Gentlemen Friends!
Friends of the band share their memories…
…from the early years to recent times.
Presented here with huge thanks to everyone who contributed. In particular, the kind, generous memories of our inestimable bandmate, Ted Crum.
Featuring contributions from:
Genevieve Tudor <> Maggie Coleman <> Larry Gilbert <> Keith Donnelly <> Wilf & Jean Feely <> John Meechan <> Mick McTiernan <> George Van Ristell <> Graham Bradshaw <> Shona Patterson <> Sue Bird < Chris & Liz Miles
Genevieve Tudor
Presenter of Genevieve Tudor’s Sunday Folk on BBC Radio Shropshire.
Genevieve’s radio show has been keeping the folk community readily supplied with great music, interviews and features for years.
Way back in the ‘70s I spent a lot of my formative years sitting in a small pub in Campion Terrace, Leamington Spa.
I had discovered “folk music” and had been directed to this hostelry by some well meaning soul because it was full of singers.
And there I sat, in the smoky little room, downing pints of Ansell’s bitter and worshipping at the feet of Barry White who sat, like a great fisherman-smocked Buddha, creating a small pile of cigarette ash by the end of the bench.
This was the famous Somerville Arms, hosted by John Chater - a master of wit and lightning repartee.
And we drank and smoked and sang...and sometimes we stayed next door with Bob Corbishley...
I don’t remember how the Gents came to be.
I remember Dan Dorning and Martin Cole as a duo playing at the White Horse Folk Club, with Deidre on the door “...will you tek yer glasses down to the bar...” filling up my pint mug with ale when I sang. And Ted Crum with his amazing talent for harmonies and getting a tune out of any instrument he picked up.
Somewhere along the line they must have bumped in to Phil Ferrar and Jem Patterson.
It was all pretty organic. I don’t remember any rehearsals...
But then after a few pints of ale it all got a bit hazy.
Did we all go to Durham? I have a photo so it must have happened.
I do remember some splendid singing and playing.
Oh Martin, Ted, Smith and Dan
Fie man fie
Sing in tune when they can
Oh what a row
Oh Martin, Ted, Smith and Dan
A sight to sober any man...
There was the Somerville Gentlemen’s Singers - containing the aforementioned Smith and the fulsome Barry and the band. The Somerville Gentleman’s band.
I have the LP. They were very good.
I’m so pleased I saw the reunion at Warwick last year.
And contrary to what it said on a card on the wall of the smoke room above Barry’s head
Nostalgia IS what it used to be
Who did put the punk in acupuncture by the way?
Genevieve Tudor
Maggie Coleman
Founder and curator of the fabulous White Horse Folk Club, in Royal Leamington Spa. This was where the Somervilles came to life on Sunday nights in the 70’s.
I met Martin and Dan in 1974 when they were a duo called Oken’s Feast. They ran a great folk club at a pub called the Bulldog in Whitnash, Leamington Spa. I started singing there regularly and that is where I met Ted, who was also a regular performer.
Then the landlord changed and our club was no longer welcome. Dan and Martin seemed resigned to calling it a day, but I was devastated. It seemed to me that we had a great thing going, and I wanted it to continue.
I looked around and found a small, scruffy upstairs room at a pub called the White Horse, where we would be welcome on Sundays, free of charge. To my dismay the lads said that they didn’t want the responsibility of running another club, but then they suggested that I could run it and they would be happy to be the resident band.
The opening night was Sunday, 26th January 1975 and the room was packed. Word had got round!
< PHOTO: Maggie with Ted, Phil and Martin. In the front, Keith Donnelly with hair, and Martin Oram - Waterfall - during the recording of ‘Rainbow Lady’ for their LP ‘The Flight of the Day’ We didn’t book guests, we were always just a singers’ club, but with so much local talent that was never a problem. >
Ted was there, right from the start, also Keith Donnelly and Martyn Oram, aka Waterfall, ( who later became the club’s residents,) and many other local groups. As the months went on Ted became part of Oken’s Feast and then one night a band called Riff Raff turned up and went down a storm. Phil and Jem kept coming back and something exciting started to happen.
