THE NEW MODERN IDIOT GRUNT BAND
Rod Felton and Rob Armstrong.
Pete Clemons writes -
While they were there alliances were built and contacts made. And these contacts would prove useful for bookings in around Keil on a return visit to the city during 1968.
1967 saw the birth of 'The New Modern Idiot Grunt Band' who consisted of Rod and fellow fun loving musician Rob Armstrong. Rod and Rob had known each other well from the folk circuit. Rob had been performing as far back as 1963 and was equally well respected on the circuit.
For the return visit to Keil, Rod Felton and Geoff Smedley, were, this time, joined by Rob Armstrong. Initially the trio went out there to give individual performances. But, so popular they became, the trio occasionally performed together and became known as 'The Gentle Idea'. The German folk fans were treated to blues along with a helping of traditional and English contemporary folk music. Rod and Rob would also get the opportunity to perform together and play a rousing 'Grunt Band' set.
According to Rod, 'The New Modern Idiot Grunt Band' band name came to him in a vision during a dream. But for Rob it was more succinct and a simple case of too much alcohol providing the inspiration. Either way, this was an era when bands could get away with a bit of silliness by coming up with names like 'The Bonzo Dog Do Dah Band'. The New Modern Idiot Grunt Band went out gigging under a variety of names. They used their full band name or were more simply known as as The Idiot Grunt Band, NMIGB and IGB.
Picture from Articles in Sound produced by The Coventry Music Museum where they have Rod Felton's Jug on display.
Rob remembers well the Rugby Festival of 1969 which involved bands like Pink Floyd and King Crimson as well as the NMIGB. At the end of the festival, and late into night, there was still a sizeable crowd who still wanted more. So, much to the crowd's delight, the 'Grunt Band' returned to the stage and gave the revelers an extra couple of hours of fun.
A week later Rob got rather excited when he saw a headline on that weeks NME (New Musical Express) that proclaimed 'Jug Band rocks festival'.
Thinking that the late night festival goers must have included a music journalist Rob eagerly read the accompanying article. However, his joy did not last long when he realised that the article was on about Mungo Jerry who had performed the same weekend at a different festival.
Live recordings of the Grunt Band do exist as far back as 1967 but the band is barely audible. However, an acceptable live recording does exist from 1969 and from a gig that took place at The Three Crowns in Barwell.
It was recorded on good quality equipment and stands the test of time today.
It was recorded on good quality equipment and stands the test of time today.
The New Modern Idiot Grunt Band never actually split up as such. There was no animosity or anything like that. It was a simple case that the band ceased being a professional outfit and, as such, never went after the gigs anymore.
However, that said, the pair still managed to play at least half a dozen dates a year right through to the mid 1990's. In fact, for the right occasion, they still find the time to play the odd gig together. The most recent get together I remember was during 2010 at the Dave Bennett memorial gig held at The Maudslay pub in Chapelfields. By 1971 Rod Felton and Rob Armstrong began to branch out more and had begun to build and concentrate on their new respective careers. Rob, of course, needs no introduction to the path he took of crafting handmade acoustic guitars to an incredibly high standard. And for more than 40 years he has built these instruments for the great and the good."
Although they played on a number of radio and TV shows they never did any formal recording. However their act has been preserved in the form of a live album recorded at the Three Crowns, Barwell on the wobbly Duck label. twelve live tracks available. I don't think these tracks, which Dave Cooper made available on his Rare Music site, are now available.
However, that said, the pair still managed to play at least half a dozen dates a year right through to the mid 1990's. In fact, for the right occasion, they still find the time to play the odd gig together. The most recent get together I remember was during 2010 at the Dave Bennett memorial gig held at The Maudslay pub in Chapelfields. By 1971 Rod Felton and Rob Armstrong began to branch out more and had begun to build and concentrate on their new respective careers. Rob, of course, needs no introduction to the path he took of crafting handmade acoustic guitars to an incredibly high standard. And for more than 40 years he has built these instruments for the great and the good."
Graham Oliver commented on the original Hobo Vox site in 2007 -
"I have just discovered a tape that I recorded when I ran a folk club at Ye Olde Red Lion, Rugby 24th February. It includes an entire performance by the 'New Modern Idiot Grunt Band' and although the sound is distorted in places (because Rod was banging his foot so hard that it made the tape recorder jump) it isn't that bad. The recording was made on 24th February 1969 with Rob and Rod's full co-operation and consent." Graham also says " between 1968 and 1970, I ran a folk club in Rugby on Monday nights at what was then called 'Ye Olde Red Lion', in Sheep Street. Rob and Rod were popular"
"I also remember their impromptu performance at (probably) the 1968 Cambridge Folk Festival attracted a huge crowd and caused quite a stir."
