All the latest on the British pop scene from TL’S TRUDY MORE.
The PAUL and JANE rumours persist. Not matter that Jane is not in England. No matter that Paul is walking around at a different club every night. Those marriage rumours go on.
Just what is the situation? Well I have it from a very reliable source that as far as Paul’s concerned, marriage is very much in the air, It’s Jane, apparently, who wants to concentrate on a career and isn’t too anxious to become a Mrs. BEATLE.
Certainly it’s very odd. There’s Paul ensconsed in a family house in St. John’s Wood, London. The house is very big and has a large garden and would seem, to most minds, absolutely bought with marriage and family in mind. And Jane lent a big hand when it came to carpeting, curtaining and choosing the decorations for most of the rooms. Which leads everyone to think that one day soon she herself may be living in those rooms.
Still on the Beatles beat come news this month of Mrs. GEORGE HARRISON’S mother, Mrs. DIANE JONES is 42 years old, very pretty, much younger than her 42 years, and PATTI BOYD’s mother. She has just bought an 18th century farmhouse in the peace of beautiful Devon. Near Tiverton and the sea, she lives with her cat and dog.
“I bought the house,” she said, “Because I wanted a place of peace and quiet that Patti and George could come and stay in.”
Patti and George are welcome weekend guests whenever they feel like getting away from it all.
MARIANNE FAITHFULL continues to go out with MICK JAGGER. They were last seen in public—very public, every national newspaper in England carried a photograph of them together—at the opening night of the ROLAND PETIT ballet Paradise Lost at Convent Garden Opera House. The couple—Marianne in velvet jacket trimmed with gold braid, her long hair flowing down her back, glittering full trousers round her legs, and Mick in sombrero hat and tightly waisted Spanish style jacket—arrived late and caused a sensation because the Royal Family had already been seated. Etiquette went to the wind that night!
Since then they’ve been to Germany and Tangiers together. They are utterly inseparable and utterly happy. Just now Marianne’s working hard for her theatre debut—as one of the sisters in the famous Russian play by Chekhov, Three Sisters.
Everyone’s very interested to see how she’ll cope, because her secret ambition has been to act right from the beginning when ANDREW OLDHAM plucked her from convent life and threw her full face into the glare of pop life.
Congratulations in passing to DENNIS PAYTON of the DAVE CLARK FIVE. He married secretary LYN GRIFFITHS.
WALKER BROTHERS are in the news again. There are still persisting rumours that SCOTT will soon split from the other boys and go solo. So far nobody will confirm or deny this. My feeling is that as long as they continue to make money on tours—and they are the leading tour names in the country, they will stick together.
Obviously, on record they aren’t as successful these days as they’d like to be. Scott explains it thus:
“I’m afraid the British public knows exactly what to expect on a new single from us. They know exactly where JOHN’S coming in and where the strings are coming in. That’s why they get fed up.”
Meanwhile John Maus announced the good news that his wife CATHY is expecting their first baby this September. Cathy phoned John to tell him about the event when the group were touring Hong Kong. John said he was: “Absolutely delighted.”
Cathy may have the baby in America where her family still live. She still hasn’t made up her mind.
Whatever happens John is going to be prepared. At the moment he’s looking for a new house outside London. A family house for Cathy to come home to.
Talking about splitting from groups, bad news, STEVIE WINWOOD—the leading light and vocal inspiration behind the SPENCER DAVIS GROUP has decided to quit.
Stevie is just 19 and is highly thought of amongst top musicians the world over. He has been with the group for two years with his elder brother MUFF on guitar.
He and Spencer have decided to separate because they have decided they are on different music scenes. Because Stevie is quitting, Muff, who originally only joined the group because his parents insisted he look after Stevie, will also quit. But Muff is to quit the business altogether. He plans to get married and settle down.
Stevie plans to form his own group and in six months time start making public appearances.
It seems a shame. However hard they try, Spencer, and drummer PETE YORK are going to have a hard time finding a replacement with Stevie’s talent—although certainly they haven’t been having a hard time finding someone—offers have been flooding in. Especially sad because the group seem finally to be getting recognized in America. Still that’s show business, or something!
BRIAN JONES and blonde German model ANITA PALLENBURG continue to fraternize. In fact it’s very serious indeed—and that’s been going on for well over a year now.
Latest news is that Brian has written all the soundtrack for a special short feature film to star Anita. He has completed tracks in London.
Talking about dating, MONKEE MICKY DOLENZ saw lots, lots and lots of long haired swinging model SAMANTHA JUSTE while he was in Britain last.
“Sammy,” as she is known to friends, met Micky when the Monkees appeared on British TV program Top Of The Pops. Sammy is on every week putting on records, and her pretty face immediately caught Micky’s eye.
After that they were everywhere together during his two week visit. When questioned about each other, they just smiled and said the usual: “good friends” bit.
But from where I sit it’s much, much, more than that.
Sad news for HOLLIES’ fans is the serious illness of drummer BOBBY ELLIOTT. He has been banned from work by doctors for the next four months at least.
Bobby was taken suddenly ill, when the Hollies were touring Germany. Doctors rushed him to the hospital fearing he may have been a victim of a local typhoid epidemic. It turned out to be a complicated internal trouble. Bobby was on the danger list in the Hamburg hospital for two weeks. The group stayed with him in shifts and then finally flew back to London when Bobby’s parents could get away from work and fly to their son’s bedside.
Apparently GRAHAM NASH was so upset, he was talking of quitting if Bobby didn’t improve.
Anyway, two weeks later Bobby was flown back to Manchester with a promise that if he rested he would be able to rejoin the group the next month.
Unfortunately Bobby got a bit too enthusiastic and had a relapse and was forbidden by doctors to rejoin the group for six months.
The rest of the group are battling on without Bob but with a replacement—TONY NEWMAN, the drummer who used to be with SOUNDS INCORPORATED, and very well thought of at that. He will tour Scandinavia, the Continent and America with the group this year, whilst Bobby recuperates.
To end with news on THE MOVE. Remember me telling you about them in one of the earlier columns? Well this group have really progressed since then.
If plans go through—and it looks pretty definite—they will be recording in New York soon. Their recording manager, DENNY CORDELL—a magnificent gentleman with an evil looking moustache—has booked U.S. studios for an LP session. Apparently, there’s an American sound British studios just can’t get.
CHRISSIE SHRIMPTON—ex-girl friend of Mick Jagger—is now an ex-girl friend again. This time it’s STEVE MARIOTT, pixieish lead singer of top group, THE SMALL FACES. That broke up after a fairly hectic couple of months.
“We were just friends really,” said Chrissie, “And I hope we still are.”
Nice thought!