But what really made things gel was the weekly informal get-together at the Somerville Arms in Leamington, which just so happened to be Ted’s local! I had also started a ladies’ clog dancing group and so on some nights we all met up in the small back room of the ‘Ville. It was often buzzing with singers, musicians and dancers. It was a wonderful melting pot and out of it eventually came the Somerville’s Gentlemen’s Band and the White Horse Road Show. Great times!
Maggie Coleman
“I found this old photo [below], think you were probably still Oken's Feast at this point, but on the cusp. I still have the club book and the first mention of Riff Raff is July 13th 1975, so this must be a few months later when you started to come over on your own. ( and sometimes with Jem?)” MC
< PHOTO BELOW: The White Horse Cloggers, Maggie standing on far right, next to Debbie (“Take-Your-Glasses-Back-To-The-Bar!!”) and in the middle Lesley Buckley (sadly passed). Shona Patterson (Jem’s wife) seated far left. >
Larry “Lazlo” Gilbert
The fifth member of the band, Lazlo was our trusty sound engineer in the years we used a Bose sound system, but first and foremost a great friend, known for turning Ted’s mic down whenever he introduced Laz as our ‘Deaf Sound Engineer!’ Bless you, Larry!
In 1978, whilst working at Coventry University, I organised a series of folk nights in the Senior Common Room with some local singers and bands. Then a colleague, Shona from the admin offices, approached me and said that her husband was in a folk band and they would like to play at the next folk night. The band was called The Somerville Gentlemen’s Band. I had never seen or heard of the band before so didn’t know what to expect.
The night came and four very affable gents turned up with a shed load of instruments and I thought to myself “we could be in for a good night”. How wrong I was. We had an absolutely brilliant night! I became a fan right there and then.
They asked if I would take some promo photographs which I was glad to do.
< PHOTO: Larry’s classic photo of the music stand, set up in his photography studio at Lanchester Polytechninc, Coventry. >
During several photoshoots we became good friends and when they purchased a new PA system and asked if I would be their sound engineer it was a complete no-brainer.
The Gent’s were quick to make me feel a valued part of the band. Ted would at some point during the performances introduce each member of the band usually with a comic quip. I was always included in the introductions even though he did dub me “The only deaf sound engineer in the world” I of course had control of the microphones and during one longer than average intro I turned off his microphone to a great deal of laughter from band and audience alike and profuse apologies from Ted. Needless to say that the turning off of the mic and the abject apologies became part of future shows.
The Band had chosen the beautiful Bose 802 speakers for the PA system often far better than the equipment offered at some of the festivals. This led to a couple of festival organisers asking if they could use our PA for the whole concert rather than just the Gent’s. This meant that I got to mix for some of the other top acts of the folk world.
One of these festivals was Winchester. The venue was the Winchester Court Room. Because of the layout, the stage was at the back of the room with the entrance door right next to the stage and the mixing desk was at the other end of the room which meant that I had to sit in the Judge’s Chair. It wasn’t Teds quip about it being a change for me to be that side of the bar that made this concert so memorable, it was because of the overrun. The concert was hosted by the local folk club and started around 7:30 and the Gent’s were due to perform at around 8:30pm. As there wasn’t a refreshments bar at the venue they brought me a pint from the pub across the road and then settled down there to await their turn.
Then began the floor singers marathon!
8 o’clock came and one fairly happy Gent brought me another pint. At 8:30 a slightly happier Gent arrived with another pint. 9:00 an even happier Gent and a pint. At 9:30 a very Happy Gent and a pint. At 10 o’clock the marathon ordeal was finally over and as the last singer was leaving the stage the door opened about a foot and Giant’s head appeared around the door, then just below Phil’s head appeared, then Jem peeped around and last of all and very nearly on the ground came Ted’s head. By this time the audience was in fits of laughter and the organiser had a worried look on his face.
The first song was Yarmouth Town. Phil played bouzouki on this song and found it more comfortable to sit on a high stool with one foot on the side stretcher. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a side stretcher. Avoiding a big heap on the floor he righted himself and struck up the rhythmic chord intro only to then break into the theme tune to Zorba The Greek! After some quizzical looks, the rest of the band joined in and then seamlessly switched back to Yarmouth Town.
