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 "underground" movement according "Disc & Music Echo" and John Peel in 1968.

On November 2nd, 1968 a five-pages article about the "underground music" edited by Hugh Nolan was published by "Disc & Music Echo" with a short profile of the Third Ear Band by legendary DJ John Peel. Title: "Underground  - not so much pop music more a way of life".

Peel writes: "Another I've not heard yet. I must rectify this as such authorities as Pete Drummond speak well of them."

A little-known fact is that Drummond was a great friend of Glen and Carolyn since the beginning, so much so that to this day he still uses to have a lunch or take a walk around London with Carolyn... 

 

 

 

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

"The Crab & the Crescent Moon" original poster!

With Steve Pank, one of the eyewitnesses to TEB's early years in the role of tour manager, it was always that way. His memories come up a little at a time, over the years I've gotten used to it.

A week ago, totally unexpected, he wrote me an email with a magnificent poster of the band attached, one of the best ever made (Carolyn thinks so too), and told me the anecdote that follows:

"There is a story with this. The Third Ear Band was doing a gig on the evening when Apollo 11 landed on the moon.
I was staying in Richard flat, when we got back, we turned on the TV and watched live footage, of Neil Armstong walking on the moon. A short while later, later Glen said to me that he had had a dream the night before about the Crab and the Crescent Moon. 

I said, 'That would be a great title for a concert!' Dave Loxley agreed to do the poster, and this is the result."

Held on September 20, 1969 at Queen Elizabeth Hall (London), the evening was promoted by Blackhill Enterprises and also featured Bridget St John, Sam Hutt and DJ John Peel. 

About Sam Hutt, Steve writes that "he was a friend of Peter Jenner . He's a qualified doctor, who at time prescribed medical cannabis. Later he became a spoof country singer under the name of Hank Wankford."

 

International Time ad (April 1969)

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

The "Third Ear Band" CD's unreleased tracks: some philological evidence.

Perhaps it can be interesting to write some explanations about the new recordings emerged from the EMI/Trident Studios/BBC radio programmes thanks to Cherry Red Records-Esoteric Recordings. A historical excursus can facilitate the order of things and clear up some philological evidence:

1. "Third Ear Band" was published in June 1970. The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in some difficult sessions in April: this is stated by Paul Minns in his personal diary, so we have to assume it as the truth.

TEB on stage for France TV (May 28th, 1970).

Thus, it's not correct to consider the two tracks emerged from the vaults - "Earth" (take four) and "The Sea" ("Fire") - as part of those recording sessions that lead to the Harvest album because they were recorded months before:
"Earth" (take four) was in fact recorded on January 6th, 1970 and "The Sea" (Fire)" on March 16th, 1970, as an effect of a creative process developing through the months, with attempts and errors, sketches and proofs... until the band started the proper recording sessions for the album.
(Please note that a first version of "The Sea" was recorded on September 12th, 1969 at Abbey Road Studio (it will be published on the remastered edition of "Alchemy" in March 2019), confirming that the title was around from the very beginning...)

Denim Bridges in September 1970.

From a very first listening "The Sea" is clearly "Water" (but the sea is made of water, isn't it so?), a version very similar to the original one; more difficult is to tell what exactly is "Earth", because it seems there are no clear relations with the published version of it: a folk uptempo ballad with a solid rigid structure, no improvisations, only little variations from the main theme with violin and oboe leading. A rural, very earthly tune in the great pagan British folk tradition... that can be considered the link between the "Alchemy" phase with the following one.

It's important to note that those were the titles written on the reel boxes, so editor Mark Powell made a simple philological choice publishing the things as they were, not as we think they might be (in a chrono/logical sequence).
 

Paul Minns on oboe in 1970.

Again, as every TEB listener well know, Glen was always obsessed by the titles for copyright reasons, so often he used to change the titles to the same tune...
In fact...

2. Some weeks later, on June 16th, 1970, the band played at "Sound of '70's" BBC radio programme three tracks: "Dog Evil" (actually "Mosaic"), "The Sea" (a.k.a. "Air") and "Druid One", already available among the fans.
We have to consider two interesting things:

a. TEB's attitude for giving different titles to the same tune, typical of Glen and
b. here, "The Sea" has become "Air", confirming the idea that for the TEB every time is a brand new time, and a tune cannot be played two times in the same way...

