Folk For Christabel

 18th October 1969  Leyton Senior High School for Boys

Keith Brincorn remembers .. (it well)

Our fifth School Folk Evening, and by October 1969, the "Christabel" brand seemed to be well established. Nothing else can fully explain the biggest turnout yet, in spite of the fact that tonight's headlining act had not yet reached the zenith of his fame (i.e. relative obscurity).

The unassuming and quiet-spoken Al Jones quickly won over the unsuspecting audience with his quirky humour and mix of singalong standards (Scarborough Fair), powerful originals (Get out of my Car), laid back R & B (Blues with a Feeling) and 'old English traditional folk songs' (That'll be the Day, I saw her standing there, Long Tall Sally etc!)

For added value, Al brought along a couple of guests, including the man then better known as not-the-one-out-of-Jethro-Tull. Ian A Anderson of course went on to become Britain's premier folk roots renaissance man. He delivered a stinging anti-motor-vehicle song, long before it was easy being green, and then, accompanied by Al, turned Paint it Black into a jaunty acoustic blues. From this day on, Ian became a key contact and co-conspirator in the Martin-Kingsbury story.

Not only was it a great musical evening, and the first of our concerts to be immortalised on (admittedly antediluvian) audiotape, it was also a huge financial success, with over 25 pounds clear profit!

More Memorable Musical Moments:

BACK