On the road with the Third Ear band. Steve Pank's memories on driving for the band.

After I had published the magazine, Albion, I was running weekly benefits in All Saints Church Hall with the Third Ear Band playing as the resident band, Sam Cutler was the compere and he introduced many guests, including Alexis Korner Arthur Brown, and Davy Graham. Members of the Floyd used to come down, and on one occasion, Syd Barrett did short set, backed by Nick Mason on drums and David Gilmour on bass guitar. Andrew King of Blackhill Enterprises asked if I could put on the Edgar Broughton band which I did, and when Glenn asked me if I could recommend an agent and I suggested Blackhill Enterprises. They signed on the Third Ear Band. and to a recording deal with EMI Harvest records. The first booking they got was some way out of London supporting John Mayalls Bluesbreakers. To get there, Glen booked ‘Motivation transport, very sympathetic to heads.’ Their van broke down on the way home and the group had to hitch home.

Afterwards Glen asked me if I would drive for the band and I agreed to do so, He hired a transit van. I drove for the band for two years for 12,000 miles. Anywhere that was unfamiliar I would always stop and check the signposts, and we never missed a gig.

Blackhill organized free concerts in Kensington Gardens, The first featured with other groups. the Pink Floyd, Pretty Things, the Third Ear Band was the opening band. the second one featured Blind Faith with Eric Clapton. the Third one was in Hyde Park featuring the Rolling Stones, with Alexis Korner, the ‘Third Ear’, and other groups. A rumour went round that the Third Ear Band was booked to open the concerts to ensure that the weather was good.

One booking we had was organised by DJ and broadcaster John Peel, and folk singer Bridget St John. It was at Holloway ladies’ prison. The concert was for the remand prisoners. We met in John Peel’s flat. Also on the booking was a folk duo called Friends of the Poor, consisting of a singer guitarist and a cello player. the singer with Mike Deighan and the cellist was Ursula. At that time the cello player in the ‘Third Ear’ was Paul Buckmaster who had just been involved in an instrumental version of J‘taime by Jane Birkin, which was being played on the BBC. Because of this he had told Glen he could not play on the next booking. I suggested to Glen . ’Why don’t you ask Ursula to play at the next gig?’ and Glen replied ‘I have already asked her to join the band’. One of the first bookings that Ursula played on was at the first Isle of Wight festival that was to be headlined by Bob Dylan.

After driving Down to Portsmouth and crossing on the ferry to the Isle of Wight, we headed to the festival venue at Ryde. The previous night, the Saturday, had been headlined by The Who. The Sunday was more of a folky concert with people like Julie Felix and Richie Havens, and the Third Ear Band who played in the afternoon. There was a big stage and an audience of half a million people. Afterwards, Ursula told me that after she had got up on the stage and drew her bow across the strings, there was a huge roaring sound such as she had never heard before from her instrument.

There was a lot of expectation in the air, that evening was the first time for Bob Dylan to appear live since his motorcycle accident two years before. He was to be backed by The Band. As artists we were allowed into the small enclosure in front of the stage, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were all there. I remember hearing that as Paul Minns was sitting down, someone came up to him and said: ‘You can’t sit there. because that is Ringo Starr seat’.

We waited a long time, maybe an hour for the evening concert to start, then The Band appeared and did a set. When Bob Dylan did come on and started playing, he seemed very nervous and uncomfortable with his guitar. This was his first public performance since he had a motorcycle accident. He then handed the guitar to Jamie Robbie Robertson of The Band to tune it up, and after that, things did improve. At one point he stopped playing and looking around at the crowd. said ‘It’s good to be here’. At the time it was the biggest live crowd he’d ever played to. There was one time we went down to Michael’s Mount at the tip of Cornwall to play a booking, and I remember the promoter telling us that his car had been parked on the beach and as a result had it been washed out to sea.