This intro (without the stool problem) was used a couple of times after that.
The organiser needn’t have worried. Professional as ever the performance was one of their finest and funniest.
< PHOTO: A festival performance. Phil’s bouzouki was always a tricky beast to play, and after the Winchester stool incident he was more careful! >
I have been involved with music and traveling bands for over 55 years and I can honestly say that the time I spent with the Somerville Gentlemen’s Band has yet to be bettered.
I learnt so much about stagecraft and ceilidhs from the Gent’s and it was a great help in my transition from sound engineer to caller when the band decided to take a break.
Around 1985 a group of musicians who were regulars at the Wurzel Bush Folk Club had formed a band called Craven’s Revel. Purely on the strength of my association with The Somerville Gentlemen’s Band they asked if I would help them with getting started as a ceilidh band and also to be their caller. For the next ten years I called for a number of bands and also a couple of gigs for Giant’s new band the name of which escapes me.
I then took a five year break from calling and singing, moved to Lincolnshire and then back to Leicestershire in 2000.
I signed up with a few ceilidh/barn dance agents and started to get gigs with various bands in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Oxfordshire. I was the regular caller with The Bang on the Wall Band for many years and also called for The Hooky Band, Jigabit, The Celebration Barn Dance Band and Fifteen String Ceilidh Band. I am now the regular caller for the local band 3 Around 3.
I was privileged to be asked to call four gigs with The Jam and Crumpet Band before this terrible virus took our beloved Ted.
I have also called for Moggy in the Wood and when Richard Pinnock broke his leg I suggested they draft in Phil Ferrar for a couple of gigs whilst he recovered.
That only leaves Jem that hasn’t been in a band when I have been calling. Maybe we can put that right some day.
So if it wasn’t for that fateful night back in 1978 I would not have had the opportunity to work with so many talented bands and musicians.
Thank you, The Somerville Gentlemen’s Band.
Larry Gilbert
< PHOTO: Phil’s stag weekend in Barmouth, 1982. Breakfast. Clockwise: Laz, Colin Viner, Ted, Martin and Kim “Tonto” Sabido. >
Keith Donnelly
Singer, songwriter, original performer and all-round funny guy, Keith was one of the regulars at the White Horse Folk Club in the 1970’s, appearing with Martin Oram as the duo ‘Waterfall’.
FOR TED…
Yay! Ted's doing a turn!'
I first saw Ted do a turn, at the wonderful White Horse Folk Club (best Folk Club in the world by the way), circa '75, I reckon.
Every single time I've seen him get up to do a turn since that very first time (whether Solo or with Sue, Steamchicken or the Somervilles... [Hmm - that’s a lot of S's!]), this little voice in my head has said - 'Yay! Ted's doing a turn!'. His wit, charisma, enthusiasm and talent, would instantly give a lift to any concert, show or club he was performing at. I've seen him make many an average night good, many a good night better, and, truth be told, he's probably singlehandedly prevented a fair few nights from being pretty flaming poor!
'Yay! Ted's doing a turn!'
I strongly suspect I'm not the only one to have heard those five little words in my head!
When we (Waterfall) recorded our 'Flight of The Day' album a couple of years ago, in 1977, Ted was top of our list of 'Folk Friends' invited to sing backing vocals.
Thanks for all the great music, smiles and belly laughs Ted. I still can't believe that never again will any of us be able to say -
'Yay! Ted's doing a turn!'
Keith Donnelly
Wilf & Jean Feely
Wilf and Jean were neighbours of Ted’s in Leamington’s Campion Terrace, Wilf often shared a glass or three with the Gents at the Somerville Arms in the 70’s and 80’s.
< PHOTO: Wilf with Ted and Giant in the Summer of ‘76. >
Memories of Ted Crum
Ted moved in next door to us as a young single man in the early 1970s. Rob Corbishly had bought the house in our terrace and Ted and friends were lodgers. It was a very lively household!
The Somerville Arms – a Real Ale Pub - was three doors away and the back room entertained a very lively crowd for sing songs (mostly folk) and general camaraderie – even a ‘cheer up B----- February’ week where there was poetry reading, three legged races etc. It was from the impromptu music sessions that the fabulous Somerville Gentleman’s Band was initiated.
