Behind the Scenes

(cont.)
Nicky Crouch, lead guitarist with the Flamingos  

Putting on a good show has many problems which people in the audience probably never think about, such as setting the numerous controls on the amplifiers, echo chambers and guitars; placing the amplifiers in the best position to achieve the best possible sound from them, making sure all leads are in a position where they won't be tripped over when the group moves around the stage, trying to think of the next tune while concentrating on the one we're doing at the moment.

On average a group does 20 to 30 numbers in a night's show, and the majority of those numbers are worked out to the groups own arrangements. Some of them have movements worked out to fit the tune or beat, and others have 'breaks' or pauses between lines which have to be practiced a lot before they can be done properly.

I don't know about other groups but we practice as often as we can, although we don't really have enough time to practice as most of us have full time jobs.

I hope this article will enable the audiences at the jive halls and clubs to appreciate the difficulties of groups, comperes and promoters in running these dances and realize that a lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes.

I should like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who voted for Faron in the Mersey Beat Popularity Poll and wish Bill Harry all the best in the future with Mersey Beat.


Editor's Note: One of my aims with Mersey Beat was to bring the experiences of the musicians to the readers. The music spoke for itself, but I always encouraged musicians to try to express themselves in print. Apart from John Lennon and Paul McCartney's writings, a large number of musicians wrote for Mersey Beat and I also encouraged musicians to write to me when they were abroad. I pestered George Harrison to write songs, got onto Ringo Starr about taking photos for Mersey Beat (he never did, but Terry O'Toole of the Mojos obliged), had the Roadrunners write a pantomime, Stu Leithwood produce cartoons and so on.

It's interesting to note that Nicky correctly referred to local venues as jive halls, because that was what they were called at the time. The emergence of the use of the word 'beat' gradually came about as the Mersey Beat newspaper became more firmly established.

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