This photograph was taken at the same photo session at Hayle Towans holiday park, in Cornwall.
Some of the equipment we used:- Hiwatt P.A., Hammond Organ and Leslie Rotary Speaker, Trixon Drum kit,
and behind me you can see my Hiwatt 200w amp with two 4x12inch speaker cabinets. My guitar is a gold top Gibson Les Paul.
I still have the Hiwatt speaker cabinets.
Some of the songs we played:
Rock Me Baby
Paraniod - Black Sabbath
Long Tall Sally - Little Richard/The Beatles
Strange Kinda Woman - Deep Purple
America - The Nice
American Woman - Guess Who
An advert for the Driftwood Spars at St. Agnes, from the Queen autobiography book.
"Roger Taylor and Queen", played the following Monday after "Hairy Magpie"
The "Roger Taylor and Queen" date was Monday 9th August 1971. Hairy Magpie played the previous
Thursday 5th August 1971.
Roger Taylor of Queen also played drums with us on one of our residencies at the Driftwood Spars. If
I remember correctly we played, "Strange Kind of Woman" by Deep Purple and "Rock Me Baby".
The date of this performance could have possibly been the 5th August 1971.
This photograph was taken downstairs at the Drum Major in Bodmin. This band was a much heavier version of Hairy Magpie
Personnel from left to right: Tony Cousins (Keyboards/Vocals), Bill Gill (Drums), Duncan Yelland (Bass) and Graham Hicks (Lead Guitar/Vocals). In this photograph I am playing my Gibson Les Paul through a Selmer Treble/Bass amp.
We are using Wem P.A. cabinets.
Some of the songs we played:
Gypsy - Uriah Heep
Sheep - The Strawbs
Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Locomotive Breath - Jethro Tull
I Can't Explain - The Who
Looking Back - John Mayall
Living For The City - Stevie Wonder
Willie The Pimp - Juicy Lucy/Frank Zappa
The Hairy Magpie group van arriving at the Drum Major. The van was an old R.A.F. ambulance. Ivan Lyne was also a drummer for Hairy Magpie. As of this moment, I have no photo of Ivan on stage with Hairy Magpie
Advert for a gig at the Flamingo Ballroom on Saturday 21st October 1972.
A flyer for the "Freaky Fantastic Hairy Magpie" at the King Mark in Newquay on
Thursday 16th November 1972.
Hairy Magpie also played under the name of "The Graham Quartet - with Hammond Organ".
We realised that we could also play in hotels, such as the "Beachcroft Hotel" in Newquay, with this more refined name. We used to play songs such as "Time is Tight" by Booker T. & the MG's.
A contract for a Hairy Magpie gig at Kensey Vale, Launceston on Saturday 16th June 1973.
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Tony Cousins (December 2010)
I joined Hairy Magpie around 1971 following the folding up of my previous band, Easy Moses.
At the time the line up was myself, Tony Cousins (Keyboards), Graham Hicks (Lead guitar and vocals), Duncan Yelland (Bass) and Ivan Lyne (Drums). I replaced Paul Foster on keyboards. Bill Gill later replaced Ivan. One of our regular gigs was the Drum Major, Bodmin where we were frequently joined by Leo Orton who would leap from the high stage during his rendition of Jethro Tull’s “Locomotive Breath”.
Another of my personal favourites was Uriah Heep’s “Gypsy”.
I used to enjoy doing a Sunday night after Ginhouse had played on a Friday as Dick Gynn used to leave his Hammond organ for me to play instead of my old Lowrey, (many roadies will remember with pain humping that beast up and down the stone steps at the Drum).
Roger and Rodney Bentley were the landlords and Roger would often come up and play his bongos during such tracks as Santana’s “Black Magic Woman”.
Our regular roadie was “Spud” Tatum, later to have his own Disco “Arrno’s Sound Circus”
I remember I still had "Easy Moses" painted on the front of the organ and Bill Gill got so fed up with asking me to paint over it, he arrived at a rehearsal one evening with a tin of black paint and a brush and proceeded to do, with gusto, what he had been telling me to do for weeks. Over 20 years later I was playing with "Beaver" at the Red Lion, Newquay when the landlord (Geoff Treverton) said to me “There’s a bloke at the front door saying something about you owing him for a tin of paint”. And there was Bill and family. I hope he reads this and makes contact. Bill has some great stories to tell about his band days.
Duncan Yelland emigrated to Canada, Graham Hicks is still “on the road” and I understand Ivan Lyne regularly appears at AlStock in Bodmin.
Tony Cousins (December 2010)
Many thanks to Tony Cousins for contributing these memories (Graham Hicks)
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Hairy Magpie performs at Barn Dance
Venue: Davidstow Village Hall
I remember Hairy Magpie, being booked to play at Davidstow Village Hall, adjacent to the cheese factory, sometime in the early 70’s.
