Black Country beat band who followed the Beatles to Germany
PAUL MORRIS continues the story of a Bilston band who rode the Beat Boom wave of the sixties, and very nearly hit the big time
DANNY Cannon and the Ramrods, formed at school in in 1958, had gone from covering American artists to performing their own songs, changed their name to Herbie’s People, relocated briefly to Germany and, in 1965, signed a record deal.
Radio
Their catchy first single You Thrill Me to Pieces made regular radio appearances and even saw the band appear on TV.
But that elusive chart hit never materialised even with further group name changes – firstly as Just William and then as The Bullring.
The group disbanded in the very late 1960s leaving a wealth of happy memories of playing to their devoted fanbase in the Black Country. They did a farewell concert in 2011 at the Robin 2, and another in 2017, and if you wish to see just how good a singer Danny Robinson still is, find time to watch the very first episode of ‘Peaky Blinders’, as it is he who is singing in the pub at the bequest of the Shelby family!
And why did the band members stay together so long when so many other bands changed personnel? Keith believes that it was their “obvious enjoyment in playing together ... here was a group of friends who were intent on having a good time and endeavouring to provide a good time for those in the audience or on the dance floor.”
So, are they the greatest group ever to come from Bilston? Now, there might be many Vendors/’n Betweens fans who would surely disagree. What do you think?
Rocked
If you want to know more about Danny Cannon & the Ramrods/herbie’s People then they have their own website – www.herbies-people.co.uk – which I would keenly recommend. Much of this article comes from Keith Farley’s wonderful book ‘They Rocked, We Rolled!’ which unfortunately has been out of print for some years now.
Pleasure
I am currently working on a new edition with the hope of a print run in the near future. In it, he interviewed many of the musicians who gave so much
pleasure performing in the 1960s and it really needs to be back in print and once again available to all fans of the vibrant ’60s music scene in the Black Country. ■ Paul Morris is the author of
‘Chasing the Light Fantastic’, available as a paperback edition, price £9.99, from Waterstones in Victoria Street, Wolverhampton, and online at amazon.co.uk, where you can also download the novel as a
Kindle edition for £3.99.
Here at The Bugle, we would really like to hear about your memories of which of the great local bands you saw in the 1960s, where you saw them or
which youth club you went to, and what stays in your memory about their performances. Write to us at Dudley Archives (address on page 2) or email gjones@blackcountrybugle.co. uk
TO date, 44 West Bromwich Albion players have taken to the field for England, earning between them 200 caps. The most recent was Jake Livermore, who has won seven caps (the first with Spurs) between 2012 and 2017. The first man to swap the Throstle for the Three Lions was goalkeeper Bob Roberts.
There is confusion as to when Robert Roberts was born – some sources give his date of birth as April 9, 1859, and others as December 18, 1863; and his middle name was either John or James. He was born in Queen Street, Wednesbury, the middle of five children, to James and Ada Roberts, His father was a plasterer and early on Bob followed his father’s profession.
Evolved
Bob was an Albion man from the very start. He began playing for the works team of spring-maker George Salter, which evolved into West Bromwich Strollers and then West Bromwich Albion. Initially he was an outfield player but became the club’s goalkeeper. He played in Albion’s first ever FA Cup tie, against Wednesbury Town in November 1883, going on to appear in three finals, winning the trophy in 1888, and he also played in the club’s first ever League game, against Stoke in September 1888.
While playing for Albion, Roberts was landlord of the Three Crowns pub in Swan Village (not the Three Crowns that features on p16). He joined Sunderland Albion in 1890 but was unable to settle and so returned to the Baggies for the 1891-92 season. He then transferred to Aston Villa for one season before going back to the north east and rejoining Sunderland Albion in 1893. He then stayed on in Byker and worked as a plasterer.
Bob Roberts made his England debut on March 19, 1887, against Scotland at the Leamington Street ground in Blackburn, an estimated 12,000 watching the match, with special trains laid on to brings fans from Scotland.
The England team were: Bob Roberts (WBA), Percy Walters (Old Carthusians), Arthur Walters (Old Carthusians), George Haworth (Accrington), Norman Bailey (captain, Clapham Rovers), Jimmy Forrest (Blackburn Rovers), Joe Lofthouse (Blackburn
Rovers), Fred Dewhurst (Preston NE), Tinsley Lindley (Nottingham Forest), Nevill Cobbold (Corinthians) and Charles Bambridge (Swifts).