The lively crowd at no.10 decided to hone their climbing skills by regularly scaling the roof of the house and a trip to the Lake District to such an extent that the Pub became referred to as the Alpine and Drinking Pub. When a new pub sign was needed, Terry Hunt – also a Campion Terrace resident and artist - designed the sign to incorporate the ‘alpine climbing’ and the then Somerville Arms Cricket Team.
Ted installed central heating into our (usually very cold) house after Robert had managed to get some ‘scrap’ radiators for us )5 years after moving in).
One evening Ted called around just as our baby daughter was very unwell and having a febrile convulsion. He had a children’s story book and the older child thrust upon him and was told to sit on the stairs to read to her whilst we got ready to go to the hospital and then he had to sit in the back of the car with her whilst we all raced off.
Ted got to know the children well, so it was not a surprise to us when he told our younger daughter (now 3yrs old) to be quiet. Unfortunately he was performing with the Somerville Gentleman’s Band on the stage at Sidmouth Folk Festival. Our daughter was playing in the sand that was strewn on the floor of the big barn used for the Festival, and was chattering to a friend. The audience reacted badly and booed him in spite of Wilf shouting ‘but he knows her’! This must have seriously resonated with Ted as he reminded our daughter of this event every time he saw her.
They were very happy and lively days when we were all young.
John Meechan
John is a great caller. For numerous years, when then band went out as a ceilidh band, John was more often than not, on the mic calling the dances and contributing to the band’s onstage (and offstage) antics.
I don’t really remember how I got to be calling ceilidhs with The Somerville Gentleman’s Band, however I knew Ted through Sue, and I suspect that was the connection.
The band normally consisted of Ted, Phil, Jem and Martin often with the addition of Kate Sayer and Andy Gotts. I think our first ceilidh was at Warwick Court House and we seemed to hit it off straight away sharing a similar sense of humour. My philosophy has always been to work to the band’s strengths and that would create a more successful event. I was quickly assimilated into the Somerville Gents ‘family’.
We were booked at ceilidhs throughout the land. Memorable ones included Fylde and Banbury Folk Festivals and particular mention must be made of Ted and Sue’s Wedding Ceilidh again at Warwick Court House.
< PHOTO: Fylde Festival - The Somerville Gentlemen’s Dance Band, with Kate Sayer and Andy Gotts, and John Meechan in sultry Columbian drug baron pose! >
Mick McTiernan
Mick has been friends with Ted and the band for more than half a century. His liquor-tasting sessions with Ted were legendary! Mick called for dances with the band on several memorable (if only we could remember them!) occasions.
I can’t recall exactly when I first met Ted, but it was sometime in the mid to late 1970s. I had seen him in and around folk clubs in the Coventry/Rugby area but never got to know him until I got involved with helping out on the door at the Warwick Ceilidhs. I got to know him much better when I moved to Leamington in 1978/79.
Ted was not a huge drinker but he did usually enjoy a glass of scotch or two. However, there was one occasion when he felt the need to take drastic action with respect to a bottle of whisky. We were on a camping holiday in Brittany and it seemed like a good idea at the time to use the opportunity of the Duty Free shop on board the car ferry to get a load of spirits in order to test out the Sainsburys’ Book of Cocktails which, fortunately, I had bought along. I didn’t drink a lot of Scotch so I had been prepared to bow to ETC’s superior knowledge in this field, and we had purchased a bottle of the ferry company’s house brand, ‘Inverhouse’ – or some such similar name. Suffice to say it was not a brand either of us recognised, but it had been cheap, even for duty-free rates. On our first evening on a French campsite we dutifully prepared and consumed several or more cocktails without any ill effects, and in due course the ladies retired, leaving Ted and I to sit up watching the stars and generally putting the world to rights. Someone, I suspect it was Ted, suggested we have a whisky as a night cap and out came an unopened bottle of duty-free scotch.
