Nottingham / Mansfield rock and roll group Oct/Nov 1960 – May 1961.
Forerunner to The Jaybirds (Nottingham / Mansfield sixties local legends).
To see where this fits in with the whole ‘JAYBIRDS’ story go here.
Alvin Lee and Leo Lyons had both followed up an advertisment in the Nottingham Evening Post to join Mansfield group ‘The Atomites’ who had in their ranks Roy Cooper on rhythm guitar and Pete Evans on drums. Pete was often known as Pete Redman.
Leo joined two weeks before Alvin. Leo had been in a local Huthwaite group called ‘The Phantoms’ fronted by Paul Dennis and Alvin had been in Nottingham group ‘Ivan Jaye and the Jayemen’ who had just broken up. The Atomites had been on the scene for a couple of years and when Alvin suggested Ivan Jaye as the lead vocalist the group changed their name to reflect this becoming Ivan Jaye and the Jaycats.
Pete Evans at a 1999 reunion was asked about the name and he said “Road manager Phil Smith plus a serious think from the band after a ‘few’ drinks“. Seeing as Alvin and Ivan had just been in a group ‘The Jayemen’ it was an easy leap to make.
Line up:
Ivan Jaye: lead vocals
Alvin Lee: lead guitar
Roy Cooper: rhythm guitar,
Leo Lyons: bass
Pete Redman (Pete Evans): drums
They hit the ground running, one of their first gigs being the Mansfield Palais where they became regulars, and soon were playing the Festival Hall, Kirkby-in-Ashfield and the Gliderdrome in Boston. They were managed by Mansfield based Philip K. Smith who would later become a pivotal figure in the early days of beat music in the Nottingham area with his agency’s, first “City Enterprises” and then “Banner Productions”.
In February 1961 they started playing a residency at the Queens Hall in Nottingham where during the rock ‘n’ roll dances fans were encouraged to wear what they like. Ivan Jaye stated “There is no law about what clothes you wear. It is more or less jumpers and jeans. You can’t do that anywhere else in Nottingham“.
They had a 500 strong fan club run by secretaries Ann and Jenny Brown of Linby and were working seven night a week travelling a thousand miles weekly. They planned to go professional, Alvin already had that status, and in May 1961, manager Phil Smith announced that the group had been signed by a recording manager after a recording test some months ago. This was likely to be Joe Meek. Tito Burns, a figure of some standing in the entertainment world as it stood then, had already heard of Alvin from his May 1960 visit and was probably the agency that got them work in London and the south. So, the group moved to London with plans of national concerts, one being mooted was support to Gene Vincent on May 19th in Leeds. With this move a new name was suggested by Joe Meek and road manager Phil Smith and the group became ‘Ivan Love and the Jaybirds‘.
This next chapter can be read here.
NEWSPAPER CUTTINGS
