Roburt

The Bournemouth area got in on the blues / R&B / soul scene quite early (after having hosted jazz music allnighters ahead of this) ... don't think the area has figured that much since the mid 60's ... seems the same building was used for a number of different clubs between the early & late 60's ...

One I love (and it features Teddy P) ... ....

We've lost yet another star musician. Saw him perform @ a Southport Weekender & got to spend some time with him there too. A great guy ... ... .... 2nd pic Roy with Steve 'MY HAT'S BETTER THAN YOUR HAT' Hobbs ...

Kim in Cleveland; January 65 ...

Friends of Distinction founder (group's big hit -- "Grazing In The Grass") Harry Elston has passed away. He was 88 years old. He'd started out in the Hi-Fi's and the Vocals (who cut for Tangerine in 64).

Yet another soul star lost to us (info from Tats) ...

Could be but I was told it was Venezuelan.

Another few Kim Tolliver related bits ... Kim was on quite a few US TV shows in the 50's / early 60's ... unfortunately tapes of none of them have survived. Kim had a 45 released in Venezuela ... She did lots of shows down in Florida in the late 60's / early 70's ... she was part of Sam & Dave's Revue package for part of that time ... she even did shows in conjunction with Little Beaver ...

Got my copies already (but then Alex is great & I did write the notes for the Kim T 45). Ad from the period when Kim was based in Florida ... Otis R was also pencilled in to appear on this show BUT he died a few days earlier in the plane crash.

Got a copy of that somewhere here.

Must have been great to go along to an actual gospel concert when the groups were in their prime. Weet to a couple of House Of Blues Gospel Brunch's about 25 years ago but they are quite 'staged events'.

Lots of great gospel tracks put out by Chess Records -- Greg B has been on the case with the recent comp LP ... BUT there are still other tracks from Chess that deserve an airing. ALSO a bit 'left field' but this has to be the rarest UK Chess label release ...

Back to the UK clubs ... the TAMLA-MOWTOWN sound of MAJOR LANCE !!!

OHH NO, not another big loss ... ANGIE STONE ... R.I.P. ... killed in a car accident ... TMZ and other sources.

A slight divergence from the main theme of this thread, but the UASF bases in the UK also had a part to play in the 1960's mod / soul scene. Quite a few GI's based over here would go out to local British soul clubs -- to enjoy a night out dancing but sometimes also to pester the live acts on there to let them get up on stage & perform themselves. Thus, we got Geno Washington, Sonny Childe and more. In addition to military folk based here, US based acts would be signed up by the USO to tour to perform for troops based in Vietnam, Germany or the UK. I know quite a few US recording acts that came over here to play concerts in bases in Germany, Norfolk / Suffolk, Oxfordshire, etc. (Kenny Hamber being just one of these). Taking just one base as my example, UPPER HEYFORD in Oxfordshire. This base (as did every other US one in the UK) had it's own shops, bowling alley & theatre. The US also ran the AFN radio stn in Europe as well as on-base radio stns (& newspapers). Most US personnel lived on base but in the case of Heyford, whole housing estates were built for officers & their families in local towns such as Brackley & Bicester. While lots of the time, the families would use the on-base facilities, they also frequented local shops, schools and pubs. Thus the opportunity was there to pal up with a Yank serviceman or two. If you did get to know any, they could take you on-base to go bowling with them or even to attend an on-base concert. The Norfolk bases such as Alconbury, Bentwaters, Mildenhall and Coltishall had more going on but Upper Heyford also had it's attractions. The theatre there; the SKYKING (where they showed movies & staged live shows) was quite small, so didn't accommodate huge numbers. But if the demand was there, a visiting act would have to do 2 shows on their visit. No doubt, others have tales to tell about getting onto British USAF bases or getting hold of copies the US military newspapers printed over here. I know I have seen a few of these newspapers & they plugged upcoming live act visits quite extensively in order to keep locally based folk from getting too bored or homesick.