The MICK GREEN BLUES BAND (1970)
Mick Green - Lead / Rhythm Guit / Vocals
Tony Mojo Morgan - Bass / vocals
Steve Harrison - Drums
(at various times..Johnny Adams - Vocals / Guitar and Paul Samson? Guitar)
BACK TO THE BAND INDEX
Tony Morgan's memories (Pic was taken by Mick Green (not in pic) with Steve Harrison drummer on left and Johnny Adams on right and Graham in middle - not exactly of the Mick green Band but with some of the members).
" I met Steve Harrison (Drummer) through a friend Alan Jones in Willenhall, Coventry. Steve lived up the road from me, and we became best friends. I'd played with Steve in an earlier band Orange. The last time I heard about Steve, he was living in France. It would be great to find where he is now, and to get back in touch. I met Mick Green through a guy called Tony who lived in the Stoke area in Coventry, and Mick became a good friend! We played together in Mick Greens Blues Band, and a few other bits and bobs, but nothing came to fruit! Steve Harrison, Mick Green and myself moved to Ealing, London, and formed a band with John Laverick and started jamming together, after a couple of weeks, we were gigging around London, We were young and foolish! and it was crazy times. "
Trev Teasdel's memories
" It was about May 1970 that I met drummer Steve Harrison at the Coventry Arts Umbrella Club. I was doing the door for the Friday band nights and Steve recognised me. We hadn't been great friends but he lived in the street opposite my parents and I had played with him on occasions at primary school age. I went to the City of Coventry Boarding school, Cleobury Mortimer after that and had lost touch. I had no idea Steve was in a band until then or played drums and he gave me a lift home. Along the way we swopped notes. Steve was in a band called The Mick Green Blues Band and asked me to write some lyrics for the band to try out. I wrote a couple and showed them my songbook and met the band. The bassplayer - Tony Morgan also recognised me, this time from the boarding school. He'd been there for a year or two in the mid 60's. Again I had had no idea of his interest in music at school. I remember we went to the Sportsman's Arms for a drink - Allesley way and Free had just broken through with Alright Now, which was just up their street musically. When the DJ put the record on they just flipped!
Mick Green was a nice guy, quite and a good blues guitarist really into the music. We all became friends. I only remember those three being in the band but I read somewhere that Paul Sampson, who I later got to know through Hobo Workshop in 1974, played in the band at some stage. Paul went on to play Jazz rock in Trigon and then through ENS, Bung formed Reluctant Stereotypes who in 1980 swopped jazz rock for jazz ska and became a Two Tone band. The chart topping band King came out the Reluctants and Paul went on to produce the Primitives.
The Mick Green Blues Band rehearsed either in Mick's or sometimes at the Umbrella. They did standard rock and blues Nos popular at the time. The band in itself was short lived and they were forever breaking up and reforming under a new name or with slightly different line ups.
Nothing came of the lyrics I wrote for them although Tony Morgan did put music to one of my lyrics called The Elusive Metallic Idol - about money and the rat race which had been inspired by a TV programme and some of the early Cat Stevens work like Mathew and Sons. He played it to me, changing the word order here and there to fit the song. However it was never used with a band.
Not long after I met them, the band split for the first time and Steve Harrison asked me to bring some of my lyrics down the the Queens near what is now the Cashbah in Coventry one Sunday for his new band Nack Ed En. When I got there, the band were rehearsing but there was no sign of Steve! I told them why I had come and that Steve had told me to come down. However they explained that Steve had been replaced by John Bradbury (who ten years later would be in the Specials!). He was a great drummer even then and I stayed to watch the band. The guitarist, Loz Netto became a good friend and later played in Sniff and the Tears (he's on the single - Driver). The bass player was Neil Richardson who played with Ted Duggan afterwards in Drops of Brandy.
After the gig we went to the Dive bar (Lady Godiva) a cellar bar in Cov where students and musos hung out. John Bradbury had a look through the lyrics and so did Chris Jones ( a Cov blues guitarist who went on to play at Ronnie Scotts and the Speakeasy with Khayyam). They told me the Queens charged a lot for them to rehearse, so I suggested they join the Umbrella and then they could rehearse there for free, which they did. Because of that, John Bradbury and Loz took part in a jam session organised by Neol Davies and this was the first time Neol and John Bradbury played together bearing in mind that together they would record the Selecter in 1977 - the track that was featured on the B side of Gangsters by the Specials.
Meanwhile the members of the Mick Green Blues band reformed under different names sometimes with different members added in - in 1971 it was Railroad - I tried vocals for this one and wrote some progressive lyrics. Later versions were Eli, Rein Chantrey, Concert - all with their own posts on here. Along the way they involved Johnny Adams (later with Fission and Squad) and Simon Lovegrove. By 1973 I was playing acoustic and writing my own music to my lyrics and often played solo or backed by some of the band in between their sets at venues like the Navigation, Hand in Heart.
Mick Green, Johnny Adams and myself often used to jam around town with our Eko Jumbo guitars and Mick's harmonica, informally playing Johnny's or my songs or blue or rock hits. Jean Jeanie was a favourite, with Mick Green giving it some harmonica. One occasion was on the steps of the Climax - near Virgin records on one of the heavy disco nights c 1973. I was just learning guitar at the time and they taught me loads.
