Phil Walmsley - early days, Warlock & Tumbling Dice.

It was quite by accident that Steve Gaulter discovered the whereabouts of Phil Walmsley precisely at the time when the BGS Rock Family Tree was conceived. A couple of months and several e mails later it was clear Phil's memory was in good shape despite the passage of more then 25 years.

"I've often reminisced about the school bands and the early punk thing, but the chance meeting with Steve Gaulter and your Family Tree have really concentrated the mind. There are still a few gaps in my memory and I'm sure some vagaries and inaccuracies, but I'll do my best to recall events as they happened."

Some events certainly weren't forgotten though.

"October 12th 1971 was when it all started. The venue was Blackpool Opera House and the band was The Who. Craig McCarthy, Barry Hadgraft, and myself (possibly with Paul Metcalfe and Dave Sharpe) sat on row H and were transfixed for two hours. [Brian Greer should have been there that night but decided to go and watch Man Utd instead, a questionable decision!] Little did I know how much that night would impact on the rest of my life. I remember not being able to sleep that night and writing down all my thoughts. Unfortunately I've lost the notes but still have the concert ticket somewhere. By coincidence a new friend of mine from near where I live was also there that night, and was lucky enough to catch one of Moon's drumsticks which he let me hold recently!! From that day on, somehow I just had to be in a band."

"Craig was very keen and already had an Audition guitar and little practice amp, he also knew a few chords but had trouble changing them. Paul had an acoustic guitar and knew the E chord. I didn't have a guitar but had to get one quick. Dave Spencer's elder brother had a solid body Vox guitar with no pick-ups, controls, machine heads or strings. I bought it for 5 bob and fitted it up with cheap bits but couldn't afford an amp. This was frustrating so I decided to learn the correct way and went in hoc to buy an acoustic and Bert Weedon's Play in a Day tutor book (Play in a Day my arse!)."

"Soon we were ready to form the band. Endless lists were produced of songs, equipment, names and line-ups, all pretty meaningless as we couldn't play anything, not even tune up. The first rehearsal was held at my house on a Sunday afternoon. I think we called ourselves Status, the word printed on my black plastic guitar case."

The line-up for this very early session was Craig, Paul and Phil - electric and acoustic guitars, Barry - vocals and possibly harmonica, Brian - percussion (cardboard boxes and pans etc.)

"I vividly recall the song we tried to play was Lady Rose by Mungo Jerry, a top 10 hit at the time. We played the record on my Dansette Prince and tried to play along not knowing the key or chords etc. We honestly thought that if we played along often enough, gradually reducing the record volume each time, then eventually we would be playing the song without the record. As this didn't happen people became bored and frustrated resulting in the break-up of that initial line-up."

Not to be deterred, Craig, Paul and Phil soldiered on.

"I tried again with simple songs like A Horse with No Name, Jeepster and In the Summertime. This went on for a few weeks by which time I was playing ok and decided to invest in a red Hofner (£28) and a Selmer Futurama 30W 1 x 12 amp with 4 inputs (£12). The amp was old and buzzed and farted like a trooper, but it was 'loud'. Paul retired around this time leaving Craig and I to carry on. I remember us performing for my Mum, Dad and Grandmother in the lounge. Eventually Craig and I fell out over something and that was the end of that."

Thus endeth the first chapter.

"At school there was a lunchtime music/folk club held down at the lower school in the wooden science block. I started going along to see what was happening. Ada Hindle was there and he could play a few folky standards really well on his tiny acoustic guitar. I was really impressed and plans were put in place to form another band. We needed a singer and a drummer and soon teamed up with Jon Inman and Neil Smith. Neil was in the year below and at first wasn't really that keen. Jon was a talented musician who played piano and violin and could read music. He could sing in tune although his range was pretty limited, but more to the point he was prepared to sing in public which of course was pretty rare amongst 'cool' adolescents."

Warlock#1 rehearsed hard in Jon's or Ada's garage.

"Ada bought an Antoria Gibson copy, all instruments and microphone went through the trusty old Selmer. Needless to say the amp didn't last long. Someone had to play bass and reluctantly Ada took it on although later I think he quite liked it. He made it into a cool thing. My old Vox body was customised into a bass which lasted a few weeks before the extra string tension transformed the neck into a banana. Later Ada bought a fender Jazz Bass copy and I think a WEM amp and cab. Anyway it was quite an impressive rig!"

