Brian Higham was involved with Barratts of Manchester for many years - starting as a Saturday boy then later managing the store for many years.

They say "If you remember the sixties, you weren't really there" - for Manchester musicians it should perhaps be re-worded to "If you don't remember Brian, you weren't really there".

Brian tells some of the many stories about the guys who walked through Barratt's doorway.

George Harrisons guitar :: Beatle's microphones :: Steak and kidney pies :: Buddy Rich : Retail and the pleasure :: Graham Nash :: Ted the Sprayer :: The surprise call :: Golden Garter days (and nights)

I was at school (Broadway Sec Modern in Cheadle) when I first heard 'Heartbreak Hotel' by Elvis Presley. Having been brought up on a diet of Hank Williams, Lonnie Donegan and Guy Mitchell, not to mention Tennessee Ernie Ford and Kay Starr, it came as a surprise that somebody out there could sing the way he did, so I went to my local radio shop that had a record department and, having saved up my pocket money, ordered a copy. On the day it arrived I took it to school with me taking great care not to drop it. After assembly all the would be’s gathered around whilst we played it on the school record player. I can still see the reaction on the faces of my class mates as they  listened in disbelief at what they were hearing. It was awe and wonderment (perhaps a more modern phrase would be 'gob-smacked'). Wouldn't mind but this came after Bill Haley and the Comets (who years later I was to meet). Then there was 'The girl cant help it' with all those great stars like Little Richard, Eddie Cochran with the fabulous '20 Flight Rock' but still before that was ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK when all the kids were jiving in the cinema isles to Bill and the Comets.

Having been taught to play some chords on the guitar by a family friend (Jack Livesey) I set about what was to be a life long love affair with the guitar and good old rock and roll.     

On Saturday mornings I used to get the number 1 bus into Manchester and walk up and down Oxford Street looking in all the music shops and theatre costume shops and then walk through Albert Square and make my way over to Shude Hill just to look in Highams music shop. They had what was then the only Hofner President guitar in Manchester, there was another shop on the same street which sold second hand guitars and I spent quite sometime in there it was called Godleys.

It was on one of these solo visits into town that I was walking up towards Oxford St when I noticed a man parked outside a sheet music shop unloading  bundles from the boot of his car. He was having some difficulty with his packages so I offered to help him unload, for which he was very grateful.

I saw him again about two weeks later and we said 'hello'. He asked me what I doing in Manchester on Saturdays so I told him of my interest in music. He then  asked me my name and asked would I like a Saturday job selling sheet music (I think it paid seven shillings and sixpence for the day).

I accepted and he said see you next Saturday at 9 o'clock prompt. 'By the way', he said, 'my name is Mr Fred Barratt.'

It was the following Saturday that I first walked through the doorway that was to change my life, and the lives of countless others who walked through the very same doorway,  for ever.

In a moment the whole world of music lay before me, things that you  could only dream of  before would now embrace me for the rest of my life.

The next couple of years went with a bit of a blur. I spent my Saturdays selling sheet music in the little corner shop on Oxford Street and running all over town. Mr Barratt had a business partner who was also called Fred (Fred Rhodes) and he was a really very nice man. They were both into brass band music and eventually the odd instrument would appear in the shop hoping to get a sale through their contacts in the brass band world.

It was not long after that the first guitar arrived at the shop; it was a Hofner Senator and I couldn't keep my eye’s or my hands off it. Eventually as more things were sold more arrived and instead of being a sheet music shop, it gradually became a bona fide music shop now proudly named “BARRATTS OF MANCHESTER” after its founder.

It was around this time (with the influence of Tommy Steele) that I, like lots of other kids around my age, decided to join the Merchant Navy.     It seemed that to be famous it was the thing to do, sort of an apprenticeship before you hit the big time, see the world, sow your wild oats, etc.

So I said goodbye to Oxford Street and Mr Barratt and headed off (with my parents permission) for a life on the open sea - little knowing how soon it would be before I would be back on Oxford Street,  back in the job that I would be in, one way or another, for the rest of my working life.