The band was booked to do a national tour in ten major venues around Britain with Al Stewart. We discussed with Glen what to call the tour. John Michell just published a book about ancient ley lines and geomantic patterns called ‘The View Over Atlantis’ and we suggested the tour could be called ‘Atlantis Rising’. Glen said it sounded good to him but what would Al Stewart think? Ursula and myself agreed to go and see Al Stewart and ask him if he would agree. he reluctantly agreed, and said he would just as soon it was called ‘Ham and Eggs!’ However by the time the tour ended, Al Stewart included a song he had written that was all about the prophecies of Nostradamus. John Michell’s book ‘The view over Atlantis’ was written up in the programme.

The tour covered ten venues. Starting out at Queen Elisabeth Hall in London, then going to Leith town hall in Scotland, Birmingham Town Hall, North Staffs Poly, Colston Hall Bristol, Fairfield Hall in Croydon, Southampton Guildhall, Century Hall Manchester, Crewe Hall Sheffield and ending up at Brighton Dome. After the tour, there was noticeably more interest in the band, and there was better attendance at local bookings.

The Third Ear Band played a booking at the Paradiso, the top club in Amsterdam, I remember during that gig, a lot of the audience were lying flat on the floor! Another important gig was at the Essen pop and blues festival in Germany. This was in a huge sports arena, and along with the Third Ear Band, there were a number of other British bands on the bill. I remember thinking how good the Third Ear Band sounded, a recording of this has been recently released as a LP by German M.I.G. Records.

The band was always popular in Wales. One night, I drove to Aberystwyth and back in one night. On that occasion, I remember Andrew King was there, came into the band room and found me lying on the floor trying to get some rest before driving the band back home to London. On another occasion we went to Glasgow and we had nowhere to stay so we asked a member of the audience if they knew anywhere we could stay. They found some people who were happy to put us up.

There was an occasion when the van’s battery charger was failing, and I had to drive back to London on the A1 using only the sidelights. It was around that time that the driver of the Fairport Convention’s van fell asleep at the wheel. This caused an accident in which two people, Martin Lamble the drummer, and Jeannie Franklin, Richard Thompson’s girlfriend, died in the crash. Jeannie had been a clothes designer and had made outfits for the band the Cream. Jack Bruce‘s first album was dedicated to Jeannie and was called “Songs for a tailor” in her memory. After that happened. I said to Glen that I felt it was getting dangerous and we needed have a second driver especially on the long trips. The first second driver we had was Terry Oldfield, the younger brother of Mike Oldfield, he lasted about two weeks. then Glen got another driver who had previously worked as a professional roadie for some time.

Originally, I had been living in this in a flat off Ladbroke Grove and then I moved into the basement flat of Richard Coff, the violinist with the band. Shortly after that, I moved into a community in Brixton with Ursula. I was then parking the van in Acre Lane Brixton, and the equipment was not secure. Living in this community I got interested in playing the guitar and writing songs myself. That was when I left as driver of the band.

After I left, the band did a live recording of the film Abelard and Heloise, As Ursula described it, there was no preparation, the group just sat down and improvised while watching the film on a screen. After they came off the plane, they were off to Glastonbury to play for a Ceremony with a Druid group, on the top of Glastonbury Tor.

Steve Pank, August 2025

no©2025LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first).

 

The Ferlaina Archive and the extraordinary discovery of unrealised TEB photos at Hyde Park! - part fourth.

This is the fourth and last part of the story... 

(first part here, second part here, part three here).

 

4.

What is exceptional is that photographer Pino Callá was in the fateful "right place" at the "right time"; he could not have been aware in those days of the historical importance that event would have in the youth counterculture of the time.

"Surely he was sent by some magazine to do a story. However he was very shrewd," Ferlaina says, "because first of all there are pictures of Mick Jagger in the trailer, so that means he followed it well. He was good because he photographed everything, he photographed the Rolling Stones from every angle, but he didn't limit himself to them, as anyone else would have done. He photographed everybody there, he documented everything. He did a 187-shot shoot."