Some of the rehearsal numbers from this period were House of the Rising Sun (Animals), Coz I Luv You (Slade), I Can't Explain, Behind Blue Eyes, Going Mobile (all by The Who), Jean Jeanie (Bowie), Maxwell's Silver Hammer, When I'm 64 (both Beatles), Wig Wam Bam (Sweet), Good Golly Miss Molly (various), Rock 'n Roll Part 2 (Gary Glitter), Stay With Me (Faces).

"We used to rehearse under the stage at the Youth Club in St Chad's church hall and I think our first proper gig was on that stage at a children's charity fundraiser. We were one of several acts and played about four songs including one I wrote for the occasion called Make the Children Happy. It featured an intro guitar riff nicked from the Monkees Last Train To Clarksville. Later on, Neil, Ada and myself had to accompany an old lady on the piano for a rousing audience sing along rendition of Ken Dodd's Happiness. We of course giggled 'a penis' amongst the throng. Gigs followed at the Methodist Youth Club, where the audience included Ron Hartley, Dave Leonard, and Dids Ambrose fully regaled in Clockwork Orange gear, St Chad's Youth Club and Staining Youth Club."

Ada Hindle and Jon Inman fell out for some reason and this led to the latter's departure.

"I think we were all getting on each others nerves a bit and it must have been around then that Dave Sharpe had a go at singing and Steve Cowley had bought a Hofner Galaxy and was very keen to join. I used to hang around with Dave quite a lot prior to this period as he had access to girls around the Cottam Hall playing fields and his and Chris Parker's older brothers had great record collections. We knew of Anton's prowess as a vocalist and although he was in Neil's year we asked him to audition. He was great, and suddenly we had access to a much larger repertoire."

The expanded song list now included, Help, All My Loving, Eight Days A Week, Day Tripper (all Beatles), The Show Must Go On (Leo Sayer), Shang a Lang (Bay City Rollers), Radancer, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La- Da (both hits for Marmalade), Sorrow (Bowie), Everyday (Slade) and many more.

"Anton learned to play rhythm guitar and his love affair with the Beatles rubbed off on all of us, and that was Warlock#2. Things moved up a couple of gears once Anton was on board, one night at Staining Youth Club a guy called Brian Hall offered to manage us. Brian was a joiner and his kids were regulars at the youth club. He was also connected with the Lancashire Concert Secretaries Association or something similar, and could get us loads of gigs in clubs all over the place. It started well when he got us a regular slot at Newton Hall Country Club which was huge. We had to compromise on numbers however and cater for young and old. A favourite was, dare I say it, Tie a Yellow Ribbon. I think Ada faced the wall for that one! Those were good nights, full of Mancunian holiday makers out for a good time."

To play the working men's and labour club circuit, their new manager promoted them as a 'boy band.' Sounds like he was ahead of his time!

"We were after all only 15 or 16. We wore matching black tank tops with demonic red motif, Birmingham bags and penny round shirts. Anton seemed to favour the hang-glider collar. It was cabaret really. Nearly every weekend we played clubs all over Lancashire. Brian would drive us in Neil's dads motor caravan and we listened to Beatles albums on the in-car eight track. Beer was 12p a pint in some places. These were paid gigs which enabled us to buy new equipment, Vox AC 30s and a decent PA. We also did the odd hotel gig in Blackpool, most memorably the Craig-Y-Don. We played there at Xmas one year and on my 16th birthday in September '73. We also played New Year's Eve at Newton Hall."

Around this time manager Brian Hall decided he'd had enough and quit.

"Steve Teasdale ('Teasy'), a regular at Newton Hall, joined as roadie and driver. He had a grey Comma van and nothing was too much trouble. On my 16th they spiked my drinks and I was a complete mess. They dropped me on the back door step in a pool of vomit and sped off in Teasy's van…. Shang-a-Lang!"

Drummer Neil Smith lost interest and was replaced by Grinny (John Grinton).

"I can't remember the circumstances of how he joined, he lived in Carleton somewhere near Don (aka Ian Donaldson, aka Ian Stuart) and he used to drink in The Barn (Poulton). He used to hang around with the McKays, Kev Beard, Ray Porteus, Linden Sedman, all of whom we knew. Grinny's dad was a good musician and encouraged him a lot."

Warlock#3 landed a summer residency at a club off Central Promenade in Blackpool.