Bridges and House at Abbey Road Studios in February 1971.

3. On July 2nd and 3rd, the band recorded in Germany at NDR Studios the soundtrack for the TV movie "Abelard", published for the first time on a CD in my old book "Necromancers of the Drifting West" (Stampa Alternativa, 1999), then on a single CD by Blueprint (1999). Now is included on the second disc of this Esoteric remastered edition because Powell got the original masters from NDR, even if Stampa Alternativa edition was taken from the original reel Paul Minns kept in his attic for years: if you compare the two editions few quality differences appear...

4. In September, Ursula Smith and Richard Coff left the band. Sweeney and Minns reformed the group as Electric 3rd EarBand replacing them with Denim Bridges (on guitar) and Paul Buckmaster (on bass). One of the first documented recordings of the quartet (with congas player Gasper Lawall) was the session at the programme "Beat Club" (German TV) on September 11th, where they played "In D", "Hyde Park" and "Druid Grocking". The set is documented by a DVD produced by Gonzo Multimedia in 2015 as "The Lost Broadcasts" (HST069DVD), reviewed in this Archive at the page https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2011/11/lost-broadcasts-dvd-review.html

Ad announcing "The Dragon Wakes" in August 1970.

5. From November 1970 this new quartet (with Richard Coff  involved sometimes) started to record at Abbey Road Studios a new album announced as "The Dragon Wakes", never published. From a session set on November 11th, are now available on Esoteric new CD three unreleased instrumentals:

- "Very Fine... Far Away"
- "The Dragon Wakes"
- "Sunrise"

6. A new session is documented on December 5th, 1970 at the London Trident Studios where the TEB recorded three tracks (then re-recorded for the "Macbeth" soundtrack):

- "Court Dance"
- "Groom's Dance"
- "Fleance"

These tracks (described on the reel boxes as the "first version") will be included on the "Music from Macbeth" remastered edition that Esoteric Recordings will publish in January 2019.

If "Court Dance" and "Groom's Dance" are an acoustic version of the tracks (i.e. in "Groom's Dance" there's no electric bass...), is very difficult to consider "Fleance" actually a different version, because it seems to me exactly the same...

Bridges playing at EMI Studios in February 1971.

An evidence that force us to make some observations about the events: why they recorded a "first version" of the track many months before and then they decided to use the same? Were this tracks thought for "The Dragon Wakes" album or, as, early versions of the "Macbeth" project? And if "Fleance" is actually the same version, why they use that for the soundtrack without trying to record a better version? (or they recorded them but this one was the best)...

7. On January 17th, 1971 the band played live on air at the BBC radio programme "John Peel Concert" three tracks (already published by Gonzo Multimedia in 2015 in a rough form):

- "Water"
- "Druid One"
- "Eternity in D"

this last one very different from "Raga in D" and "In D": was this track recorded in the studio before (and cancelled) or this is the first official 'appearance' of it?

Interesting DJ John Peel presenting "Eternity in D" quite ironically said: "The next is from the third LP which will be realised in February, March, April, or May or somewhere... and the title of it is very secret or unpronounceable...", because the band was in the process to record "The Dragon Wakes" and there was apparently no evidence the TEB was recording the Macbeth soundtrack...
 

Sweeney and House at Abbey Road Sudios in February 1971.

8. In February 1971 TEB went to the Balham Studios (Bridges doesn't remember it and thinks it was Abbey Road Studios) for recording other tracks for "The Dragon Wakes" album.
A rare 3:00 video document with the band recording a rendition of "Fire" is available on the Net at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF7sZU_xUCg&feature=youtu.be, with the band playing

Paul Buckmaster at EMI Studios in February 1971.

Denim Bridges recalled: "I don't know why the session was held although I do remember it. I was never included in those matters. I hope the purpose will be discovered now the video is on the Internet. Because of the faux wind sound (from Simon's VCS3 I think) and the fact the Paul Minns played something reminiscent of the opening to 'Air' off the 2nd LP I'm assuming the track is supposed to be 'Air'. The performance soon departs from the above-mentioned version but with cello being replaced by both bass guitar and guitar that might be expected. That is also (probably) to be expected as TEB was primarily an improvisational band".