Having become the rightful owner of these photos, Ferlaina has tried to enhance the heritage by promoting exhibitions and producing a self-published catalog of the Rolling's photos in Hyde Park, but his focus in recent times has turned to selling the archive.

"What I've managed to do," he admits, "is to make a point of attention that has been vented in a few markets ... that's enough for me, I don't want to be a gallerist or a photo agency. Mine is a work of a scholar, researcher, I don't want to organize and take care of logistics.... I would like to sell the whole archive or even a part of it (e.g., the Rolling Stones shots with the Led Zeppelin collection)... I am willing to consider any interest and offers. In the meantime, though, but I would like to make a photo book with these photos, perhaps in collaboration with Ghettoraga!?"

Glen Sweeney in the backstage.

For all fans of the Third Ear Band, however, Ferlaina has already planned an event for the next year: from January 20th to February 23th, 2023 , at the archive in Milan (via Muzio Scevola, 4), there will be a photo exhibition of all the band's shots (and the King Crimson's one) in Hyde Park!

To stay up-to-date on Archivio Ferlaina initiatives, this is the website address: http://www.archivioferraina.com/

Richard Coff and  girlfriend

Paul Minns, his wife Mary Haynes and son.

Paul Minns playing oboe on stage.

 no©2022 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

The Ferlaina Archive and the extraordinary discovery of unrealised TEB photos at Hyde Park! - part three.

This is the third part of the story... 

(first part here, second part here).

 

3.

"So I engage in the sale of photographs, especially from the 1970s - things like Living Teathre... - and art books and catalogs. At home I have particular books, for example on Conceptual Art.... which I have 'fed' on over the years, but they didn't sell much, it was almost like an exchange of stickers between enthusiasts ... but the photos, those did sell well. I used to buy them on eBay, for example, for 50-60 euros and resell them for 100, you didn't have a huge margin but it worked..."

 

Ferlaina during the interview.

At some point Ferlaina had the intuition to broaden the commercial discourse to music, his great passion, and began to frequent antique markets as a buyer, finding very interesting material without worrying about copyrights and agencies. One day he happened to go there early in the morning, at five o'clock, and came across a stall with boxes...

"I asked the people selling them if they would give me first refusal to see them before the others.... 'How many are you selling them for,' I asked him? 'Five euros each, but if you get some I'll make even less. I selected an initial bundle and went home in seventh heaven. I saw that the name of an agency was printed behind the photos and, not knowing anything about it, I inquired, worried about the possible legal consequences (embezzlement...). I found out that the agency no longer existed--but who was the photographer? I would have liked to involve him in some initiative, like organizing an exhibition. At that time I had organized an exhibition at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni of Novegro (Milan), on "Photography and otherness", and I had become interested in the work of an Italian stage photographer, Franco Cattarinich, a great master of technique."

Ferlaina meets the photographer and discovers that the latter, having started his own agency in 1980, has a basement full of old photos purchased from other photographers that he never marketed. Ferlaina asks to see something and makes an offer, but hesitates. He insists, peeks through the envelopes at the words "Rolling Stones London," and decides to offer a cash sum. He ticks it off. It's the beginning of a long negotiation that will lead him to acquire as many as 21 boxes of photos and negatives totaling thousands of pieces (as of today still to be cataloged).

 

Ferlaina Archive in Milan.

As he began to delve into what he had purchased, he came across the nearly 150 shots of the Stones' Hyde Park concert. But who is the photographer? - I asked him. "On the photo envelopes was this name, Callá," he says. "I did some research and found out that he was the director of "Colpo Grosso" ["Big Shot", a trivial broadcast of the 1970s, ed.] and "Disco Ring" [a music broadcast of the same era, ed.] Pino Callà, a RAI director who has been living in New York for years. In the late 1960s he was a freelance in London. Now he lives in Milan." 

In fact a Callà's Wikipedia page does exist here as a Facebook's one here. 

 

(end of part three - to be continued)

A group of Hell's Angels.

 

 

 

 

The audience.

The Third Ear Band playing on stage.

