Bevis Frond Story from Record Collector nr.116

The Bevis Frond, a Psychedelic Collector's Cult
(from Record Collector Nr. 116, Apr. 1989)

In the psychedelic market, obscurity counts for a lot. The highest prices for Sixties originals are paid for private pressings by bands who barely made it out of their own garage, or whose pinnacle of fame was a one-night support slot behind the Seeds or the Leaves.
These days, with the multi-national record companies issuing exactly the same material all over the world, the potential for cult success might appear to have been dissolved. Not so, however: beneath the mainstream of Eighties rock there are scores of flourishing underground scenes, each with its own specialist dealers and papers, plus hundreds or thousands of ultra-loyal followers.
Anyone interested in modern psych, garage/punk and guitar bands will have come across the name of Bevis Frond. Bevis - alias Nick Saloman, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, producer, label boss and occasional record dealer - can now pre-sell several thousand copies of any record he cares to make, while his earliest releases are changing hands for remarkable sums. Yet no-one from a major label has paid him the slightest moment of attention, which is a fairly damning comment on the way some companies operate.
His success has transformed a one-off piece of self-indulgence, the chance to make his own record his own way, into a full-time labour of love. Bevis's music, inspired by Jimi Hendrix and the best of the late Sixties, may not fit comfortably into the modern scene. But its success proves that there is a public demand for many styles of music which simply isn't being catered for by the majority of labels and shops.
REALITY
The history of Bevis Frond is really the story of anyone who picked up a guitar as a kid, and formed a band; except that Nick Saloman has seen his dreams turn into reality. He learnt to play at the age of seven, starting with Brian Hyland's "Ginny Come Lately" and soon graduating onto the excitement of the British beat and R&B booms. But the turning point was seeing Jimi Hendrix on 'Ready Steady Go'; it opened up a parade of musical possibilities far beyond the capability of Hank Marvin, George Harrison and Keith Richard.
Saloman formed his first band - the Bevis Frond Museum, named by schoolfriend and future film director Julien Temple - in 1967, under the influence of local psychedelic band the Geranium Pond. But before then the Bevis Frond sound had already been immortalised on tape; though Nick assures us that no-one will ever hear the likes of "The Winter Wind", written at the age of 10, or the duet with his mum on "Green Green"! One track from a 1967 tape has survived, however, and made it onto the catch-all double set "Bevis Through The Looking Glass". "Alistair Jones" is a dead ringer for early Syd Barrett, and as such is both perfectly charming and (according to Nick) much better than almost anything else on the tape. Again, don't wait up expecting to hear the rest!
"I was always writing songs," Nick says, "and then I found out you could hire out studios. I went to a l6-track in Pinner: I had a three-minute song, and wanted to play acoustic and lead guitars, bass, piano and add vocals. So I figured that would take 15 minutes in all, plus 15 minutes to rewind the tape; and I reckoned I'd get two songs done in an hour! And I did, with a little extra to do the mixing. It cost Ł3 to run off an acetate, so I had two cut, one for me and one for my mum." The songs were "Steaming" and "For Better", which Nick describes as "pretty cringey in retrospect"; and, you've guessed, you won't ever hear them.
The following year, Nick played piano and bass on "Sun Of Wine", an acetate by a local band called Dune. He also formed an acoustic duo with the proud name of Nick and Dick, who recorded but only on tape. Then, at college in the mid-Seventies, he played bass on an album by a folk duo called Oddsocks, who were made up to a four-piece for the sessions. "We did some gigs to promote the record", Nick recalls. "Then we went our separate ways. There were only 500 or 1,000 copies pressed up. Anyone who thinks they're going to get a Bevis Frond album out of it will be sadly disappointed, as there were none of my songs or guitar; but it was a nice record."
