Ron Bending - Ashkan Interview

When and where were you born? What was your childhood like and how did you initially get into music, more specially the bass guitar? Was music something that was relevant around your household, or was this something you found entirely on your own? Do you have any siblings?

I was born in Wales in 1942, the son of a coal miner and eldest of six children, 3 girls and 3 boys; around 1944 my father joined the army.  My mother, first sister and I moved to London in 1946ish to live with my paternal grandfather where I started primary education. In 1947 my father was demobbed. In 1949 I started junior school and I used to enjoy building model railways and the usual boy’s pastimes. I started secondary education in 1953, and I remember getting into music singing on the first floor landing of our house, rendering songs I would have heard on BBC radio which were probably songs from musicals. As a result of this my father bought me my first guitar, a six string acoustic Framus, which I learned to play from books. This also sparked my interest in the music classes in school and it wasn’t too long before a school skiffle group was getting under way. 

What would you do for fun back in the day before music took over? Who were among some of the first groups, or artists that left a heavy impression on you? Did you participate in any groups prior to Ashkan?

In 1957 I left school and became a cabinet maker’s apprentice, but continued with my guitar playing, listening to American rock music on Radio Luxemburg, and getting into the likes of Little Richard, Elvis (of course), Ray Charles, Bill Haley, Chuck Berry, and so on. This was the stuff I wanted to play. In late 1957 I started a band ‘The Impalas’ playing in a local tenant’s association hall and soon progressed to more gigs. I was still playing guitar at the time and was joined by Lenny Davidson on lead (of course we had become electric by now) and we were getting gigs from London promoters Ron and Freddy King who took us to many venues throughout England. The King Brothers also had a band called ‘The Crusaders’ on their books, with Jimmy Page on guitar. Lenny eventually joined DC5 and Jimmy asked me if I would be prepared to play bass for a session band he was forming to tour with Eden Kane. I was only too pleased to say yes. That was it; I was hooked to the bass! I had a few jams with DC5 at a local Hotel but went back to The Impalas (renamed ‘The Jaguars’) as bassist because we were offered a few months in Germany at a very good price.

How did you initially meet your bandmates the great Bob Weston, Steve Bailey and Terry Sims? When and where did you guys first get together to jam/rehearse and what was that initial chemistry like between everyone? When did the band officially start playing gigs and what were those early days like?

Meanwhile I had started a relationship with a girl (Linda Simms) who had a younger brother (Terry Simms) and friend (Bob Western), who were both interested in playing and were keen on some coaching so we bought Terry a small drum kit.  Bob already had guitar and so they went on to form/join a band or two?]. I returned from Germany and joined a band called ‘The Habits’ which was an out rhythm and blues band and I loved it. It turned out to be a really good band playing most of the clubs in and around England, mainly London, and we were spotted by the Stone’s “fixer” Tom Keylock who introduced us to them. We ended up doing the 1965 Stones UK tour on which we hooked up with Spencer Davis and Stevie Winwood who encouraged us to write and record our stuff which Stevie produced and did some vocals on. We released one single in the UK “Elbow Baby” which didn’t do much. We spent a long time in the south of France playing in clubs; we also supported Little Richard in the Paris Olympia (at last seeing one of my heroes live!) We split up on our return. I settled down to married life, but it wasn’t long before Bob Western asked me to join a band that he was he was asked to form by an American agent, Peter Snell, who was in UK searching out British talent. We rented an apartment in Hampstead London and put together a three piece before looking for a vocalist. We finally settled on Steve Bailey and set about writing the album ‘In From The Cold’. The band was originally intended for American market so gigs were limited in the UK. 

What eventually happened to the band after ‘69 because you guys were only together for a few months before splitting the eve of the actual release, correct? Did you continue to play music, or participate in any other outfits after Ashkan? What have been up to in more recent years? Did you continue to play music these day?

We finally split just before its release. I can’t really remember why as there were no disagreements in the band as far as I can recall. After the split I move to Southern Ireland in 1974 where I met my current wife Elaine who introduced me to locally based musicians who put me back on the scene. I met up with an old buddy Noel Reading and we played together in a few bands in West Cork. Elaine and our new born son Adam moved back to UK in 1979 for a brief period where I joined a few musicians to form a really talented band. This kept me actively playing. We returned back to Ireland in 1987 where I am still playing bass at 80 years of age and still loving it...