THE COMPLETE AND UNEXPURGATED HISTORY OF
× BELZEBUB Ø
Ray was born in
Seaham Harbour, Co. Durham and studied the flute up to orchestral standard
before leaving to attend Clifton college in Nottingham. About a year after Ray
was born, Ian & Vere were born on consecutive days, Ian in Stanley, also in
the North East and Vere in Bentham on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. They
each developed their interest in music, teaching themselves the guitar with Ian
moving on to mandolin & tenor banjo, before they also moved to Clifton
college. Joan is the youngster of the band and has always lived in her native
Long Eaton, apart from a brief spell at college in Hereford. Joan studied piano
to a very high level and remembers the time when she had to make her way to her
piano lessons via two bus journeys on her own at the age of eight! Kids today
..?
Ray was a stalwart of
the college folk club, playing in a duo called the King’s Shilling. In 19…… he
joined The Plumtree Country Dance Band to play for ceilidhs. Ian became part of
the Nottingham folk scene, playing regularly at the Town Arms on Trent Bridge
and with groups such as The Village Band, Major Oak, The Gem Superband and as a
resident at Beeston Folk Club with The Green Chompers. He also joined the Plumtree
Band. After playing in electric folk bands at college, Vere ran a folk club in
his native dales which culminated in making ‘The Sheep and the Hay’ with his
band, Farmstead. This was one of the first albums on the Fellside label. He
then returned to Nottingham and joined Morris Convertible – a folk/rock band
which enjoyed success in the midlands during the ‘70s. He also played in a few
other outfits including Rocky Terrain and The Big Rigs featuring the late Mark
Tindle. Vere was asked to join the Plumtree Band after subbing in at a barn
dance in 1977. At this time The Plumtree Band was Brian Harvey (accordion), Bob
Fawcett (bass), Ray (flute), Ian (mandolin) and Vere (fiddle). The band used a
variety of local callers and at the few rehearsals which we could squeeze in to
a heavy schedule of bookings, the band would check diaries to agree on about
3-4 weekends to keep free each year for family gatherings. Most Fridays and
Saturdays the band was out gigging.
Joan’s interest in folk
music blossomed from an early age, singing with Geoff Howe as the Sallowa Folk,
and running a folk club at the Tiger Inn in Long Eaton. One of their highlights
was performing at the Royal Albert Hall in a Folk Fest concert organised by the
Scouting Association and compered by Terry Wogan (Live recording probably in
the deleted category!) Then followed a period of solo work around the local
clubs, during which she met the future members of The Oddfellows Band, with
whom she went on to run the highly successful Kegworth Folk Club. It was there
that she was "spotted" playing a mini keyboard by the Plumtree Band
whose accordionist has just announced his retirement from playing in public.
As the personnel of the band had changed dramatically over that period of time, a change of name seemed like a good idea. Belzebub was chosen after the character that appears in many mummers’ plays. Slogans such as ‘play like the devil’ and ‘devilish good music’ sealed the choice. The band included Ray, Ian, Vere, Joan and Bob Fawcett (playing bass and guitar) who was one of the founder members of the Plumtree Band.
During this time the
band enjoyed a heavy schedule of bookings for ceilidhs and folk clubs. In 1982
the band released their first album. It was recorded and mastered by Paul
Branston at Q studios in Queniborough, Leics. Paul had been the compere for the
folk programme on local radio and had played bass and guitar with a number of
bands. After only a few months gigging the album songs at folk clubs, Bob’s
work took him off to Macclesfield and Paul willingly stepped in, joining the
band for many years. The band still enjoyed plenty of work, playing gigs all
over central England and even as far as Belgium and France.
Not long after that,
Ian took up a new post in Coventry. He continued playing with the band until
1988 by which time the travelling was taking its toll and, in addition, he was
having to give up more of his time for the successful Peeping Tom ceilidh band
of which Ian was, and still is, an integral part. Ten years later Paul decided
to leave the band to concentrate on other aspects of his business. Ian and Paul
had both called the dances as well as playing music for the past 16 years.
Ray, Vere & Joan
knew they had enough experience to continue as a trio. Ray took to the bass
with consummate ease and developed his skill as a caller. The three worked on
under various other band names including Reel Easy and The Shire Band.
In 2003 Ian moved back
to Nottingham and Belzebub was re-united. The band
started playing folk clubs again and in 2006 released their latest album
‘Reformed’. Alistair Russell of the Battlefield Band recorded and mastered the
CD at his studios in Cleckheaton. The album has received some excellent reviews
and sales are progressing well.
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