Paul Minns with Paul Buckmaster on stage.

 no©2022 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

The Ferlaina Archive and unpublished photos of the Third Ear Band in Hyde Park 1969 free concert - part two.

Here is the second part of the extraordinary accidental discovery (read the first part here).

2.

On 1st June I took the train and went to meet in Milan, Lambrate area. There, a stone's throw from the station, is the photographic archive where many treasures unknown to most are kept. So many photos that tell the story of 20th century Italian culture through the world of entertainment, especially live concerts and television appearances. Portraits of Italian cultural personalities such as Pasolini or Moravia, singers such as Modugno or Dalla, directors such as Fellini... mostly unpublished or rarely circulated shots (which may have appeared in a magazine or newspaper article).  

Giuseppe Ferlaina (June 1st, 2022).

Giuseppe Ferlaina himself turned out to be a character with an important story to tell, strong passions (Erik Satie), great ambitions (writing, between art and philosophy). Speaking of "Vexations", Satie's composition-paradox, he says, for example: "Even today Satie is an undefeated master, because he dilutes the music, at a certain point you don't hear it any more, entering the mechanism of compositional praxis... you don't hear it any more, he liquefies it, which with "4'33"" Cage evokes it, he only represents it. Satie doesn't make a representation... No one else succeeded in obviating the work like Satie... All the avant-garde, the happenings, Fluxus, where do they come from? They come from there, an absolute master!" 

Born in Naples in 1970, after graduating, he first moved to Milan in 1989, only to return almost immediately to Naples, working in a photography studio as a fashion assistant. In '94 he returned to Milan again and worked for a few agencies doing simple auditions, but was dissatisfied because he had an idea for more creative work and returned to Naples again, before finally moving to Milan in 1997. At that point, 'disappointed with the economic results achieved', he went to work as an agent for the prestigious Treccani publishing house; then as commercial director for Vallecchi. Marriage and the birth of two children forced him 'to put his head down' and accept a more coventional job as an employee in a cooperative. "In the meantime, I still continued to study, particularly philosophy of art... I had to, like it was medicine..."

Once this experience was over, he took up photography again and came up with the idea of the archive, opened around 2012. "I was already buying photographs, I was interested in the 1970s, in artistic research. Everything was born out of love for art, despite the fact that I had graduated without practically opening a book..."

(end of part two - to be continued)

 

Mick Jagger in Hyde Park, July 1969.

Jagger reading the poem for Brian Jones.

 no©2022 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first.

Can you believe that in a photo studio in Milan I found 26 unreleased photos of the Third Ear Band?

1.

It was a classic stroke of luck, sort of like when an occasional customer at a junk store comes across a dusty Van Gogh, hidden in a corner of the store under cheap prints and a lamp from the 1960s.
A dear friend of mine, an excellent electric guitar/bass player, in a flea market buys a portfolio of four unpublished black-and-white photos of Led Zeppelin, taken at the ill-fated but legendary Vigorelli Velodrome gig (in Milan) in 1971: all happy and proud about this find, he tells me that it was a photographer from Milan, a certain Ferlaina, who sold them to him.
He also tells me that the photographer has a Web site at  http://www.archivioferraina.com/ 

He days: "Drop by and you will see that he has interesting things."

I go in there and am immediately heartbroken when I realize that in his archive there are over 200 shots from the legendary concert that the Rolling Stones played in Hyde Park on July 1969. A concert that unfortunately, by the naïve logics of the time, was filmed extensively only to document the commemoration the Rolling did of their founder genius Brian Jones, but no footage was devoted to the other groups involved by Blackhill Enterprises - King Crimson, Alexis Korner & the Blues Incorporated and the Third Ear Band (read more HERE). 

It doesn't take me long to call the studio and talk to Mr Ferlaina who, very kindly, explains that yes, in addition to the Rolling Stones, "there seem to be pictures of other musicians." I jump in my chair and ask him to send me some examples: after a few minutes shots of Alexis Korner, Robert Fripp, and... Of Glen Sweeney playing on stage with Richard Coff! Then shots taken backstage where Glen is hugging Carolyn Looker and Paul  Minns is with first wife Mary Haynes and Tristan, their first son!
Even of Edgar Broughton that day in the audience with Lauren Loz, his wife...