The bottle was opened and two generous measures were poured. Ted took a mouthful of his and then, in what can only be described as a Tom and Jerry moment, promptly sprayed the whisky out of his mouth in a less than graceful arc across the campsite. I took the smallest of sips and resisted the urge to do likewise. It was without doubt the vilest concoction ever to be mis-sold under the name of ‘whisky’. My abiding memory of that evening is Ted standing up in the middle of the campsite solemnly pouring the whole of the remainder of the bottle of whisky out onto the ground whilst muttering vile oaths and threats at everybody associated with the production and sale of the liquid.
The Sainsburys’ Book of Cocktails came in handy later on another trip. The destination this time was Alderney and the party consisted of most of the Coventry Mummers and various stalwarts of several or more local folk clubs, all of us stopping in a number of cottages in St. Anne. In a moment of madness, it was decided to make use of the availability of tax-free spirits and to have a cocktail party in one of the houses. I don’t quite know how we managed to arrange it, but towards the end of the evening, Ted and I ended up behind the bar making cocktails for the rest of the crew. I do recall that we took it in turns for one of us to read out the ingredients and instructions from the Sainsburys book, while the other one made some sort of passing attempt at mixing roughly the right proportion of the right ingredients, or if the specific ingredient was not available, substituting something else that they felt might work. Naturally we than had to sample the mixture to ensure we weren’t poisoning the others. I think we judged the evening a success in that both of us managed to get home to our respective beds without too much difficulty, which is more than could be said for one of the party who had cocktailed well, if not wisely.
Ted definitely knew his limits, usually. One night he had been to dinner at my house and for some reason we taken to drinking Apflekorn – a rather powerful German apple flavoured schnapps. At the end of the evening, Ted, who was walking home, stood up to go but, and I’m trying to put this politely, had some minor difficulty with his vertical hold. Out of the kindness of my heart and with no regard whatsoever for his, or anybody else’s, safety, I suggested to him that he was a bit too drunk to do the 20-minute walk home and offered him the use of my car instead. Fortunately for both of us he declined my offer, but that didn’t stop him reminding me of it for the next 40 years
< PHOTO: Mick calling for the band, New Year’s Eve, Barmouth, 1979.
I didn’t do that much calling with the Gents, but two of the occasions when I did stick in my memory.
The first outing with them that sticks in my mind was a New Year’s Eve Ceilidh for the Lifeboat at Barmouth, I suspect it was 1979, because the album had been completed, but not yet released. Stopping in one of the upstairs rooms at the Last Inn seemed like a good idea, at least Ted told us it was fine beforehand. What he hadn’t told us was that the room contained the pub’s ice-making machine, a device which proceeded to make ice, very loudly, all through the night. When challenged about this the following morning, ETC’s response was along the lines of “Yes, it was a bugger when I had to sleep in there as well. Kept me awake all night.”
The ceilidh was a splendid affair and, as usual, the band went down a storm. Given that it was New Year’s Eve it would probably be accurate to say that amongst the audience at least, some drink had been taken; the Gents, of course, being the most abstemious of bands, only consumed the free drinks being offered to them all night long out of simple politeness to the donors. The plan had been to finish at 00.30, at least it was advertised as such. Come 00.30, the place was still heaving and the bar was still serving scotch as quickly as it could be poured. We had figured that with an encore or two we could probably knock off by 01.00., but since we were staying just up the road and the gear was going to be left in the hall until the following morning, there seemed no great urgency to wrap things up. By 01.00 we were beginning to get a bit concerned that we’d never get out of the place.
Someone, I think it was Martin, ‘volunteered’ me to go and have a word with the organiser. Given that we were in Wales and that the licencing laws had not at that time been liberalised, it seemed like a good idea to suggest that since the bar was now clearly operating illegally, it might be prudent to call it a night. This suggestion was met with scorn and derision, it being pointed out to me that the two of the rowdiest characters sat around a table in the corner were the local licencing magistrate and his mate, the local Assistant Chief Constable. I think we finally got off the stage about 02.00. Upon us finishing, I seem to recall a bottle of Scotch being presented to the band, but I certainly don’t recall hearing the ice machine that night.