Another track "Raga n. 1" (8:31), recorded at E.M.I. Studios (with Richard Coff again) was kept for years by Paul Minns, and I asked Gonzo Multimedia to include it on "Necromancers of the Drifting West" CD published in 2015 (HST311CD).
 

Paul Minns recording a rendition of "Air" at Abbey Road Studios in February 1971.

Other six tracks, never mixed, are still in Denim Bridges' hands, and we can only hope he can decide one day to realize them (read in this Archive at https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2010/09/very-rare-sampler-from-1971-recording.html).

Interviewed by me in 2010 he explained: "The problem with much of our discussion is that sometimes the same (or very similar) piece of music had different titles. The piece "Eternity in D" was called "Genetic Octopogillar Goo", which was also used, at one time, for "The discrimination against Runny Custard", which I call "Custard" for short but "Discrimination" is a more appropriate title. "Discrimination" is now the title, ok? "Eternity in D" musically had nothing to do with the poem of the same title on your archive. Another example of using the same title  for different things. To the converse, the same (or very similar) piece had the same title...".

Minns, Buckmaster & Sweeney recording at Abbey Road Studios in February 1971.

9. Recorded and mixed on February 12th, 1971, finally we can now listen to "Mistress to the Sun", a rare vocal song is sung (and presumably composed) by Denim Bridges. A sort of art-song in the style of Faust's "IV" or Slapp Happy with a strong flavour of the '70's...
The band intended to make a single out the new forthcoming album...

10. Going back to Abbey Road Studios, on March 11th, 1971, TEB recorded and mixed another instrumental tune, "Evening Awakening", maybe for "The Dragon Wakes" album, even if the nature of this long piece of music (23 minutes) suggests it was a sort of jam in the studio or at least a mini suite formed by three different tunes:
- a first (wonderful!) 9:40 tune in the same mood of the "Beat Club" TV studio recordings;
- a second (quite boring!) 3:20 section based on some improvisations of Sweeney at the drum kit with bass explorations by Buckmaster and a hypnotic iterative sequence of notes by Minns on a distorted oboe;
- a 10:00 extraordinary part with impressive percussive work by Coff on violin and great interplay of musicians inspired to Davis' "Bitches Brew" new course.

Ursula Smith playing cello on stage for France TV (May 28th, 1970).

11. A new recording session, on June 4th, 1971, signed the end of the troubled "The Dragon Wakes" album with an 11:00 recording of "In D.

Interesting compare this version to that played at "Beat Club" in 1970 because very little elements seem to have in common: this version in fact, with Richard Coff on violin, has a completely different time signature, very different (and high quality!) guitar work by Bridges, a great interplay between Coff and Minns on oboe, the real soloists of the tune...

Since from the incipit, the version played in Germany has that chords sequence Bridges played in "Eternity in D", taken from Miles Davis' "So What". So, the title is the same, confirming the TEB attitude to improvise every time with no predefined harmonic/melodic structures, as a matter of fact, we have two very different tunes...

Richard Coff playing  on stage for France TV (May 28th, 1970).

12. In July and August 1971 the TEB went to Air Studio for recording the Macbeth soundtrack: so, apparently, a chronological approach to the things would suggest that the band before tried to record the third album and then they were involved into the Polanski's project (even if that session at Trident Studios seem to contradict it...).

"The Dragon Wakes" (ghost album):
Apart from the tracks owned by Denim Bridges, we can now suppose a track-list for the aborted "The Dragon Wakes", based on recordings at Abbey Road Studios between November 1970 to June 1971:

- "Very Fine... Far Away" (November 1970)* - 2:30
- "The Dragon Wakes" (November 1970)* - 10:27
- "Sunrise" (November 1970)* - 12:55
- "Mistress to the Sun" (February 1971)* - 6:24
- "Fire" (February 1971)** - 3:06
- "Raga n. 1" (February 1971)*** - 8:31
- "Evening Awakening" (March 1971)* - 23:00
- "In D" (June 1971)* - 11:00
- "Eternity in D" (January 1971)**** - 6:28

Note:
*published in 2018 by Esoteric Recordings in "Third Ear Band" (PECLEC 32653) 
**in video format only on YouTube channel 
***published in 2015 by Gonzo Multimedia in "Necromancers of the Drifting West"  (HST311CD)
****published in 2018 by Esoteric Recordings in "Third Ear Band" (PECLEC 32653)

The Balham Studios recordings: 

(February 1971)

- "Air" (different version from 1970 track) - 7:31
- "Mini Mac" - 4:21
- "Ghoo" (a.k.a. "Eternity in D") - 3:58
- "Game Six" - 2:34
- "Discrimination" - 6:39 

- "Fire" (different version from 1970 track)* - 3:06 

Note:

* Probably the same version of the video circulating on YouTube 


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

Stripping the Peel: strange revisionism of an underground icon...?!

