Crushed Butler

Crushed Butler (Mid 1969-Early 1970) Tiger (Early 1970- Late 1971) Amongst earliest 1960's era British proto punk bands - Along with 1960's era British proto punk bands - Deviants, Edgar Broughton Band, Hawkwind, & Stack Waddy. England's equivalent to earliest 1960's era American proto punk bands - Velvet Underground, Flamin' Groovies, Blue Cheer, MC5, & Stooges. Followed shortly thereafter by earliest 1970's era British proto punk bands - Pink Fairies, Shagrat, & Third World War. THE LINER NOTES INFO: CRUSHED BUTLER 1969 - 1972 A new biography by Darryl Read mid 1969 i finish a rehearsal in a cellar in Pimlico with two classically influenced musicians, a keyboard and bassist playing Nice type instrumentals. I start to pack my black Rogers drum kit when two cats enter, looking like out-of-time Mods: one has ginger blond cropped hair and huge sideburns, his face ugly and menacing, he is Ray Hector (later to change his name to Jesse). the other has also center parting mousey coloured hair and sideburns, his eyes blue and staring quietly - he is Alan Butler. they act cool almost premeditated and ask if they can set up, as they are in now. I am transfixed by their image and curious of what music they play, i think maybe old Ska or Blue Beat, they seem to be drummerless, and i surmise that they may have known that i was there and who i am, as recently i was on the front cover of FAB 208 magazine, the hippest teen pin-up magazine around. I ask if they have a drummer - 'no, we are rehearsing on our own...' Hector says, opening up a Vox Strat copy from his case, as Butler plugs in his semi acoustic Hofner bass. boldly i ask if i can jam with them, regardless of what my other band will say, who are looming in the doorway. Hector smiles and says 'yeah o.k., but it's Rock! ... do you know any Small Faces songs?' I nod and the next thing i know we are playing Ronnie Lane and Steve Marriott's Song Of A Baker - the rest is history! 12 days later after a further couple of rehearsals Graham Breslau, a Jewish and future manager / impressario of Crushed Butler, enters the same Pimlico rehearsal pad with Tony Gohill, Hector's friend. we play Keep On Chooglin', a Creedence Clearwater Revival song, and then storm into Jan Samwell's Move It! we play for 45 minutes solid with pure animal aggression and energy. already we are moving like no one else. Graham wants to manage us and is knocked out! Hector, Read and Butler continued to rehearse over the next two weeks, chipping-in with the rehearsal room cash. we use Keith Locke's house in Edmonton as i am still working with the black soul singer and his band (including members Rosko G and Derrick Johnson, who go on to become members of Traffic and Bob Marley). i also rent a room in Ken's house. the group Hector, Read and Butler (still not committed to each other) meet 3 weeks later at Grahams mothers flat in Barnet. she runs a small market stall in the East End - she and Graham will finance the group, and we agree with Graham to let him manage us. I have a list of requirements which include wages, equipment and a van plus retainer, and a rehearsal room. all is granted on proviso that if the recording demo Graham pays for turns out o.k., he will go ahead with his mum and put all the money in for everything on my list! the beginnings of winter make skies moody mauve as Hector, Butler and i enter Regent Sound studios and cut It's My Life, a bawdy sleazed-out Bo Diddley riffey future Punk anthem penned by Hector, Read and Breslau. the group has to record Let It Ring, a commercial ditty written by Breslau, as part of the deal. Neil Sedgewick, a posh cat wearing horn-rimmed specs, engineers the session - he's useful because he works for the BBC. The recordings are a success and the money is laid out to purchase equipment: guitars, Heyman drums, red Marshall stacks and a red second hand transit van. Tony Gohill shoots the famous bombshell photo in Kilburn on his Instamatic 120 camera. I come up with a name: Crushed Butler - it's unlike any other i thought of, including The Clash, which i think is too corny! the name i made consists of an anagram of sorts: Alan's second name, Butler, my initials DR and the names, and Ray Hector's (as he was known then) initials are also inbedded. as well as a SHED - the football hooligan movement. these were the reasons of the name, as CRUSHED BUTLER started 3 weeks of rehearsal at the Bell pub London Colney, Hertfordshire. after two weeks of 10am to 6pm rehearsals Graham shoots into the large back hall in the pubs ground to inform CB that they are playing their first show - that night! at the famous Country Club in Belsize Park London! the group arrives innocent and full of raw energy. Stuart Lyons, the manager of the club, in a way greets them but with reservation, and asks where's our plug board. i reply 'what's a plug-board?'