June 2008 Archives

I've never "blogged" before, so forgive me if this seems like I don't know what I'm doing. Suppose I'd better start by introducing myself.

My name is Bev Bevan.

Some of you will know me as drummer of The Move and ex-drummer of Electric Light Orchestra, Black Sabbath, ELO Part 2, etc, etc. But there's a lot more to my life than that.

I was born and raised in Birmingham, firstly in South Yardley, then aged seven, we moved to Sparkhill. At age 10, I fairly cruised through my 11-plus exams, but then tragedy struck with the sudden death of my father from kidney failure.

On my first day at Moseley Grammar School I met one Robert Norman Davis, known a lot better these days as Jasper Carrott. We became the best of friends and remain so to this day.

Back then I was keen to become a sports journalist but my academic career was soon ruined by the advent of rock'n'roll music.

Up until then, the music of the 1950s had washed over me like warm water. The likes of Ruby Murray, Jimmy Young, Alma Cogan, Dickie Valentine and Eddie Calvert were not entirely unpleasant, but boy was it boring!

Then came American rock'n'roll and my life was changed forever.

Hearing Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles, I was hooked. It didn't take long for me and four like-minded schoolmates to form our own rock'n'roll group.

After many name changes we ended up being called Rocking Ronnie and the Renegades ( group names back then were just SO cool!)

Apart from Ronnie, the other three lads all owned guitars, so I became the drummer - simple as that.

This, of course, entailed acquiring a set of drums. I was delighted and somewhat surprised at how readily my mum agreed to shell out the necessary £50 (a small fortune in 1960), to buy a brand new kit of "Broadway Silver Sparkle" drums from Jones & Crossland in Birmingham city centre.

Shortly afterwards, with no tuition whatsoever, it became fairly obvious that not only did I possess a natural sense of rhythm but also a talent for playing for the drums.

Only then did my mum tell me that my father used to be a drummer during the 1940s!

His name was Charles Thomas Bevan, but was nicknamed "Bev" and led the "Bev Bevan Danceband", playing at ballrooms and working men's clubs around the Birmingham area.

This is where I got my name from - Bev, short for Beverley. It wasn't easy growing up in South Birmingham in the Fifties and Sixties with a name like Beverley. I was that "Boy named Sue" ...

As well as the music, I adopted the rock'n'roll look of the times - drainpipe trousers, winkle-picker shoes, draped jacket and slicked back Brylcreemed hair with the floppy quiff.

It was a look that got me suspended from the extremely traditional Moseley Grammar School for a couple of days and instantly made me a cult hero with the younger boys at the school.

After weeks of rehearsals in bassplayer Tony's dad's snooker room, Ronnie and the Renegades got their first-ever gig at Hall Green youth club. We weren't very good, of course, but got some applause.

Best of all was the fact that pretty young girls, who up until now had ignored us, were suddenly available for dates at the local cinemas and coffee bars. Playing rock'n'roll and dating the prettiest girls around - how great was that?

And it got better. Within weeks we started getting paid, too. £2/10 shillings between us, A crisp ten shilling note - twice my pocket money - for doing what I loved with a passion. Nirvana!

The next thrilling instalment in next week's blog - including leaving school and getting a job (along with Jasper), at a department store in Brum and then joining my first professional band Denny Laine and the Diplomats.

Also next time I'll be Looking Back. Over the years I've kept diaries, news cuttings, magazine articles, etc, and I'll be digging through those.

Did you know that 40 years ago The Move had just been in the charts with Fire Brigade. 30 years ago ELO were on the road with the Out Of The Blue spaceship tour and 25 years ago I was about to join Black Sabbath.