Barrie Ashall
One of the unexpected joys to emerge from my involvement with the lads from Wimple Winch has been the ongoing correspondence between Barrie Ashall and myself. He’s a consummate jokester, our Barrie, a relentless punster and entertaining raconteur, who possesses, much like Dee, a fine memory for specific details from over forty years ago.
When I sat down to write the Shindig piece I had no appreciable biographical information about Barrie to incorporate into the piece. I had gleaned, however, from my conversations with Dee, and from listening to the select tracks on which he played, that his contributions to WW were an essential element in upping the group’s collective ante.
Barrie Ashall began playing music at the age of 10. As often is the case with adolescent boys, it eventually boiled down to a tossup between music and sports. Music would eventually triumph over football, of course, as it would eventually take precedence over the more practical career choice of electro-mechanical engineering. *
Barrie’s first band was The Resounds (terrific name!), a trio formed for the specific intention of playing a Christmas party. A chap named Albert Massey played lead guitar, with Barrie on bass. The also band featured an asthmatic drummer who sang lead vocals (!). According to Barrie, he was an “Archie Andrews lookalike,” who left an indelible impression in his mind:
“The room stank of inhaler and his eyes spun round their sockets uncontrollably every time he played a roll (looked really cool as well as hilarious).”
Next installment: The Lawrence St. James Band
* (Incidentally, for those who are interested in my particular music-sports dilemma, music triumphed over basketball. Seeing The Who’s anarchic bio/concert-pic The Kids Are Alright in 1979 was the revelatory game-changer; one of the defining points in my life.)
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