LAUGHING JOHNNY
I was talking with Mary Nelson the other day and she had quite a lot to say of Johnny Gustafson of the Merseybeats - and no wonder, he is her younger brothers!

Mary told me: "I think he's fabulous. My other brother Tony really started him off when he bought him a second-hand guitar for two pounds ten. Tony used to play piano and decided that it would be a good thing if Johnny had a musical instrument.

"Johnny bought a book on guitar playing and used to say 'I'll never fathom this out.'

"He's mad and happy-go-lucky. He does mad things with my kids - I have four of them - and cracks jokes and boxes with them. They all look forward to seeing him and he comes up to the house as often as he can.

"Yes, he's certainly the crazy one in the family, everything's a laugh. He even takes mad photos - one was of him lying in the gutter and he had a photograph of himself taken inside a bin - with the lid still on!"

THE QUIET ONE
The quiet member of the Mojos is lead guitarist Nicky Crouch. Rather nervous by nature, Nicky tells me: "The reason why I made up my mind to throw up my regular employment and take a chance on show-biz is because so many people told me I didn't have the right temperament to last as a member of a group. "I wanted to prove them all wrong.

"I've had quite a lot of ill luck with former groups, but I'm really content with the Mojos, they're a great bunch of lads.

"The boys have encouraged me to take up photography because they want me to contribute to a book they're preparing.

"Terry O' Toole is providing the sketches, Stu Slater is writing the prose and Keith Karlson is writing poetry.

"I hope the book comes to light because it's a really exciting project."

TRANSATLANTIC TREK
The list of British artists who are traveling to the States and making a success is growing, and young Americans particularly like Liverpool stars due to the success of the Beatles, Gerry & the Pacemakers, the Searchers and Cilla Black in the Stateside charts.

But the transatlantic trek is no one-way affair, for there are an increasing number of young Americans traveling to Merseyside.

Johnny Phillips is an 18-year old New Yorker who arrived in Liverpool some months ago.

"To me the Beatles are one of the greatest groups in the world," he told me, "and I felt I just had to come to Liverpool."

Johnny proved to be one of the most exciting tenor saxophonists I have ever heard - and he can also play the flute in a very expert manner, too. The first day he arrived he dropped in at the Cavern and played a lunchtime session with the Clayton Squares.

Within no time at all various members of groups were talking about how good he was - and he was asked to join the Roadrunners.

The group improved tremendously with Johnny but, unfortunately, as he did not have a work permit he was told he could not play with them.

So the group went to Hamburg's Star Club - and took Johnny with them! Attractive blonde-haired Marjie Siebel was the next American artist to arrive.

She'd been phoning the Blue Angel Club for several weeks and on an impulse she boarded a plane and came to the 'Pool.

She was welcomed at the club, took the stage, and sang with several of the groups.

As Marjie didn't have a work permit she couldn't be paid for her singing, but she is so delighted with Liverpool that she wants to stay here. She has applied for a work permit and if she gets one she would like to sing regularly at Merseyside clubs.

Return to main section