DAVID WILLGRESS

Band timeline:

The GKB Four

Exhibit A

Continuation

Worzel Gummidge

Dusty

Fifth Avenue

"As John Butler describes when The GKB4 (see The GKB Four) formed I did not have a drum kit. My two best friends, David George and Bob Cossey who also joined both played the guitar. I couldn't get to grips with that so I decided to try the drums, even though I did not have a kit. I used to practice with knitting needles and biscuit tins while watching drummers on Top Of The Pops. I eventually got the hang of it by playing along with records.

I was at a dance in The Conservative Hall in Acle one Saturday and a group was playing - can't remember their name though. They played for about an hour and then announced a 20-minute break. The 20 minutes came and went and there was no sign of their drummer. He was otherwise engaged with a young lady, so the band asked if there was anyone in the audience who could play the drums. I put my hand up and the next thing I knew I was sat behind this full-size drum kit wondering what the hell to do with most of it. It was a big step up from knitting needles and biscuit tins. We played The Hippy Hippy Shake so it must have been around 1964, I would have been 15 years old. Anyway, it appeared to go well and it convinced me it was something I wanted to do.

I knew most of The Sapphires another local band because we all used to go to Acle Secondary Modern School and I was in the same class as a guy called Kevin Kelly and he suggested getting a group together. Kevin lived in Fleggburgh and he had a couple of friends who wanted to play. One was called Ronnie Short from Martham. I would travel from Acle to Fleggburgh on the bus where Kevin would meet me with a spare bike and we would then ride to Rollesby Village Hall to practice. We did this a few times, although it never came to anything.

Undeterred by the failure of the band I was contacted by another pupil of Acle called Bernie Risby who played the guitar and was trying to form a band. Bernie lived in Limpenho near Cantley. We had a few practice sessions at the local pub there called The Falcon but again, nothing came of that - the pub is no longer there. My parents were relieved that time as Bernie had a bit of a dodgy reputation.

Neville Pratt, Adrian Nicholls, David Futter and Ralph Debbage were also at Acle School - they formed The Five Angles, who later became Somethin' Else and then Dawn Chorus. I played with Dawn Chorus a few times as a stand-in when their drummer was ill.
I've known Neville Pratt virtually all my life as he lived in Acle where his family had an antique business.
I last saw Neville in 2009 when he, John Pegg, Donny Pegg, John Butler and myself reunited to play at the Acle Secondary Modern 50th Anniversary. He now lives in Fleggburgh.

I also recall a local guy called Paul Catchpole. I can remember seeing him play at Freethorpe Village Hall, probably 1964 or 1965. I think his band possibly called John's Court, used to do a lot of Tamla Motown stuff. I got to know Paul quite well because we were doing the same course at Yarmouth Technical College.

After my two non-starters, I remember Graham Baines knocking on our door one evening and wanting to know if I was interested in joining a band with him and John Butler. As John recalls they were also short of a bass player but I knew David George played the guitar and he was enlisted as the bass player and The GKB Four were born.

When we later changed our name to Exhibit A, we played at Filby Village Hall. That was on the 4th of February 1967. I remember the date clearly because (a) it was my 18th birthday and (b) that is the night when I met my wife to be Elizabeth. Strangely, it had been her birthday the day before but she was only 15.

My last local band was Fifth Avenue who I joined with John Butler in the late '70s. I left that band in early 1980 as a promotion at work resulted in a move to Essex and that was the end of my drumming career." DW27/05/2020