As I pulled up for Round Three, for once it wasn’t raining. In fact it was a beautiful twilight evening. Ray was sorting out some hardware in his garage. I had hardly had time to open the car door when I heard the beckoning voice.
“Come and have a look at this Bigun!” Ray stood proudly by his new acquisition, which stood as tall as he did, just behind him.
“What do you think?” he asked with a grin beaming from ear to ear, his hand guiding my gaze towards the impressive cream speaker cabinet and matching head. It was a Fender 1965 Bassman rig.
“Well the rest of the Sass boys are using Tone Masters so I thought I’d fit in with them!” he said as if to justify his purchase. He plugged in and let rip. This rig was seriously loud and had a warmth to it, which complimented the musician using it.
“Great sound Ray!” I exclaimed, but I still felt that was understated.
“Anyway.....enough of that Bigun’!” he exclaimed as he quickly unplugged and ushered me, almost impatiently, out through the garage and into the awaiting lounge of the house, with a white Fender Precision slung around his neck.
“Shoes Bigun’!” he ordered on this sprint-paced entrance. I duly obliged. “You don’t want to be listening to all that when there’s things and such as like that need addressing lad!” Ray was eager to continue with his venture.
He was just about to sit, his bottom about three inches from the white linen cover of the Ikea upholstery when, Joanna Lumley called from upstairs
“You have e-mail.”
Quick as a flash and without making contact with the seat, Ray stood upright and headed off towards the staircase.
“Won’t be a minute Bigun’! There’s something on E-bay I’m bidding on......and we’re getting close to the wire!” he informed me as his pace quickened, now racing up the stairs. For those interested, E-Bay is Ray’s cyber home. If you can’t get hold of him on the phone, that’s where he’ll be!
“Not many people can say that they’ve got Joanna Lumley in their loft Bigun’!” he shouted as he hit the landing.
Ten minutes had elapsed before he sauntered back downstairs.
“We’ll be having us tea Bigun’” he announced as the blue Nike pixie boots adorning his feet hit the lounge carpet before continuing into the kitchen.
Looking up from his culinary preparations, Ray glanced at the Elvis clock on the wall, the hips of the King were swinging pendulously; one of the curios and mementos he had returned with from his visit to Sun Studios with S4C.
“Fucking hell! It’s half past seven Bigun’ and we haven’t had us bait yet!” he exclaimed.
Grilled sirloin served with a Greek salad with just a few too many black olives.
“Is it alright?” Ray asked anxiously, searching my face for any hint of dissatisfaction like a Maitre d’ would do on an opening night of a prestigious restaurant.
“Yes, it’s great.....don’t like olives though” I had to own up. “If God made such a beautiful fruit, why did he make it so salty!” I added. Ray seemed slightly hurt.
“Oh.....I didn’t know......give it here, I’ll go and get you something else.” he said despondently.
“No, it’s OK mate.....it’s fine apart from that.....and the potatoes may be a little overdone, but honestly, it’s great.” I couldn’t help it! It just came out and I regretted it almost immediately. Ray couldn’t believe his ears.
“What do you mean they’re overdone? “ Ray enquired indignantly.
“Oh.....nothing really, it’s just that I prefer them ‘al dente’ and these are.....well......more pureed than I’d expect from a new potato especially a Pembroke.” It seemed that whatever I said was just making things worse.
“OK.....I’ll go and change it. It won’t take me long! It only took me all fucking afternoon to prepare but I can’t have you discontent you bastard!” he snapped as he reached for my tray.
“No, honestly mate, I’m quite happy......it’s fine!” I replied clutching vigorously onto my end of the tray as Ray tugged at the other.
Ray’s culinary offering had become the centre of a judicial case that only the wisdom of King Solomon could settle as we both tugged to and fro on the tray.
Ray eventually relinquished his grip and glared at me with disdain.
“If you think you’re having any pud......you’ve got another think coming Bigun’.....it’s your loss.....but I’ll be eating my Tesco’s gourmet range individual raspberry trifle with extra cream on my own!” he exclaimed, followed by a wink and a wry smile.