The Scotland XI were: Jimmy Mcaulay (captain, Dumbarton), Walter Arnott (Queen’s Park), John Forbes (Vale of Lethen), Bob Kelso (Renton), John Auld (Third Lanark), Leitch Kier (Dumbarton), John Marshall (Third Lanark), William Robertson (Dumbarton), William Sellar (Battlefield), James Mccall (Renton) and Jimmy Allan (Queen’s Park).
Slippery
The game was played in difficult conditions after the morning frost thawed leaving the grass very wet and slippery and the ball becoming quickly coated in thick mud. The early pace of the game was frenetic and both goalkeepers had to make saves in the first 10 minutes. England piled pressure on the Scottish goal but
on 30 minutes, somewhat against the run of play, Mccall was able to break away, outpacing Bailey and Walters and shooting past Roberts to make it 0-1 to Scotland.
The lead lasted for just two minutes before Lindley struck the equaliser and the scores remained level at half time.
Five minutes after the restart and Arthur Walters was judged to have handled the ball. Kier took the resulting free kick, Roberts got a hand to the ball but it was “scrimmaged” into the net and Scotland’s lead was restored.
Again, the equaliser came quickly, almost straightaway. Bambridge played in Dewhurst who deftly netted; the Scots appealed for offside but the goal stood.
Then came the third goal in as many minutes and it proved the match-winner for Scotland, as Jimmy Allan rushed the ball past Roberts. In the rest of the second half, Bambridge, Cobbold and Bailey all had shots saved by Mcaulay but the final score remained England 2 Scotland 3.
It was not an auspicious start to Bob Roberts’s England career and he was judged to have fumbled for two of the goals; it would be more than 12 months before he was called upon to play for his country again. However, he still wore his England shirt with pride when playing for the Baggies and there is more than one photograph showing Roberts with his Albion teammates wearing his England whites instead of their blue and white stripes.
Replacement
Bob’s next international was against Ireland at Ulster Cricket Ground in Belfast on April 7, 1888, when he was called in as a last minute replacement for Billy Moon of Old Westminsters. Bob joined two Albion teammates in the England team, Albert Aldridge and Billy Bassett, along with Harry Allen of Wolves and Albert Allen and Denny Hodgetts of Aston Villa. England strolled to a 1-5 win.
Bob’s third and final cap came on March 15, 1890, when England again played Ireland in Belfast. Again he had an Albion teammate in the squad, Charlie Perry, and they were joined by two Wolves, Dickie Baugh and Charlie Mason, although there were no fewer than six Blackburn Rovers players in the XI. It was another comfortable win for England, 1-9 the final score.
Bob Roberts died on October 28, 1929, aged 65, at his home in Brinkburn Street, Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne. He was buried in Heaton Cemetery in an unmarked grave. His obituary in the Birmingham Daily Gazette said, “Roberts’s association with the West Bromwich club began in the days when goalkeepers may be said to have had more protection in long trousers than in the rules, and opposing forwards were allowed a good deal more latitude in regard to the liberties they took [...] In his retirement he never lost his love for Albion, and when they visited Newcastle and Sunderland he not only went to the match but was generally the guests of the club at dinner.”
I have recently been sorting through the collection of photographs that had been stored by my late mother.
Her maiden name was Cartwright and she lived for eighty of her eighty seven years in Wall Heath. For the “missing” seven years she did not stray too far –living in Manor Park, Kingswinford on her marriage to my father, Fred Church.
Faces
Luckily some of the photographs in the collection have names written on the reverse, others I am able to recognise, leaving a few of which I have no idea who they are. A couple of them are group photos and I wonder whether any Bugle readers recognise any of the faces.
In the Bugle of 3 February 2021 there is a photo of an outing of girls from the Chance business. Although an “outing” no coach was available and the girls were accommodated on seats on the floor of a lorry.
The photograph I attach would appear to encompass a similar situation. I would estimate that the photo was taken in the early part of the 20th century.
The cricket team is, I think, of a later era, probably late 1940s or early 1950s. I have some knowledge of the local cricket scene but I am unable to identify any of the players.
Sometimes it is possible to identify at least the team by studying the background but in this case we only have a tree and a chimney to refer to, neither of which I recognise!
I assume that they are groups relative to the Kingswinford/ Wall Heath area.
Can you tell us anything more about these photographs? Email gjones@blackcountry bugle.co.uk, write to us at the address on page 2, or call 01384 880531.