JP in '60's ("The Word" Magazine Nov. 2015)

I realize it's difficult to accept when one decreases a cult figure of the underground culture as the late John Peel, but now I think it can be a necessary act.
On this "John Peel Wiki" at http://peel.wikia.com/wiki/Third_Ear_Band I've read, along with a valid reconstruction of the band presence at the JP's radio programmes, these unexpected judgments on the Third Ear Band:

"(...) But the band was beginning to lose impetus amidst a wave of personnel changes and eventually split in 1974. Revived versions of the band in the late 1970s and 1980s did not attract Peel's interest.
Later, indeed, he seemed to regard them as one of the less enduring acts of their time; their first Top Gear session was soon after John Walters had become Peel's producer and to judge by their conversation in "Peeling Back The Years" one can infer that Walters was not entirely convinced by them, although he was less critical than Peel: 

JW: Well, frankly, if we are talking about intolerable music, what about the other sorts of new music that I remember having to record and we had to listen to at that time? The Third Ear Band, for instance.
JP: Well, yes. I mean…
JW: It wasn’t really intolerable; it was hypnotic. JP: Yes, difficult to defend really in a way, except that I played jew’s harp on one track on their debut LP, but that isn’t the reason why they got on the programme. It was just that they again, I suppose, were the sort of band that turned up interminably at benefits and so forth, and when I went down to the various clubs, whether Pink Floyd or Arthur Brown or Hendrix and people were playing, the Third Ear Band would always be on the bill in some capacity, along with another band that we never did actually record, Exploding Galaxies or something…".

John Walters

OK, just licit opinions, but I remember when Glen used to talk about Peel he was always grateful with him and his extraordinary importance in the underground, so it sounds quite strange to me that Peel claimed to have introduced the TEB so many times on his radio programmes just because they were always around...

If you listen to the few BBC radio recordings still available it's a fact their music was totally out of their time, sometimes maybe too naive, but absolutely great and imaginative, creative and unique. For myself very enduring...
So why a so great underground icon could repudiate his choises?

no©2016 Luca Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)    

Ex-Judas Priest guitar hero K.K. Downing quotes the Third Ear Band celebrating his 62nd birthday!

Maybe it can look incredible, but ex-Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing quotes the TEB  while he's celebrating his 62nd birthday...
Read this, taken from the The House of Hair Web site (http://houseofhaironline.com/2013/11/metal-news-recap-week-of-november-3-2013/ ):

"Ex-Judas Priest guitar great K.K. Downing celebrated his 62nd birthday on October 27with this birthday message riminiscing about his younger days: 

“Well, it’s that time again! Another birthday comes around! All of you that were there with me in the late ‘60s/’70s and onwards will know what I mean. Isn’t it crazy that Mick Jagger is 70, for example? And Jimi Hendrix would also have been 70 this year. Anyway, not to be too down about it, because at least we were there to witness everything that is relevant to the music that we know and love today. I always say that I couldn’t have been born at a better time. I was just in my early teens when John Mayall, Cream and all of the early blues artists were just coming to fruition along with The Stones, Pretty Things, Troggs, and The Kinks, etc. This was all back in the day when music was everything to us, and it was all we had and we were more than happy with just that. Although I can remember having an insatiable appetite that always wanted feeding, so I had to go to concerts and festivals as much as I could. That’s because what I wanted was still scarce on radio and television. I seem to remember being 16 and there was only the late and great John Peel who played anything close to what we wanted to hear. Although John’s taste was often a little too diverse for me, including, for example, T. Rex, Captain Beefheart and the Third Ear Band, John was still the greatest pioneer and champion of our cause at the time.