The second memorable ceilidh was a somewhat cold evening in January or February when we got booked for a ceilidh just south of Sheffield or Rotherham of all places. The trip from Leamington up the motorway wasn’t too bad, I think there were four or five of us crammed into a Hillman Hunter(?). The ceilidh went well and then we started back down the M1. Unfortunately, between leaving Leamington in the late afternoon and then leaving Sheffield in the early morning, the temperature had dropped a tad; suffice to say that on the journey home, the motorway was lined with brass monkeys, each looking for a missing portion of his anatomy. There was clearly something wrong with the heating system in the car, any attempt to turn it on resulted in blasts of ice cold air being directed at those in the front of the car which lead in its turn to an argument about who was going to sit in the back of the car. Matters were not improved by the passenger in the front having to continually clear the ice building up on the inside of the windscreen. Fortunately, it didn’t snow.
Mick McTiernan
George Van Ristell
Mandolin-player extraordinaire, George was a member of Sneak’s Noise, residents at the Virgins & Castle in Kenilworth, in the heady days of the 70’s.
I remember Ted when he came and sang at the Virgins and Castle in Kenilworth. He was the Voice of Leamington and radiated with such enthusiasm being the front man of the Somerville Gentlemen's Band. So, it's no surprise he went on to lead several bands later on.
He really put everything into his playing. I used to think this chap's got so much energy.
One associates songs with a specific artists. One such song for me is "At the Fair at Weyhill" I straight away think of The Somerville Gentlemen and the man in front is "Ted Crum" himself....He's the man..............
George Van Ristell
Phil says: “George is one of the finest mandolin players I’ve ever seen and heard. I wish I had his clean, exact style. I also wish I had his Gibson mandolin!”
Graham Bradshaw
Graham has known the band for donkey’s years! He’s played and sung in so many bands and grown a successful business hiring PA equipment to needy folk artists and bands at festivals and concerts, near and far.
Ramblings of an old git.
Phil asked me to write some recollections of the Gents for the website. This will seem like a lot of aimless ramblings – memories are a bit hazy during this period. This was the 60s, 70s and 80s, when a lot was happening, but most of all, a lot of beer got drunk, and the crucial brain cells probably didn’t survive!!
I first moved to Coventry from more southern climes in 1970, but had ventured to the Midlands on many occasions during the 60s. I have a recollection of playing at the Fox and Vivian in Leamington sometime in the late 60s. This was probably where I first met Tool (John McIntosh) and I think Ted Crum was around then. Was this still the Heart of England Folk Group, or had Sneak’s Noise (of whom Ted was a founder member) started by then? Hard to remember. When I moved to Cov, I soon assimilated into the burgeoning local folk scene. I already had a few friends – Barry Skinner, Jim Brannigan, Martin Jenkins amongst others. I used to go to Sneak’s Log Fire club in Leamington, and later when they moved to the Virgins and Castle in Kenilworth. Ted Crum was certainly around then and I have memories of Martin Cole playing there. In 1975, I was invited to join Sneaks, and we were resident at the Virgins until 1976. We used to go along to Maggie Coleman’s Sunday club at the White Hart in Leamington, and various members of the Gents were around then. I went along to the Somerville pub on several occasions where the Somerville Gentlemen’s Singers were getting going – although it was always so packed you could hardly get in that small bar.
After a disagreement with the landlord at the Virgins, we moved to the Burnt Post in Coventry. I remember the early incarnation of the Somerville Gents coming and playing there. As they became more established, we booked them several times, and they were always a popular ‘turn’. In 1983 I started my radio show on Mercia Sound, and remember the Gents bringing out their LP, “Far from Home”. I featured it on the show and regularly played tracks from it. This was a big deal at the time – they had an album out and we (Sneaks Noise) never did!! Mind you, if the truth be told, they were much better than us. They played more instruments, and always seemed to get more gigs. There was never any rivalry though, as I recall. We were just two groups on the local scene.
The Gents later went on to expand into a ceilidh band which made them even busier, getting quite a few festival slots as well as clubs. Sneaks only did song clubs, although Tool and George van Ristell were both also in Peeping Tom, as was Ted Crum for a few years. I think it must have been when the Gents ceilidh band got going that he left PT.