I left home on a very cold January morning (1958 I think) to catch the number 40 bus to Stockport Station where, with my ticket in hand provided by the Merchant Navy Training School, I waited for the train to arrive to take me to Gloucester.

Even the train was special - it was called “THE PINES EXPRESS”. On arrival at Gloucester station I met up with some other lads who were going to the same training school at Sharpness on board the Training Ship T.S. VINDICATRIX (that’s another story but half the intake had guitars and they were all far better players than me at the beginning. When I left it was a different kettle of fish).

I don’t remember his name though I do know he was from Bristol. This guy was so good that when he played the intro to 'Wake up little Susie (Everly Brothers)' it just blew me away. He taught me so many thing I didn’t know about - the many different ways of playing the guitar, even how to hold your plec (pick plectrum). I still play that way to this day and it has always stood me in good-stead and for that I thank him.

After 8 weeks I passed the final exams and wasallocated a port from which I would eventually sail, this was called a pool. Mine was Manchester (Salford docks). I was taken on by Manchester Liners and within two weeks I was on my way down the Manchester Ship Canal to Liverpool and then on to Dublin for two nights. From Dublin we went out into the western ocean to our next stop - Philadelphia USA.

The boat I was on was called the Manchester Shipper under Captain Hancock. When we arrived in Philly we were allowed ashore and you could sub out of your wages. Once you got past the coast guard and the medic’s you had to carry a card to say you had been looked at by them and you had nothing catching or nasty. On getting ashore I went to a place near the docks called Valentinos Coffe Bar where I met a guy called George Carbone. His brother looked after the Liberty Bell, so a quick visit was made and they made you feel really welcome.

I then got a taxi to down town, where I found a music shop and after about half an hour I emerged having purchased my first guitar it was made by Stella - now Gibson.

From Philly the boat went right down the eastern sea board calling at so many places - Norfolk, Chesapeke Bay and Wilmington NC where I bought an Ink Spots album and six pairs of socks. Then it was on to Jacksonville, Florida. It was here that I bought a Chuck Berry single 'Sweet Little Sixteen' from Stuarts Record Shop.

After this last stop we were heading for home. I had been away for 8 weeks in the USA but it had seemed like a life time. I enjoyed it but had already decided that it wasn't for me. The head cook was a nutter, the baker was suicidal and I never wanted to peel another spud in my life. Despite these things, it was a great thing to do for a 16 year old and an adventure I will never forget.

When I got back home I thought about going back to the shop and asking for a full time job, now that I was a man of the world and well travelled but instead I went to work for a company on the Manchester Stock Exchange called Bell, White and Hardy.

It sounded like some rock outfit but that could not be further away from the truth. It was awful, it smelt of old fags and whiskey breath. My job was as a filing clerk - how boring that was. I think I lasted about 6 mths before I was dimissed, sacked, had to leave the building and told never to darken their doorstep again.

All this was because I told one of the office staff to 'kiss my perpendicular'. It wasn't meant to be rude - it was a joke. I just liked the word PERPENDICULAR. Anyway, she told the office manager, he took the hump and told the boss, who then hauled me into his little piece of the emporia and to my disgrace (I don’t think) I was summarily told I was sacked.

The only thing I missed about this job was my lunch time visits to the Plaza on Oxford St, where the manager was a chap called Jimmy Savile whom I got to know quite well in those days.

A lot of guys who played in groups at that time but worked as well (semi pro we called it) used to meet there regulary. It was a guy called Tex who one day asked me where he could get a spare part for his guitar so naturally I suggested Barratts of Manchester and off he went.

I saw him some time later and he told me that he had been to Barratts and the young guy who served him was most helpful. I wondered who that could be as I knew it could not be Fred Barratt, as he was a lot older. The only other person I could think of was his son, whose name was Adrian.

