The Grail Guitar
Page 21
Postscript
The Man Who Said No to Jimi
On a cloudless summer day at the start of June 2013, Eric Barnett and I found ourselves traveling through the grandeur of the Cairngorm Mountains en route to the county of Moray on the North East coast of Scotland. Days like this are not that common in our part of the world, but happily the tourist season was not yet in full swing, so the three-hour drive up the notorious A9 highway was surprisingly stress free, and when we eventually left it to venture onto the narrow, winding B roads, the Arcadian atmosphere began to create that feeling of euphoria that comes when nature conspires with a blazing sun to produce a truly magical day. All of this was very apposite, for our destination was an organic farm near the town of Forres, where we had arranged to meet the ex-drummer of the Lonely Ones, Keith Bailey.
Of all the people we had met on our quest, Keith was undoubtedly the one with the most unusual life path, for having graduated from high-end rock into the rarefied atmosphere of jazz, he had then turned his back on an artistically satisfying career to pursue a deeper destiny, led by the inner voice of his spiritual yearnings. He had recently sent us a report on that journey, but informative as it was, it still left many questions unanswered, such as how a young mod from Swindon had managed to become the leader of a worldwide religion with branches in four continents. To come to terms with such an achievement, Eric and I needed to meet him face-to-face, and for once the timing was perfect, for Keith was over from California to visit one of the dozen or so worldwide lodges that represent his life’s work.
My first impression was of a man much younger than his years, fit and tanned with curly, blonde hair down to his shoulders. Smallish but compact, his voice was strong, with a trace of a transatlantic accent. Having seen pictures of him in the midsixties, I was struck by how his strange lifepath had etched gravitas on his features. There was seemingly nothing here of the cheeky young drummer who would let his friend Rick Davies take over on the kit while he stepped up to front the band. Or was I just jumping to conclusions? For as he began to talk of those days, he let out an impish little chuckle that transformed his face, and for a moment I caught a glimpse of what that young man must have been like: fiery, impulsive, and strong willed.
We started with musical matters, and he told us how he’d joined the Lonely Ones when NuNu Whiting left, on Tony Burfield’s nod. There was no audition. He just turned up in Manchester, did the first gig, and the job was his. Then when Ian Taylor opted for music college, Keith persuaded Rick Davies to give up his day job in Swindon and take his place. Apparently this had not been easy, for Rick was something of a loner, prone to moods, and at first the band didn’t take to him. But no sooner was Rick settled in than Noel Redding got in touch to offer Keith the job with some unknown American guitarist that Chas Chandler had just brought over from the States.
Now when it comes to Jimi Hendrix stories, I take nothing at face value. Jimi’s life has been so well documented that people like the Expert can tell you what he had for lunch on any given day; but as it happens, we’d had this same story corroborated by two independent witnesses. The first was Val Weedon, who was then going out with Keith, and the second was Trevor Williams, who in our last phone conversation had told how both Noel and Chas had tried to get their young drummer on board, continually phoning him to come along for a “play.” Then a few weeks later, Noel had actually turned up at their Notting Hill flat to take Keith down to the Marquee to see the Experience’s UK debut and “show him what he’d just turned down!”
So off they headed for Soho to see the band’s sound check and routine, and according to Trevor, Keith was in a state of shock for days. But to add another interesting twist, a few months later Noel approached him again, to say that Mitch Mitchell was on a week’s notice as he hadn’t been turning up for photo shoots or rehearsals and would Keith now be up for the job? Naturally he said yes this time, but as it happened, Mitch got his shit together. I asked him why he hadn’t originally gone along to see what this new American guitarist was like, but the answer was simple. Having brought Rick into the band, he wasn’t going to leave him in the lurch, and in the light of what happened further down the line, there is a bitter irony to this.
We spent the next hour reprising the European adventure that led to the name change to the Joint, but the real surprise came when we found that Keith had no memory of Andy Andrews being asked to leave the band after they landed the Stigwood deal. Now it’s possible that this event was so painful he had simply erased it from his memory, but either way, he seemed shocked when we told him that Andy was not the front man when they played the Marquee. Nor did he know about his subsequent involvement with Supertramp, and he was surprised to learn that Rick had stayed in touch with both Andy and Trevor in the intervening years. He himself had met with Rick in LA in the early nineties, but that was the only time he’d seen any of his former bandmates since the spring of ’69. After Graham Bond, Keith joined Brian Auger and then graduated into the jazz scene, playing with Keith Tippet and Chris McGregor. And it was during this phase that he was given the set of books that would change his life.