(1- to be continued)

Edgar Broughton with his wife Laurie. 

 no©2022 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first.

Glen smoking a pipe at the Hyde Park free concert in June 1969.

Here below you can see an old Sunday Mirror short article about the Hyde Park free concert on June 7th, 1969 (the so-called "Blind Faith Hyde Park free concert") with a picture portraying Glen Sweeney as he smokes a pipe...

 no©2022 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

Denim Bridges' lyrics for "Hyde Park"!

Our friend Denny Bridges sent me the original lyrics used for "Hyde Park" singing. 

He wrote me this: "Here are the lyrics to my song "In A Man" that we're used for "Hyde Park". Subject to the comments below you can reprint them as long as you clearly credit "Lyrics by Denny Bridges". 
It is clear from my garbled vocal performances of "Hyde Park" that I didn't know the lyrics that well, but in my defense the original idea was for there to be no words just sounds. I couldn't manage that so I had to use words. You will also notice extra lyrics that I have put into parenthesis (). 

In the original song there was a chromatic chord change into that section and TEB didn't do chromatic chord changes, so that section was cut. It is noticeable in both recordings that I forgot that and went for the change and no one else did. Oh well."

In A Man

We can live without fear
We can look to make our peace
(Given time so we can know
How to be certain as we grow)
Like a child's sign of truth in a man

All our fortunes can be real
If our handling of them seem
(Starting wrong. But in the end
Firm resolve that still can bend)
Like a child's sign of strength in a man

Can't deny we know the way
But the few still lead astray
(The masses following as one
But some lone voices sound alarms)
Like a child's sign of love in a man

There's a story, it's always told
About today but still it's old
(It relates what we have done
Nothing learned from what was shown)
Of a child's sign of love in a man

 
(lyrics by Denim Bridges)

no©2019 Luca Chino Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

Why "Hyde Park" was never recorded in the studio?

TEB fan Detlef wrote about the interview with Denny Bridges: "Hi and thanks for the interesting interview! I always loved the track "Hyde Park" that the TEB performed for German Beat Club TV programme in 1970. It is listed as a Denim Bridges original and I always wondered why it was never recorded in the studio. Any info on that?"

I've asked Denny. Today he replies: "Internal band politics. Glen went cool on adding vocals to the repertoire. I believe Paul Minns went along with that opinion at the time. Glen told me at the time "If I wanted to play folk songs I should be in another band". Ironic that we should have to later provide "Fleance's Song" for Macbeth. I really suspect it was a reaction to the opinion of some of the band that we maybe should add a rock drummer. Glen's compromise was to try adding the congas. That didn't last long. Then Macbeth happened and... back to basics. I have been over that before."

no©2019 Luca Chino Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

A crap useless DVD bootleg of the TEB on sale on the Web!

Please, don't waste your money, TEB collectors! This time it's not worth.

A DVD titled "Third Ear Band 1969-1971" with videos of the band is available on the Net at € 21,50 (HERE), but it shows just only well-known videos easily available for free everywhere.
Here's the description of the "product": 

"A rare and beautiful DVD (2 hours & 23 min'. excellent quality of picture and sound) of the unique UK 70s band with its unique blend of prog-folk-classic. (the disc is a top quality printable dvd-r disc with all the details and the band's photo beutifuly printed on the disc)."

As for the t-shirts on sale on e-bay (see HERE), the worst thing is that someone is trying to make money from this NOT AUTHORIZED product and the  group members and their families don't get any royalties from this.

no©2018 Luca Chino Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

"Beat Instrumental" interview with Sweeney and Coff on September 1969!

Here's another rare and precious contribute to the knowledge of TEB's history due to Beatchapter of London (bless you Mr. Jon Limbert!). This time in his archive he has found for us an old "Beat Instrumental" piece published on September 1969 with an unusual interview with Glen Sweeney and Richard Coff.