I had only met him a couple of times when he came to the shop with his father. Anyway I didn't go to the shop or enquire any further. For the next 6 to 9 months I went from job to job and played with a few different groups (we didn't call them bands in those days). It was during this time whilst I was working in Handforth that I met an old friend from my boy scout days called Dave Smith who was quite a good guitar player. He introduced me to a guy named John Lee and with drummer Dave Randles, we formed a group called The Strangers.

One day we arranged to reherse at Johns house,when I got there he had a Vox amp with an echo unit in the back. It was the first one in Manchester. When I asked where he got it from he said Barratts on Oxford Street.

I said you know you would not believe this but I used to work there on Saturdays before I went into the Merchant Navy. The upshot of this was the following Saturday we all went into Barratts music shop.

I was a little surprised that Adrian remembered me, as we only met a few times but that didn't matter as everyone got on great and in the fullness of time  we all bought new instruments.

But me being me, I went to see Fred to ask which guitar he thought would suit me best, after all he was the man in the know. After much chinwagging and with Adrians help, I finally bought a Hofner President in sunburst. I think it cost 39 guineas and my mother had to sign the HP forms, for which I will be ever grateful.

This first guitar was unfortunately damaged by a catch inside the case. I took it back to the shop and because Fred knew me so well, he got Selmer of London to replace it for me at no cost to him or me, so I was back on the road.

By now it was late 1959. Cliff and the Drifters had arrived along with a host of other up and coming stars from both the USA and the UK. I can still remember so clearly the night I went to the Free Trade Hall to see 'The Kalins Twins'. The support group was Cliff Richard and The Drifter’s (later to be renamed the SHADOWS because of the US group The Drifters). Rock and roll was here but there was still this feeling in the air that something else was about to explode. It was like a tube of tooth paste waiting for someone to give it a big squeeze. By early 60 - after all the pub and club gigs that I had done with different groups, I finally went back to work at the shop. There was a good understanding between Adrian Barratt (who was now running the shop while Fred his dad pursued the brass band side of the business with his partner Fred Rhodes) and myself as there was only a year difference in our ages.

This  was the beginning of a very long and sometimes stormy friendship but was also the beginning of a most exciting time for both of us. The ground rules were set very early on, he was the bosses son so he was in charge, I was just second in command which wasn't easy when you are an up and coming rock star with an ego to match.

By this time I had played in what seemed to be loads of bands. It was during this early stint at the shop that John Lee and myself got back together and formed a new group called “THE HARBOUR LIGHTS TRIO”(trio got dropped quite quickly).

So sometime around '61 I left the shop once again to concentrate on the group but promised Adrian that if it didn’t work out I would come back to work for him again as we had a really good partnership going for us.

The Harbour Lights got off to a great start with new drummer Mike Foord  joining John and myself after the original drummer Pete left because of his job. It was now the finished article but I was never away from the shop because we were always buying new gear and one Saturday after a long consultation with Adrian, we splashed out on brand new up to date equipment having just secured a residency three nights a week at the Royal Oak Hotel (it was a pub but posh) in Alderly Edge Cheshire, you know the stockbroker belt.

I was the proud owner of a Chet Atkins Gretsch Tennesean and a Vox  AC30, John had a Hofner violin bass because a guy in a Liverpool group had one and Mike had a Ludvig Super Classic Drum kit, oyster pearl.

SCENE AT 6-30 ON GRANADA 

Someone had sqeezed the tube of tooth paste and the explosion had happened with a bloody BIG BIG BANG - THE BEATLES HAD ARRIVED and life would never be the same again for any of us. Not just would be pop stars but kids, young and old alike, mums, dads, vicars, nuns - you name it they loved them, yeah, yeah, yeah.

For me it wasn’t such a big surprise as in my early days at Barratts I used to go to the BBC quite frequently in Hulme and Dickenson Road, where they often did a spot for radio or in between the NDO sessions. You could say that we shared the same bacon butty - they weren’t big time, just another group trying bloody hard to make it. I only ever met them later 2 or 3 times after that but I’ll come back to that later.

One night when we were playing at the Oak, Adrian came up to see us play and I have to say he was very impressed (why would he not be, we were great). Anyway the real reason for his visit finally came out after we had finished the gig.

