Celebrating Birmingham's Popular Music History
Celebrating Birmingham's Popular Music History
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There Are Currently 39 Comments for this Post
Hi Jez, you are my last hope..! I NEED to hear summer ’73 from Little Acre once more before i die… I have tried everything can you point me in the right direction please>>
yours john s
Great number hot little band booked them several times went on the road with them a couple of times. John(mae)West on drums Big Jim Hickman on guitar mad haired lead singer Elmo on bass Laura Spencer and Glennis as female vocals.Would love to hear summer of 73 again. Single release Cable Car on Birds Nest lable made 208 power play I believe never quite the same after the two girls left. Played Golden Lion Fulham etc but fave gig was at BJs in Dudley
I don’t know if u remember me, but I got involved with the band and apart from investing in them during this period, got them the gig at the golden lion and if u remember we all went back to the Royal Garden hotel in Knightsbridge where we entertained Wynn Bickerton of Jet Records hoping he,d sign them. I have very fond memories of the band- Be it was for maybe a year, but I often think of them and loved hearing the girls Laura and Glennis they were/ probably still are great vocalists . I knock around with Bob Doyle- bass guitar ex Simply Red, Boom town Rats, Rockin berries, managed Roy Wood. We often talk about Little Acre he was also a fan. If u know what they are doing now I’d appreciate hearing from you. Regard Ian Hall
Ian Hall Yes do remember you and that gig at the Golden Lion. Time flies but a good thing is still a good thing they were good. First band to transfer from a Hall gig to a full Iniversity Gig and sell out with perhaps 12 weeks in between. Pity about the line up change but they were still good just lost s little of the rough sparkle without the two girls. Have a good one
Laura Spencer was a very good friend of mine in the mid 70s and I remember when she joined the band. I saw them support Trapeze at Wolvo Civic Hall. I had their single with Cable Car and Perfect Crime on which I no longer have.
I really do think it was a crime they never made it big as they were a super band. Micky Most had their demo tapes I recall.
Laura lived on the Stowlawn estate in Bilston and was a neighbour of Slade’s Don Powell. A lovely girl. Spent a lot of time with her socially and met a lot of music people into he bargain. WOuld love to know what happened to her. .
Hey there all,
My name is Jared, and I am the son of JB (John Bryant), who sang in the band.
My Dad found an old cassette tape containing many lost recordings of Little Acre, from a gig in Wednesbury, (circa sometime in the 70’s), which was engineered, recorded & mixed by Roy Williams.
And as I am also a producer, running Severn Valley Studios, I have begun the process of digitally encoding & mastering the original tape recordings, of which the first track
‘We Got The Rocks’ is the link below:
https://soundcloud.com/severnvalleystudios/we-got-the-rocks-live-by
I will obviously keep you all posted with the new recordings being uploaded. 😉 JB (jr)
Hiya my names debbie, and I’m Glen’s sister!. We lived a few doors away from your dad, nan & grandad. Is your nan ok? It’s been a while since I last saw her! Say hello to your dad ( he may remember me!!!). He did bring you to my moms, but you were only a baby!
How you doing? had a copy of the cassette you are probably working on.
Was a massive fan and followed them wherever i could get to!
So many noon and nights at the coach and horses in Hateley Heath, always fantastic.
Managed to buy all the singles from europe but would love to hear all the songs again.
Hi JB Jr,
Did you manage to get an MP3 of Little Acre’s Summer ’73?
I was a big fan in the 70’s, and though my memory is fading I think I saw them at the Lafayette several times, at the Civic Hall (supporting Thin Lizzy??), B’ham Bingley Hall on a New Year’s Eve(?),and I thought that I took my wife, who I met in 1981, to see them in Hately Heath early 80’s at a reunion gig on a Sunday lunchtime. I also have a 70’s memory of a fancy dress night at the Lafayette (another New Year’s eve?) and a certain very famous fan/vocalist sidling up next to me in the Gents wearing a ballerina outfit!.
If anyone who’s reading this has got an MP3 of Summer ’73 I’d be really grateful if it could be uploaded somewhere or emailed to me at drogers28@btinternet.com.
Thanks
David Rogers
Hi Jared! thanks for the post!Well done to you for that and also your dad for bringing me and my bro and sis so much pleasure all that way back..
What do I need to do to hear summer 73 again?? I will cheerfully pay for it, I am a bit of a Klutz with technology , so a hard copy would be great if at all possible….
How can I progress this??best wishes john s
Hi Jared,
I worked with your dad (JB) for a few years from 1968 onwards. I’d be really interested to know how he’s doing these days?
Got Summer of 73 on a 45 somewhere….post an email up and I’ll try and copy it to an MP3 – great band, used to see them at the Golden Lion after leaving Brum in 76
mp3 please you are a star
Hi sorry to be cheeky, but does anybody have an mp3 still that I can pinch? My dad’s looking for summer ’73! I can reciprocate if anybody is interested, as I have the perfect crime and Birmingham woman singles!
My email is palequezal@gmail.com if anybody wants to trade!
mp3 please you are a star
Hi oldmandave!