John Peel & records

Am I jogging some memories here? Again starving for the real thing, I was lucky enough to see two shows on this Jimi Hendrix tour, Coventry 19th of November and Bristol 24th of November 1967. I can’t remember which tour it was but can remember being ecstatic when I myself with Priest played these venues later on, especially following in Jimi’s footsteps playing on stage right. Another great venue close to my heart: Newcastle City Hall — where Priest have played many times. I have only just found out that the tour went there. It is said and written that the great Lemmy [of Motorhead] himself was also working the tour as a roadie. I have hung out with Lemmy many times and never knew this; otherwise I would have wanted a gig by gig report off him. Anyway, my devoted friends, it is for sure that the Internet is our greatest friend and our worst enemy at the same time. But I am certainly grateful to the Internet today, in order to be able to bring this blog to you now. Please take care and please continue to feed the flames of metal.”

no©2013 Luca Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)    

At last a proper interview with CAROLYN LOOKER, Glen Sweeney missus and TEB former!!!

I know Carolyn from the half of the Eighties and I've tried to interview her many times but with scarce results.

She's a very kind woman and she cooperated very well to my book on the band in 1995-1996, writing a two-pages of memories for a projected but never realised tribute CD and helping me to clear some obscure  things (the original name of the band, the cultural sources...) for this archive... but I couldn't ever have a proper interview with her.

In the Summer 2010 at her home in London Hammersmith I recorded around one hour of questions & answers, but when I went back to Italy I discovered the tape couldn't work, thus no interview...

So, because she has no computers/e-mails, some months ago I've sent her some questions by letter and now we've got her answers through our common friend Steve Pank. 

Another chance to know some old facts on the Thirds...

Carolyn Looker, London 2010.

When/where you met Glen for the first time?

"Both Glen and I was working at Liberty's in Regent Street. Glen was doing modern furniture display. He had his drumkit in the storeroom where he would hide and practice his drumming (!) which at the time was modern jazz...".

Where Glen was from?

"Glen's family lived in Croydon, about ten miles south of the Thames".

Which was your interests at that time?

"Sartre, Kerouack and the Beat Generation, Zen Buddhism, Jazz, Occult".

Had you involved in the cultural scene of those days?

"Yes, I was reading beat poetry to avantgarde jazz to a very small audience in pub gigs".

Have you some memories of the beginning with the Giant Sun Trolley?

"Many happenings at UFO with Sun Trolley! A dog howling to Dave's sax. Total 15 minutes of silence from the two, then a spaced out kid tried to bang on Glen's drum. Glen hit him with D stick - said it was Zen - kid remained  far from that".

How Glen met Dave?

"Dave was advertising for drummer. Glen (auditioned) in Free School that was a cellar where Dave was squatting with a poet called Macavity. Glen was told to take the drum sound from here to there. Dave said making directions. Glen being good with fantasy managed to do so and got the gig!".

Which was the mood at UFO?

"Memories but not clear. It was all like a scene from a Fellini movie".

And what's about the music Sun Trolley played?

"Very avantgarde: used happenings on stage, i.e. electric scissors cutting clothes off a dancer (at the 14th Technicolor Dream)...".

How TEB started to play at the Drury Lane's Arts Lab? 

"Jim Haynes loved TEB, said they gave him orgasms. They play Arts Lab on a regular basis. A room painted black, incense burning and audience on floor cushions".

What's about the legendary levitation of St. Pancras' station? Is it all true?

"Yes, us and John Peel sat outside ohming... Hard work but it lifted a few inches (we were on acid)...".

What kind of music the first electric TEB line-up played? Do you remember some particular tunes played?

"I remember Clive [Kingsley]'s "Ronson Riff", a marvelous thing he did sliding his ciggy lighter along his guitar".

Do you remember something about the instruments stolen after a concert that induced the new TEB acoustic line-up?

"Instruments were left in van overnight, gone in the morning. Never found out who took them. Of course they weren't insured!".

Carolyn with her cat Leonardo (London 2010).

How John Peel was involved at the "Alchemy"'s recording sessions?

"A friend of Glen's took us around to Peel's flat. I remember us all discussing the existence of fairies".

Can you tell me something about that wonderful album cover?

"Glen was very much into Alchemy, the illustration was in a book he had".