Over a pint or two after time he asked me to come back and work for him as shop manager. Sadly his dad Fred had passed away very suddenly and he was going to have to look after the brass band end of the business. After a very very long talk we decided that I could combine the two things as it was all about the same business, so yes there I was back in my beloved Oxford Street once again - working at the same shop. Once again the job offer had come from Mr Barratt albeit Mr Adrian Frederic Barratt Jnr known to his friends as”AFB”and if you were not a friend watch out ! But if you were a customer then he would always be your best friend.

Because I was still doing gigs with the Harbour Lights  and visiting the clubs around all town I used to meet all the top Manchester bands. Pete Cowap even came up to the Oak with Lek from Hermans Hermits and Pete got up and played three songs - Matchbox, High Heel Sneekers and I can’t remember the third one.

I found myself catering to all the wants and needs of the respective members of  each band that I had sold gear to or bands that wanted all sorts of group gear. Some of whom went on to be household names and some who didn't but were still as important at the time. The story from here on in will most likely not be in chronolodgical order as each person and band has its own story of how they passed through the “DOORWAY” and how the lives of each was transformed for fame and fortune, or not as the case maybe and those who reached the heights only to fall back down again and some who had already made it and would continue to do so to this day.   

Over time the lines have become a little blurred,  so I wll try to tell of the event featuring a particular person or place as that one story and the facts as I recall them.

Karl Denver

A friend of mine had invited me to go out with him and some other guys out of different bands one night to a well known pub called the “Yew Tree” in Wythenshawe where they had live music on.

On this particular night the highlight was “The Karl Denver Trio” with Karl on guitar and lead vocal, Jerry on bass and on lead guitar was a man named Brian Horton. I got to know all three very quickly and it wasn't long before they visited the shop.

Brian was from Wales and was a very nice man, he taught me how to play a demi-semi-Quaver up and down the first string. Sadly he was going deaf so he missed the moment of glory the trio had in the charts, when he was replaced by Kevin, an ex-BBC guitarist. He played on Whimowea, Marqeta and their other hits. Jerry was the quiet one and Karl was just himself;  a bit on the wild side (well, he was from Scotland). 

When he got his new flat he didn't have much, so I gave him an old record player we had hanging around. He could’nt say thank you enough. Well at least he appreciated the gesture.

George Harrison's guitar

I knew that the Beatles were in town because I had taken some gear the day before to the props department at Granada studio's. The props guy said they were due the next day.

The next morning around 10 o'clock a car pulls up outside the shop (Barratts Of Manchester) and out gets this guy dressed in an off white Mack style thing with leather buttons on it (very 60s). As he came in to the shop I recognized him as being the Beatles roadie, Neil Aspinall (the other roadie was a great guy Mal Evans).

He was carrying one of those beige Selmer guitar cases. Anyway he walked up to the counter where one of the staff said "Can I be of some help to you?" (more probably "wad-ya want mate?" ). He asked to speak to Brian Higham so the member of staff said who shall I say it is,his somewhat terse reply (that's Neil) was tell him "Its the Beatles". I came from behind the counter we shook hands and Neil explained that George had asked him to ask me to look at the tuners as he was having big problems tuning up. Well, the third tuner was bent where it had sustained a knock and three of the others were loose so I told Neil that they will have to be changed, to which Neil replied George said that he needed it for the concert tonight at the A.B.C. Ardwick Green (now the Apollo) and that I might be able to do it today as a special favor. Now these particular tuners or machine heads as we called them were the big grovers so the problem was finding some that day. I made some quick calls and lucky for me they had a set at head office in Denton. So I asked Neil to leave it with me and as I was gigging in Manchester that night I would drop it in at the Apollo in time for their gig. Neil then explained that they were doing Granada and then a photo session so he would need to borrow a guitar of some kind, it didn't matter what it was he said as it wouldn't be plugged in it was just for the pics and miming for the TV.

