Adrian Shaw - Hawkwind & The Bevis Frond Interview

Tell me about growing up in Hampstead, London. What were those early years like for you during your childhood? When did you first begin playing music, more specifically the bass and what initially fascinated you about it?

I was born onstage at Gracie Field’s house in her ballroom. Her house was being used as a maternity hospital before and just after WW2. Although it was in Hampstead my earliest memories are of Notting Hill and then Putney. I’m old enough to remember Rock n’ Roll starting and from the start was fascinated by it. In the gloom of 50’s London it was so different, exciting and exotic. I was hooked immediately and still am.

Do you have any siblings? What would you and your friends do for fun back in the day? Where would you go to see live music? When and where was the first show you ever attended and what was that experience like for you in terms of its impact?

I had an older sister, unfortunately not around any longer. My friends and I did the usual, trying to pull girls, catching bands and watching football, namely Tottenham Hotspur. I think the first band I saw was Neil Christian and the Crusaders at Wembley Town Hall featuring a very young Jimmy Page. After that I got totally into live music going at first to local venues then venturing further afield. I went to all the usual clubs, The Marquee, Klooks Kleek, The Flamingo and then a little later The Roundhouse and Middle Earth when Psychedelia hit.

Did you participate in any groups prior to joining J.P. Sunshine? How did you initially meet George Duffell (Jorgy Porgy) and the others: Andy Rickell, Pat Morphin, Peter Biles and Rod Goodway? What were your first impressions of everyone? What led to the decision to form the band, originally, in ‘67?

J P Sunshine was my first band. I’d been playing guitar for some years but didn’t know anyone else who played so didn’t know how to join a band. Then a friend told me his flatmate knew someone putting a band together (George) who needed a guitarist. I went along to meet him and after a while a couple of other guys joined (Rod and Andy) and we had too many guitarists but no bass player. So I bought a bass and it went on from there.

When and where did you guys first get together to jam/rehearse and what was the overall chemistry like between everyone? When and where did the band make their live debut performance and what was that experience like for you? What were those formative years like before the band their mysterious record, that would be released till much later in ‘87? What eventually happened to this outfit?

Well this is a long story. We only recorded, never gigged and the band broke up after a drug bust. A shame as we all got on well and given time I think it could have developed into a good live band. I immediately joined another band though and that was the start of my gigging days. That would have been in 1969 I guess. Late in ’69 Andy Rickell got a call to join The Crazy World of Arthur Brown and move with his wife to Dorset where Arthur was living. Andy and his wife were living with me and Maureen, my wife. We lived in Maida Vale in London, near the office of Clearwater who managed several bands, Hawkwind, Skin Alley, Cochise and High Tide. Andy had been in a band with Pete Pavli, High Tide’s bass player so we got friendly with High Tide. They lived in Abbey Road, near the studio and as a result I started hanging out at Clearwater’s office and got to know Doug Smith and the band he managed, Hawkwind. That would become useful a couple of years later. Shortly after Andy moved to Dorset I got a call asking if I’d come down to drive the band to gigs and do their lightshow which I did. As so often is the way, after I agreed to move to Dorset I got a call from Luther Grosvenor AKA Aerial Bender. He was leaving Spooky Tooth, one of my favourite bands, and needed a bass player. Someone had recommended me. If things had been different I would have jumped at the chance but I was committed to moving to Dorset so had to turn him down. Things were good at first in Dorset then after a while Arthur wanted changes in the band and asked me to take over on bass. Things unfortunately took a turn for the worse and Arthur fell out with Andy and the drummer Drachen Theaker and the band fell apart. We wanted to keep the band going and needed a singer so got in touch with Rod Goodway who was living in Bristol and he joined us. It became evident that Andy and Drachen were obsessed with Capt Beefheart and wanted to spend their time recording in that vein whereas Rod and I wanted to play live and another falling out occurred.

Tell me about Magic Muscle and how this explosive group came to be in December of ‘70? How did you end up meeting Kenny Wheeler and Huw Gower, given that Peter and Rod came over from J.P. Sunshine with you? What were those early practises and sessions like before the band began recording? How did you want to approach this outfit now that you had experience in being in a band? What was the overall vision for the group at the time?