. the top act is black funky band Osibisa, CB go on around 9pm, and we tear the place apart in our straight legged Levis, slash necked red t-shirts (the tees are cut by hand as Hector copied the style of a shirt i had with an unusual neck - so therefore frayed at the edges of the cut), studded belts, short hair and the energy of a plate full of amphetamines! the hippy crowd stand back as my Heyman drums veer towards the edge of the stage, and Hectors green sprayed Telecaster loomed dangerously over the cross-legged wincing long haired groovers. after trashing the stage and an encore CB retired to a shithole of a dressing room where a couple of heads came to the door, and one said: 'you frightened us, man. but wow!'. OSIBISA finished their moderate funky set, and CB, by public demand, are asked to go back on - so we do and proceeded to rip the place up for another 30 minutes. This was the beginning of many a thrashing the main band off the stage, and going on again to take the top spot. Graham was delighted! the shows started rolling in - clubs in Soho, Kensington, Ealing Jewish Youth club (where we stacked chicks into the back of our transit together with the gear!), student colleges etc etc, and all the time we were getting better and better - that is in a raw way, not fancy like the virtuoso mob - who were monopolizing a pseudo rock scene. Everything was great! 'Cept for one thing: our bass player Alan couldn't cut a good enough groove for the action - even after loads of rehearsals. Alan became our roadie and Hector and I went through a succession of bass players. Stan Aldous played on a demo session at EMI Manchester square, produced by Roger Ferris, the house producer who gave us a song to record titled Love Is All Around Us, penned by Gio Macari and himself. CB managed to squeeze into the session the blinding Factory Grime written by Hector, Read and Breslau. This also soon put an end to the session! Ferris saw the groups potential, but failed to convince the heads of EMI to sign us, who 7 years later hypocritically signed the Sex Pistols. CB eventually settled on the fantastic bass player Barry Wyles who was working with SMILE, the band that became Queen, and he left them to join CB. He appears on My Son's Alive and Love Fighter, the two tracks recorded in demo format at Decca's West Hampstead studios. Barry was the same size of us, his hair was startling blond and spikey, not dissimilar to Paul Simonon of The Clash. He played a Gibson SG bass like a motherfucker, and i could jam and rock solid - getting up a raw but powerful rhythm section with him - to support Hectors growling cockney, almost inaudible, unless you spoke in code. Hectors vocals were Broughtonized! i was a fan of the Edgar Broughton Band and got Hector to put on an Edgar Broughton growl when he sung vocals. When you listen to Hector, CB 1969, you will hear John Lydon before John Lydon! we continued recording demos everywhere, with more fast and furious shows, including one where Slade supposedly had refused to go on - leaving CB to go on again in the top spot at Fairx club Potters Bar. At this show the bouncers had to hold the stage together, with the fury of CB encoring song-after-song! eventually Graham pulled out of the deal, not long after we had purchased a new WEM PA system - which was a shock to us all! This was days after an incredible show CB played at the City College in London, where CB blew UFO off the stage and this was the best show CB ever played - i felt such an incredible high on stage, as Hector went crazy, and i know what we had was more than special! Simon Stable, a semi hunchback with platinum long hair and well-known journalist, had come backstage and expressed a great enthusiasm in wanting to manage the group, and he had asked me if i would change my hair style. My reply was: 'i will if you remove your hump!'. Hector and everyone where in tears of laughter. Simon did however give us a great and one-and-only write up in Sounds music paper. That night i had with me a beautiful young blond chick called Jill. I'd pulled her from Ealing Jewish Youth club - and everybody wanted her. Also with me was film producer Malcolm Leigh, who wanted me for a film that never got made, titled: Chicken Run. CB was on top, but it was the beginning of the end! the retainer stopped and Graham took all the equipment back! He tried hard, but could not sell the group to a label, and we were now in early 1971. Barry left, and Hector and I struggled on, to keep it all going. I was practically starving, living of bread doorsteps supplied by Hectors mum. I was also getting into amphetamines, sleeping tablets and being very promiscuous. Hector met the famous Neil Christian and Neil decided to take on CB. I came up with another name: TIGER, so that we could try to get a deal as the Biz wouldn't know the name. As we had been thrown out of DJM studios by top boss Harold Champagne - for swearing and putting him down, the whole lot was captured and viewed by him on an early CTV. I was sure that this episode would spread through out the industry, but in fact we had been turned down by everyone anyway! Christian got us into the brand new De Lane Lee studios in Wembley, to be guinea pigs in assisting to try out the recording equipment etc. In return we would have new tracks. His old friend Dave Siddle granted the studio boss the favour to Christian. But after the session CB style, and Siddle catching Hector on top of a brand new Grand Piano dancing with his guitar, and seeing Indian curry all over the studio carpets and my drumstick stuck into the large pegboard ceiling, he asked Christian to get us out of his studio. The recording of 5 new tracks we did there were never recouped - who knows one day they will be. TIGER / CB got into it all with Christian at the helm as full time manager, and with a new bass player: Arthur Anderson, whom i pick out mainly because of his Glaswegian thug abilities, and also because he's a good player. He cuts his hair off, and looks like a droog from Clockwork Orange; i sport braces - in fact we look like Clockwork Orange before the film is out! I also take to carrying a large blade around with me. My friend David Palmer (David was in the childrens film Five Have A Mystery To Solve, playing Julian and I played Dick; we were both at Corona stage school together) takes great black & white shots. Again in Kilburn near Hectors mums council house, as Hector wields bricks. Christian is a great cat, and I start drinking whiskey with him as Hector and I join him on a Death Ride (as Christian called it) to Tring in the country side, one escape. We once needed an amp, and Christian took us to Ritchie Blackmore's pad to borrow one of his Marshall amps. Blackmore had been in one of Christians Crusaders line ups, which had also included Jimmy Page amongst loads of other guitar greats. Christian gets us into a demo studio in Tooting, as I have just penned a new song with Hector titled: High School Dropout. Hector had struck up a real Rock'n'Roll riff, and I threw down the words. A year later Marc Bolan came out with a similar sound and riff with Get It On. We took the demo on a white label acetate to Tony Secunda, soon to be Marc Bolan's manager. We had met Tony a year before at a concert with the band: BALLS, two of the members were Trevor Burton (the Move) and Steve Gibbons. We had also blown them off the stage, and Secunda had approached us in view to manage us. But at that point we were still with Graham. Tony liked the songs and us, and arranged with his assistant Annabel at his company called Wizzard to put us in a rehearsal with Trevor Burton on bass. we rehearsed with Trevor, but somehow it never materialised into a group, even though Trevor liked us a lot! We were all going off our heads, I sat with Hector night after night, talking about how far ahead we were, and going crazy because we couldn't do anything about it! Hector was getting paranoid of the business - as he had been before when Graham and Gerald (Cat Stevens first manager) were handling us. Gerald had come in to help Graham, get it away, and trouble with Hector who was quitting the band on a daily basis, and calling Graham late nights to inform him of this. I think Hector was scared of Gerald and his young boxers who came to our shows - thus the paranoia kicked in. In fact Hector told everyone he was quitting the group - just before he went on to two thousand people, supporting Atomic Rooster at Guildford