I had a quick look round the shop and we had a secondhand Maton MS-500, will that do the job and Neil said that it would so off he went Maton in hand. I drove to Denton where Adrian Barratt was waiting with the machine's, I picked them up drove back to the shop and changed to faulty ones (I still have them).

After I had closed the shop I went for a bite to eat and then went over to the Piccadilly Club to drop some stuff off for my gig (the harbourlights ) and just by chance I bumped into Norman Rossington who played the Beatles roadie in "A Hard Days Night". We had a quick drink and then took a cab together to the A.B.C. where we were met by the head of ABC and given the full VIP treatment.  We were ushered back stage and there as you can imagine there was lots of introductions and hand shaking, I met up with George and we disappeared to a small dressing room with the now repaired Gretsch andspent a good while tuning up, the Gent was fine but he also had a Gretsch Tennessean 12 string which Gretsch had done specially for him and that was a real bugger to tune (I think in the end he later gave it away to one of The Sounds Incorporated). Anyway, I spent the evening with them an watched the concert, spoke to Paul about bass string as you would, watched Coronation Street with John (in black and white) then set about putting the world to rights and discussed the advantages of short scale guitars (his Riccie was s/s) while drinking a most disgusting cup of tea out of a paper cup. Ringo was in the sounds dressing room looking, well, like Ringo. "How's it goin' whacker" was the greeting I got. Brian Epstien turned up and was very charming. The gig was great to watch from the wings but why the hell they bothered tuning up I don't know,you couldn't here a dammed thing for all the kids screaming,

John only had to point to the floor and the noise got louder if that was possible. As soon as they finished  they came straight off and passed the guitars to the roadies. We had a very quick hand shake and they ran and were in the vehicle that was at the stage door and drove off into the night.

That folks was my night "With The Beatles".  I went back to the Piccadilly Club did my gig at 12 o-clock and then went home a very happy andsatisfied little bunny.  

George called me a few days later and asked if he could hang onto the Maton for a while so I said fine keep it as long as you like and he did.

THE REST AS THEY SAY IS HISTORY.          PS I did something that night that I had never done before or since. I asked them for their autographs and I still have them to this day.

Just to put you in the picture, I had met the Beatles several times before the Maton Guitar episode. I used to go down to the BBC Playhouse in Hulme most mornings and then Dickinson Road to follow up deals or sales with the Northern Dance Orchestra.

There was this group from Liverpool that had a gig there on regular NDO sessions at the Playhouse - doing the bit in between. At the back of the Playhouse, there was a lady that had a sort of butty bar for coffee, bacon rolls and buttys. I would sit there for ages while the NDO rehearsed and recorded, waiting for them to have a break (whilst the boys did their bit in between) and as soon as they broke it was wheeler dealer time.

But like I said while the NDO were working, the boys would come to the butty bar for a ciggy and a snack. George smoked more than Fred Dibnah's traction engine - he could smoke three fags while having a butty and a cuppa.

We used to talk about this and that - mainly about guitars and how much you got per gig and where. They were always very chatty and witty with it. 

George and I were particularly chatty (hence the Maton thing ) but they were just another band trying to make a crust. I told Mal Evans that if they came to Manchester and had any problems to give me a ring at the shop.

On one occasion he did ring in a bit of a panic. The boys had come to Manchester to play a gig at the Oasis on Lloyd St. This was one of the biggest gigs in Manchester at the time. Well, the phone rang and, for those in the know, Barratts had two phone numbers. The number 236 0052 everyone knew but there was a lesser known one (236 4843) and it was  this number I had given to Mal Evans.

He was in a bit of a panic to say the least. It turns out that The Beatles roadie had come all the way from Liverpool to Manchester for the gig but Mal had left the microphones back home in Liverpool. At that time they were using the two sided Reslo ribbon mike's.

Anyway I told him not to panic and asked him what time were they doing a rehearsal or sound check. I then explained to Mal that I only had the latest model in stock which were the Reslo C.R.H. Directional which were one sided - to which he replied any thing would do just get them here before Neil and John throw a fit.

