- Go Back To Daddy/Jambalaya (Columbia DB 7121) 1963
- Roll Over Beethoven/Is It Love? (Columbia DB 7182) 1963
- Bye Bye Johnny/Strictly For The Birds (Columbia DB 7262) 1964
- Brand New Man/Nobody's Child (Columbia DB 7417) 1964
- Come Dance With Me/I Don't Want To Cry (Columbia DB 7603) 1965
- My Friend/Tomorrow Mine (Columbia DB 7739) 1965
- The Night Is Over/Hombre (Columbia DB 7944) 1966
- Mad Goose/You Can't Sit Down (Columbia DB 7124) 1963
- Night Train/The Keel Row (Columbia DB 7200) 1963
Pat Wayne and The Beachcombers
BIRMINGHAM
Updated February 2019
Pat Wayne lead vocal
Dario Capaldi saxophone (left 1964)
Melvin "Mel" Edwards bass guitar
Bryan "Monk" Finch saxophone (left 1964)
Geoff Roberts lead guitar (left 1964)
Brian Sharpe drums (left 1966)
Tony Carter lead guitar (joined 1964, left 1966)
Trevor Langham keyboards (joined 1964)
Eric Ashcroft lead guitar (joined 1966)
John Bonham drums (joined 1966, left 1966)
Mike Kellie drums (joined 1966)
This band from Birmingham - originally called "The Rockin' Jaymen" - were very well known locally during the early 1960s. Along with Keith Powell's Valets and Mike Sheridan's Nightriders, "Pat Wayne and The Beachcombers" were one of the city's top live acts at that time. The line-up had a very BIG sound in having two saxophones with the later addition of keyboards.
"We did many takes of Jambalaya. It nearly drove us mad... and it got faster and faster!"
Patrick Curley was from Ladywood, Birmingham and worked as a waiter at the Grand Hotel on Colmore Row. He changed his name to "Pat Wayne" in 1957 when he formed a skiffle group called "The Deltas" with guitarist Dave Husthwaite. By the late 1950s The Deltas had become a polished act and wearing matching red suits, had won the BBC Six-Five Special talent contest held for local bands at the Gaumont Cinema. Pat later made an appearance on television which gave him his first real taste of fame.
Although Pat Wayne and The Deltas became well known around Birmingham in the late 1950's and early 60's, there were various personnel changes including a short appearance by Denny Laine on bass guitar (see Denny Laine and The Diplomats). Organist Mal Ford who worked at Cadburys, would leave to join Keith Powell's Valets and soon after, Pat Wayne decided he also wanted a change and left the Deltas to front a local line-up called "The Rockin' Jaymen".
The Rockin' Jaymen had formed in 1957 with the band at that time consisting of Michael Craven (lead singer), Geoff Roberts (lead guitar), Graham? (bass guitar), Fred Thrupp (piano), and Jimmy? (drums). The line-up stayed the same until 1962 when a new bass guitarist Melvin Edwards joined along with drummer Brian Sharpe (formerly of The Modernaires).
A significant addition to the band were two of the best saxophone players in Birmingham - Dario Capaldi and Bryan "Monk" Finch - who had recently returned from Germany where they had played in Birmingham singer Johnny Neal's group The Starliners. Pat Wayne and The Jaymen became a popular attraction on the dance circuit and the line-up of two saxophone players made for a distinctive image on stage and gave the band a powerful trademark sound.
In June of 1963 following in the wake of the famous "Mersey Sound" craze, Birmingham was visited by Cliff Richard and The Shadows producer Norrie Paramor who was looking to sign up new talent for Columbia Records. Auditions were held at the Moat House Club in Digbeth and Pat Wayne with The Rockin' Jaymen were one of the first bands to be signed. They were soon sent down to the famous Abbey Road studios in London where they recorded a number of tracks under direction of Norrie Paramor.
Before the band's first single could be released, the record company decided the name Rockin' Jaymen might be confused with "Peter Jay and The Jaywalkers", a group from East Anglia. Somebody at Columbia suggested "The Beachcombers" and so they became "Pat Wayne and The Beachcombers"
During an interview, drummer Brian Sharpe said; "It's really because of Peter Jay and The Jaywalkers. We're with the same agent as Peter and our original name was just too similar. It suits us better anyway because when I get really hot banging those drums on stage, I sometimes change into swimming trunks and carry on playing." Saxophonist Bryan said; "He first did that at The Crown Hotel on Hurst Street. It always goes down a treat!"
Note: there was also another line-up called The Beachcombers in Birmingham in the early 1960s. Their guitarist Peter Green later changed his name to Peter Lee Stirling, becoming a professional songwriter and writing hits for Kathy Kirby, the Merseybeats, and having his own hit records in the 1970s under the name of Daniel Boone. There was also a London band called The Beachcombers whose line-up included future Who drummer Keith Moon.
