Trev Reeves and the Trojans - Blue Suede Shoes 1961
Personnel . Bob , Martin , Dennis , Ray and TREV
Thursday, 14 May 2009
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Fiddles , barrow boys and tykes , from rock n roll psychedelia
Fiddles , barrow boys and tykes , from rock n roll psychedelia
About this time I met a guy called Ray Jens at the local swimming pool.
He was all dressed in white and it was explained to me by him that it was his day job but his real interest was his band called Trev Reeves and the Trojans , in fact he was a real pro and had been playing for years and had actually played at the famous Two Eyes coffee bar in Soho. Of course
I was only 12 or 13 and did not understand the significance
of this at the time but when I told him I was a guitarist he invited me down to this audition in cellar in Gravesend.
It was underneath a wool shop and I had to ask my dad if I could go . He gave me his blessing but said I must be home before it got dark , so off I went with my new red electric guitar that I had managed to get cheap . I had a part time job cutting the grass at one of the big houses for ten shillings a time which then was a lot of money for a young kid . Luck was on my side thank god.
I turned up not knowing what to expect but soon realized I had been thrown in at the deep end the only way I could keep up was to watch Ray Jens’s hands and follow what he did . I was learning fast by watching him ,
so many new chords songs and rhythms to learn , but Ray was great and I never forgot where I learnt my craft .
Ray Jens turned out to be my teacher and guitar guru for a long time , at last I was on my way to becoming a proper guitarist thanks to Ray .
After a couple of rehearsals which were every Tuesday the drummer they had decided to leave because his girlfriend did not like the kind of music Trev Reeves and the Trojans played and what’s more important Tuesday night was Bingo night and she wanted her husband to be to take her and her mum in his new Ford Anglia so that was the end of his musical career !
I spent the whole evening trying to convince the rest of the band that my mate Martin was not only a great guitarist but could also play the drums and could do a drum roll almost as good as Tony Meehan the shadows drummer this was pre Beatles or I would have said Ringo.
The upside of the situation was that Ray Jens owned the drum kit that the old drummer used . Ray told me later that he always made sure he owned most of the gear the band used so that if there was any problems or arguments nobody could throw him out of the band because he owned most of the amps and instruments .
Martin and I turned up at Eight pm sharp the next Tuesday evening all ready to Rock n Roll , Martin with his brand new drumsticks in his hand
and me with my solid red electric guitar in its new cover that my mum
had made me the night before , we must have looked like a real pair of dick heads as we descended into the den of evil Rock n Roll .
The Jens brothers were sitting there with there drainpipe jeans and long greasy hair lifted up high in the front like Elvis Presley and Trev Reeves standing in front of the mic waiting to do his thing all moody and sultry , yea I thought THIS IS ROCK N ROLL.
Id never heard Martin drum before , I was so nervous thinking what if he can’t play the drums I’d never heard him play drums . I new he was a good guitarist in fact in some ways better than me he could play Shadows lead
guitar note for note , he sat at the drums very slowly and adjusted all the
settings on the drums , retuned the skins with a special key he took about ten minutes . Everybody looked at each other nervously and wondered what would happen next . He cleared his throat and straightened his back and went into this most amazing drum roll I’d ever heard “I hope I’ve passed the audition “ he said Every body fell about laughing Ray shouted out “ Blue Suede Shoes 1-2-3-4 and we went straight into it , it sounded great Trev Reeves fell onto his knees ,Ray burst into a burning guitar solo , Rays brother Dennis his bass shook the foundations and at the end of the song Trevs father opened the door to the cellar and said “ it sounds great boys , I’ve booked you in for a gig in two weeks at the Co-Op hall , they just phoned up, you’re to support Peppe its only25 pounds but you can have as much drink on the house as you want!!”
Then he laughed and said lemonade for Bob and Martin I thought yea this is definitely Rock n Roll.
About this time I met a guy called Ray Jens at the local swimming pool.
He was all dressed in white and it was explained to me by him that it was his day job but his real interest was his band called Trev Reeves and the Trojans , in fact he was a real pro and had been playing for years and had actually played at the famous Two Eyes coffee bar in Soho. Of course
I was only 12 or 13 and did not understand the significance
of this at the time but when I told him I was a guitarist he invited me down to this audition in cellar in Gravesend.
It was underneath a wool shop and I had to ask my dad if I could go . He gave me his blessing but said I must be home before it got dark , so off I went with my new red electric guitar that I had managed to get cheap . I had a part time job cutting the grass at one of the big houses for ten shillings a time which then was a lot of money for a young kid . Luck was on my side thank god.
I turned up not knowing what to expect but soon realized I had been thrown in at the deep end the only way I could keep up was to watch Ray Jens’s hands and follow what he did . I was learning fast by watching him ,
so many new chords songs and rhythms to learn , but Ray was great and I never forgot where I learnt my craft .
Ray Jens turned out to be my teacher and guitar guru for a long time , at last I was on my way to becoming a proper guitarist thanks to Ray .
After a couple of rehearsals which were every Tuesday the drummer they had decided to leave because his girlfriend did not like the kind of music Trev Reeves and the Trojans played and what’s more important Tuesday night was Bingo night and she wanted her husband to be to take her and her mum in his new Ford Anglia so that was the end of his musical career !
I spent the whole evening trying to convince the rest of the band that my mate Martin was not only a great guitarist but could also play the drums and could do a drum roll almost as good as Tony Meehan the shadows drummer this was pre Beatles or I would have said Ringo.
The upside of the situation was that Ray Jens owned the drum kit that the old drummer used . Ray told me later that he always made sure he owned most of the gear the band used so that if there was any problems or arguments nobody could throw him out of the band because he owned most of the amps and instruments .
Martin and I turned up at Eight pm sharp the next Tuesday evening all ready to Rock n Roll , Martin with his brand new drumsticks in his hand
and me with my solid red electric guitar in its new cover that my mum
had made me the night before , we must have looked like a real pair of dick heads as we descended into the den of evil Rock n Roll .
The Jens brothers were sitting there with there drainpipe jeans and long greasy hair lifted up high in the front like Elvis Presley and Trev Reeves standing in front of the mic waiting to do his thing all moody and sultry , yea I thought THIS IS ROCK N ROLL.
Id never heard Martin drum before , I was so nervous thinking what if he can’t play the drums I’d never heard him play drums . I new he was a good guitarist in fact in some ways better than me he could play Shadows lead
guitar note for note , he sat at the drums very slowly and adjusted all the
settings on the drums , retuned the skins with a special key he took about ten minutes . Everybody looked at each other nervously and wondered what would happen next . He cleared his throat and straightened his back and went into this most amazing drum roll I’d ever heard “I hope I’ve passed the audition “ he said Every body fell about laughing Ray shouted out “ Blue Suede Shoes 1-2-3-4 and we went straight into it , it sounded great Trev Reeves fell onto his knees ,Ray burst into a burning guitar solo , Rays brother Dennis his bass shook the foundations and at the end of the song Trevs father opened the door to the cellar and said “ it sounds great boys , I’ve booked you in for a gig in two weeks at the Co-Op hall , they just phoned up, you’re to support Peppe its only25 pounds but you can have as much drink on the house as you want!!”
Then he laughed and said lemonade for Bob and Martin I thought yea this is definitely Rock n Roll.
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