"I have just discovered a tape that I recorded when I ran a folk club at Ye Olde Red Lion, Rugby 24th February. It includes an entire performance by the 'New Modern Idiot Grunt Band' and although the sound is distorted in places (because Rod was banging his foot so hard that it made the tape recorder jump) it isn't that bad. The recording was made on 24th February 1969 with Rob and Rod's full co-operation and consent." Graham also says " between 1968 and 1970, I ran a folk club in Rugby on Monday nights at what was then called 'Ye Olde Red Lion', in Sheep Street. Rob and Rod were popular"
"I also remember their impromptu performance at (probably) the 1968 Cambridge Folk Festival attracted a huge crowd and caused quite a stir."
I think these recordings will be a different set to the Barwell ones. It would be good to have both recordings available. Anyone any thoughts?
Track listing of the Barwell Recordings1 San Francisco Bay Blues 4:34
2 White Lightning 4:21
3 Solid Gone 5:51
4 My Bucket's Got a Hole in It 4:36
5 Belladonna Moonshine 7:14
6 Steamboat Days 3:48
7 Alecazander 3:00
8 Times Ain't Like They Used to Be 6:13
9 Interplanetary Trucker 6:56
10 Ugly 9:03
11 Geronimo's Cadillac 7:49
12 Mrs Murphy's Man 8:07
13 Lady Baby Gypsy Queen 3:21
14 Colouring Book 3:26
15 Princess 5:13
NMIGB also did a gig in London with Alex Campbell and rod was sharing a flat in London at the time with Diz Disley.
Dave Bennett and Rod Felton formed a similar and temporary outfit in the noughties called Im and Im. dave described the duo as "a duo of meteoric rise to obscurity! But we had a lot of fun.
During their time they played the Rugby Rock Festival in 69' with Free, Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Edgar Broughton Band, Third Ear Band, several blues bands, (Climax Chicago, John Dummers, Spirit of John Morgan), Strawbs (acoustic 3 piece), Bridget St John and many others."
Graham Oliver also recalls
" I think I arranged that particular meeting - at the beginning of May 1969, Toni Savage (one of the nicest and most helpful folk music impresario/agents you could want to meet)was trying to arrange some bookings in the Coventry and Leicester areas for Alex - we agreed to book him for the Monday night - which I think may have been a Bank Holiday or at least a day that most people took as a holiday even if it wasn't official. I took the whole week off and followed Alex to all the other gigs which included the Town Arms in Leicester and the Mercers Arms in Coventry as well as Warwick and possibly Monks Kirby - all great fun - what a great man he was both on and off stage - but that's a completely different story.
To make something special out of the Monday night at Ye Olde Red Lion, I managed to get an extension to 11.30 (which was late in those days) and permission for the show to go on until midnight. In addition to Alex I also billed The New Modern Idiot Grunt Band, Ernie Hudson and Geoff Smedley. The Coventry Evening Telegraph and Rugby Advertiser did us proud with brilliant pre-show write-ups and john Phillpot used the headline 'A Folk Bonanza' - in truth it was more of a Comedy Bonanza.
My contemporary diary indicates that I paid out £35 to the performers and probably bought them drinks on top of that - admission was 7/6 (£0.375 in today's money) and the room was packed. Nevertheless, for an all acoustic show with no microphones or amps, it was brilliant and the audience were incredibly quiet exept when laughing or applauding. Alex C\mpbell had never seen Rob and Rod perform before and during the 'interval' he told me that he thought their act was 'amazing' - praise indeed from the great man.
During Alex's second half he made several references to the duo and the art of 'Grunting' he also mentioned them from the stage at the Town Arms when he told the audience that they should make a point of getting over to the Coventry area to see them. Toni Savage was with also us in Rugby on the Monday night and brought along a number of his new protegies as floor singers with the intention of show-casing them to the other club organisors that would have been with us. I think in this instance it worked the other way round because, thereafter, Toni became a great fan and promoter of Rob and Rod . . ." http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=96651"
11 Geronimo's Cadillac 7:49
12 Mrs Murphy's Man 8:07
13 Lady Baby Gypsy Queen 3:21
14 Colouring Book 3:26
15 Princess 5:13
Track Listing of Graham Oliver's Recordings
(Which aren't available anywhere I don't think)
The play list (with a few jokes in between)is:
San Francisco Bay Blues (Jesse Fuller)
Salty Dog Blues (Traditional American)
Colouring Book (As We Go Sailing On) ?
Skin Game Blues (Peg Leg Howell)
Your Ugly (Armstrong/Felton) ?
Anthem - Keep on Grunting (Armstrong/Felton) ?
Grunting Everywhere (Armstrong/Felton) ?
Gospel Blues (Traditional American)
Lady Baby Gypsy Queen (Felton)
Everybody Loves a Nut (Clement)
Can't You See That I'm Just Crazy Over You ?