After several attempts of locating the village hall, having driven past it several times, we finally arrived. Once inside we asked where the power points were, and were questioned, “You boys want electricity?” This should have been a warning. Inside the hall were sofa’s to sit on, and bales of hay?
We were then asked, “Which one of you boys is the caller?” We were completely confused as to what he was talking about. We then realised that the function was a barn dance.
Our agent had booked Hairy Magpie, (Heavy Rock Band) for a Barn Dance.
The evening was not a great success.
Davidstow Village Hall as it is today (27th March 2011).
Graham Hicks (March 2011)
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Dates that Hairy Magpie/The Graham Quartet played during the summer of 1971.
Dates supplied by Graham Hicks:-
May
Friday May 7th - Manderley Country Club (This is possibly our first booking as "Hairy Magpie".)
Saturday May 8th - Manderley Country Club
Friday 14th May - Indian Queens Hall
Tuesday 18th May - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Friday 21st May - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 22nd May - Flamingo Ballroom, Redruth
Friday 28th May - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Sunday 30th May - Holywell Bay Holiday Camp
Dates supplied by Dave Bunday:-
The "Graham Quartet with Hammond Organ" dates would have been at the Beachcroft Hotel in Newquay.
(It's difficult to believe that we actually managed to complete a whole summer season at the Beachcroft Hotel).
All other dates would have been "Hairy Magpie" gigs.
June
Friday 4th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 5th June, Blue Lagoon, Newquay (date supplied by Graham Hicks)
Friday 11th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Monday 14th - Doublestiles, Newquay
Friday 18th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 19th - Fowey Gallants Sailing Club
Thursday 24th - King Mark, Newquay
Friday 25th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
July
Friday 2nd - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 3rd - Nanpean
Wednesday 7th - King Mark, Newquay
Thursday 8th - St Austell
Friday 9th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Monday 12th - Doublestiles, Newquay
Wednesday 14th - King Mark, Newquay
Thursday 15th - St Agnes (Driftwood Spars)
Friday 16th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 17th - Hayle Towans Holiday Park
Wednesday 21st - King Mark, Newquay
Thursday 22nd - St Agnes (Driftwood Spars)
Friday 23rd - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 24th - Hayle Towans Holiday Park
Monday 26th - Doublestiles, Newquay
Wednesday 28th - King Mark, Newquay
Thursday 29th - St Agnes (Driftwood Spars)
Friday 30th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 31st - St Just Town Hall (a recording exists from this gig)
August
Wednesday 4th - King Mark, Newquay
Thursday 5th - St Agnes (Driftwood Spars) (Roger Taylor of Queen played several songs on this night)
Friday 6th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 7th - Hayle Towans Holiday Park
Monday 9th - Doublestiles, Newquay
Wednesday 11th - King Mark, Newquay
Thursday 12th - St Agnes (Driftwood Spars)
Friday 13th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 14th - Hayle Towans Holiday Park
Wednesday 18th - King Mark, Newquay
Thursday 19th - St Agnes (Driftwood Spars)
Friday 20th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 21st - Fowey Gallants Sailing Club
Monday 23rd - Doublestiles, Newquay
Wednesday 25th - King Mark, Newquay
Thursday 26th - St Agnes (Driftwood Spars)
Friday 27th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 28th - Hayle Towans Holiday Park
September
Wednesday 1st - King Mark, Newquay
Thursday 2nd - St Agnes (Driftwood Spars)
Friday 3rd - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 4th - Hayle Towans Holiday Park
Monday 6th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Thursday 9th - St Agnes (Driftwood Spars)
Friday 10th - Beachcroft Hotel, Newquay
Saturday 11th - Hayle Towans Holiday Park
Thursday 16th - St Agnes (Driftwood Spars)
Saturday 18th - RAF Chivenor
Thursday 23rd - St Agnes (Driftwood Spars)
Saturday 25th - Fowey Gallants Sailing Club
Dates that Hairy Magpie played during 1972. (There were other dates, but unable to find)
October
Saturday
7th - Winter Garden in Penzance
November
Thursday 16th - King Mark, Newquay
Dates that Hairy Magpie played during 1973.
January
Friday 5th - Drum Major, Bodmin
Saturday 6th Smugglers Den, Cubert
Friday 12th - Rosehill Country Club
Saturday 13th - Manderley Country Club
Sunday 14th - Drum Major, Bodmin
Friday 19th - Drum Major, Bodmin
Saturday 20th - Smugglers Den, Cubert
Thursday 25th - Geneva Club, Plymouth
Saturday 27th - Camborne School of Mines
Sunday 28th - Drum Major, Bodmin
February
Saturday 10th - Town Hall, Wadebridge
June
Saturday 16th - Kensey Vale, Launceston
July
Friday 13th - St. Ives Rugby Club
Hairy Magpie playing a Saturday night at the Rainbow Room Club in St. Blazey.