Im rubbish at computers etc etc… I would cheerfully pay good money for a hard recording .CD? of summer 73… such great memories… Is that possible?? best wishes john stallard
I have a recording (home made. just found it) of Little Acre at the Hope Wood Caravan club Birminghm. 75 / 76. !! Including the perfect crime. That’s the only place I can remember seeing them but we used to follow them around all the time. Possible town hall and civic center.
saw so many bands 75 onwards lost count . We also purchased the single. Loved the band. It was good listening to them again.
william.king@bgsolicitors.com
Somehow ended up at a recording studio in Kempsey near Worcester in about 1978 where they were recording ‘Emotion’, (i think it was owned by a friend of a friend) Loved the band and pleased to find out more about them
Yep, I still have a copy of their 45rpm single “Emotions” b/w “Takin’ Me Away” & “The Perfect Crime” on the Bird’s Nest label (BN 120) (dist. by Pye). The single was released on 30/7/79 and was indeed recorded in Kempsey at “The Old Smithy”. The studio is still going strong and extremely well respected. I seem to remember they did quite a few gigs in the Worcester and Malvern area.
Can anyone recall seeing Little Acre support Trapeze at Wolves Civic, the night that Glenn Hughes joined Trapeze on stage? Am trying to date when it happened.
I’d say 74 or 75. I was at that concert. Laura who sang in the band was a good friend of mine, I worked with her in her day job.
Loved Perfect crime and Cable Car. Pity they never made it big.
MEMORIES OF LITTLE ACRE AT THE LAFF IN WOLVES AND TIFFANYS HALESOWEN. BUMPED INTO ELMER O SHEA A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, GREAT BAND.
They have an entry on myspace with a few songs on, but not the late great Johnny Higgs and Jock Evans, I too would like to hear Summer 73 but with Johnny singing it and Jock and Elmer playing guitar. Quite a special tune but be careful a teen band might kill it if it falls into the wrong hands!
https://myspace.com/littleacreuk
Little Acre on My Space
I was just listening to a new album The Get Down by Celebrators and it has a funky edge that stirred some long lost memory of Little Acre. A quick search brought me here.
I recall seeing them at some night club in Redditch around 1977-78 I think. It was a great night. If any material does become available for download I’d be glad to hear about it.
hi Steve
The club in Redditch was Tracys Nightspot in Royal Square which subsequently disappeared under phase 2 of the Kingfisher Shopping Centre! Loved Little Acre back then and saw them on more than one occasion at Tracy’s. And Quill too. Great memories.
I used to drink in a pub called the Hare & Hounds here in Kidderminster where Elmer was a regular and many a night he’d entertain us with his guitar skills. A truly talented gent. At one time I was lent a copy of a Little Acre demo tape but sadly didn’t make a copy of it 🙁 … Last time I bumped into Elmer was at the Railway Bell, December 2000 at a hastily thrown together gig labelled The Millennium Movements (if I remember rightly). I think it started out planned as a Mike Sanchez gig but escalated into many local musicians jumping up on stage including a fellow by the name of Robert Plant. A truly memorable night. Another character who drank in the Hare & Hounds was Melvin Gittus, whose band Melvin’s Marauders released a single on the same label as Little Acre’s releases (apparently featuring Robert Plant on backing vocals). Impossible to get hold of though. Anyone wishing to read more about Little Acre (or even The Marauders) should pick up a copy of ‘Get Your Kicks On The A456 Vol 2’ by John Combe. ps If anyone has a spare copy of the Marauders 7″ please let me know, i’d love a copy, thanx
Sorry for the thread necro…
If anyone has an MP3 (or CD/Tape) with ‘Summer of 73’ – I’d massively appreciate a listen…
Rich
Sorry for the thread necro again…
Has anyone uncovered ‘Summer of 73’ yet? – Would love to get my hands on a copy (digital of physical)
Rich
Little Acrs Live at Barbarellas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7gx8Mjwf5s
Jim Hickman passed away a few days ago, very sad.
The late great Jim Hickman Keep keeping on
Hi. Is there a biography of Little Acre anywhere? When they formed, band members & personnel changes, list of all singles, when they broke up, & what they went on to do? It would be nice for someone to pull all the stories together.
Thanks
Did members of Little Acre go on to form a band called Debonaire? I saw Debonaire twice in 1979 and 1980, and they were great, but wondered who they were? They supported Caravan on a one gig. Any help appreciated.
Songs by Little Acre are on iTunes to download
Remember we booked them at Aston Uni on several occasions (including one gig at Handsworht Hall – one of the halls of residence). Brilliant band – and I’ve still gor the single of Perfect Crime/Cable Car.
Saw little acre at the golden lion Fulham ,they were always great to watch .they were the days.
I have got a cassette of Little Acre from Beacon Radio – Live from the Lafayette on 12th April 1977 to celebrate Beacon Radio’s first birthday party. Not listened to it for years and no idea what songs but hey ho. I would have recorded it by putting a tape recorder in front of the radio so quality probably not brilliant. Also have a large poster somewhere.
Great band – saw them several times at The Civic and, i think, at Dudley College.