinhead

Skinhead, the devious

Sligo (County)

Smith, Dave

Smith, Heather, the pretty

Smith, Jason

Smith, Kevin

Smithy, the suicide of

Smokestack Lightning

Smokie

Smoky Mountain Jamboree

‘Snake up bum’, a big black

Snooker hall, Greyfriars St, Bedford

So You Win Again

Socialism, Scandinavian

Soft Pedal

Soho

Solomon, Diane

Somerset

Son Of A Bitch

Sound City (‘Sounds Shitty’)

Sounds

South Africa

Southerner, a ‘namby pamby’

Southwold

Spandau prison

Spartans

Spencer, Mrs, the lovely

Spencer, Peter

Spinelli, (‘Donkey Knob’)

Spitfires

‘Splatting’

Split

Spratt, Sir Lancelot

Spring Offensive

Springsteen, Bruce

Sproule, Carole

Squires, Dorothy, the bitter 307-year-old

SSL mixing console

Stack-a-Lee

Stagecoach

Stanground

Steele, Tommy, ‘Bradford’s answer to’

Steely Dan

Stein, Rick

Steps

Stevens, Cat

Stevens, Ron ‘Wilma’

Stevington

Stewart, Rod

Stewartby

Stockport

Stoke-on-Trent

Stony Stratford

Strange, Diana

Stratocaster

Stratton-on-the-Fosse

Strip clubs, playing in

Studio, mobile, robbery of contents of

Suffolk

Sun newspaper

Surrey University

Sussex

Swan Hotel (Bedford)

Swastika tattoos, on face

Sweden

Sweet

Switzerland

Tae-kwon-do

Take a Break

Taylor, James

Taylor, Jayne

Taylor, Jeff

Taylor, Linda

Taylor, Sheila

Tears

Teddy boy, the thieving

Teenage Kicks

Telecaster

Tenerife

Tesco

Texas Homecare

Texas Instruments, Bedford

The After Nine Club (Bedford nightclub)

The Alan Price Set

The Allegros

The Angel (PH, Bedford)

The Angler’s Rest (PH, Bedford)

The Animals

The Archers

The Authentics

The Average White Band

The Ayrshire Post

The Bachelors

The Beatles

The Bedford Arms (PH, Bedford)

The Bird in Hand (PH, Bedford)

The Black Horse (PH, Leighton Buzzard)

The Bletchley Gazette

The Bloody Orkneys

The Blues Club (Bedford)

The Bluesbreakers, John Mayall and

The Bonas Brothers

The Bull (PH, Bedford)

The Carpenters

The Carter Family

The Casino (Estoril)

The Chillas

The Clarence Ashley Band

The Collection

The Cranberries

The Crusaders, Dave Aran and

The Dell Vikings

The Eagles

The Empire (Bedford)

The Everly Brothers

The Falstaff (PH, Bedford)

The Fields Have Turned Brown

The Flowerpot (PH, Bedford)

The Folly (caravan site in Clapham)

The Foundations

The Four Seasons

The Fox & Hounds (PH, Clapham)

The Frontliners

The George and Dragon (PH, Bedford)

The Granada (Bedford)

The Groundhogs

The Guitar Institute (London)

The Herd

The Hobbit

The House of the Rising Sun

The Impact

The John Verity Band

The John Verity Band

The Jumping Jacks, Ace Diamond and

The Lady Came from Baltimore

The Likely Lads

The Lord Roberts (PH, Sandy)

The Marquee

The Monkees

The most laid-back man on the planet

The Mulberry Bush (PH, Kempston)

The Muppets

The Music Centre (Bedford)

The Nelson (PH, Stockport)

The New Dakotas, Billy J Kramer and

The New Vaudevilles

The ‘Nit Pot’

The Nite Spot (Bedford nightclub)

The Oblivious Brothers

The Odds

The Old Grey Whistle Test

The Origins of Skiffle

The Paddington (PH, Bedford)

The Painful Truth

The Park (PH, Bedford)

The Pete Murphy Band

The Pirates (Cornish rugby team)

The Pirates, Johnny Kidd and

The Plaza (Bedford cinema)

The Point (Milton Keynes)

The Poke (Peterborough billiard hall)

The Police

The Pretty Things

The Pump House Boys

The Quireboys

The Red Lion (PH, Stevington)

The Richard Kent Style

The Rolling Stones

The Searchers

The Shadows

The Ship (PH, the one on St Cuthbert’s Street, Bedford, not the one on Bromham Road, Bedford)

The Ship (PH, London)

The Stanley Brothers

The Star Club, Hamburg

The Sunnyside (nightclub in Northampton)

The Three Cups (PH, Bedford)

The Undertones

The Vultures

The Way of Life

The Wellington Arms (PH, Bedford)

The White Horse (PH, Bedford)

The Who

The Windsor (PH, Bedford)

The Yardbirds

Tilsworth

Tinnitus (from playing loud music)

Tokyo Song Festival

Tolkien, JRR

Trains and Boats and Planes

Transvestites, in Bedford

Trenworth, Phil

Trident

Trinidad

Troisi, Mark

Tropea Blues Festival (Italy)

‘Trouble people’

Truth

TSR-2 spyplane

Tunnel

Turkey, the Greek, ‘which hath freedom’

Turner, Sizzlin’ Sara

Turner’s Hill

Turvey

Twain, Shania

Twin sisters, the danger of confusing one for