Your contribution about the early days of the Stormsville Shakers could earn you a FREE CD! Email us at info@stormsvilleshakers.com with your recollections. from W REVANS You asked for recollections about the Stormsville Shakers. How showbiz is this, in the early sixties I worked in the office of the CO-OP bakery Haydon Place. My workmate was Paul Demers the drummer and my everlasting memory was standing next to him after he’d drunk 23 rum and blacks in the Live and Let Live. He was a proud but sick man.
from MARK ACKERMAN ex Surrey Advertiser reporter A monstrous attack on my journalistic integrity has been brought to my attention. The inflammatory allegations contained on page 95 of a so-called “history” entitled “Guildford – Remember When"* are outrageous. Look I’m all for freedom of the press but when writers stoop to scurrilous character assassination, well the line has to be drawn somewhere. To suggest that I used my “journalism skills to flam up the whole episode” is an utter distortion of the events that took place. As the original and therefore official historian of the event allow me to tell you what REALLY happened… There was a cold wind blowing on that fateful night in 1963 as I strode down North Street from the offices of the Surrey Advertiser towards the Plaza Ballroom. But that was nothing compared to the storm that was brewing inside. Facing each other like snarling dogs across the dance-floor were two of Guildford’s leading groups. Two bands who represented the ying and the yang of popular culture at a time when the future of music as we know it teetered on the brink of an abyss. On one side the pathetic schlock-pop Shadows-clones known as the Kossacks in their appalling matching suits. Facing them, the fearless leather-clad heroes of the R & B revolution - The Stormsville Shakers. The Battle of the Bands was on! From my seat on the judges’ panel I carefully scrutinised the performances as the music contest took place. The weight of destiny felt heavy on my shoulders. My fellow judges were lick-spittle lackeys of the decaying pop establishment clearly impressed with the neatness of the Kossaks attire and somewhat taken aback by the brash unkempt appearance of the Shakers. The Kossaks ended their predictable set with their trump card, the tedious pseudo-classical “Hall Of The Mountain King” carefully chosen to highlight the much vaunted dexterity of their lead guitarist. The plebs in the packed ballroom went wild! Then the Shakers took the stage. With a sneer at the audience from Phill, their lead singer, the band unleased a torrent of rockin’ R & B that brought the house down. Despite their obvious popularity the Shakers represented a frightening leap into the unknown to my fellow judges. I could tell from their frowns that their votes would favour the predictable Kossaks – perhaps each by a slim margin. It was clear to me that the destiny of music was in my hands. As I looked down at my voting card two visions of the future floated before my eyes. In one the Shadows danced their mindless stage steps while Cliff crooned “We’re all going on a Summer Holiday” again…and again…and again. In the other I saw a world where R & B was king, the true heroes of raw rock n roll revered and British music reinvigorated with soul. I knew what I had to do. Stormsville Shakers 10. Kossaks 0. (Subsequent charges alleging bias on my part are clearly quite at odds with my even-handedness in the matter.) As to any suggestion that I might have being trying to rub salt in the wounds of the humbled Kossaks by inviting their leader, Dave Brice, to publicly face the humiliation of posing and smiling for the camera while shaking hands with his mighty conquerors, perish the thought. I was simply expecting a display of true British sportsmanship, a quality still alive in those distant days. His response to my request revealed the true nature of those pop-loving bottom-feeders - and I felt bound to report it. The rest of course is history, my judgement was vindicated in the Grand Final held later that month when the Shakers rode out of Shalford Park the glorious victors. While not attempting to portray myself as solely responsible for the R & B tide that swept through the country in the following years, at least when my sons ask me “Daddy where were you in the 60’s music revolution” I can look them in the eye and say, “I was there son. I was there.” I trust the above, an excerpt from my forthcoming book “Guildford – The Way it Really Was”, leads to a factually correct imprint in the near future. * "Guildford - Remember When" written by David Rose and Bernard Parke, published Breedon Books Publishing, priced £14:99. MARK ACKERMAN - now believed to be on a yacht sailing by New Orleans, beloved home of R 'n' B.
from Sue Brown, Hertfordshire, UK Hi, I saw your website and I had to write in because I was present at the College of St. Matthias, Fishponds Bristol on 11th October 1968, when we danced to a band called 'Circus' which was fronted by a very good-looking young fellow called Phillip Goodhand-Tait ( I think he wore something rather fetching in velvet), anyway, I have always remembered one particular song they sang that night which went "Do you dream? Castles in the sky". I never forgot that song, even after all these years I can still remember the chorus which so impressed me. Soon after that I noticed that a certain Phillip Goodhand-Tait was credited with writing some major hit songs for The Love Affair and I remembered the band and Phillip appearing at my college. A very happy memory of that era for me. Cheers, Sue Brown, Hertfordshire PG-T commented, "Where's that 'something rather fetching in velvet'. Don't say I threw it out with my kaftans, smoking jacket and suede-buffer." Well at least the song "Do you dream" will be available later this year along with other CIRCUS material. Watch this site!
from Frank Ayling, Adelaide, South Australia "Hi, just found this web site. I had not forgotten the Stormsville Shakers. When I was a teenager in Guildford they used to play at the Charlotteville youth club all the time. I was learning to play bass and they were a huge influence on me. They had a great way of rocking back and forth on stage and Ivor was a fantastic player. The bass player had a very unusual bass guitar. I think it was home made with a very thin neck. Then I saw it for sale in a shop at the botton of the High Street but could not afford to buy it but that's the story. " Kirk Riddle (Stormsville Shakers bass player) recalls: "It wasn't actually home-made, it was a Burns-Weill model. I part exchanged it for a Gibson in Barnes & Avis, Guildford where you must have seen it. I wish I still had it today."
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