As a result of our falling out with Andy and Drachen Rod, me and our wives decided to move to Bristol and form a band. There was a house there that had a basement for rehearsing and rooms for us to live in along with a drummer, Kenny Wheeler and a friend of Rod’s, Pete Biles who played percussion. We moved there with the idea of forming a Psychedelic band and after while started to audition guitarists. We tried a lot out including John Perry who was great but not quite right at that time for what we had in mind. Eventually we tried Huw Gower who fitted the bill nicely. The house was owned by a guy called John Osbourne who was a founder member of the British Anarchist Party. Once the band started gigging the house became quite notorious as a hangout for Hells Angels and various other misfits. I went to London with Kenny to see Doug Smith to see if I could blag some gigs supporting Hawkwind. They had just had a hit with Silver Machine and were embarking on their Space Ritual tour. As a result of seeing Doug we became their support band for that tour and some subsequent gigs.

Another incredible band that didn't release any material at the time of their current activities, why was this a sort of pattern with the band’s you were occupying during that time? Was there simply no interest in singing the band, or were there other elements occurring during that time?

There did seem to be a bit of a pattern to this, but it was just coincidence I think. J P Sunshine may well have gotten signed if we’d stayed together and Island took an interest in Magic Muscle but once again we broke up before anything happened.

Towards the mid to late 70s you joined the mighty Hawkwind. How did this all come about and would you mind telling me what it was like to initially join this band? I understand you played bass on their “Quark, Strangeness and Charm” record that was released in ‘77. Can you tell me about recording that record and what you wanted to bring to the table?

I was asked to join Hawkwind a few years before I finally did. Nik Turner and DikMik came up to Bristol and said Lemmy was misbehaving again and the band wanted him out. They asked if I’d join but out of loyalty to Muscle I turned them down. Not a great decision as not long after things took a left turn and Rod and I left Muscle and returned to London. About 5 years later Simon House asked me if I’d join and that time I happily agreed. I’d been in quite a few different bands between Muscle breaking up and being asked to join Hawkwind and I wasn’t going to miss that chance again. I was already friends with the band so fitted in pretty well. The first thing I had to do was learn all the songs on “Quark” as most of the album had already been recorded with Paul Rudolph on bass. He and Alan Powell (the 2nd drummer along with Simon King) had fallen out with the rest of the band and their parts were erased and my bass was overdubbed. I fitted in easily both personally and musically so I didn’t find it at all difficult. I was only in the band for a little over a year, recording 2 albums and doing a few tours. For a while Bob Calvert had been acting increasingly erratically. It turned out he was bi-polar and touring with him became quite tricky. We cut a European tour short because of his behaviour then a little later set off on an American one. Dave Brock wanted out of the contract we had with Charisma and decided to break the band up after that tour and form Hawklords so he could sign with a different label. I got a call from our manager explaining the situation and Bob and Dave went off with totally different musicians as Hawklords.

Tell me about forming the incredible Bevis Frond with some of your past bandmates. How did that all come about in ‘86? The band would go on to write and record LPs as well as singles throughout the remainder of the 1980s and into the 90s. Can you tell me about some of those projects and some of your most fondest memories of that outfit?

I didn’t form Bevis Frond, that was Nick Saloman’s project that was already going when I met him. He had recorded several well received albums by then. He didn’t play live at that time though. He’d been in a few bands previously that hadn’t gotten anywhere and he’d had bad experiences playing live. I got a call from Hawkwind’s manager Doug Smith saying Hawkwind were playing a 25th anniversary gig at Brixton Academy and wanted Magic Muscle to support them. I contacted Rod Goodway who was up for it but having fallen out with the rest of the band we needed another guitarist and a drummer. I knew Nick didn’t play live so asked him about his friend Bari Watts who I knew to be an excellent guitarist. To my surprise Nick said he’d do it and what’s more had a drummer. We went down really well at the gig and I think possibly for the first time Nick enjoyed the experience. A few months later he was asked to do a few gigs which we did as The Magic Bevis Muscle Frond and they went well. Then we did a European tour as The Bevis Frond which went well and things carried on from there. After the first tour we had a change of personnel, Rod and the drummer left and Bari Watts and his drummer Ric Gunther joined. 30 years later after numerous personnel changes Nick and I have been touring and recording having done more UK, European and USA tours than either of us can remember. At the same time as I’ve been playing with The Frond I also spent several years with Hawklords until I didn’t feel able to keep a foot in both bands.

What have you been up to most recently? Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?

Unfortunately my wife isn’t well so I’ve had to give up playing live. But I have a recording studio at home and have recorded several albums there and have a new one scheduled for 2023. I also guest on other compatible musicians’ albums so still keep my creative instincts ticking over. The Frond meantime carry on with an excellent new bass player.