Here is not the place to go into the works of Alice A. Bailey, but suffice it to say that she was one of a handful of people in the first half of the twentieth century who set out to enlighten the world to certain Ancient Universal Mysteries (AUM) that had hitherto been the domain of those mainly upper-class men who studied the teachings associated in the West with Freemasonry. How universal or ancient these mysteries are is another question, but Bailey had no doubts about her collected works, written “in conjunction with” a Tibetan master called Djwal Khul. In the 1930s, Bailey founded a form of Co-Masonry, which admits both men and women, under the acronym AUM, but when she died in New York in 1949, this was no longer active.
Across the Atlantic, her young namesake was then just two years old, but if we fast-forward three decades, he is by now studying the way of the Sufi, a discipline that engenders deep meditational techniques, and during one such trance, he receives an “impression” that leads him to enter Co-Masonry. Three years later he immigrates to the United States, where he joins a lodge in New York. Time passes, and Keith becomes master of the lodge and sends out monthly letters to the members concerning his understanding of the true nature of Masonry. Then, one day a lodge member asks to drive him down to Virginia where this man’s mother is waiting to meet him. Bemused, Keith agrees, and once there, he is quizzed by this woman on every aspect of Masonry. At length, seemingly satisfied with what she hears, she explains how she was Alice Bailey’s secretary and proceeds to usher him into a room containing some old wooden chests. It transpires that these contain Alice’s later writings that she has been waiting forty years to pass on to a “worthy heir” who will rebirth Ancient Universal Mysteries.
So what are we to make of such a journey? Well you would have to be blind not to see that some deep, inner voice has led this man on a long journey, the latest stage of which is to a farmhouse in the Scottish Highlands, to spend time with the members of his AUM lodge, and graciously spare a few hours to talk to two comparative strangers who are on a Quest of their own, albeit not for the meaning of life but merely for the provenance of an old guitar. But there is an element of closure here, for if Keith Bailey had decided to accept Noel’s request to drum with the unknown American guitarist, the chances are that he would now be dead, like all three members of that legendary trio, and it’s likely that the journey to whatever future life his karmic path may lead would probably have proved much more difficult. But one thing is for certain; he would not have been sitting here, laughing and reminiscing with us, in this bucolic Scottish meadow on such a beautiful June day.
Notes on Key Players
Martin Vinson talked to me at length about the period after he left the band:
I got married to a German girl, and we had two children. At work one day my lung suddenly collapsed, and I had to go through the same horror show that you did, tube through the ches
t and the water trap. My marriage lasted seven years, and after a traumatic breakup I moved back to London. John Lord, Ian Paice, and Tony Ashton were forming a band for a Japanese tour. I got shortlisted, but some session guy got the job. The last time I saw Trevor was at my place in Chelsea around ’76 or ’77. He wanted to collaborate with me on writing some songs, but I didn’t hear from him again. He told me at the time that he’d asked Rick for some studio time, and Rick said he’d organize a discount!
Martin spent his last years in Brittany, where he continued to play bass with a local band. He is survived by his two daughters, one of whom, Emily, lives in the South of France.
Andy Andrews reinvented himself in the eighties as a financial consultant. He and his wife Sue have a house on the white cliffs of Dover, and his band, the Antiques Roadshow, play locally in Kent. At a recent gig, he was joined by ex-Supertrampers Richard Palmer and Dave Winthrop. He also made a surprise appearance onstage when Supertramp played the Olympia in Paris during their last European tour. In September 2014, Eric Barnett and I traveled to Kent to meet with him, but sadly Trevor couldn’t join us, even though we visited Dymchurch. However, Andy took us to Aldington and to Botolph’s Bridge, and we spent a wonderful day in his company.
Rick Davies and his wife Sue, who manages Supertramp, have a house in the Hamptons, and his band still tours occasionally, though without Roger Hodgson.
Keith Bailey lives in Rancho Santa Fe, California. He is active in music as a percussionist and composer, a calling inspired by David Llewelyn. He also gives lectures on the esoteric and is involved in an organization dedicated to human enlightenment.