Civic Hall. I continued to remain friends with Gerald and still am. I loved his tag line for advertising CB, which was: GET YOUR END AWAY WITH CRUSHED BUTLER! Barry Perkins, an agent with Starlight Artists, took us on and booked us in at the Greyhound pub, which had only just started doing bands live there. Barry thought we were the best thing he had ever seen and told us that he felt like mortgaging his house to back us. The head of Starlight, Peter Walsh, a Presley Colonel type of character, found me amusing. He wanted me to sign a contract and would drop me the occasional fiver to see me through, as I was incredibly thin. I had Davenport Lyons Solicitors check over and negotiate Starlights 3 year deal, however Walsh was not interested in the rest of the group. Starlight Artists were also handling the Bay City Rollers, who started sporting braces (all of a sudden!). Starlight also thought it may be a good idea if I joined them! Perkins got us to see Dick Leahy of the newly formed Bell Records, as Dick was interested in a deal, but a deal didn't happen. It was too heavy on him, and when I announced that we were doing Council Estate Rock (a somewhat pre-cursor term for Punk) that didn't help matters, along with Hectors incoherent ramblings about the Sun Sound. Christian got more and more into alcohol and was fading as an early 60's Rock'n'Roll star. Christian saw us as being great and also as a way for him to venture into a new career as manager. The drink was getting better and we lost contact. At this time I also met Mike Leander and played him Factory Grime. People have suggested recently that he took the drum riff style I played and used it with the Glitter Band, only they had to use two drummers to get that sound. We carried on, though I don't know how. Hector kept his day job as a cutter at a tailors as he always kept hold of his day job. I can't remember eating much at the time, as I couldn't sign on or get anything from the social services. My Grandfather Paddy slipped me a fiver here and there to get me through. After Graham took back the silver Ludwig drum kit I managed to get a red glitter Premier kit of old Sid at Footes drum shop in Soho Square. I believe the kit had been part of a double kit Keith Moon smashed up. In any case it worked! Barry Perkins stuck us in Marquee Recording Studios where we did another version of High School Dropout. It was a good version and rocked raw, but it still failed to get us signed! Disenchanted we all went our ways, and I started hanging out with the group Third World War - even though I was turned down as a drummer at an audition. Apparently I was too wild for them! I did however become friends with Terry Stamp & Jim Avery. Their band Third World War were more political rock than Punk, and supposedly supported and followed Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. But at least they two real sophisticated thugs writing the songs. Stamp had not been at my audition, and Avery was being finicky and overtly too musical about musicians playing sleazed out Rock (not very Punky, huh!). Stamp later thought that we should do Third World War as a trio: Stamp, Read & Avery. I told him if we wore different gear like slash necked T-Shirts, leather motorcycle jackets and Dr. Martens etc. it would work. I did record a track with Stamp in 1972 called Razor City and played drums and did back-up vocals on it. The track was strangely enough recorded at Regent Sound studios in Denmark street where CB had recorded nearly three years previous, It's My Life. Tiger / CB was really finished! Even though we got Alan Butler back in the group and had another go for it for a short time. During this period we got Don Arden to see us in a rehearsal room. Don liked it and told his henchmen to get us work, but his office closed down soon after and he had seemed to disappear. Tiger / CB played a show at the Tower Tavern, Fitzrovia, in the West End of London. Hector, Read and Butler rocked out the pad again, and a chap from the BBC who happened to be there was fascinated and asked for further shows and who was managing us, but we never played again together as a trio. I miraculously got a job at Track Records, from Chris Stamp, supposedly promoting The Who, but ended up writing songs with Speedy Keen - the genius who wrote Something In The Air. I continued to work with Stamp and Avery for years after, writing songs with them. Hector and Butler selfishly