Any memories on the second album recording sessions?

"Sorry, we were all stoned. Glen would suggest a feel or a vision for each track and the guys played it".

Is it true EMI engineers left the studio during the sessions?

"I don't think the engineers liked or understood the music, so mixing they weren't into".

And what do you think about EMI? Why they gave up the band?

"EMI were fine. I think the contract ran out".

Do you remember the gig TEB played with Bernard Parmegiani in London? Can you tell me something about it?

"Parmegiani concert was at Festival Hall. It didn't work too well in my opinion. TEB's music was organic, the French were music concrete, it didn't got".

How did it go with Polanski?

"Lots of memories of Polanski. He and Glen were the same height, so got on really well. Recordings were made improvising the pieces of the film which were projected in the recording studio".

Which is your opinion about Blackhill? Do you think the agency was really involved into the TEB music?

"Blackhill never really understood the music, if they had been more supportive made more of film music. I.e. Polanski and Kubrick admiring TEB and involved them more in the arts as in Pink Floyd. Steered the right way the band could have been big".

One of the most obscure period of your (Glen and you) life is when you lived on a boat in a river during the Seventies...

"We had an idyllic Summer on the boat. Glen was writing poetry, I was painting. Hard work because the mooring wasn't residential we had to collect our water and calor gas about 1/2 mile away. We retired to a friend's flat in the Winter as the river flooded all the time. Infact one huge flood, the Ark, our boat, flooded over into the field and settled there when the floods ended. We lived that way chocked up in the middle of a field for an year. The council complained and at great expense we hired a crane to put us back in the water".

Which was the feelings of Glen about music just before I met him in your Sheperd's Bush flat? Why at the beginning he was so suspicious of me?

"Before meeting you I think Glen had decided to retire from the music scene.  I was envolved in managing a prop hire company and we figured it Glen's turn to take a rest. Glen suspicious of you? I think he was suspicious of most people's intentions till proved otherwise!".

Some TEB fans are interested to know if Glen was involved in black magic...

"Glen was very interested in esoteric, also in black magic, but did not practice it".

And what's about TEB's relation with Druids?

"Steve Pank can tell you more about the Druid meetings and the Glastonbury Tor concert. As he is now a fully fledged Druid and Dave Loxley the Head Druid who created the celtic border of "Alchemy"".

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

"Life takes so much time!". An interview with Ursula Smith, the legendary TEB cello player.

Yes, dear inveterate TEB fans, at last we have got the announced interview with Ursula Smith, the legendary great cello/violin player of the Third Ear Band!
As she writes me from his home in Norwich, 
"(...) Sorry this has taken so long. I hope it is of some use/interest. Life takes so much time!".

Right. Here's the interview...

Ursula Smith at the end of a concert with the Norwich Philarmonic Orchestra (2011)

What kind of musical training have you got? 

"I started piano lessons at the age of eight and took up the cello at 13, I had lessons on the cello at school but the teacher was never there for the lessons, I have an idea that he didn’t think girls should learn the cello. I taught myself from what I had learned on the piano. Later I had lessons from a Polish gentleman who was a professional cellist . He helped me with the audition for the Royal Academy of Music".

As every serious TEB fan knows you met Glen and the other guys after a concert in a prison... What do you remember about it? Why did you decide to join the band?

"I left the Royal Academy in 1966 and did a year teaching. I didn’t enjoy the teaching much and left at the end of the year. I then took a job as a cleaner in a pub. At the time I joined a folk duo with singer songwriter guitarist Mike Deagan. We did some bookings in a folk club called Les Cousins in Soho (London) and it was there that we met folk singer Bridget St John. She was a friend of the DJ and broadcaster John Peel and one day she asked us if we would do a free concert for the remand prisoners in Holloway Prison. On the day we arranged to meet with the other performers John Peels flat. John wasn’t there at the time but that was where I first met with the Third Ear Band. The only person I recognised was the cellist Paul Buckmaster who I knew fom the Royal Academy, as we had had the same professor.
I remember we were playing to an audience of about 90 mostly young girls in a courtyard. . Around the yard were tall concrete walls with small cell windows in them , at the end of each number all these hands came out of the cell windows and waved.
One girl spoke to me in the interval and told me that she had been in the Arts Lab near Covent Garden, and she was on an acid trip, when the police came in and the the Arts Lab was raided. She was arrested and now she was on remand in Holloway. It came as a complete surprise to me at the end of the concert when Glen came up to me and asked me to join the Third Ear Band and I accepted. I learned later that the reason I was asked was that there had been several gigs that Paul Buckmaster was not able to do".
 