Harry Rag (Davies)
Mrs Murphy's Man is Back in Town ?
Yat-tat-tat-ta-tat-tat Yat-tat-tat-ta-tat-tat ?
.............................
Graham Bradshaw commented on this site http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=96651
" Somewhere in my tape archive, I have several recordings of the Grunt Band - recorded at Burnt Post Folk Club, The Freemasons (worth a thread on its own?!) and the Come Together concert in 1983. Some of that was broadcast on Mercia FM at the time, so quality not too bad in parts. (Note to myself - must look them out sometime)" (So perhaps there may be more tracks forthcoming!
(Which aren't available anywhere I don't think)
The play list (with a few jokes in between)is:
San Francisco Bay Blues (Jesse Fuller)
Salty Dog Blues (Traditional American)
Colouring Book (As We Go Sailing On) ?
Skin Game Blues (Peg Leg Howell)
Your Ugly (Armstrong/Felton) ?
Anthem - Keep on Grunting (Armstrong/Felton) ?
Grunting Everywhere (Armstrong/Felton) ?
Gospel Blues (Traditional American)
Lady Baby Gypsy Queen (Felton)
Everybody Loves a Nut (Clement)
Can't You See That I'm Just Crazy Over You ?
Harry Rag (Davies)
Mrs Murphy's Man is Back in Town ?
Yat-tat-tat-ta-tat-tat Yat-tat-tat-ta-tat-tat ?
.............................
Graham Bradshaw commented on this site http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=96651
" Somewhere in my tape archive, I have several recordings of the Grunt Band - recorded at Burnt Post Folk Club, The Freemasons (worth a thread on its own?!) and the Come Together concert in 1983. Some of that was broadcast on Mercia FM at the time, so quality not too bad in parts. (Note to myself - must look them out sometime)" (So perhaps there may be more tracks forthcoming!
NMIGB also did a gig in London with Alex Campbell and rod was sharing a flat in London at the time with Diz Disley.
Dave Bennett and Rod Felton formed a similar and temporary outfit in the noughties called Im and Im. dave described the duo as "a duo of meteoric rise to obscurity! But we had a lot of fun.
During their time they played the Rugby Rock Festival in 69' with Free, Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Edgar Broughton Band, Third Ear Band, several blues bands, (Climax Chicago, John Dummers, Spirit of John Morgan), Strawbs (acoustic 3 piece), Bridget St John and many others."
" I think I arranged that particular meeting - at the beginning of May 1969, Toni Savage (one of the nicest and most helpful folk music impresario/agents you could want to meet)was trying to arrange some bookings in the Coventry and Leicester areas for Alex - we agreed to book him for the Monday night - which I think may have been a Bank Holiday or at least a day that most people took as a holiday even if it wasn't official. I took the whole week off and followed Alex to all the other gigs which included the Town Arms in Leicester and the Mercers Arms in Coventry as well as Warwick and possibly Monks Kirby - all great fun - what a great man he was both on and off stage - but that's a completely different story.
To make something special out of the Monday night at Ye Olde Red Lion, I managed to get an extension to 11.30 (which was late in those days) and permission for the show to go on until midnight. In addition to Alex I also billed The New Modern Idiot Grunt Band, Ernie Hudson and Geoff Smedley. The Coventry Evening Telegraph and Rugby Advertiser did us proud with brilliant pre-show write-ups and john Phillpot used the headline 'A Folk Bonanza' - in truth it was more of a Comedy Bonanza.
My contemporary diary indicates that I paid out £35 to the performers and probably bought them drinks on top of that - admission was 7/6 (£0.375 in today's money) and the room was packed. Nevertheless, for an all acoustic show with no microphones or amps, it was brilliant and the audience were incredibly quiet exept when laughing or applauding. Alex C\mpbell had never seen Rob and Rod perform before and during the 'interval' he told me that he thought their act was 'amazing' - praise indeed from the great man.
During Alex's second half he made several references to the duo and the art of 'Grunting' he also mentioned them from the stage at the Town Arms when he told the audience that they should make a point of getting over to the Coventry area to see them. Toni Savage was with also us in Rugby on the Monday night and brought along a number of his new protegies as floor singers with the intention of show-casing them to the other club organisors that would have been with us. I think in this instance it worked the other way round because, thereafter, Toni became a great fan and promoter of Rob and Rod . . ." http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=96651"
Cutting c1965 via Ian Green and his Broadgate Gnome Site.
Below - Rod Felton's Jug on display at Coventry Music Museum
New addition thanks to Dave Knight - interesting article from the BBC Radio Leicester magazine 1969.
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I saw them at the Hollybush in Nuneaton very late 60s/early 70s. One of the best evenings I had there. A memorable rendition of Piddling Pete.
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