Johnny’s rockin’ days in Hamburg in 1967

YOU may remember that great story of Johnny Campbell and Rory Gallagher heading out to play the clubs of Hamburg, Germany, in 1966, which appeared in Throwback Thursday a few years ago.

Here is the opening paragraph, to remind you: “Music was always the most important thing in Johnny Campbell’s life and a friendship forged at St Kieran’s College with another music-mad student began to develop. He said: ‘I started playing with Rory Gallagher in January, 1966, as the Impact group, and that found us in Hamburg in August of the same year’.

Well, one brief experience of the Hamburg scene was definitely not enough for Johnny.

“When I got back that August, all I could think of was how I might get back there as quickly as possible,” he recalled. “I did have to consider the long-term future, though, and accordingly signed up for Commerce at UCC.

“Once I got my bearings there, I set to work, got in touch with the agent who had organised the previous trip, and after some negotiations, got a booking with The Big Apple in Hamburg for the month of January, 1967.

“This suited me down to the ground as I figured I could slip away from UCC over the Christmas holidays and be back early in February before anybody missed me!”

Having secured the booking, Johnny’s next step was to get a band together. “I would play drums. I found a bass player named Tony O’Sullivan, and a very good piano player, John White. That was the nucleus of a good band.

“It took a while to find a singer, but eventually we found a guy named Tom Cleary that I had played with previously. He had a decent voice and played guitar. So, we rehearsed early and often, and preparations for the trip continued apace.”

Travelling plans back then coud be complex.

“We would take the train from Cork to Rosslare, the boat to Holyhead, and train to London Euston, where Oliver Tobin would collect us, and drive to Harwich, where we would get the car ferry to Bremerhaven, and then drive to Hamburg. Got that?!

“Bremerhaven to Hamburg is about 112 miles, the ferry takes about 23 hours, so we were avoiding a drive of 435 miles from Ostend to Hamburg in the middle of winter.

“We were due to begin playing on December 30 and tickets would be sent for the Cork-London stage of the trip.”

But these best laid plan went awry, says Johnny.

“Then, disaster struck. Tony O’Sullivan called to my house on December 15 to say he couldn’t go to Hamburg.

“It’s difficult to describe the situation in Cork back then regarding bass players. The showband boom produced many guitar players, a surfeit of brass and wind players, a steady supply of drummers, but bass players, particularly good ones, were at a premium.

“After a few frantic days of searching, it became obvious that there was nobody suitable available.

“I was a big fan of Paul McCartney and Tamla Motown bass lines, and I was always picking up the bass guitar at rehearsals to practice my favourite licks. It suddenly dawned on me that I might have to be the bass player.

“We tried it out at a rehearsal and I surprised myself by how well it worked out. From there, we went looking for a drummer and the first one we approached, Art Lorigan, jumped at the offer. So, we were back on track.

“We had yet to actually play a gig, so we booked in a couple between St Stephen’s Day and our departure date. We had one last scare when a cut on Art’s hand turned turned septic, requiring hospital treatment, but it responded to treatment. (I suspect that nothing short of amputation would have stopped him travelling!)

“The big day finally arrived and we met up at Kent Station in Cork with our bits and pieces, a motley crew indeed.

“I had borrowed a bass guitar, and Oliver Tobin (who had been in Hamburg with Rory and myself the previous year) was supplying an amplifier from London, so we set off in high spirits.

“The boat was packed with people returning to England after the Christmas holiday and there was a palpable air of gloom and depression present. The bar was heaving and I remember being astonished at the amount of drink being consumed as the mostly male customers jostled one another at the counter.

“One inebriated punter tried to start a singsong, but it was half-hearted and died out quickly. Quite simply, they had nothing to sing about.

“Johnny continues with his enthralling story.

“A mercifully short boat trip, a crowded, drunken, morose train to Euston, and finally we were loading our gear into the back of Oliver’s Volkswagen van. Three of us took turns to sit on the P.A. speakers in the back!

“Our spirits immediately picked up with our own company and the feeling that the adventure was now beginning and we were really on the road to Hamburg. The animated conversation carried us all the way to Harwich, and before we knew it, we were driving on to the ferry.

“This was a completely different kettle of fish - bigger, cleaner (and how!), and more comfortable. Our tickets did not include cabins, but the plentiful spacious chairs meant you could sleep in them without developing a corrugated back. And the food was edible!