Off I went to the oasis with three Reslo C.R.H. mikes and 3 Valan stands (the CR2H came after '62 I think ).

As soon as I arrived outside the club, waiting for me was a very relieved Mal Evans. We went into the club where all the other gear was set up ready for the gig and I said to Mal that I would set up the mikes for him and because they hadn't used this type before, I would run through the PA set up with him.

All the guys were there and from the minute I started setting them up John Lennon never left my side, always asking questions like 'why was there only one side' and 'would it affect their sound'. I explained that they were directional and vocally it might improve things (now was that cheeky or what?).

By now Paul and George had become more interested, as instead of sharing one mike they now had two - but guess what, when I had finished setting up and they were ready to do a sound check Paul pushed his and George's mike together like as if they were one. I looked at Mal he looked at me and said that that was the way they like it and so it was. With Ringo perched on his drum kit, they did a bit of 'Some Other Guy', 'Standing there" and one or two others I can't remember.

Afterwards they all said how good the sound was and John in paticular was highly delighted and said that they might buy some at a later date (yeah yeah yeah we've heard that one before ).

Anyway I was just glad to help Mal out of his predicament and was chuffed that the boys were so pleased. There was lots of thanks, joking and hand shaking as I said 'see ya' and left to go back to the shop. Mal rang the next day and said that he had  left the gear at the Oasis with the manager and that they were in a safe place. He also thanked me personally and Barratts Of Manchester for pulling out all the stops to help out.

As we now know, they would become the biggest band the world would ever see. 

This story is dedicated to the memory Adrian Barratt who was a great friend and great influence on the Manchester music scene throughout the 60s and 70s until his untimely departure from the job to which he devoted his life and to whom I owe a great debt.

Steak and kidney pies, meat and potato pies and the Beatles

Steak and kidney pie's, meat and potato pie's and the Beatles, now that seems like an unlikely marriage but here is how it came about.         

I was sitting in my local pub in Cheadle village (Cheshire) - the George and Dragon. I don't remember what day it was - it might have been a Thursday because that was my day off from the shop.   

As I sat there gazing out of the window across towards Cheadle Green, I saw a white van turning into the pub car park. You had to go through an archway to reach the car park at the rear of the pub.  A couple of minutes later, these four leather clad figures appeared walking past the window where I was sitting.

I thought 'I know those faces'. First John Lennon, then Paul McCartney and George Harrison, then finally Ringo Starr passed the window. He looked in the pub window and winked at me. I had met them before.

Next door to the George and Dragon was a very high class confectioner and bakery. The actual bakery was in Ashfield Road where I lived at No 2 and was called The Premier Cafe Bakery.

Well, the boys had gone into the shop so I went outside the pub and when they came out, they had all bought steak pie's and meat and potato pies.

After the 'hellos' and 'what are you doing here' with everybody talking with mouths full of pie crust and potato, we all went into the pub tap room for a drink and they sat there eating their pies. 

You see, things were different in those days. You could take your own grub in the tap room in this pub. Some of the local council workers used to have their buttys in there at lunch time and the land lady never used to mind. The council workers didn't know what to make of these long haired rockers from Liverpool.

John was in stitches laughing at old Perry the road sweeper in the corner who had taken his teeth out and put them on the table whilst he sucked on his butty. By this time the whole of the tap room was laughing including me but to this day I don't know what at. George ended up having to go outside, he was that doubled up with laughter. Paul and Ringo were also doubled up. 

The landlord and landlady, Frank and Marjorie Bagnall, heard all the commotion and came to investigate. They were good friends of my family, so I made the introductions and everybody chatted for a while until it was time for the boys to leave.

We went out to the car park, they all jumped in the van, we said our goodbye's and waved them off. 

The Beatles had just had lunch in my local pub, eating pies from my local shop - now ain't that something. 

Marjorie Bagnall has told this story of how the Beatles visited her pub so many times and why not! Sadly Frank passed away some years later but good old Marjorie is still truckin on and lives in Timperley Village to this day.