Back in London, Nick formed a nameless three-piece playing somewhere between Steely Dan and Hendrix, before he was overtaken - like the rest of us -. by punk. Inspired by a particularly lame gig by the Lurkers at the Hope and Anchor, he and a bunch of non-playing friends formed a band, who became the Von Trap Family. Nick: "We started doing gigs like the Rock Garden and the Fulham Greyhound, and we made an EP, which was played on the Peel show. But when two of the band seemed to be losing interest, we split up only for the three remaining members to form Room 13. We'd already cut an album's worth of stuff with the Von Traps, which may come out one day; then we started making demos as Room 13."
From those Room 13 sessions came a 12" single - recorded before Nick Saloman's bike crash, but only issued afterwards. This and the Von Trap Family EP were the first two releases on the Woronzow label - named, of course, after a street in Walthamstow. There were about 500 copies of the Von Trap EP, mostly sold at gigs; and the same number of Room 13 12" singles, most of which are in Nick Saloman's attic, where they are destined to remain: "I wasn't happy with that single; I didn't think it came out too well. So I'm not keen to sell copies now." Certainly the Room 13 track "Need Some Dub" is very much of its time, while the psych-influenced punk guitar of the Von Trap record will please fans of the later Bevis Frond releases.
In 1982, Nick Saloman's motorbike fell into an unmarked Camden Council hole in the road, and catapulted him off. He suffered severe injuries, and didn't get any compensation for about three years. Most of the money went into settling bills, but he earmarked the remainder for a present to himself: a porta-studio. He also picked up some keyboards for Ł90, and a drum kit for Ł30, and then set about recording his backlog of songs. The aim was to make a record that would be exactly the kind of music he wanted to hear himself; with no other musicians involved, there would be no need for compromise.
"I wasn't even planning to sell copies of the album, " Nick recalls. "I pressed up 250 copies, gave some to friends, and put the rest in the attic. Then the Margate shop Funhouse Records, who specialise in psychedelia, got a copy, and rang me up to say they wanted to buy as many as I had. So I pressed up another 250, and it just kept selling." That record was "Miasma", for which Nick revived Woronzow Records - and the Bevis Frond. He never expected to be in a position to make another record, so "Miasma" was a hotchpotch of styles and ideas, a mix of structured songs and guitar freak-outs. "I like a good song," Nick says, "but I also like showing off on guitar, with long boring solos!" And with good reason, as he is a remarkably powerful guitarist, able to build up a stunning barrage of sound without descending into overkill. As a vocalist, he is very much in the English psych tradition, which lends considerable charm to songs like "She's In Love With Time" and the epic "Splendid Isolation". Elsewhere, the album included noises, drunken reverie and lots and lots of guitar.
Original copies of "Miasma" came with a laminated sleeve, with about 25 exceptions. The rest, Nick says, are bootlegs proof of the incredible interest the album has aroused. Reckless have now picked up the rights to the LP, but only for the U.S.A., though it is available here on CD, with extra tracks, as we'll see later.
LACKING
"Miasma" had moments where the sound quality was lacking; Nick was still learning how to get the best out of his equipment. But for the second Bevis Frond album, "Inner Marshland", there was a marked step-up in quality. The album took similar ingredients to the first, adding the bonus of the great Harry Corbett inviting us to Sooty's secret lair; there was a great Barrett-like song, "Hey Mr Undecided", and plenty of freaky guitar, some built around songs, some just there for fun. This time the print run was increased, and around 2,000 copies were sent out. Like "Miasma", it's now deleted, and values are rising fast. Realising that Woronzow was now becoming something more than a dream, Nick took the opportunity to record deserving friends. He recalls: "Bari Watts is my favourite guitarist apart from Ollie Halsall of Patto and Jimi Hendrix. I always thought to myself that he'd be the first person I'd record if I had the chance." Bari's album was credited to the Outskirts of Infinity, a three-piece which revived the nameless pre-Von Trap Family band of 1976, with Nick on bass and Rick Gunther on drums. 3,000 copies were pressed up, and like its predecessors, the album is now deleted.
