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Remember Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band?
The band did a little work with Geno Washington in the 60s although never made Ram Jam Band status or featured on any of Geno's recordings. Roy's arrangement of Michael (the Lover) was a fantastic version jointly sung by Geno & John. Many considered it to be an improved version of the original chart hit and more to the point, Geno loved it!
The band did some recording at Strawberry Studio's in Stockport - produced by Eric Stuart (ex-Mindbenders, Hotleggs and later 10cc). They also laid-down tracks at DECCA Recording Studio's London and EMI London. |
Rivington Barn
Soul nights at the barn were just as 'hot' as Wigan Casino. We used to strap the PA speakers onto the ancient roof beams and make them shake and finger pop!! (this cleared the dust from the rafters).
We will never forget New Years Eve 1969 - the end of the 60s decade. We were asked to welcome the 70s in and play over the midnight slot. John asked that all the musicians who wanted to (from the other bands playing that night) be allowed to join The Santa Fe Reunion for a monster jam over the midnight chimes - we chose Shake WOW!!! BIGGEST Brass section ever - the sound was nothing short of STAX!!
Liverpool Cavern
When we were booked for this gig in 1969 we decided to put together a medley of Beatle numbers. We worked hard to represent each Lennon & McCartney song with respect and make it as close to the originals as possible. The night was going well and the soul numbers were well appreciated - we then spliced in our Beatle medley. To our surprise the audience didn't want to hear their music - the feeling was, we found out later, that the Beatles had left Liverpool and the audience didn't want to be reminded of them. We finished the medley (we had & have great respect for the Beatles). Once back into the soul songs the audience picked-up and a great night was had by all.
We were shocked by the state of the club itself. The walls ran with sweat and it took more than one wash to get the smell of the Cavern off our clothes.
The people of Liverpool were great though and we were grateful for their warm welcome for us - a Manchester Band!
The Princess / Domino & Georgian Clubs
Owned by the Moss Bros. these three clubs in Chorlton, Failsworth & Salford, were a chance for The Santa Fe Reunion to move into cabaret. Our act changed as, in the main, the audience was seated during our performance. As well as performing our powerful soul songs such as Shake, Can't turn you loose, I Feel Good, Papa's got a brand new bag etc.. we moved into jazz rock songs by Chicago (Does anybody really know what time it is?) and the standard Stormy Weather as well as My Girl, When a man loves a woman & Tramp!. We used to swap instruments.
John would play drums or Alto / Tenor Saxophone and the guys would swap instruments and take a turn at lead vocal. We learned a great deal about entertaining as opposed to just performing music at these clubs. We would often do the three clubs in one night. This type of working was very tiring, as well as performing it trebled the set-up & pack-up effort.
Bolton Casino
Sunday nights at the Casino were dedicated to Soul! The Casino is still there on the corner of Crompton Way - it is now a supermarket.
The Seven Stars - Heywood
One of our most favorite gigs. We once worked every night for two weeks. The place used to ROCK! It was great for us to just turn up and play - the gear already being set-up for a week at a time - heaven!! The landlord (Denis) and his wife & family were good to us and a pleasure to work for - we had some great times. We felt it providence that the venue was called The Seven Stars and there were seven of us (dream-on Johnboy!!!).
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SFR 1970 with Bernie Southern on lead ( replacing Roy Allen)
John Dixon off stage in this pic
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Hadge Weller Bass, Denis Ashton Drums
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Wigan Casino
When we now think of Wigan Casino we often remember it through Northern Soul with DJ's such as Tony Blackburn and Richard Searling & others. The fact is there was Soul Nights here well before the DJ's took over the venue in the 70s. It was the live bands of the 60s that originally established this as a Mecca of Soul.
Such bands as: J. J. Jackson, The Harlem John Reshuffle, The Santa Fe Reunion, Bill Shakespear and many more, regularly attracted large crowds for their soul nights. John made his microphone lead so long that it stretched from the PA (Public Address Amplifier) on stage - to a point in the middle of the dance floor at the Casino. He used to mingle among the audience, dance & sing to, for and with them for some of the songs. The crowd used to love it and used to open up a circle in which he danced, gyrated and sang to them - fantastic nights! Just fantastic!!!
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John will always be grateful for the DJ's for continuing and expanding this - now legendary Soul Venue and for keeping the memory 'alive' in our hearts. He does, however, feel sad that many of the live musicians of the 60s rarely - if ever - are mentioned by the DJ's.
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Remember Hotleggs? Neanderthal Man reached the No.1 slot in the late 60s. We were all sat in Strawberry Studio's having a coffee-break after doing some recording and Eric Stuart played us a couple of tracks that he had been working on, asking for our opinion of which track we liked best. We all agreed on a track and he said that he too liked that track best, however, the Recording Studio was going to put the other track as the "A" side, which they subsequently did and Neanderthal Man climbed to No.1 in the UK charts. |
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