CANNONBALLS, THE

Vocals, Guitar: John Decamps

Vocals, Guitar: Les Judd

Keys: Lorraine Judd

Drums: Johnny Grimwood

"I bought my first acoustic guitar in '57 and played my first gig in July '59, calling ourselves The Cannonballs after a Duane Eddie track. My schoolmate Les Judd had a copy of Bert Weedon's book 'Play in a Day' so, we shared that and learned together in his mums front room. He and I put the band together, with his sister Lorraine on piano and Johnny Grimwood on drums. We only played the one gig, after which Les got the call from Nigel Portass to join The Offbeats, who were all in the same form as him at Spalding Grammar School. Johnny and I then teamed up with Trevor Twaite, a singer/guitarist from Holbeach, and he roped in Keith Green, Bernard Rudd and Raymond Boz Burrell, who he knew from the George Farmer School in Holbeach. Bernard and Boz didn't stay long as they wanted to play different stuff. When they started at Kings Lynn Tech College in September '60, they put together The Tea Time Four. I pulled in another guitar player I knew from Spalding, and the band became The Black Shadows." JD

The Gig

"I shall never forget that gig, it was at Moulton Seas End Village Hall and a fundraiser for the local youth club. I drive by often when I take my wife for a car ride around the local area. She suffered a stroke ten years ago and can't walk anymore, and gets a bit fed up on the settee all day. I keep saying to myself I must take a photo of it! The main band that night was an old-time dance band called The Silver Stars. The band had no singer and only used their small PA to announce the next dance. We played the interval slot and borrowed their hand mic; one of our mates had to stand in front of us, holding it up so Les and I could sing into it." JD 08/07/2021

<> (Judd - The Offbeats) (Decamps -The Black Shadows)