TEB 1970 (L-R): Minns, Sweeney, Coff and Smith (photo by Blackhill Enterprises)

Which are your feelings about the two years you played with the original TEB? Any particular memory about concerts, events, some anedocts...? 

"The band was on tour around the country. We played gigs in Scotland, in Wales, in Manchester - in a club called the Magic Village run by Roger Eagle - and some in a club in Birmingham called Mothers which was rumoured to be run by gangsters.
One of the early bookings I did was the first Isle of Wight festival with Bob Dylan on the bill. We arrived on the island by ferry and then drove to the venue field. The day before had been the rock and roll night headlined by the Who. We were on in the afternoon with folk artists like Tom Paxton, Richie Havens and Julie Felix, and in the evening was the comeback concert of Bob Dylan backed by the Band.
When I walked out on the stage there were people as far as I could see. I sat down and when the amplification was set up, I drew my bow across the strings and and I heard this great roaring sound, through the giant sound system and the monitors.
The other band members got set up and as we started to play the music came together. 

TEB on stage at Isle of Wight Festival (August 1969) with  Ursula on cello (on right)

 
We did some broadcasts mostly for John Peel, sometimes with an audience and sometimes just as recording sessions. The album "Earth Air Fire and Water" was recorded in Abbey Road Studios.
Abroad we did the Paradiso in Amsterdam, where most of the audience were lying on the floor, and we did several festivals in a giant sports stadiums in Germany.
There was a festival in an Aircraft hangar at Le Bourget airport in Paris, where the Pink Floyd were playing with a whole range of other bands. I remember we stayed at the Paris Hilton and we did a TV show in Belgium. We did two concerts in the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank - the first one was called "The Crab and the Crescent Moon": this was shortly after the moon landing and the title was based on a dream that Glen had had. Dave Loxley did a poster for the concert which was based on a tarot card. 

The music was accompanied by a light show by Tina Keane and there was a guest appearance by sitar player Sam Hutt. Later Sam Hutt became famous as the country singer Hank Wangford.
We were booked to do a national tour with folk singer Al Stewart. Glen wanted to call the tour "Atlantis Rising", myself and Steve [Pank, her husband and road manager of the TEB] were detailed to go and see Al to ask him if he would accept that title. He was a bit doubtful about it and said he would be just as happy if the tour was called ‘Ham and Eggs’.

However he accepted the title and during the concert we shared with him at the Queen Elizabeth Hall he gave a short speech about how Nostradamus had predicted the assassination of the Kennedy brothers. He then sang a song about Nostradamus. Later when he toured America his tour was called ‘The year of the Cat’.
The Third Ear Band played for two Druid ceremonies, the midsummer one on Glastonbury Tor and the Dawn Equinox ceremony at Parliament Hill in London.
We had been in Germany playing at couple of festivals and recording the soundtrack for a German TV production of Abelard and Eloise. On that, we first watched the movie though on a TV screen and then it was played in front of us while we improvised the music.
When we arrived back in London having had virtually no sleep we were immediately rushed into the back of a van and driven to Glastonbury Tor. We climbed the Tor carrying the instruments. Luckily it was beautiful day. My cello was the heaviest and the biggest. The person having the most problem was the Chief Druid who looked like he might have heart attack at any moment. He had to keep stopping to have a rest. When we all reached the top I found that there was nothing for me to sit on, so I sat on the side of the Hill. After the Druids performed their ceremony, we played to the people and to the Sun. 

TEB playing for Druids in 1970: Ursula on left with Glean on tablas and Coff on violin

The dawn ceremony for the equinox was on Parliament Hill in Hampstead. We processed with the druids and formed a circle, and the druids started the ceremony. Paul was asked to play to announce the rising of the sun.
The Chief Druid got the time wrong and Paul had to keep playing for ages till the correct moment of the sun rise. We were honoured to be asked to take part in these ancient ceremonies, it was a unique experience for the band.
We also did a concert in the Royal Festival shared with a French avante garde music group...".