Stanley August Miesegaes (Sam) died in Switzerland in 1990. Supertramp dedicated their third and breakthrough album, Crime of the Century, to him.
Val Weedon is a campaigning journalist. Due to her efforts, the Westminster City Council has erected a blue plaque beside the door that led to Don Arden’s offices in Carnaby Street.
Jonathan Rowlands managed Tim Rose and produced the popular Captain Beaky albums. He is now retired and lives in Derbyshire, where he runs the annual Bakewell Acoustic Festival.
Keith Jones of Flying Fortress continued to make a living as a professional musician in the West Country well into his sixties. He retired in 2012 and moved from Devon to Bude in Cornwall, where he says life is more like it was in the sixties (apart from the summertime). Coincidentally, Pete Kircher also retired to Bude.
NuNu Whiting retired from the music business and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. As of this date, he remains uncontactable.
Index
A
acid culture, 1.1-1.2
Adams, Cary, 1 , 2.1-2.2
Adams, Chris, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3.1-3.2 , 4 , 5.1-5.2 Andrews, meeting with Barnett and, 1.1-1.2
Bailey, K., meeting with Barnett and, 1.1-1.2
Gibson Epiphone Casino guitar of, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3 , 4
See also String Driven Thing
agreements See contracts See royalties
airplane crash, 1.1-1.2
Alan Price Set, 1 , 2
Aldington Redding home in, 1 , 2.1-2.2 , 3 , 4 , 5
white Tele in, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6.1-6.2
Williams, T., in, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6.1-6.2
aliases Hendrix, James Marshall, 1 , 2
Hendrix, Jimmy, 1 , 2.1-2.2 , 3
Hendrix, John Allen, 1 , 2 , 3
See also name change, of Hendrix See also stage name, of “Jimmy James”
Allan, Andy sanding modifications in examination of, 1 , 2
Schaller machineheads in examination of, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3.1-3.2
white Tele examination by, 1.1-1.2
Amen Corner, 1 , 2 , 3
Ancient Universal Mysteries (AUM), 1.1-1.2
Andrews, Andy, 1 , 2 , 3 Barnett, and Adams, Chris, meeting with, 1.1-1.2
Barrett meeting with, 1.1-1.2
on Miesegaes, 1.1-1.2
Miesegaes and, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3
on Quest for Trevor Williams, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3 , 4.1-4.2 , 5
in Supertramp, 1 , 2 , 3.1-3.2 , 4
on Vinson, 1
Weedon on, 1.1-1.2
Williams, T., relationship with, 1 , 2 , 3.1-3.2
on Williams, T.,, 1.1-1.2 , 2.1-2.2 , 3.1-3.2 , 4
T
the Animals, 1 Burdon as singer of, 1 , 2
Chandler as bass player for, 1 , 2 , 3.1-3.2 , 4 , 5 , 6
Garland of, 1 , 2.1-2.2
“House of the Rising Sun” of, 1 , 2 , 3
Most, producer of, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3
Price as keyboard player of, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4
Wright as roadie for, 1
See also Jeffery, Michael (Mike)
A
Arbiter, Ivor, 1 , 2 , 3 See also Sound City
Arden, Don, 1 , 2.1-2.2 funding of Judas Jump, 1 , 2
Pine employed by, 1.1-1.2
See also Galaxy Entertainment
Are You Experienced? (Redding), 1 , 2 Redding autobiography, 1 , 2.1-2.2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6.1-6.2 , 7
Astoria Strat, 1 , 2
Auger, Brian, 1 , 2 , 3
AUM See Ancient Universal Mysteries
Autobiography of a Super-Tramp (Davies, W. H.), 1
B
backup guitar, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3.1-3.2 , 4.1-4.2
Bailey, Alice A., 1 , 2
Bailey, Keith, 1 , 2.1-2.2 , 3 on Ancient Universal Mysteries, 1.1-1.2
Barnett, and Adams, Chris, meeting with, 1.1-1.2
as Graham Bond drummer, 1 , 2.1-2.2
on the Joint, 1
Kentgigs info on, 1
on Lonely Ones, 1.1-1.2
as Lonely Ones drummer, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5
on O’Sullivan, 1
Quest for, 1 , 2