Tony Morgan went on to form the Ska band EMF in 1980 and then the Travelling Riverside band - Tony's musical history is outlined in an interview here http://coventrymusichistory.typepad.com/blog/2009/03/interview-with-mojo-tony-morgan-coventry-blues-ska-man.html"
Here's some of the lyrics I wrote back in 1970 for the band
The Elusive Metallic Idol (Written 1968 when I was 17 - set to music by Tony Morgan 1970)
There’s a maze of minds
Designing all kinds of cars.
There’s a surfeit of time to kill
So the people do what they will
Living in flats, so very high
Working so hard till they finally die.
Cogwheels are spinning
And people are sinning.
Papa’s won the pools
Look at all the fools
Smoking and drinking
No time for thinking.
(Bridge)
I don’t know what to do for the best
I’m counting the hairs on my hairless chest
Times are so hard
Think I’ll send them a Christmas card.
Money becomes their life
The object of their strife
The elusive metallic idol
Can make you suicidal
So get outta bed
Screw on your head
It’s full speed ahead
Grab what you can while you may
No time for pleasure and play!
................................
BACK IN WINTER TOWN by Trev Teasdel 1970
I persevered through persistent rain
Believing that the sun must shine.
Through the thunder clouds,
I kept my head
Wishing that the sun would shine.
I was isolated
by deep frozen snow
Believing that the sun would shine.
And the sun did shine,
and it shone so bright
that it dazzled me.
Chorus
And the rain came down
Now I’m back in Winter Town
And the rain came down
Now I’m back in Winter Town
(Bridge)
I'm a child of the snow. I'm a child of the snow. I'm a child of the snow
I dug my way through fields of hurt
Believing I would find the key.
Through the gates of pain,
I kept my head
Believing I would find the key.
I was left alone,
In that nowhere zone
Believing that the key I'd find
And the key did shine
and it shone so bright
that it dazzled me.
Chorus
And the rain came down
Now I’m back in Winter Town
And the rain came down
Now I’m back in Winter Town.
(Bridge repeat)
REALITY (Lyric by Trev Teasdel March 1970)
Got no pretensions
‘Bout a love that is smooth
No candy floss trees,
No lemonade lakes.
No semi-detached
Or a shop-on-a-lease.
We’ll just make the most
Of what is least.
(Refrain)
Reality…
Is what I offer you….
Broken dreams -
will only make you blue.
It’s you that I crave,
So let it be
The isle is waiting
For you and for me.
(Refrain)
Reality…
Is what I offer you….
Broken dreams -
will only make you blue.
Guitar solo…..etc…
Tony Morgan's memories (Pic was taken by Mick Green (not in pic) with Steve Harrison drummer on left and Johnny Adams on right and Graham in middle - not exactly of the Mick green Band but with some of the members).
" I met Steve Harrison (Drummer) through a friend Alan Jones in Willenhall, Coventry. Steve lived up the road from me, and we became best friends. I'd played with Steve in an earlier band Orange. The last time I heard about Steve, he was living in France. It would be great to find where he is now, and to get back in touch. I met Mick Green through a guy called Tony who lived in the Stoke area in Coventry, and Mick became a good friend! We played together in Mick Greens Blues Band, and a few other bits and bobs, but nothing came to fruit! Steve Harrison, Mick Green and myself moved to Ealing, London, and formed a band with John Laverick and started jamming together, after a couple of weeks, we were gigging around London, We were young and foolish! and it was crazy times. "
Trev Teasdel's memories
" It was about May 1970 that I met drummer Steve Harrison at the Coventry Arts Umbrella Club. I was doing the door for the Friday band nights and Steve recognised me. We hadn't been great friends but he lived in the street opposite my parents and I had played with him on occasions at primary school age. I went to the City of Coventry Boarding school, Cleobury Mortimer after that and had lost touch. I had no idea Steve was in a band until then or played drums and he gave me a lift home. Along the way we swopped notes. Steve was in a band called The Mick Green Blues Band and asked me to write some lyrics for the band to try out. I wrote a couple and showed them my songbook and met the band. The bassplayer - Tony Morgan also recognised me, this time from the boarding school. He'd been there for a year or two in the mid 60's. Again I had had no idea of his interest in music at school. I remember we went to the Sportsman's Arms for a drink - Allesley way and Free had just broken through with Alright Now, which was just up their street musically. When the DJ put the record on they just flipped!
Mick Green was a nice guy, quite and a good blues guitarist really into the music. We all became friends. I only remember those three being in the band but I read somewhere that Paul Sampson, who I later got to know through Hobo Workshop in 1974, played in the band at some stage. Paul went on to play Jazz rock in Trigon and then through ENS, Bung formed Reluctant Stereotypes who in 1980 swopped jazz rock for jazz ska and became a Two Tone band. The chart topping band King came out the Reluctants and Paul went on to produce the Primitives.
The Mick Green Blues Band rehearsed either in Mick's or sometimes at the Umbrella. They did standard rock and blues Nos popular at the time. The band in itself was short lived and they were forever breaking up and reforming under a new name or with slightly different line ups.