The third Bevis Frond set was a retrospective double album, "Bevis Through The Looking Glass". Nick: "I had lots of songs left over from the first two albums, that didn't fit in with what I was planning to do next. I put it together for the true Bevis Frond fans; I pressed 500 copies, and that was it. I was still expecting the whole thing to come to an end at any minute! Even after the second LP, I thought the world was going to say, alight, you've had your bloody ten minutes, now go away! I didn't intend to create a collector's item, but that was the way it turned out."
Original copies came in a blank white cover, with a yellow piece of paper stuck to the front, and a handwritten message from Bevis underneath. They also included a witty, wicked parody of the kind of lists sent out by specialist psych dealers, full of 'mind-splitting' guitar and 'brain-churning' visions. No sooner had the originals sold out, though, than the Italians got to work, and there are now two separate bootleg versions of the set. Nick had promised not to repress the album on Woronzow, but when he saw the bootlegs he agreed with Charles Taylor of Reckless that they should reissue it - though with no bonus material. Nick comments: "As a collector myself, I felt mean expecting people who wanted to hear the music to pay a stupid price, which is why I did the Reckless deal. It wasn't a monetary thing; I would have made more money reissuing it myself. But I'd promised faithfully that I wasn't going to, and if I say I'm not gonna do something, I won't do it!"
"Looking Glass" duly appeared on Reckless at the end of last year; we reviewed it in issue 114. And Reckless are now using tracks from this set to fill up the CDs of "Miasma", "Inner Marshland" and "Triptych", ensuring that purchasers get full value for money. The first Woronzow release of 1988 was the label's most heavily criticised release to date. "Acid Jam" was precisely that - three long, guitar-soaked tracks that will delight some and infuriate others. One side featured a long track by the Outskirts of Infinity; the other was divided between Bevis Frond ("Long Journey Into Light", now included on the "Triptych" CD) and 'The Parthenogenetic Brotherhood of Woronzow', co-starring Bevis and Mick Wills on guitar.
Mick Wills was featured on Woronzow's next release, "Fern Hill" - a beautiful, atmospheric set of acoustic guitar pieces, almost all instrumentals. Some tracks were recorded solo on location, in a field or by the beach; others featured a band. Best of all was the closing track, "She Looked Down", which begins with Wills' breathtaking acoustic guitar, and builds into an epic, with some excellent Denny-style folk vocals by Jenny Brown, who also sings on two other tracks on the album. It's a stunning piece of work, the perfect climax to a lovely album.
SPOTLIGHT
The last Woronzow album to date is the third 'proper' Bevis Frond LP, "Triptych". Widely reviewed (well, in the fanzines, at least) as his best album to date, it turns the spotlight back onto his songwriting ability, though without any lessening in the impact of Nick's guitarwork. As a demonstration of the increasing cult following Bevis Frond is attracting, Nick has pressed 5,000 copies of this album - which is now, like the first two, out on CD through Reckless.
That brings us up to date with Woronzow releases, though two more double sets are also planned. The first is a label sampler, which will sell for the price of a 12" single - a cheap way to advertise the label, plus a bargain both for Bevis fans and for newcomers to the Frond experience. It will include Mick Wills' "She Looked Down", plus other tracks by present and future Woronzow artists - including a wonderful recreation of the Byrds' sound by Psycho's Mum, who are set for an album of their own in the near future. There will also be a track from an as-yet unissued LP by Clive Palmer, recorded in 1969 before he joined the Famous Jug Band; an unreleased Brainiac 5 cut; and a new Bevis Frond track, taken from the planned follow-up to "Bevis Through The Looking Glass", which will be called "The Auntie Winnie Album".
Bevis Frond completists should also track down the freebies he has recorded for the magazines 'Bucketful Of Brains' (the suitably mind-blowing "High In A Flat") and 'Freakbeat' ("African Violets"); while a rowdy cover of the Roulettes' "Bad Time" is due for release as a flexi with the New York mag 'The Bob' in the near future. Meanwhile, the price of original Bevis Frond stock is rising fast - with "Looking Glass" now changing hands for Ł75 in its original form. The spirit of psychedelia is alive and well, and living in Walthamstow!
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