Redding friendship with, 1
Vinson and, 1.1-1.2
Weedon dating of, 1 , 2
Williams, T., on, 1
Baker, Ginger, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3
Band of Gypsys, 1 , 2 , 3
Barnett, Eric, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 Andrews, meeting with Adams, Chris, and, 1.1-1.2
Bailey, K., meeting with Adams, Chris, and, 1.1-1.2
on Cropper, 1.1-1.2
Lang research of, 1.1-1.2
Telecaster research of, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6
See also Quest See also Quest, for Trevor Williams
Barrett, Eric Andrews meeting with, 1.1-1.2
Hendrix Expert on, 1.1-1.2
in JHE crew, 1 , 2.1-2.2
in Quest, 1.1-1.2
on white Tele, 1
on white Tele photographs, 1.1-1.2
Baxter, Jeff “Skunk”, 1
T
the Beatles, 1 , 2
B
beat scene, 1 , 2 , 3
“
“bills”, 1 , 2
B
Birdland Discotheque, audition, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3.1-3.2 , 4
black scratchplate, 1 , 2 , 3.1-3.2 , 4.1-4.2 , 5
black Strat, 1.1-1.2 , 2 Monterey, 1.1-1.2
stolen at Blue Pad, 1 , 2 , 3
Blaises, 1 , 2 Lonely Ones at, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5
Blue Flames, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4
Blue Pad, in Darlington, 1 , 2 , 3
Bond, Graham, 1 , 2 , 3.1-3.2
Booker T and the MGs, 1.1-1.2
Boyd, Joe, 1 , 2
Bruce, Jack, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3 , 4
Buddy Holly, 1 , 2
Burdon, Eric, 1.1-1.2 as the Animals singer, 1 , 2
New Animals, 1 , 2
Burfield, Tony, 1 , 2 , 3
burnout, 1.1-1.2
C
Cafe au Gogo, 1 , 2 , 3
Cafe Wha?, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6
cannibalizing, in guitar abuse, 1 , 2.1-2.2 , 3 , 4
CBS, Fender takeover, 1 , 2 , 3.1-3.2 , 4
Chalpin, Ed contracts of, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5
Curtis Knight and the Squires managed by, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5
royalty rights of, 1 , 2
Chandler, Chas, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 as Animals bass player, 1 , 2 , 3.1-3.2 , 4 , 5
, 6
at Cafe Wha?, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6
Clapton introduction to Hendrix by, 1.1-1.2
creative vision in guitar playing style of Hendrix, 1 , 2 , 3
Experience formation by, 1 , 2.1-2.2 , 3 , 4.1-4.2
Gibson EB5 guitar of, 1
Jeffery partnership with, 1 , 2.1-2.2 , 3.1-3.2
JHE production contracts of, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4.1-4.2
management of, 1.1-1.2
Monkees tour support slot canceled by, 1.1-1.2
Polydor distribution deal of, 1 , 2
recording sessions managed by, 1.1-1.2
Warner Brothers deal arranged by, 1
Charisma label, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 String Driven Thing and, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3 , 4.1-4.2
Cheetah Club, 1 , 2
Chesters, Neville, 1.1-1.2 in JHE crew, 1 , 2 , 3.1-3.2
secondhand Strat from Manny’s of, 1
Clapton, Eric, 1 Chandler introduction of Hendrix to, 1.1-1.2
Gibson ES 335 of, 1
Gibson Flying V of Hendrix owned by, 1
jamming with Hendrix on white Strat, 1.1-1.2
Mitchell playing with, 1
“
“cognitive dissonance”, 1
“conflict of interest”, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3
C
conspiracy theory, 1 , 2
contracts with Chalpin, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5
JHE concert fees, 1
JHE production, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4.1-4.2
JHE royalties, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3.1-3.2
PPX recording, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5
with Yameta, 1 , 2.1-2.2 , 3 , 4 , 5
Cox, Billy, 1 , 2
Cream, 1.1-1.2 , 2 , 3 , 4
Crime of the Century, 1 , 2
Cropper, Steve, 1.1-1.2
Cry of Love, 1 , 2.1-2.2
Cry of Love Tour, 1 , 2
Curtis Knight and the Squires Chalpin managing of, 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5