Nothing came of the lyrics I wrote for them although Tony Morgan did put music to one of my lyrics called The Elusive Metallic Idol - about money and the rat race which had been inspired by a TV programme and some of the early Cat Stevens work like Mathew and Sons. He played it to me, changing the word order here and there to fit the song. However it was never used with a band.
Not long after I met them, the band split for the first time and Steve Harrison asked me to bring some of my lyrics down the the Queens near what is now the Cashbah in Coventry one Sunday for his new band Nack Ed En. When I got there, the band were rehearsing but there was no sign of Steve! I told them why I had come and that Steve had told me to come down. However they explained that Steve had been replaced by John Bradbury (who ten years later would be in the Specials!). He was a great drummer even then and I stayed to watch the band. The guitarist, Loz Netto became a good friend and later played in Sniff and the Tears (he's on the single - Driver). The bass player was Neil Richardson who played with Ted Duggan afterwards in Drops of Brandy.
After the gig we went to the Dive bar (Lady Godiva) a cellar bar in Cov where students and musos hung out. John Bradbury had a look through the lyrics and so did Chris Jones ( a Cov blues guitarist who went on to play at Ronnie Scotts and the Speakeasy with Khayyam). They told me the Queens charged a lot for them to rehearse, so I suggested they join the Umbrella and then they could rehearse there for free, which they did. Because of that, John Bradbury and Loz took part in a jam session organised by Neol Davies and this was the first time Neol and John Bradbury played together bearing in mind that together they would record the Selecter in 1977 - the track that was featured on the B side of Gangsters by the Specials.
Meanwhile the members of the Mick Green Blues band reformed under different names sometimes with different members added in - in 1971 it was Railroad - I tried vocals for this one and wrote some progressive lyrics. Later versions were Eli, Rein Chantrey, Concert - all with their own posts on here. Along the way they involved Johnny Adams (later with Fission and Squad) and Simon Lovegrove. By 1973 I was playing acoustic and writing my own music to my lyrics and often played solo or backed by some of the band in between their sets at venues like the Navigation, Hand in Heart.
Mick Green, Johnny Adams and myself often used to jam around town with our Eko Jumbo guitars and Mick's harmonica, informally playing Johnny's or my songs or blue or rock hits. Jean Jeanie was a favourite, with Mick Green giving it some harmonica. One occasion was on the steps of the Climax - near Virgin records on one of the heavy disco nights c 1973. I was just learning guitar at the time and they taught me loads.
Tony Morgan went on to form the Ska band EMF in 1980 and then the Travelling Riverside band - Tony's musical history is outlined in an interview here http://coventrymusichistory.typepad.com/blog/2009/03/interview-with-mojo-tony-morgan-coventry-blues-ska-man.html"
Here's some of the lyrics I wrote back in 1970 for the band
The Elusive Metallic Idol (Written 1968 when I was 17 - set to music by Tony Morgan 1970)
There’s a maze of minds
Designing all kinds of cars.
There’s a surfeit of time to kill
So the people do what they will
Living in flats, so very high
Working so hard till they finally die.
Cogwheels are spinning
And people are sinning.
Papa’s won the pools
Look at all the fools
Smoking and drinking
No time for thinking.
(Bridge)
I don’t know what to do for the best
I’m counting the hairs on my hairless chest
Times are so hard
Think I’ll send them a Christmas card.
Money becomes their life
The object of their strife
The elusive metallic idol
Can make you suicidal
So get outta bed
Screw on your head
It’s full speed ahead
Grab what you can while you may
No time for pleasure and play!
................................
BACK IN WINTER TOWN by Trev Teasdel 1970
I persevered through persistent rain
Believing that the sun must shine.
Through the thunder clouds,
I kept my head
Wishing that the sun would shine.
I was isolated
by deep frozen snow
Believing that the sun would shine.
And the sun did shine,
and it shone so bright
that it dazzled me.
Chorus
And the rain came down
Now I’m back in Winter Town
And the rain came down
Now I’m back in Winter Town
(Bridge)
I'm a child of the snow. I'm a child of the snow. I'm a child of the snow
I dug my way through fields of hurt
Believing I would find the key.
Through the gates of pain,
I kept my head
Believing I would find the key.
I was left alone,
In that nowhere zone
Believing that the key I'd find
And the key did shine
and it shone so bright
that it dazzled me.
Chorus
And the rain came down
Now I’m back in Winter Town
And the rain came down
Now I’m back in Winter Town.
(Bridge repeat)
REALITY (Lyric by Trev Teasdel March 1970)
Got no pretensions
‘Bout a love that is smooth
No candy floss trees,
No lemonade lakes.
No semi-detached
Or a shop-on-a-lease.
We’ll just make the most
Of what is least.
(Refrain)
Reality…
Is what I offer you….
Broken dreams -
will only make you blue.
It’s you that I crave,
So let it be
The isle is waiting
For you and for me.
(Refrain)
Reality…
Is what I offer you….
Broken dreams -
will only make you blue.
Guitar solo…..etc…
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