Diggory Venn "One Room Up" 1978 UK Hippie Psych Folk
- 9 years ago
Diggory Venn "Good Friends 1978 UK Private Hippie Psych Folk
The Beverley band Diggory Venn was formed in the mid-1970's, in the electro-folk mould of the time and was named after a character in Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native. Band members were: Shaun Devitt (Drums), Peter Robinson (Bass guitar), Paul Bird (Acoustic guitar & vocals), Martin Peirson (Acoustic guitar, mandolin & vocals), Robin Peirson (Acoustic guitar, harmonica & mandolin), Barry Ross (occasional backing vocal), and myself on electric guitar & some vocals.Our repertoire included original songs composed by Paul or Martin, one by Robin, and some of our own arrangements of traditional and modern folk songs and tunes, including: Cam Ye O'er Frae France (Trad.); Banish Misfortune (jig); Albion Sunrise (Richard Thompson); Roll Alabama Roll (shanty); Over the Hill (John Martyn); Buy Broom Besoms (Trad.) & Oakey Strike Evictions (Tommy Armstrong) - the latter two both pinched from a Jack the Lad record; and Lady Eleanor (Lindisfarne). Because we had drums, electric guitar & bass which were then considered to be sacrilege by many in the local folk scene we were unable to get gigs at most folk clubs, the notable exception being the Processed Pea at Etton (now co-run by Martin, incidentally) where we sometimes had to set up with Shaun's drum kit outside the open French windows on the patio (now part of the restaurant extension) behind the tiny stage.
VENN ON TOUR
Our one and only 'tour' was supporting Alan Hull's Radiator at the Centre Hotels in Hull and LIverpool. We managed to survive that gruelling two gig tour schedule intact, despite being turfed out of our sleeping bags on the floor of the LIverpool Centre Hotel concert room at some unearthly hour the morning after the gig to make way for a jewellers' convention. Part of the tour transport to Liverpool was a Ford Cortina hired from Brad's Cabs in Beverley that refused to exceed 50mph, even downhill on the M62. The Hull gig was less traumatic - we just went home after it had finished.
VENN IN THE STUDIO
In 1977 we recorded an LP of Paul & Martin's songs (and one by Martin's brother, Robin) entitled Good Friends, at Fairview Studios in Willerby, East Yorkshire. I will now shamelessly name-drop by revealing that one of the recording sessions was witnessed by big time musician Trevor Bolder, erstwhile bass player with Bowie's Spiders from Mars band, and fresh from them being unceremoniously dumped by the great man. He knew Keith Hird, the owner of the studio, and he dropped in unannounced. He had recently joined Uriah Heep, so here we had the rare coincidence of a member of one band named after a fictional Victorian character listening to a recording a by a band named after another one. You won't find that little snippet in many rock archives.
The Beverley band Diggory Venn was formed in the mid-1970's, in the electro-folk mould of the time and was named after a character in Thomas Hardy's Return of the Native. Band members were: Shaun Devitt (Drums), Peter Robinson (Bass guitar), Paul Bird (Acoustic guitar & vocals), Martin Peirson (Acoustic guitar, mandolin & vocals), Robin Peirson (Acoustic guitar, harmonica & mandolin), Barry Ross (occasional backing vocal), and myself on electric guitar & some vocals.Our repertoire included original songs composed by Paul or Martin, one by Robin, and some of our own arrangements of traditional and modern folk songs and tunes, including: Cam Ye O'er Frae France (Trad.); Banish Misfortune (jig); Albion Sunrise (Richard Thompson); Roll Alabama Roll (shanty); Over the Hill (John Martyn); Buy Broom Besoms (Trad.) & Oakey Strike Evictions (Tommy Armstrong) - the latter two both pinched from a Jack the Lad record; and Lady Eleanor (Lindisfarne). Because we had drums, electric guitar & bass which were then considered to be sacrilege by many in the local folk scene we were unable to get gigs at most folk clubs, the notable exception being the Processed Pea at Etton (now co-run by Martin, incidentally) where we sometimes had to set up with Shaun's drum kit outside the open French windows on the patio (now part of the restaurant extension) behind the tiny stage.
VENN ON TOUR
Our one and only 'tour' was supporting Alan Hull's Radiator at the Centre Hotels in Hull and LIverpool. We managed to survive that gruelling two gig tour schedule intact, despite being turfed out of our sleeping bags on the floor of the LIverpool Centre Hotel concert room at some unearthly hour the morning after the gig to make way for a jewellers' convention. Part of the tour transport to Liverpool was a Ford Cortina hired from Brad's Cabs in Beverley that refused to exceed 50mph, even downhill on the M62. The Hull gig was less traumatic - we just went home after it had finished.
VENN IN THE STUDIO
In 1977 we recorded an LP of Paul & Martin's songs (and one by Martin's brother, Robin) entitled Good Friends, at Fairview Studios in Willerby, East Yorkshire. I will now shamelessly name-drop by revealing that one of the recording sessions was witnessed by big time musician Trevor Bolder, erstwhile bass player with Bowie's Spiders from Mars band, and fresh from them being unceremoniously dumped by the great man. He knew Keith Hird, the owner of the studio, and he dropped in unannounced. He had recently joined Uriah Heep, so here we had the rare coincidence of a member of one band named after a fictional Victorian character listening to a recording a by a band named after another one. You won't find that little snippet in many rock archives.