Just after the important appearance at Rolling Stones' Hyde Park concert and at Isle of Wight Festival (with the legendary return of Bob Dylan) TEB talks about its music and the reactions of audience...

 

 Beatchapter - 49 Sebert Road, Forest Gate - London UK E70NJ
ph.: 020 85194590     e-mail: sales@beatchapter.com 

no©2014 Luca Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)  

About the rare clip from Hyde Park...

I've recently contacted through YouTube the guy that uploaded the short TEB clip recorded at Hyde Park on June 7th, 1969.

He's Roger, the webmaster of the very good archive dedicated to the old band Family (http://www.familybandstand.com). He has been so kind to explain the source of the video is a French TV broadcast called "Pop Power".

If you're interested, they have a long recording from that event downloading at http://www.sendspace.com/file/gvqqub

I've sent him all the known dates played by the TEB in France, just to check if there are other clips around....
Keep our fingers crossed!

 no©2012 Luca Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

An unexpected fantastic never seen TEB short video on YouTube!!!

An incredible fantastic short video of the TEB playing live at Hyde Park on June 7th, 1969 (at the so-called "Blind Faith concert") is available on YouTube thanks such "Classic Rock Video" (http://www.youtube.com/user/ClassicRockVideo: "Some choice clips from my collection. Most of which is shared here has been edited specifically for better YouTube enjoyment & not intended for archival viewing. Video has been made widescreen and wherever possible audio has been re-dubbed").

On stage Glen Sweeney (hand drums), Richard Coff (violin), Paul Minns (oboe) and Paul Buckmaster (cello) playing in front of a quite absorbed, relaxed and dancing (!) audience.

A unique, very rare document that at last can witness the great interplay of the TEB playing on live and their incomparable singularity!

Coff and Buckmaster

Glen Sweeney on hand drums

... the great interplay of the TEB playing on live and their incomparable singularity!...

Richard Coff on violin

The great Paul Minns

... a quite absorbed, relaxed and dancing (!) audience...

OTHER INTERESTING STUFFS ABOUT THE HYDE PARK CONCERT:
http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/hyde-park-6-7-69.html
http://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2010/07/whos-that-man-on-left-side-of-backstage.html

no©2012 Luca Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

"The Lost Broadcasts" DVD: a review.

Included on “The Lost Broadcasts” series by English label Gonzo Multimedia, this DVD features some rare television performances by the Third Ear Band recorded on September 11th, 1970 by the line-up with Glen Sweeney (hand drums), Paul Minns (oboe), Denim Bridges (guitar), Paul Buckmaster (bass) and Gasper Lawal on congas as a guest musician.

The session was recorded for the German TV programme "Beat Club".

Some philological considerations

The compilation consists of three tracks only - “In D”, “Hyde Park” and “Druid Grocking”. 
According notes editor Jon Kirkman, the first (6:00) was "thought to be "Raga in D" a piece originally recorded  at the sessions for the debut album "Alchemy"", but as every serious TEB fan knows (read on this archive at http://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2010/10/5-teb-fans-cant-be-wrong-at-last-heres.html) this is a sonorous incredible mistake because actually "Raga in D" was recorded by the very first TEB line-up with acoustic instruments and very different harmonic/melodic structure (please download and compare the tracks Mr. Kirkman!)...
This DVD live in the studio version is instead the same "Eternity in D" played by the band at "John Peel Sessions" radio programme on January 7th, 1971 and recorded the same year in a Balham recording studios with the new title "Ghoo" (abbreviation of "Genetic Octopogillar Goo"): you can read a file at the page http://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2010/09/ghoo-aka-eternity-in-d-rough-recording.html of this archive.

The Band performing "Druid Grocking".