lavished in Punk fame in 1974 with the Hammersmith Gorillas, another name I came up with - taken from the Third World War album track Hammersmith Guerilla. Soon after they changed to The Gorillas and this time they got around on the map of Punk, getting on the front page of the NME in 1977. The Gorillas did a watered down version of Crushed Butler - it was all the same numbers and arrangements - but Hector had gone semi-Glam and did what we had done 7 years previous, only nothing near the greatness he was in CB. Crushed Butler were never mentioned by Hector or anyone anywhere until Dig The Fuzz stuck out the archives of recordings and photos I'd got on 10inch vinyl in 1997. Rock journalist Mark Paytress (a guy that any Hipster would give a wide berth to at a party) forced himself to interview me for the Record Collector prior to the release. He did a two page spread feature titled: Pretty Vacant in 1970. The Paytress article changed Rock'n'Roll / Punk history over night in 1997 on the release of the Crushed Butler UNCRUSHED album. Since that time Crushed Butler has had several re-issues. --- LYRICS: IT'S MY LIFE (Lyrics) went down the road got myself a job don't wanna work just for a few bobs gotta keep slaving just for you though it's something i don't wanna do IT'S MY LIFE! IT'S MY LIFE! IT'S MY LIFE! IT'S MY LIFE! working all night and all through the day when i get home you collect my pay wanna get away from this old place bringing me down my life is a waste --- LET IT RING (instrumental) --- LOVE IS ALL AROUND ME (Lyrics) in the dark of the night with the world out of sight i could see a reflection of you as i'm dreaming away till the break of the day and i'm hoping my dreams will come true in the dark of the night with the world out of sight there is nowhere i'd rather be when i'm looking at you all the things that i do and i wanna feel you closer to me LOVE IS ALL AROUND ME I'M SO GLAD YOU FOUND ME NEVER FELT THIS WAY BEFORE LOVE IS ALL AROUND ME I'M SO GLAD YOU FOUND ME SO COME ON BABY GIVE ME MORE as my dreams fly away i awake in the day and you're lying there by my side if it really is true what i've been doing to you i've been taken you for a night ride in the dark of the night with the world out of sight i could see a reflection of you as i'm dreaming away till the break of the day and i'm hoping my dreams will come true --- FACTORY GRIME (Lyrics) factory grime soils the line of mothers washing that she keeps drying dirt and dust in your guts i just can't breath no no and life's a rut THERE'S A FULL MOON RISING IN THE SKY GOT TO FIND ANOTHER PLACE AND TRY deep depression at your hair in your pockets yeah again no fare the sun don't shine through the smoke i gotta get out oh yeah or i'll choke --- LOVE FIGHTER (Lyrics) hey rose tell me where have you been hey rose tell me where have you been down to your house yeah going again yeah let me in yeah going to win LOVE FIGHTER LOVE FIGHTER --- MY SON'S ALIVE (Lyrics) travelled down to Mexico down to New Orleans travelled across to Washington everywhere i've been up and down the cars lord i've been everywhere all these days i ran the benzene SON'S ALIVE MY SON'S ALIVE OH YEAH travelled down to New Orleans back to Washington i've been everywhere lord i know i've won c'mon help me please help me coming down whoaa lord down to the ground yeah i'm still looking i've been everywhere down to the yard lord i've been there please help me to find my son lord know i know i have won and now i've found what i've been looking for now i don't have to travel anymore lord i know you were by my side oh lord lord you know --- HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT (Lyrics) she was just seventeen she was a high school queen the only thing she wore was a yellow band in her hair well her daddy was rich and her ma she was poor and the only thing she wore was a yellow band in her hair YOU'RE JUST A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT JUST A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT SHE'S JUST A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT YOU'RE JUST A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT YOU'RE JUST A HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT BUT YOU'RE MY BABY NOW all the kids would agree that she was made for me but the teachers all said i was just a rebel so i left her alone then she called me on the phone she said i'm a high school dropout but i'm your baby now