The Gents were very involved with the start of Warwick Folk Festival. They played on the first one as well as providing their PA system for the main concert in the Lord Leycester Hotel.
I was also a musician member of Earlsdon Morris during this period, and I remember various members of the Gents getting involved at various times. It was a time when the same people would pop up all over the place. It was an exciting time, and we were all young with lots of enthusiasm and stamina.
It seems like they sort of fizzled out towards the end of the 80s, maybe early 90s, when day jobs and families took them all off in different directions, and the band was no longer logistically possible. I remember Peeping Tom buying their trailer which had transported all their gear to gigs. I also bought part of their PA system for my own growing PA company.
After that I didn’t really see much of them, apart from Ted who was still living in Leamington, and who started a new band with Andrew Sharpe and Bill Pound – the Great White Steamchicken. I worked with them quite a bit and remained close friends.
When I heard the Gents were going to do a reunion at the Bridgehouse Theatre at Warwick Boys School, it was disappointing that I was unable to be there due to conflicting commitments. However, I heard how marvellous it was, and it was a massive shock when shortly afterwards, poor old Ted succumbed to the dreaded virus.
I was so pleased to learn that another reunion is planned for April 2021, when hopefully things will be back to normal. I fully intend to be involved this time, when we can celebrate the band’s legacy and the memory of Edward Tudor Crum – a lovely man who had been a friend for well over 50 years.
Here’s to the Gents. Cheers!!
Graham Bradshaw
Shona Patterson
The band’s Fairy Godmother, having bestowed great mountains of exquisite food and much-needed sustenance and comfort on the chaps since the beginning of time.
What to say about Ted ? We are lucky enough to have known him for over forty years , the greater proportion of our lives. He was one of the kindest people we have ever encountered, with a gift for the exact words or acts required to make one feel better.
He had a marvellous sense of humour, expert with the bon mot but never malicious or cruel .
There will be numerous testaments to his prodigious musical talent - his virtuosity and the range of his ability were cause for admiration and wonder , even after so many years of listening to him play and sing.
The enduring memory of Ted will be of his being so human and so much fun and joy. His love for and pride in his family and gift for friendship will live on in all of us fortunate to have travelled some of the path with him . Put simply , we loved him.
Shona Patterson
< PHOTO: An impromptu stomping with the White Horse Cloggers! Shona next to Maggie Coleman. >
Sue Bird
A great friend from the early times, Sue is now teaching in Costa Rica. We’re missing you, Sue!
I remember so fondly the fun and happy times with a group of very talented musicians who were also very dear friends.
Ted was a lovely man who will be missed so very much - his amazing musical skills will remain as special memories.
(She also wrote: “I don't know if this will reach you but yours is the only e-mail I've been able to find. I've just heard from Bob and Suzy about the very, very sad news that Ted has died from corona virus. Can you please pass on my condolences to Sue and his family although I'm not really sure Sue will remember me.
And of course to you and all of his Somerville Gentlemen band members - I know you will be remembering him in style and with humour. He was such a lovely, lovely man as well as an incredibly talented musician.
I just missed your reunion by a week sadly but now have the website so that is very special.
I'm still here in Costa Rica - there's been a very strict lockdown and no planes in or out at the moment but I do hope that things will change. I hear there is going to be a memorial in April and I do hope that I will be there and will be able to go.
It was so good to see you and Jem (albeit at Lesley"s funeral) and I do really hope we will have a chance to meet up again.
With much love to all of you and your families”)
Sue Bird
< PHOTO: Sue, with Jem being slightly over-protective!
Chris & Liz Miles
Chris and Liz have been great friends of the band, attending as many gigs as possible in the past two decades. When Jem and Phil struggled to think of a suitable title for a song about a sad individual who fancied himself as an Italian-styled lothario, Liz solved the puzzle with the title “Crassanova!”
The 40 year reunion at the Bridge House theatre on 21st September 2019 was a marvellous celebration of music, families and lasting friendship. It's hard to accept how much things have changed in such a short time. We feel very lucky to have been around for the post-reunion part of the Somerville Gents’ story. Not only have we enjoyed their music on numerous occasions but we have met many lovely people into the bargain.
Liz and Chris Miles