“So where had we got to” Ray enquired “it’s been a long time” he added.
It was now 1972. This was the era of rock governed by what are now referred to as the Rock Dinosaurs. Progressive rock was at its height and albums like Dark Side of the Moon, Close to the Edge and Led Zeppelin Volume II released in this year were the music of choice for any serious musos.
Having been to auditions in London for various luminaries such as King Crimson , Peter Banks's Flash and Renaissance had given Ray a taste of what things could be like and he wanted more. He decided that the only way to make it was to give it his best shot, 100% commitment. The Smokestack band members had decisions to make. Did they want to have a crack at the big time or not. The outcome was that Ray, Tubs and Myfyr were going to have a go. As the Beatles did in the early ‘60s and many bands since, they got a residency in a club in Germany. For Smokestack it was Bremerhaven and the trio were joined by Londoner Jan Mussen on vocals
“What was it like Ray?” I asked.
“When we made the decision to quit our day jobs and do this thing, I was elated......a mixture of great excitement and shitting myself but the enthusiasm, encouragement and friendship maintained our focus......The journey to and from Bremerhaven is a chapter in itself! We arrived in Bremerhaven and it was fucking great.....for a week! Nice lady's ! We had a whale of a time!” He recalled as he peered at me over the top of his glasses from across the room. Then silence.
The owner of the club thought that he had hired, what today would be called a Euro pop band. The type of band that would wow you with stuff like “Una Paloma Blanca” and “Lady in Red”! So when Smokestack arrived playing contemporary American and British rock, it was a rude awakening.
“I don’t think that Bremerhaven were ready for us.....so we were sacked!” Ray recounted.
“What! Sacked after just a week!” I asked.
“Well.....he wanted us to play all this ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ and shit like ‘Little Willy’ by the Sweet! That sort of cack!.....but we weren’t going to compromise and so we stuck to our guns but unfortunately.....he stuck to his!” Ray laughed as he recounted the irony.
The highlight of the Bremerhaven experience was meeting Steve Williams, who later went on to play drums for Budgie, a legendary hard rock outfit from South Wales who have recently been covered by Metallica and seen a resurgence of interest. Steve was to play a part a little later in our story. He was in a band called Iona, with Ken Driscol, Tony Smith and a guy called Lyn on bass. Ray recounts them as a great band, who knew how to handle the club boss. It was their fourth trip to Germany.
“We took over from them but heard their last set …….. the Free songs were like listening to the record but they knew when to play cheese ….unfortunately, we didn’t!”.
In the meantime, the band was left stranded in Germany, with little money and a van that Noah had pushed off the Ark because it wasn’t road worthy! The boys formulated a cunning plan. The streets of Amsterdam were paved with gold! They loved rock music there..... just look at it! Focus had two singles riding high in the charts in the same week! Surely, this was the Shangri La for our intrepid fledgling rockers, they’d be crying out for bands….wouldn’t they? So they begged, borrowed and stole their way to the Dutch capital.
“So did you get a gig in Amsterdam?” I asked.
“No!” came the succinct reply. “We got hit by a tram instead!.....and then got arrested!” he continued. “And the police confiscated our passports until the van was made roadworthy, so we were stuck with no money, no passports and nowhere to go!” he exclaimed.
Those who know Ray well, know him to be very resourceful and the kind of guy you can turn to in a crisis and this was such an event. Ray went to the British Embassy who got them a place to stay, with a view to repatriation.....the YMCA (I would really like to know which one played the Indian chief!) Ray and Tubs’ mothers wired money over which arrived within three days. The boys then got the van back and headed for Hook of Holland to get the ferry back to dear old Blighty! Before they boarded the ferry, however, they stopped off at a restaurant for a bite to eat. Ray recounts;
“We had a banquet.....! We never thought we’d eat again.....we were fucking starving! £25 the bill came to.....it was great!”