About “Hyde Park” (8:33), we had that short version circulating on the Net among fans as "Hyde Park Raga", recorded live in the studio for the same "Beat Club" German TV programme on September 26th, 1970 (read at http://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2009/12/hyde-park-third-ear-band-tv-video_09.html). This is a longer more experimental version, caratherized by brilliant extensive Paul Minns' solos but a poor, slack Bridges on guitar.

Buckmaster, Bridges and Minns performing "In D".

The last track is titled "Druid Grocking" (14:51) and according the DVD editor "was another track played during a John Peel Top Gear session in the Summer of 1969 and was an extended and adapted workout of the song "Druid One" from the "Alchemy" album".
A statement quite arguable because that known session for John Peel (aired on July 27th, 1970) included a track titled "Druid", presumably a live rendition of the original "Druid One"... (even if we know there are some tracks titled "Druid" in the TEB repertoire...).
Also we have no proofs that a track with the name "Grocking" on the title was played by the band for John Peel: you can check the great book edited by  Ken Garrer titled  "The Peel Sessions"  (BBC Books, UK 2007) or read a file published here at http://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-many-teb-unrealized-tracks-left.html
Instead it's possible that the correct title is "David Grocking".

The TEB on the stage: note the clouds in the back...

Rather intriguing some remarks written by musician/TEB big fan Sedayne about it: "I love the confusion over DRUID and DAVID - this obviously comes from the typeface used, where the R looks like an A and the U looks like V but I think I'll adopt the name 'David Grocking'.
If I recall right this isn't the first time DRUID has been mistaken for DAVID. I've got a laconic John Peel In Concert intro someplace in which he slights his secretary for making the same error...
And then some say Jesus of the house of David came to Glastonbury to become a druid. Listening to this music I can well believe it. Maybe his secret initiate name was David Grocking? After all in the Urban Dixctionary we read that "grokking" is:
'One who has graduated from penultimate hipster status, the educated hobo embodies various attributes from all walks of life, including those of the hipster, nerd, and mountain man variety. The educated hobo can oftentimes be seen grokking about. There can only be one educated hobo in existence.'
I'm cool with that!".

The Mysterious Man revealed: Gasper Lawal on congas performing "Hyde Park".

The music 

Even if I don't like too much this period of the TEB's story (no more esoteric/ritual, just music...) I have to admit the sound here is really intriguing and well played. Rather evident the references to Miles Davis' "Britches Brew" on "In D", but considering the presence in the band of Paul Buckmaster... who conditioned who?
Really fascinating this mixture of jazz, psychedelia, prog that was the trademark of the Band in those months, the brave attempt to mix 'old' instruments as congas (hand drums) and oboe with electric ones, with a very minimalist drums' playing.
The last track, among all, is a really good example of the futuristic cheeky approach to the sounds, with incredible improvisations by Minns, great bass groove and a quite remarkable work on guitar.
In my opinion "Druid Grocking" is the best performance, a clear confirmation the Band, after the 60's acoustic raga immersion, was  experimenting brand new directions to the Land of Electricity, culminated in the wonderful Balham sessions (February 1971) and most of all in the gloomy sound of "Macbeth".

Sweeney on drums on "Druid Grocking".

The video
Quite static, the group is recorded playing in a studio on a low stage with psychedelic effects back (colours, bubbles, clouds taken from the second album cover...) that often distort the view.  
Not that great masterpiece, in short.
Anyway, some interesting clues about the mood inside the band at the time surface: Sweeney and Lawal dress black sunglasses looking like proto 'punk', Minns and Bridges look  hippy...

Sweeney and Lawal with a 'punk' look performing "Druid Grocking".

And what about the infamous double neck guitar played by Bridges that Glen Sweeney said it didn't work (interviewed by "Unhinged" fanzine in 1990)? 
Here we have the definitive proof that he played both necks!

Denim Bridges with his guitar.

So what can we say about this unexpected DVD? 
A great gift, indeed. The only one visual document about the Band from the first phase...
And by the way... when a DVD edition of the rare "Abelard & Heloise" short?  

Paul Minns playing great solos on "In D".

no©2011 Luca Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)