hi there,

It seems impossible these recordings haven't been discussed here before, but despite exercise of due diligence, by searching, I came up with nothing.

This shit's great!

Do you have any additional details beyond the below (from Zentgraf)?




Late 1961: LITTLE BOY BLUE AND THE BLUE BOYS.
Probably Bexleyheath, England, Bob Beckwith's home and maybe Dartford, England, Dick Taylor's home. Reel-to-reel home recordings, incl.
- Around And Around (Chuck Berry)
- Little Queenie 1 (Chuck Berry)
- Beautiful Delilah 1 (Chuck Berry)
- La Bamba (Trad. arr.: Richie Valens)
- Go On To School (Jimmy Reed)
- I Ain’t Got You 1 (Billy Boy Arnold)
- I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone (Stanley Kesler/William Taylor)
- Down The Road Apiece (Tony Raye)
- Don’t Want No Woman (Don Robey)
- I Ain’t Got You 2 (Billy Boy Arnold) -unverified
- Johnny B. Goode (Chuck Berry)
- Little Queenie 2 (Chuck Berry)
- Beautiful Delilah 2 (Chuck Berry)

Line-up: MJ (voc), /KR (gtr), /Dick Taylor (bass, gtr; some dr), Alan Etherington (maracas, dr), Bob Beckwith (gtr; some harm)

thanks
swiss

[www.iorr.org]


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-04-26 00:38 by Deltics.

Cool stuff indeed swiss. Maybe your search didn't work because you are calling it Little Blue Boy and the Blue Boys instead of Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys.

peace

From Swiss magazine "Migros-Magazin" Nr. 30 (23 July 2007)

Alan Etherington was the same age as Mick Jagger (so probably born in 1943) and grew up in Dartford. When he was 14 his family moved next to the home of the Jagger family. Before he knew Mick only vaguely but he then became friends with him. They both listened to the American Forces Network (AFN) together to discover new music. But (English) rock'n'roll "wasn't revolutionary enough". So they found Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley: "When we heard these musicians, our world exploded. It was fantastic!" Soon they founded their own band: Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys. "The 'Little' had probably something to do with the fact, that many blues singers called themselves 'Little something'." Etherington says, "Jagger mainly became the singer, because he couldn't play an instrument." And because of his talent to imitate other people: "In school he parodied teachers and colleagues, he was able to imitate any accent."

"He was an absolutely normal teenager who respected his parents, but he tried to get around unpleasant jobs. When he surprisingly appeared at us, my mother used to say: 'Well Mick, did your mother ask you to help her with something?' " But Mick's dancing style wasn't very usual. As soon as music started he couldn't keep still and began to dance: "But not in a very coordinated way. It looked as if his extremities weren't really attached to his body. And then his handclapping! We used to ape him at parties, we clapped our hands and obtruded our lips."

In Stones biographies Alan is often mentioned as the "maraccas player". He protests: " I played these maraccas, yes". But he was also the drummer of the band: "Well, drummer is a big word. We only had one single drum and a cymbal." Actually he played the trumpet at the time, but there was no need for a trumpet in a blues band. "I soon stopped playing the trumpet, I didn't see any future in it."

They spent the little money they had for music. "We used to buy singles together - we couldn't even think of albums." There were no cassette recorders at the time, but Etherington had an old magnetophone on which the youngsters copied their records. "You had to put the microphone in front of the speakers because direct recording was not possible."

Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys also used the old magnetophone to record their own music (for example the well known tape that was sold by an unknown person in 1995 for £50'000 - some rumours say it was bought by Mick Jagger himself). "At the time someone told us we'd sound @#$%& horrible. Well, we were only 17 and neither educated musicians nor specially talented. Even if we thought Keith to be a brilliant guiatrist, maybe he wasn't really." Mick had re-met Keith Richards in October 1961 at the Dartford Station, when Mick had a Chuck Berry album under his arm, an album that was lent to him by Alan Etherington. One week later Keith became the fifth member of Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys.

A little later, the boys talked Alan Etherington's father into lending his car to them because they wanted to visit the Ealing Club in London, where they met Brian Jones. "To hear him was a revelation to us", says Etherington. "Brian Jones soon after moved into a hole - you really could not call it an apartment - in Notting Hill. It was on the way to the club, so we oftenly picked him up there."

At this time the original Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys broke up. Bob Beckwith was no more interested in the band. Etherington began a course of studies for which he had to live in Northern England half of the year. The other three Blue Boys teamed up with Brian Jones. Etherington also attended the very first concert of the Rolling Stones at the Marquee Club. He says it was only there he realized it was over with the common music sessions. When the Rolling Stones released their first singles, cover versions, Etherington did not like them: "They changed the songs of our idols. It was near to blasphemy." Only later he realized this process was necessary so they could find their own sound. Etherington and Jagger last met 1966 in London. Jagger was driving a car when he stopped seeing Etherington. "I saw a big bottle of malt whiskey on the backseat. I asked him what it was good for? He said: 'Oh, that's for the image.' "

After some jobs abroad Etherington moved to moved to Pully at the Lake Geneva in 1973 because his employer Nestlé had offered him a job in Switzerland. He later married a Swiss woman (Doris) from Solothurn and thus became a Swiss himself. After his retirement he began to play alphorn - a wind instrument, consisting of a very long natural wooden horn of conical bore, having a cup-shaped mouthpiece, used by mountain dwellers in Switzerland. He even gives concerts blowing this instrument! He says only two instruments give him the goosebumps - the bagpipe and the alphorn. "But it's impossible to play bagpipe, finally I'm an Englisman, not a Scotsman!" (about the alphorn: [en.wikipedia.org] )

In the Swiss magazine "Migros-Magazin" Nr. 34 (20 August 2007) there is a photo of Alan Etherington, attending the Rolling Stones concert in Lausanne, 11 August 2007, together with his wife Doris. He is cited: "The concert was great. We best liked the James Brown song that Mick performed with his background singer. And Keith Richards was great, when he sang, only accompanied by Ron Wood. Anyway, Keith seems to have to be the Stone who had the most fun at the concert: he smiled." Since both Alan and Doris Etherington are shown wearing a black stripe with red tongues around their necks it seems they were also invited backstage. But it's not written if they have met Mick Jagger.

[www.iorr.org]




"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2015-04-26 12:08 by Deltics.

Too cool!

Thank you so much, Deltics!

Real cool thanks for posting!

Excellent post giving an insight in to the early days of Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys.
Hard to believe that reading about Mick and Keith in their informative late teenage years that they would become the Glimmer Twins part of the notorious rock band the Rolling Stones who are still be performing sold out concerts 53 years on and still rolling .

For some years these Little Blue Boy and the Blue Boys recordings have been released on all kinds of bootlegs. I remember that we did not get these all at once, but first some and later some more. And there is a medley of a few fragments. But we still miss some of them in a complete form, La Bamba, I ain't got you 2.
Anyone knows about the release of the missing gems?

Alex.

...Never seen a photo of the whole band...!?

See entry of Aug. 1st at:

[rollingstonesvaults.blogspot.nl]

These recordings are now public domain and appears on 'official' releases.

Weren't they called "Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys" ?

Yes, my mistake: Little Boy Blue etc.

If they are public domain, where can I found La Bamba complete and I ain't got you 2?

This is so awesome , right from the start this is pure vintage fun with the Glimmer Twins. Everything is right there (minus Bill and Charlie and Brian ) but the sound is so unmistakable and pure Mick Jagger vocals .Damn really hot blazing hot ,can you imagine a setlist like this ? I sure can !!!!!!!!! Both Mick and Keith sound awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!