One thing that the band couldn’t do when they arrived back in Britain was go home. These guys were local celebrities in the small Mid Wales towns where they cut their teeth and returning home so early would have meant losing face after leaving with such great ambitions. Instead, they headed for Bedford and stayed with their friend Jed for a while, playing the pubs n the local area for free. Ray phoned an agent to get the band some paying gigs. They landed one in Britton Ferry, but on the way there, Myfyr had become quite ill and the boys had become concerned about him. He made the journey to Britton Ferry wrapped in blankets. He managed to do the gig and then the band decided to take him back home to Aberystwyth.
“You have e-mail” Joanna’s voice called seductively from upstairs. As quick as a flash, Ray was heading skyward again.
“Excuse me Bigun’.....won’t be long!” he informed me , on the hoof as he raced towards the beckoning Siren. He arrived back wearing the face of a naughty schoolboy.
“I’ve done it! ……… I can’t believe I did that!” he said raising his hand to his mouth pensively.
“Done what?” I asked
Ray didn’t speak, but just handed me a print out of what he’d been bidding for on E-Bay. It was a genuine 1963 Sunburst Fender Jazz bass.
“I had to have it Bigun’” he smiled.
A couple of weeks later, when Myfyr had recovered, Ray received a call from one of the pubs in Bedford, they wanted them back and this time, they were paying! They went back to Bedford via Barry and Newport where the band had picked up bookings and it was an ideal time for Tubs to see his girlfriend Nerys who was training to become a nurse in Cardiff. The band played the Dow Corning club in Barry and as Ray recalls it, it was like Bremerhaven all over again!
“We started with a cover of ‘Schools out’ by Alice Cooper.....there was a look of horror on the less than hip audience who had gathered. They thought they were there for a bit of light cabaret before the bingo!”
“Well.....this time we had to swallow our pride because without the money we couldn’t put petrol in the van and Myf was adamant that he didn’t want to siphon another tank.....it was one of those things back then, the van had to carry all the band’s gear and a length of hose with a petrol can.....just in case you understand.....anyway, we managed to get through it by doing “Sloop John B” and “Michael Row the Boat Ashore!”
The band then based itself in a country cottage in Pembrokeshire, a place called Bryn Villa in Eglwys Wrw. They played gigs regularly and rehearsed original material at the cottage.
“I’ll never forget one episode when Jan thought that he could turn everyone on.....man! He dropped some acid into the milk and unknowingly one of the band members and his girlfriend had it on their cornflakes before we left to do a gig in Aberystwyth University. Let’s just say that there were some interesting guitar solos that night.....and the next night.....and the one after that!” he remembered.
“It was around then that I got a little homesick and went back to Aber to stay with my mum for a few days and catch up with Stan and Perce. I really missed having them around and really wanted to play with them again” he recounted with more than just a hint of sadness in his voice. It was during this stay that he was devastated when suddenly his mother was hospitalised and died of pneumonia. Dick was at Bryn Villa with Jan and could not be contacted. "My Uncle Howard drove us to the Preselis. Telling my brother that mum had died is the most difficult thing I have ever had to do". It was something that hit him very hard.
“A lot of bad stuff went on back then. It’s a time I don’t like thinking about too much and I stopped playing” Ray continued with sadness.
"Mind you Big ‘un at the time I was going out with a lovely lady from Tresaith near Cardigan, ……….. Ann Jones, without her and Dick things would have been even more grim" he added.
It would be four months before Ray picked up a guitar again. In February of the following year, the band met up at the Angel pub in Aberystwyth for a drink and went back to Bryn Villa to try and salvage the band but it didn’t work out. Ray remembered Steve Williams from the Bremerhaven trip and wrote to him asking if he would be interested in forming a progressive rock band with himself and Myfyr. Steve duly obliged and as a trio, they started rehearsing material at Elizabeth Taylor’s son, Michael Wilding’s farm " Bwlch Y Gwynt" in Ysbyty Ystwyth. They had loads of top notch gear and let the boys use it . Steve, however, had to return to Cardiff and both Ray and Myfyr followed him down and got a flat in Canton. The band, which was playing mainly original material was completed by Richie Galloni on vocals and Ace were formed.
“Apart from Steve who was doing sessions and some gigs with a band called Mr Smith, we all had to get day jobs again.” Ray recalled, lifting the Alvarez twelve string from its stand and beginning to tune it.
“I drove a truck for a plumbing firm, Myf worked in an office for a glazier and Richie was doing paint spraying.”
College friends Ron Gilmore and Paul Hughes had a big house on Clive Street in Canton but when Paul moved out, Steve Williams moved in and everyone else moved upstairs!. Ann Jones moved to Cardiff to join Ray and she took a job with B.T. The band held down their respective day jobs whilst working at night for Westcoast Entertainments, who, incidentally, at this time managed Sassafras. Ace were working all over the UK but it was in October 1974 and back in Aberystwyth University that following the gig, the band had a blazing row and Ray left the outfit, which was now called Quest. Regrettably the argument need never have happened but alas it was fuelled by, as Ray recalls, “a shit stirring young lady called Wendy!”.
Disillusioned with everything, Ray sold all his gear and worked on a building site until the summer of 1975. The hatchet was buried when Richie, Steve and Myfyr went up to Aberystwyth to see him. Quest played in London for a while before Steve was offered the gig with Budgie.
http://www.rockdetector.com/officialbio,7125.sm
Ray was looking more relaxed now and was sitting with his ear cocked towards the body of the 12 string guitar he had been tuning as he started picking a familiar chord pattern, he started to sing
“Our house is a very very very fine house.....” He turned and looked up. “Fuck, you should have heard us play that.....we made it our own.” He continued. “We tried out John Lloyd from James Hogg on drums.....we had a rehearsal and we had yet another row!” he explained accenting each word with a nod of the head and furrowed brow.
Ray eventually left the band because of musical differences (blazing row with Myf) but hooked up with Tony Smith, Kenny Driscoll and Jim Mathews to form Iona MK 3. This was the embryonic version of Lone Star. At this time Ray was playing had never been so good.
“Things were going great then.....” he said as he strummed. “I was on top of my game.....and I got into serious mischief with a woman and I moved in with her!” he continued with an evil glint in his eye and a wry smile.
The plan was to come back and record at Rockfield in Monmouth but…….
“ Guess what.....?” Ray posed.
Before I had a chance to ask, Ray filled me in.
“Yet more arguments, grief and musical differences.....I was out of there!”
http://ufo.dave-wood.org/history/lonestar-his.html
http://www.rockdetector.com/artist,5328.sm
Ray started to look for a new musical direction, as he recounts.
“Now, Tommy Riley had been in the Moon Club with Mickey Gee and Lincoln Carr for a long time and decided to have a change as I remember. Tommy is a gentleman with a taste in music to die for. I rehearsed with him and Titch (Gwilym) for a while, good R&B with a few tunes by The Band but alas it didn't happen. I think Tom and Gee patched things up”.
"Im not sure how it came about, an introduction via Congo or Tommy Riley but a very good song writing band in Cardiff called Buckdancer, were looking for a bass player and a drummer. I went a long and joined the band………. lovely people, Geraint Watkins on keys and vocals, Gary Ricard and Phil Mingnio on guitars and we were later joined by Dick Owen who was on drums with Sass for a brief spell. We did one gig at a valley's school. It was not for me! They were very close friends and I was greener than Astroturf! However, I remember Phil's song "Sam"……… what a lovely tune. Geraint did the best rendition of The Band's " When the Moon Struck One" that I’d heard. Geraint's brilliant and as you know, went on to bigger and better things, Dave Edmunds, Dominators …… and he and Gary were part of Bahlam Alligators. I recently met up with Geraint and his brother Dewi. Sadly it was at the funeral of the late great Titch Gwilym”. Ray sighed.
“Geraint is charming & timeless”. http://home.swipnet.se/~w-69550/biography.html
It was now the autumn of 1975, Ray had no band and it wasn’t looking likely that one was going to turn up and so he went back to trucking.
What would happen next? Stay tuned!