Brian Jones
Brian Jones
Brian’s Musical Heritage
THE EARLY YEARS
I have an early memory of my first solo singing performance at a Sunday school anniversary concert. Standing on a small stage next to my Mum at the piano and singing ‘Wide, Wide As The Ocean’. I must have been about five and very nervous but loved it, so I think that’s just about when my love for singing and playing began.
As I have said, Mum played piano and to quote my Dad “She could harmonise to a cat’s meow!” My Dad played his George Formby Ukelele and during his time in the Welsh Guards was in the bass line of their male voice choir.
Mum and Dad sang the songs of the time in harmony together and my Dad would encourage us to join in so he could do the bass bits. I loved the sound all the voices made together even then.
Dad worked the night shift at Harland And Wolfe in those days so to pass the time in the evenings, Mum would show me some chords on the Uke and we would sing together. Then one evening she sang a harmony which made the song we were singing sound brilliant. I can still hear her voice saying “Now you have a try”.
Brian’s Musical Heritage
THE EARLY YEARS
I have an early memory of my first solo singing performance at a Sunday school anniversary concert. Standing on a small stage next to my Mum at the piano and singing ‘Wide, Wide As The Ocean’. I must have been about five and very nervous but loved it, so I think that’s just about when my love for singing and playing began.
As I have said, Mum played piano and to quote my Dad “She could harmonise to a cat’s meow!” My Dad played his George Formby Ukelele and during his time in the Welsh Guards was in the bass line of their male voice choir.
Mum and Dad sang the songs of the time in harmony together and my Dad would encourage us to join in so he could do the bass bits. I loved the sound all the voices made together even then.
Dad worked the night shift at Harland And Wolfe in those days so to pass the time in the evenings, Mum would show me some chords on the Uke and we would sing together. Then one evening she sang a harmony which made the song we were singing sound brilliant. I can still hear her voice saying “Now you have a try”.
![Brian Jones - Openhouse Studio](https://openhousefolk.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Brian-Jones.png)
THE EARLY YEARS continued….
That was my Mum, strong but quiet. Very much a behind the scenes sort of person who selflessly passed on her immense talent to my brother Gordon and myself and was very proud to see it blossom through the generations.
I guess that makes her the founder member of The Jones Family Band!
The next Christmas I got a plastic Tommy Steele guitar. It had four strings and was tuned as a Uke so I was able to play George Formby duets with Dad.
My Uncle Bill, a larger than life Churchillian figure, who was to have a huge influence on my life, founded the 1st Moreton Boys Brigade on the Wirral.As well as normal Boys Brigade activities, there was an annual concert which allowed me and my Uke our first live gig performing the likes of, ‘My Old Man’s A Dustman’!
![1963-Fractions-4-scaled - Openhouse Studio](https://openhousefolk.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/1963-Fractions-4-scaled-2.jpg)
THE start OF BRIAN JONES
(FIRST INTRODUCTION TO FOLK)
![1961-Brian-age-8-800×1327 - Openhouse Studio](https://openhousefolk.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/1961-Brian-age-8-800x1327-1-e1714377847925.jpeg)
All the family were involved with the Boys’ Brigade in Moreton and it provided me with a full social life from the age of ten or so right through my teens and has probably had the biggest influence on my life. In fact, if there had been such a thing as an Xbox back then, there wouldn’t have been time to stay at home to use it!
It was at the BB that by chance I was introduced to folk music.
It was 1963, the height of the folk revival. I had been at band practice where I had just started learning to play the bagpipes. Dad and I heard music coming from the room used by the youth club so we went in to find two youth club leaders playing acoustic guitars and singing songs which had choruses that the youngsters were joining in with.
My Dad told them I played, so they very kindly let me fetch my guitar and join in.
I often wonder which direction my life would have taken if my Dad hadn’t opened that door!
It turned out these two guys were Jeff Aspinall of the very successful folk group of the time, “The Billy Boys”. And George Peckham, also part of a great local folk trio called, “Kinsfolk”, with John and Flo Thomas (CLICK HERE to hear live 1964 concert featuring both groups).
Later, Jeff and George started a “Singalong” on Sunday evenings after church. This is where we learned our trade. People of all ages were encouraged to have a go and everyone joined in the choruses. In a short time, the word got out and there were folkies from all parts turning up to sing and for a while it was up there with some of the best local folk venues in the area. However, the Minister and church committee did struggle a bit with the concept!
GORDON AND BRIAN
![Pic2 - Openhouse Studio](https://openhousefolk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Pic2-scaled-e1714377372359.jpg)
I was around eleven when pop music caught up with me. I played rhythm guitar in our BB group. My brother Gordon, who was the drummer, and two of his mates, one of which was the inventor of his own PA system, were all a few years older than me. It must have been a difficult decision for them, and not really that cool, to have this little kid hanging around with them. Looking back and having listened to some early recordings, we made quite a racket but it was all part of our learning experience and we had a great time.
At the time, we lived in a terraced house in the avenues opposite Birkenhead Park and I had made a friend from the next street called James J Turner who had a proper solid electric guitar. I would go round to his house where we’d both plug into his little amp and attempt to play and sing using one microphone between us.
James’s Mum had “contacts” and became our manager.
We called ourselves ‘The Fractions’ and after playing a few youth club bookings, (they weren’t called gigs yet), she landed us the “big one”. We were to appear at The Cavern that coming Saturday afternoon, (we weren’t old enough to appear in the evening).
We were on first and introduced by the Cavern Club’s compere and DJ, Bob Wooler. We were told to plug into these massive amplifiers, we even had a microphone each, it was so loud! We played our three songs to an audience of screaming girls, (I know, unbelievable isn’t it!). It’s something I thought I would never experience again, until of course, I started working with Tom Topping in the eighties!!!
n the dressing room was an animated young man wearing only a pair of yellow boxers with big pink spots on them. Turned out it was Peter Noone, front man of Herman’s Hermits, who at the time we’d never heard of. He interacted with the audience between songs which didn’t seem to happen much back then. I heard him say something like, ‘We’ve just learned this one, hope you like it, it’s called I’m Into Something Good’. Who knew that years later I would have the pleasure of singing that song on stage with my family.
EARLY FOLK CLUBS
A friend of my Dad owned the Compass Café, (now Hammersound), in Birkenhead. Whilst having a meal there they got talking about folk clubs. The Compass Folk Club began on the following Wednesday. One of the regular singers was Willy Russell who, as well as singing his own songs, would join us on mandolin. My abiding memory from this time was Willy telling my Dad he’d just written a song about the Mersey Tunnel. He wrote the words down and said get your Brian to learn this he’ll get a good laugh with it.
CHORUSThe Mersey Tunnel is three miles long and the roof is made of glass
So that you can drive right in and watch the ships go past
There’s a plughole every five yards they unplug every night
It lets in all the water and it washes away the la, la, la
![1965 Gordon & Brian - Openhouse Studio](https://openhousefolk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/1965-Gordon-Brian-.jpeg)
gallery
HIGHLIGHTS