She still tells the story whenever I see her and it has now gone down in folk lore in Cheadle Village.   I think we should have put a sign up saying "THE BEATLES WERE HERE" with thanks to Frank Wienholts (the owner of the Premier Cafe Bakery). 

THE REST SHALL WE SAY ONCE AGAIN IS HISTORY, but it has been a pleasure to tell this little story again.   

Buddy Rich

It  was one of those usual Saturday mornings in the shop - very busy, all the guys from all the bands around buying stuff  ready for that evening's gig.

Some would be buying new gear which they had saved all their gig money for over a period of time. The thing a lot of bands did was to save all the money and then re-kit the drummer. Save then re-kit the lead guitar and so on until all the band had been re-kitted out with bright shiny new gear and there was always plenty of haggling going on as they sought to get what they could for old gear which was put in as part exchange. Sometimes band members would spend the whole day in the shop; first dealing with me and then with Adrian or Clive Neale - just waiting till they could squeeze the last quid  usually out of Adrian as he always had the last say (well, he was the boss).

On this particular Saturday, I had arranged for a drummer from a local band to come in to look at a second hand  Ludwig super classic drum kit finished in blue oyster pearl. You would never know it was second hand and though it had only one owner from new and had very low mileage, it had done its fair share of gigs.    I knew this drum kit well as it belonged to my drummer Mike Foord of 'The Harbour Lights', who had recently left the band due to work commitments and with A.F.B’s permission, we were selling it for him.

The guy who came in to see the kit was over the moon with it and bought it as soon as he found out that it came complete with cases, cymbals and just about everything  that a drummer needed to be on the road and gigging. It was a cash deal so a figure was soon agreed on and we shook on the deal.

In those days, if you bought a new or second hand guitar or drum kit you would make the deal sweeter by giving the customer (you usually knew them anyway) a set of strings or a couple of sets of sticks If it was a sax player we would give them some old second hand Rico reeds that had been left on the floor at the playhouse or the B.B.C by the N.D.O.player’s….just joking Paul..    I digress…….

From Paul: Luxury! I used to buy mine from Jim Reno's and they tasted like they had been hidden somewhere private for the past few weeks :-)

With the above in mind, I invited the customer over to the stick bar where we always kept a good selection of different makes ie.Ludwig, Premier, Slingerland, etc.   Well, as I said before it was a very busy Saturday and the shop was packed.

I took my customer over to the stick and said help yourself to a couple pairs of sticks. Now with the best will in the world these Saturdays could be a little trying and fractious as with every genuine customer you got a small section of people that just mithered you to death about nothing at all or how Granny burnt the kitchen down or they were just browsing but that is the nature of retail. 

On this occasion whilst my customer was selecting his drum sticks, when a guy behind me tapped me on the shoulder and was about to say something when I said "Excuse me but I am just with this customer". Once again he tapped me on the shoulder, which by now was beginning to get on my wick. 

Once again he tapped me on the shoulder this time saying to me could I pick some sticks out for Buddy Rich. Thinking that he was taking the mick I replied “WHY DON'T YOU LET HIM PICK HIS OWN BLOODY STICKS”.  

It was at this point that over my left shoulder right next to my ear  a very deep drawl of an American accent said “Well thank you very much sir, if I could just look at the Slingerland sticks I will be out of your way in no time at all”.  

As I turned to my left I found myself face to face with one of the greatest drummers in the world, Mr Buddy Rich himself. Its not often that I get stuck for words and I didn't on this occasion.

I said hello and we shook hands and he stayed in the shop for about an hour, chatting to all the would be world class drummers and customers that were in the shop at that time. He said how much he liked the shop and how busy it was and also how he loved coming to Manchester.

He shook hands with Adrian and myself and walked out “The Doorway”” and off up Oxford Street to do his gig.

I didn't charge him for the sticks that he selected and my customer had something to tell his grand kids, that he had met the great Buddy Rich - the guy who told Frank Sinatra where to stick it (but I believe that they made up some years later).