A highly danceable track titled 'Go Back To Daddy', composed by Birmingham songwriters John Chesterton and Bob McNally, was chosen as the A-side for the first Pat Wayne and The Beachcombers single. Perhaps even more remarkable was the B-side which was a rocked-up version of the Hank Williams classic 'Jambalaya', and it must surely be one of the best dance versions of the song ever recorded.
"We did many takes of Jambalaya" said guitarist Geoff Roberts. "It nearly drove us mad... and it got faster and faster". The single was released in 1963 and credited to Pat Wayne with The Beachcombers.
The powerful saxophone line-up provided by The Beachcombers obviously impressed Norrie Paramor as he also allowed them to record an instrumental (without Pat Wayne) that was issued in October 1963; a high-energy, saxophone-heavy instrumental entitled 'Mad Goose'. The 45s by Pat Wayne and The Beachcombers sold well locally and gave them exposure on TV and radio despite not reaching the record charts.
"Jimmy Page never had anything to do with the band. I created the guitar riff by double-tracking which gave the recording a distinctive sound"
In November of 1963, Pat Wayne and The Beachcombers went back to Abbey Road to record a version of Chuck Berry's 'Roll Over Beethoven'. It has long been thought that future Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page was hired to play lead guitar on the recording but according to Geoff Roberts this was not the case.
Geoff said; "Jimmy Page never had anything to do with the band. I played on Roll Over Beethoven and in fact created the guitar riff by double-tracking, the second track slightly out of tune with the first which gave the recording a distinctive sound. We actually recorded it before The Beatles and if you listen to their version there are similarities but they also used the same studio and probably the same engineers so its not surprising."
Although the single was issued before the Beatles version and apparently sold more than eighty thousand copies, Pat Wayne and The Beachcombers cover of Roll Over Beethoven was unable to get into the charts. By some coincidence, Roll Over Beethoven became one of the first big hits for Birmingham group "The Electric Light Orchestra" (see The Move) when their version made it to Number 6 in the UK chart in January of 1973.
Geoff Roberts left the Beachcombers in 1964 and was replaced by Tony Carter. Pat Wayne and The Beachcombers recorded another Chuck Berry song called 'Bye Bye Johnny' that was issued as a single in April of 1964 but it unfortunately also failed to chart. Sax players Dario Capaldi and Monk Finch also left The Beachcombers in 1964 and were replaced with new members.
After the release of a final single with the Beachcombers, Pat Wayne decided to go solo and went on to record a further three singles in 1965 and 1966. The songs were well produced and should have done well, but by this time the record charts were dominated by "pop groups" and apart from isolated successes by those such as Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, solo singers seemed no longer in fashion. The Beachcombers also found it tough going with the line-up becoming further reduced by the departure of their saxophone players.
By 1966, Pat Wayne's solo recording career appeared to be foundering as EMI had not renewed his contract. He re-joined The Beachcombers who by then consisted of remaining original members Mal Edwards and Brian Sharpe along with Eric Ashcroft as their guitarist. Plenty of bookings for the band were still available locally but then Brian Sharpe also decided to leave. He was replaced by a young drummer named John Bonham who had previously played in The Senators and with Nicky James.
Unfortunately, John Bonham's drumming style was far too aggressive for The Beachcombers and he ended up drowning out the rest of the band on-stage with his volume! After a few months and a number of bookings, John made an amiable departure from Pat Wayne and The Beachcombers who by now found their engagements increasingly scarce. He joined another local group called The Way Of Life but it would still be a few more years before John "Bonzo" Bonham became part of Led Zeppelin - one of the most successful rock bands of all time!
Another young drummer named Mike Kellie joined the final Beachcombers line-up before they folded for good in 1966. Mike then joined former Beachcombers saxophonist Monk Finch in the Brum band Locomotive. Mike went on to find fame in the critically acclaimed "Spooky Tooth" and later helped form the influential punk rock band "The Only Ones". Mike also played sessions on recordings by many world-famous musicians. He passed away in January 2017.
Original Beachcombers guitarist Geoff Roberts continued with various other bands until 1968. In 1995, he got back into music and played bass guitar in a band called "4-Play" and in 1999 toured the U.K. and Europe with a band called "Bullitproof". These days he can be found playing bass guitar in a modern country-rock band.
As for Pat Wayne - a true legend of the Brum Beat scene - Pat Wayne continued to perform as a singer with work on the cabaret circuit to include engagements in Sweden and South Africa including two years performing in Zambia. He went into a successful business of selling ice cream. Pat still sings and continues to perform around Birmingham occasionally to this day.
Thanks to Geoff Roberts and Mel Edwards for assistance in writing this biography. Also thanks to Anna Kirstie (nee Finch) whose father was Bryan "Monk" Finch.
Copyright © John R Woodhouse
Pat Wayne and The Beachcombers 1960s Record Releases
Singles:
Pat Wayne Solo Singles:
The Beachcombers Singles: