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

Dave Tomlin (left) and Steve Pank in London, 2010

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 Mayall's 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 was 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 "Je t'aime" 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).

 

Some memories about Anacondas Skiffle Group by Steve Pank.

Steve Pank, Third Ear Band's former manager and driver, close friend of Glen Sweeney, Carolyn Looker, and Dave Tomlin, Ursula Smith's husband as well, kindly sent me these memories about the Anacondas Skiffle Group era...

 "Putting ‘Anacondas skiffle’  into google, I came across an amazing collection of press cuttings about the Anacondas skiffle group, and about the skiffle craze triggered by Lonnie Donegan. Glen Sweeney was a member of Anacondas and he was seen as the ace washboard player of the Croydon area, his first experience of stardom.  I remember when I took Glen to see his mother,  and he was telling her about the success of the Third Ear Band, and she replied  ‘Is this like when you won the Tommy Steele Cup?' I knew that he had played in a skiffle group,  the name ‘Anacondas’ was chosen to match the ‘Vipers’ group  who had a hit single  with  ‘Freight Train’.     

Skiffle was originally a traditional music that was played in Louisiana and along the Mississippi,  using domestic instruments like washboards and jugs.  When Trumpet player Ken Colyer returned  from New Orleans, and joined the Chris Barber jazz band, he brought the idea of skiffle with him. On Barber’s first LP,  guitar player Lonnie Donegan recorded  the  Leadbelly song ‘Rock Island Line’, backed jazz singer Beryl Bryden playing washboard and Chris Barber on double bass. The washboard was a corrugated plate of metal that was played wearing thimbles on the fingers. When issued as a single, Rock Island Line became big success in Britain and America and it launched the skiffle craze.  Sales of acoustic guitars skyrocketed, and tea chests,  rectangular plywood boxes, that were used for importing tea and were only used once, could be utilised as bass instruments. All of those in the later British Rock movement of the ‘60s had been influenced in some way or another by skiffle.

When Lonnie Donegan played three nights in Liverpool, George Harrison went there every night. Paul MaCartney first met John Lennon at a fete/garden party at Peter’s Church in Woolton Liverpool  where John was playing with his skiffle group, The Quarrymen. Ringo Starr also played in a skiffle group. He said his first experience of playing music on a snare drum was with a friend on a tea chest bass. Newspaper research showed  that at its peak, there were 5000 skiffle groups in Britain. Between 1956 and 1963 Lonnie Donegan had 31 top 30 singles and three were number ones.

On June22nd 1957 in Croydon Civic Hall, in front of 800 fans, and out of  12 contesting groups, The Anacondas won the skiffle contest and were awarded the Tommy Steel Cup.  In order to choose the winner, the organisers use a  ‘clapometer’ to measure the level of applause! The Anacondas also played in jazz clubs alongside bands like Mike Daniels Delta Jazzmen. They were a large group, with eight members.  I remember Glen telling me that he had an influence in the group because he was that bit older than the other members.
I still meet people who tell me that their first experience of playing music was with a skiffle group. The first record I ever bought was ‘The Rock Island line’."

 

Read my researches on the Anacondas here:

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-anacondas-skiffle-group-stone-age.html (part 1) 

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2023/10/the-anacondas-skiffle-group-story-some.html (part 2)

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-anacondas-skiffle-group-story-end.html (part 3)

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

A book by Steve Pank available in Amazon.

A book written by STEVE PANK titled "Hole in the Moon" is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle Edition formats (go here). Presenting it, Steve wrote: "The United States is planning to land astronauts on the moon again in the next five years. What will happen when they do? Is it possible that they will find something unexpected?
In this book, Hole in the Moon, they do. They find that extraterrestrials are already living there. So were this to happen, how should this be coped with this in real life? This story gives one possible answer.

Anyone who is interested in whether space people exist, and if they do, how the human race could best cope with this; should read this book."

Steve was the former manager and driver man of the Third Ear Band in 1969-1970; a Glen Sweeney, Carolyn Looker, and Dave Tomlin's close friend; an expert of alternative sciences, and a eyewitness to the Sixties underground scene in London.

Steve Pank in this archive (selection):

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-letter-from-steve-pank-original.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2011/04/new-letter-from-steve-pank.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2010/06/steve-pank-about-origins-of-third-ear.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2019/02/steve-pank-about-alchemy-days.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2022/12/steve-pank-tells-glen-sweeneys.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2017/09/steve-panks-electric-universe-theory.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2018/05/ursula-smith-concert-at-bourgh-house.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2024/08/remembering-glen-sweeney-19-years-ago.html

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

Dave Tomlin passed away on 2 November 2024. R.I.P. dear friend!

 

Dave Tomlin (left) and Steve Pank in London, Summer 2010 (photo: Luca Chino Ferrari)

 

 

 

This is a very sad news for all of us!

Sadly Dave passed away today, age 90.
One of a kind will be missed by all who knew him.

With these few words, Dave's brother Tony gave us the sad news in a page of IT-International Times.

I got to know Dave years ago through Steve Pank (cellist Ursula Smith's husband)  and I met him in London for some interviews published in this archive. He was a cultured, clever, funny, brilliant person, an inexhaustible source about a lot of countercultural events in the 60's and 70's. His books are unique, fundamental documents for any researchers and lovers of the British underground scene. 

"Tales from the Embassy," published from 2002 in three different volumes, was probably his greatest effort to tell the story of his life in the Cambodian embassy occupied by him and a group of friends to create a kind of free university on the legendary model of the London Free School. Thanks to Dave, in 1987 at the Cambodian Embassy Glen Sweeney brought together for rehearsals the first nucleus of the reborn Third Ear Band with Dave's protégé Allen Samuel on violin.

 

Author of countless articles, mainly on the IT web site,  he wrote many books. Among them, I love particularly that one he edited on his friend Harry Fainlight, an underrated poet (1935-1982): this book ("Fragments of a Lost Voice," Iconoclast Press, London 2010) is a genial philological-creative reconstruction of two lost fragments of poetry found by chance. Also his autobiographical novel "India Song", published by Iconoclast press in 2005, is a masterpiece of sensitivity and intelligence.

It was Dave who introduced me to the controversial story of piano player Mike Taylor, prompting me to write what to date is the only existing biography ("Out of Nowhere," published by Gonzo Multimedia in 2015). It was only thanks to him and his brother Tony that I succeeded, and I will be forever grateful to them  for this extraordinary opportunity. 

I will miss him a lot!

Here below the main pages of this archive where Dave is mentioned: 

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2012/08/new-edition-of-book-on-poet-harry.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2012/01/dave-tomlins-lark-rise-origins-cultural.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2012/07/dave-tomlins-pendulum-real-cameo-in-his.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2012/02/dave-tomlins-new-book-out.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2013/03/dave-tomlin-analyzes-for-us-two-his.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2019/04/radical-elders-dave-tomlin.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2010/02/thanks-to-journalist-andy-roberts-i.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2017/05/dave-tomlins-forthcoming-new-book.html

https://ghettoraga.blogspot.com/2012/06/ive-left-my-heart-in-new-orleans-dawn.html

Me and Dave in London, 2010 (photo: Steve Pank).

no©2024 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

Remembering Glen Sweeney: 19 years ago, the farewell ceremony.

Glen in Greece in the '70's. (photo: C. Looker)

 

19 years ago today, on August 17, 2005, after five years in the Royal Star & Garter Home in Richmond (London), GLEN SWEENEY went into the Duat.

As Carolyn kindly wrote me on a postcard two weeks later, on 3 September, "(...) It was a beautiful ceremony rather than a conventional funeral, Steve Pank read from the "Egyptian Book of the Dead" and tracks from "Alchemy" were played, incense was burning, Glen was in a raffia coffin with sunflowers on top. Everyone said what a wonderful experience it was and some were reminded of being at an early Third Ear Band concert. I'm sure Glen would have approved."

Glen smoking pipe at the Isle Of Wight festival, August 26, 1990.  (photo: C. Looker) 

Months later Steve sent me the full text he read at the ceremony, which I recently found in my archive. In agreement with Carolyn, I like now to share it in memory of Glen (to commemorate him as you read, light an incense and put on your favorite track of "Alchemy"):

The names of the Gods of the Great Company:

1. Ra Harmakhis, the Great God in his boat.
2. Temu.
3. Shu.
4. Tefnut.
5. Keb.
6. Nut, the Lady of Heaven.
7. Isis.
8. Nephthys.
9. Horus, the Great God.
10. Hathor, Lady of Amentet.
11. Hu.
12. Sa.

The Prayer of the Osiris Spirit Soul Glen Sweeney.

My heart, my mother; my heart, my mother! My heart Whereby l came into being! May naught stand up to oppose me at my judgment, may there be no opposition to me in the presence of the Tchatchau Chiefs. May there be no parting of thee from me in the presence of him that keepeth the Balance. The God Khnemu who knitteth together and strengtheneth my limbs. Thou art my KA, which dwelleth in my body.

Mayest thou come forth into the place of happiness whither we go and may no lies be spoken against me in the presence of the God. Let the Listener god be favourable unto us, and let there be joy of heart at the weighing of Words.

Let not that which is false be uttered against me before the Great God, the Lord of Amentet. Verily, how great shalt thou be when thou risest up in Triumph.

The speech of Thoth, The judge of right and truth, of the great company of the Gods who are in the presence of Osiris saith:
Hear ye this judgment. The heart of the osiris Glen Sweeney has been in very truth been weighed, and his Heart-soul hath borne testimony on his behalf. His heart hath been found right by the trial in the Great Balance. There hath not been found any wickedness in him; he has not wasted (or stolen) the offerings which have been made in the temples; he hath not committed any evil act; and he hath not set his mouth in motion with words of evil whilst he was upon earth.

The speech of the Dweller in the Embalment Chamber (Anubis).

Pay good heed, O righteous Judge to the balance, and support the testimony thereof. Turn thy face to the weighing in the balance the heart of the osiris Glen Sweeney, whose word is truth, his heart in the seat of truth in the presence of the Great God.

The speech of the Gods.
 

The Great Company of the Gods say to Thoth who dwelleth in Khemenu,That which cometh forth from thy mouth shall be declared true.

The Osiris the spirit soul Glen Sweeney whose word is true is holy and righteous. He has not committed any sin and he has done no evil against us. The devourer Ammit shall not be permitted to prevail over him.

Meat offerings and admittance into the presence of the god Osiris shall be granted unto him, together with an abiding habitation in the Field of Offerings (Sekhet-hetepet), as unto the Followers of Horus.

The speech of Horus to Osiris in introducing the spirit of Glen Sweeney to him.

Horus, the son of Isis, saith: I have come to thee, O Un-Nefer, and I have brought unto thee the osiris Glen Sweeney. His heart is righteous, and it hath come forth from the Balance.

It hath not sinned against any god or any goddess. Thoth hath Weighed it according to the decree pronounced unto him by the Company of the Gods, and it is most true and righteous. Grant thou that cakes and ale may be offered unto him, and let him appear in the presence of the god Osiris, and let him be liken to the Followers of Horus for ever and ever.

The speech of spirit soul Glen Sweeney, who saith:

Behold. I am in thy presence, O Lord of Amentet. There is no sin in my body. I have not spoken that which is not true knowingly, nor have I done anything with as false heart.

Grant thou that l may be like unto those favoured ones who are in thy following, and that I may be an Osiris, greatly favoured of the Beautiful God, and beloved of the Lord of the Two Lands (Pharaoh of Egypt), I who am a veritable royal scribe who loveth thee, the osiris Glen Sweeney whose word is true before the God Osiris.
 

Amen. 

 

Glen playing at the Cambodian Embassy, London August 1987. (photo: C. Looker)

After the ceremony, Glen was cremated and Carolyn took the ashes to her flat. When I told her this year I intended to celebrate Glen, in June 2024 she wrote me: "He always believed (I think I do too) that the body is just a shell and when we die its our spirit/soul that is important. So over the years I've thought of many places for them but somehow couldn't do it. Now I think maybe the right time though so l'm thinking of discreetly setting them free in the streets of Soho near Ronnie Scotts and Soho Square. Alternative would be a druid monument on the south downs but far more complicated to get to... and very isolated lonely. I will let you know the day. Linda Kattan will share the experience with me..."

 

On August 13th, Carolyn made her choice...

 

"Dear Luca, today I scattered Glens ashes in the wild flower gardens at Poets Corner in Richmond park. Its a beautiful place encouraging nature, butterflies, bees etc... I hope the photos can be of interest. The ashes were so heavy l had to put them in a shopping trolley! No way l could have discreetly distributed them in Soho! Anyway this place is far more suitable."

 

So she sent me the following photos, which I now like to share with you.  

Ciao Glen!  

I love you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The bench "Reasons to be cheerful" you may recognise... it was a memory for Ian Dury. Actually, he and Glen knew each other..." (Carolyn Looker)

 no©2024 LucaChinoFerrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

An obscure collaboration by Ursula Smith in 1969 with a disappeared band...

As you can read on this short article below, published in Wishaw Press and Advertiser on September, 19, 1969, that year Ursula Smith played cello in an obscure album recorded by a disappeared band called Lever; a band consisting of John Roy, Stuart McIntosh and Tom Morgan.

I asked Ursula and her husband Steve Pank to share with Ghettoraga Archive their memories about this unknown minor event in Third Ear Band story, but it seems they don't recall anything...

What happened to the Lever? What about that first album? Anyone has info or memories about?

 

no©2024 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)

New TEB book publication date: March 21th, 2020!

At last the TEB book will be available on March 21th, 2020... such a perfect TEB day! 

120 pages for £15 with a 10% discount for advance orders at the ReR web site.

Read the press release here:

http://www.rermegacorp.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=TEB+BOOK&Store_Code=RM 

 no©2020 Luca Chino Ferrari (unless you intend to make a profit. In which case, ask first)

Steve Pank announces new Ursula Smith's live concert in London!

"Hi Luca.
It is great to see so much new material on the Ghettoraga website.
Ursie is playing another concert in Hampstead, and anyone who remembers the Third Ear Band and who likes classical music, would enjoy this concert, I have attached a flyer.
Good wishes,

Steve."

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

Steve Pank about the "Alchemy" days...

Some weeks ago I asked Carolyn and Steve to tell me something more about the "Alchemy" sessions for the Esoteric CD booklet I was writing. This is what Steve, former promoter and driver of the band, wrote me:

Steve Pank

"The first Third Ear Band was trio, with Ben Cartland, [viola] Paul Minns [oboe] and Glen [hand drums]. Ben Cartland played in a raga style using his G string as the drone. This piece originally called the G Raga, later was called the Ghetto Raga. By the time the group signed with Blackhill Agency, it was a quartet with Richard Coff added on violin. They were the house band at weekly sessions at All Saints Hall, They also played a regular Saturday night residency at the Covent Garden Arts lab. On 18th December 1968 they played in the Royal Albert Hall for the Arts Lab organised ‘Alchemical Wedding’ . The recording sessions for Alchemy were in March and April of 1969.The mood at the recording sessions was - that this was what we have been building up to from the live performances, It was a completion as well as a beginning. 

The People Band in the Sixties

"By the end of 1968, Ben had left and been replaced by Mel Davis For the album the band really needed a cellist, and Mel arrived at the right time. Mel Davis’ previous experience was with playing piano with the free jazz and performance art group, ‘The People Band’, and he had taken up cello. In terms of technique, he was not a great player but with his experience in free jazz and in musical education, he as able to add bass drones and riffs which extended the range of mood of the pieces. He was an influential member of the band, and his work is evident on the album.

"On the track ‘Dragon lines’ Mel plays the Slide Pipes which I remember looked like a set of ‘Hoover tubes’, but they sound like a dragon’s breath! The track was recorded in one take, and when he dropped part of the instrument, he let out a whoop as he picked it up. Paul Minns had studied the oboe and the harpsichord, and his experience of playing baroque music, influenced his style. Paul is the only player who has been able to make the oboe sound like that.
 

TEB in 1968: (L-R) Minns, Cartland, Sweeney, Coff.

"At the time the album was recorded. Paul had a part time job doing layout for a publisher. The first band that Glen was in was in the 1950s, He was the drummer in a skiffle group called the Anacondas, who although they never recorded, were well known and successful. After that, Glen moved into playing jazz. His first attempt at forming a band was a free jazz and poetry group called Sounds Nova. It was though this group that Glen met saxophone player Dave Tomlin. Like Mel, Dave Tomlin had extended his playing to performance art, which is combining music with acting. Dave and Glen once mounted the bandstand in Kensington Gardens and then started to play. Their show was the confrontation with the park keeper! 

Steve Pank

"After Dave left the Mike Taylor Quartet, he was squatting in the basement of the London Free School and on Saturday mornings he would march down Portobello Road playing his tenor saxophone followed by a crowd of kids. After being cautioned and harassed by the police, he thought, maybe it is the saxophone that is causing the problem, and so he decided to take up the violin instead He composed a number of folk style tunes, Glen asked for him to be brought to the studio toward the end of the recording sessions. That is when he recorded Lark Rise.
Richard Coff came from Miami but had studied classical violin in Boston. He had won a distinction for his composition. He was interested in Minimalism, a style of modern composition based on simple repeated motifs, This influence is reflected in the piece ‘Mosaic’
The esoteric images projected by the band reflected Glen’s interest in natural philosophy. He would describe the drone as an Om, and the drumbeat as the heartbeat. He had been to Egypt and seen the pyramids and temples. Glen’s approach was to go with whatever was happening If he needed a musician, and someone came along who wanted to play and who sounded good, he would invite them to play in their own way. The scene was starting to wake up to world music. The influence of Celtic, Indian, free, contemporary, all came together and expressed as an emotional force that became ‘Alchemy’."

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

Steve Pank writes about Ursula's concert, Glen, Carolyn and the Electric Universe...

"I was just sitting down to write a review of Ursula's concert in Burgh House when I saw that Will had beaten me to it. Good one!
I will just add that of the three pieces played, the ones sounding most familiar to Third Ear Band aficionados would be the two string trios by Schubert. The sound of the string trio (violin, viola, cello) is leaner than the more usual string quartet, and it also puts more responsibility on the individual musicians.
The other two string players in the group met when they were both in the orchestra of the English National Opera. Frank Cliff (viola) moved up to East Anglia some years ago, Jane Faulkner still plays and teaches in London. 

I am off to the Electric Universe conference in Bath, the first one outside Arizona USA. Glen would have loved the Electric Universe movement, he was a big fan of Velicovsky, whose theories about the evolution of the solar system were an inspiration to the movement.
I have been in touch with Carolyn regarding a collaboration to write an account of Glen's early life, before he formed the Third Ear Band.
Good wishes
Steve Pank."

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

Will Hulbert tells his evening at the Burgh House meeting Steve Pank and Ursula Smith!

Here's an exclusive report for Ghettoraga Archive of the evening Will Hulbert and his wife Veronica (who took the wonderful pictures) had at the Hampstead Burgh House where they met Steve Pank and Ursula Smith, who played her cello at a classical concert.

"So! To try to put a story to those photos, Sunday does not start well! I forget to charge the camera and we find out that there are no trains running on our line up to London.
I start to think that we are never going to get there! Who would have thought a short trip across London would be so long and complicated?
After a couple of hours, my wife and I find ourselves at our destination, the leafy suburb of Hampstead.
I promised my wife Veronica that I would buy Sunday lunch. Think Sunday lunch, wine, followed by a classical recital in a Georgian house in a very select part of town.
What’s not to like?
Well! Lunch took forever to turn up and was somewhat cold when it did. During the interminable wait I did notice someone pacing the grounds around the house who I was sure was Steve Pank.

After lunch we head upstairs to the Concert Room, Steve was standing alone, so I thought to reintroduce myself.
To clarify, some forty years prior (albeit a couple of weeks) Steve had introduced himself to me, in the bar downstairs at the Roundhouse (by coincidence a couple of stops on the tube from Hampstead).
The 1978 incarnation of the Third Ear Band (not the best in my opinion but not as bad as later incarnations) at a time when punk and new wave where at their height, TEB’s musical direction of folk songs seemed to be somewhat out of touch with the late 70’s zeitgeist with minimal guitar, violin oboe (Paul Minns hiding in the background). It really needed a cello to give it balance (Oh! and drop the folk singing).

So nearly forty years into the future, my chance at last to see and hear 25% of the Third Ear Band live for the first time. So a classical recital, we sat in the second row with Steve Pank and Sue Rose (she was at the Cambodian Embassy squat with Dave Tomlin, she is now his landlady). Dave couldn’t make it due to ill health. Also, Carolyn was on holiday in Greece and also couldn’t make it.
Shame we nearly had another TEB reunion!

Ursula looked just as she does in that TEB French TV video (I did try in my mind to block out the classical stuff and do a TEB soundtrack, but gave up after a bit).
During the intermission Steve suggested we go backstage and he introduced us to his other half, the rest of the Quartet seem a bit puzzled by the fact that Ursula seems to have her own fan club! She explains that she “once used to be in a pop band”.

We return for the second half, my wife taking photos and videos.
Then after that, we head downstairs for some refreshments and a long chat. I can’t stress enough how friendly Steve and Ursula were, it was as if we had known them for years, I think you can tell by the look on my face in the photos that I had a day to remember.
Anyway, I swopped e-mail addresses with Steve and we all headed off to catch the Tube, Steve & Ursula and the Cello having a long drive back up to Norfolk."

 

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