Why did you decide to leave the band with Richard Coff? What did happen to the Cosmic Overdose (?) project?

"After Steve left the band as driver, we were doing a tour of Belgium when Richard called me and Paul together, and Richard started a discussion saying he was not happy with the way the band's finances were being run. He said he had decided to leave and asked me to go with him. That was when I left the band. 

Richard and I did some rehearsing and got some ideas together. Richard rang the "Melody Maker" music paper and got an interview, but we had not got equipment or management or agency.
We were busking near Speaker's Corner Hyde Park when this South African guy came up to chat to us, and said he knew a guy who ran an equipment shop and he could get us some equipment there.
We went to the shop and Richard spoke to the manager who told us that this person was an intelligence agent for the South African government and that we should be very wary of him.
After that Richard rejoined the Third Ear Band and so did Paul Buckmaster. Soon after that the Third Ear Band got signed for doing the music for Polanski’s "Macbeth"...".

What have you done just after the split with Coff? 

"I got interested in traditional folk music and in 1970 I went to a traditional folk festival in Ireland and took up the fiddle. I used to go down to sessions at Cecil Sharp House [English folk song and dance society] and joined in with the folk dance band there.

Later I played with a ceilidh band called Ginger Beer Shindig with some people who l later formed the band Blowzabella. I did a recording session for Clive Palmer on his first Album. I remember the comic actor John Cleese coming into the studio.

I moved to Norwich with Steve in 1971 and our son was born there in the Autumn of that year. By then Steve was playing the guitar and bass guitar and we formed a folk dance band called the Haymakers. We played at dances, clubs, festivals and fairs until the early 1980s.
On one occasion I depped for Dave Swarbrick of the Fairport Convention. I did the arrangements for a live production of Peter Bellamy’s "The Transports" and recorded [on cello] with the comedy folk duo The Kipper Family as part of The New Trunch Coronation Band.

 A rare VHS from YouTube with a Bellamy rehearsal: note Ursula with her cello on right

How Glen contacted you for playing with the reformed TEB? 

"After that period I was playing fiddle in bluegrass and country bands until I started teaching music in a school in Suffolk. Around that time Glen asked me to rejoin The Third Ear Band playing fiddle for a tour of Italy..".

Lyn Dobson and Ursula at  "Psycho Club" (Genova) on  January 1989 (photo by L. Ferrari)

What are you doing now? 

"More recently I have returned to playing classical music on the cello. Currently I am the principal cellist with the Norwich Philharmonic Orchestra [read at http://www.norwichphil.org.uk/index.htm] and I do freelance work for local choral societies and occasional chamber concerts and string quartet concerts". 

Ursula on cello during a rehearsal at St Andrew's Hall (Norwich) on 5th December 2008

Ursula on November 6th, 2010 at St Andrew's Hall Mahler rehearsal

(An attempt of) An Ursula Smith discography

Third Ear Band 

"Third Ear Band" (LP/CD - Harvest SHVL 773, UK 1970)

Third Ear Band

"Abelard & Heloise" (CD - Stampa Alternativa SB, ITA 1970/1997)

C.O.B. (Clive's Original Band)

"Spirit of love" (LP/CD - CBS, UK 1971)

Third Ear Band

"Experiences" (LP - Harvest SHSM 2007, UK 1976) anthology

The Kipper Family (with the New Trunch Coronation Band)

"The Ever Decreasing Circle" (LP/CD - Dambuster Records, UK 1985/2005) 

Third Ear Band  

"New Forecasts from the Third Ear Almanac" (cassette - ADN RECO1, ITA 1989) live
Big Ray
"Naked" (LP/CD - City Slang, GER 1992)
Ursula played violin and cello on three tracks. Read at http://ghettoraga.blogspot.it/2013/04/unknown-1991-ursula-smiths.html

Peter Bellamy 

"Wake the Vaulted Echoes" (Free Reed Records, UK 1999) anthology 
3 tracks have taken from the never officially realised BBC 1982 production titled "Maritime England Suite" (read details at http://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2010/11/ursula-pank-nee-smith-played-also-on.html) 

(Discography updated on April 17th, 2013)
no©2011 Luca Ferrari