“Still, 23 hours on a boat is a long time and we grew increasingly unsettled until finally land appeared on the horizon, and in a short time we were back in the van driving into a winter wonderland. The strangeness of the buildings, the carpet of snow, even the cars - everything was different. And we were only 112 miles from Hamburg!”

Johnny recalled: “We pulled up outside The Big Apple around 7pm. just as we had done on my previous trip. Mandi, the club boss came out to greet us and simply said ‘you play at 8 and 10 tonight’. No greetings or small talk.

“We were all slightly nervous at this stage, but when we saw the German band who were nearing the end of their residency, we relaxed a little. They were very competent but extremely stodgy and couldn’t swing to save their lives. And they were all in their thirties, which seemed very old to us. (The foolishness of youth...).

“Suffice to say that we took to the stage at 8 (on the dot), played well, and went down well.

“Our sleeping quarters were in the basement and were rather grim, but having been there only a few months previously, I knew what to expect.

“The following day, things began in earnest. We rose around lunchtime, went to eat, then headed down to the Reeperbahn to the music shops and clubs. This area operated on a 24-hour day - clubs, strip joints, fast food emporiums, shop windows with business girls parading their charms, sex shops, cinemas, a seamen’s mission, a police station, and most incongruous, a church.

“When one premises closed for a break, another was opening for business. People outside many businesses dressed in an assortment of uniforms ranging from commissionaires’ outfits to top hats and tails, sailor suits, anything that they felt would attract passing punters, and all competing volubly. Music from open doorways ranged from oom-pah-pah and rock’n’roll to German beer drinking songs and James Last-style big bands, all competing with each other in the most amazing, raucous cacophony.

“Here and there, you would see people hors de combat who had passed out and were sleeping it off down a side street. The police only sallied forth when there was real trouble.

“The fabled Star Club was situated in the Grosse Freiheit, off the main drag, and here you could compare yourself to more accomplished bands, some of whom were well known. You would always meet musicians there who had come to Hamburg and stayed behind when their band went home.”

It was Mecca, says Johnny reminiscently, where The Beatles had learned their chops just a few years previously.

“That was why any musician wanted to be there!” he said.

Having played their two New Year’s Eve sets, they all piled into the Mercedes of a German guy “who wanted to show us the real Hamburg” and headed downtown to a discreet looking building which proved to be a unisex gay club.

“This was the first time I realised what women have to put up with all their lives, as we walked across the dance floor to the bar. The Irish boys created quite a stir, some of it from people who wanted genuinely to talk and know more about Ireland, others who were probably interested in the prospect of new blood, but everybody was friendly and very respectful.

“The owner indicated that we had a free bar for the the night but ‘tomorrow you must pay’. Very optimistic of him!”

As the days rolled by, the band began to go to bed later and later and rise later and later, remembers Johnny. “There was always something on or somewhere to go after we finished playing, and we were seeing less and less daylight.

“Taste arrived on January 14 to take over from us the following day, and we got ready to move on to Club Oase in Lübeck. Here, we encountered a different scene. There were two bands playing every night from 8pm to 4am.

“We alternated, starting one night at 8pm and finishing at 3am, the next starting at 9pm and finishing at 4am. Now our sole aim was to get up before the shops closed!

“On the late finish night, you might find yourself playing the last set to four or five business girls and their pimps, but there was no question of finishing early.

“The highlight of the time in Lübeck was a guest appearance by Screaming Lord Sutch And The Roman Empire - which featured Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple) on guitar, Carlo Little (original Rolling Stones) on drums, and Mike O’Neill (well known session guy) on keyboards and they were absolutely brilliant.

“Our week in the Oase came to an end without us ever seeing the sun and we moved next to the Star Club in Kiel. That was a strange place which had suffered severe damage during World War II (which, bear in mind, had only ended 21 years before.) There were lots of new buildings and it lacked the character and prettiness of Lübeck.

“Another quirky thing in Germany was that a band could be fired during the first three days of an engagement but if you got through that, you were there for the duration of the booking.

“The next gig was at the Crazy Horse back in Hamburg so I discovered I would have to do the three days there for safety’s sake, even though I was already in the red with regard to my course at UCC…”

Gosh, don’t stop there, Johnny! How did you get yourself out of Hamburg and back to Cork - and just how did you explain yourself up at UCC? Well, we will find out next week!

In the meantime, let’s hear memories - of beat clubs or otherwise - from the rest of you.

Girls, don’t tell me you didn’t go to the Cavern or the Crypt. Lads, did you test your guitar or drum skills in the same places?

Email jokerrigan1@gmail.com. Or leave a comment on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/echolivecork.