"It was a real basement dive, we played 5 nights a week 11.00 until midnight and often had to leave the stage to let the Glaswegians battle it out. I don't think we finished the season. Another highlight (?) was the Carleton garden fiasco. This was in the garden of the one and only councillor Ken Bennett, who managed the Teanlowe Centre in Poulton and decided he would also manage us ("so you wanna be stars?"). Ken had loadsa money and made big promises but nothing really happened. The garden rehearsal was arranged so he could take a better look at us, and for him to decide on an image make-over. We also needed to test the tacky rope light he'd bought to enhance the stage show! Any publicity was good publicity for Ken."

The updated set list now included Samba Pa Ti (Santana), Once Bitten Twice Shy (Ian Hunter), Get Back (Beatles), Emily (Hot Chocolate), Its All Over Now (Stones), You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything (Faces).

"At the end of the summer I left the group, I think we’d seen too much of each other. Ada and Anton were very close, they wanted a change and so did I really. I think my style of playing didn’t lend itself to the more melodic Beatles style they wanted to pursue. Hugh Mett was much better at that than I was. I never saw Warlock#4 perform, but I heard they were good." 

New allegiances were being formed, the regular meeting place was the Barn, a Poulton pub notorious for under age drinkers. Phil was now hanging out with the lads from Carleton, as well as Grinny there were the McKay twins, Sean and Kev, and Ian Donaldson.

“While the Warlock thing was falling apart I started knocking around with Don. He’d always wanted to be in a band but couldn't find anybody to make it happen for him. Maybe that's why he got friendly with me. I'm pretty sure it was his idea. He'd never been onstage, he was pretty shy, but he knew this was what he wanted to do.”

Phil and Don shared a mutual appreciation for earthy rock as performed by the Stones, Free, Who etc.

“We decided to form a band but it was really starting from scratch. I was the only one who had any experience. The McKay twins needed plenty of coaching on bass and guitar, Don had never sung in public before, at that age with his sort of image it would have been uncool. He needed to practise for ages until he was confident it was going to be alright. I also showed him a few simple chords on the guitar but it wasn’t really his thing. Eventually Tumbling Dice were up and running, after a fashion.”

Finding a drummer had its difficulties.

“Don and Grinny weren't getting on at the time, they were always falling out, they were neighbours in Carleton and had been since they were very young. The only other drummer we knew was Steve Gaulter. The thing with Steve was he lived over Wyre and wasn't as accessible as everybody else, he always seemed to have lots of other things going on so it was difficult getting him to rehearse. This I think ultimately was one of the reasons why he fell out of favour. It was difficult to get him over to Poulton with his kit, so we'd go over to his place and rehearse in the dining room. Simon Kirke was his hero, he was always happiest playing Free numbers.”

Steve Gaulter has an ancient recording of a Tumbling Dice rehearsal, the list of 13 titles included four by the Stones, Jumping Jack Flash, Honky Tonk Women, Brown Sugar and Star Star (aka Starfucker, Steve G quote “Don used to change the lyric to Starlover if we were rehearsing at Kev and Sean's!”). There were also four by Free/Bad Company, Shooting Star, All Right Now, Little Bit Of Love and Can't Get Enough. I think you can see where they were coming from.

“We played Alright Now but it never sounded right, Riot in Cell Block No9 was a good number as was Back to the Night, we were starting to get into the Feelgoods at the time. We also used to do Brown Eyed Girl. We didn't really do many gigs, I remember the Teanlowe, it didn't seem to go too well, I recall the Warlock gigs much more clearly probably because that was the first time we'd done it. Everyone was so nervous before the Teanlowe gig, the pressure was on especially for the guys who'd not been onstage before.”

Steve Gaulter managed to recall a few more Tumbling Dice gigs. "Somebody had got an agent involved which was how we came to do a lot of gigs in various parts of Lancs and Cumbria. I remember a blues club at Blackburn where there was more of us onstage than in the audience! Some guy had a harmonica and he just got onstage with us and jammed, he was great. There was a pub in Preston mainly frequented by the Asian community, they were not into old fashioned R 'n B at all. Up in Cumbria we played at a miners' club in a really remote place called Lowca [2½ miles from Whitehaven, 5 miles from Workington]. Somebody at the front was shouting at us to turn it down, but in the end when they'd had a few drinks and we played a load of rock 'n roll they were jumping around with everybody else! I think the next day we did Whitehaven Working Men's Club, it was a Sunday evening, when we got there the whole town seemed closed, I don't know how we got anything to eat. That was a bad gig, we just didn't go down very well at all. Overnight we stopped in the van it was horrendously cold."

Fortunately somebody thought otherwise and was prepared to take a chance, the as yet un-named punk band got lucky with Chiswick, but that’s another story.

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