Graded Grains
Recordings
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PLAYABLE AUDIO & VIDEO TRACKS
There are many recordings existing but most were live on portable cassettes
The first two studio recordings were made by the Spartans in 1965 at Oak Records, Morden, Surrey. These records were pressed on vinyl - a copy is still available
The first two Graded Grains tracks were made at Swan Street Studio, Torquay - engineered by Tony Waldron. These two tracks were on a well worn acetate but not available
Seven tracks were recorded in Paris 1969. This is the only well scratched acetate LP ever made - pictured below left & centre. These have been re-mastered - thanks to Nigel (Lees). Four of these tracks have been released on "Alphabeat" - see "Releases". These original recordings were financed by Jean Besnard who was the band's manager in Paris. He was an actor & had an Entertainment Agency - a very typical, fiery Frenchman but a great character. Terry used a Hammond in the studio. He had a Thomas at that time. At one session Jean was getting annoyed with the band's performance so to spice it up he put a female stripper in the studio - that did not quite do the job but four bottles of champagne later it worked. Jean was only interested in the band's own compositions but when he was out of the studio two more tracks were cut on a 45 acetate - Exodus & Better By You, Better Than Me (by Spooky Tooth). Four copies were made and one in very good condition turned up recently
Nine tracks were recorded at the Upton Pyne Studio, Near Exeter. These are still intact on reel to reel tapes - engineered by John Greenslade - 1975/76 - above right
Also nine tracks recorded at the BBC, Plymouth but are only available on cassette. These tracks were used for broadcast on "Morning Sou'West" - Radio 4 - 1976/77
The three other tracks listed were live recording and the details are below
The thirty two tracks have been saved to CD but for personal amusement only & not for release
Column 1/In Date then Alphabetical Order
Column 2/Composers - As Listed
Column 3/Performers - John Gregory (Guitar), Roger Collett (Lead Vocals), Chris Forte (Bass), Humphrey Loram (Organ), Tommy Searle (Drums), Ian “Bud” Street (Bass), Cliff Andrews (Drums), Terry Pascoe (Organ), Steve Orgee (Drums) & Gary Gray (Drums)
Column 4/Recorded - As Listed
01 - Lies/By Others/John (Vocals), Roger (Lead Vocals), Chris, Humphrey & Tommy/Oak Records - 1965
02 - Tell Me/By Others/John (Vocals), Roger (Lead Vocals), Chris, Humphrey & Tommy/Oak Records - 1965
03 - Animal Magic/John Gregory & Ian Street/John (Lead Vocals), Bud (Vocals) & Cliff/Swan Street - 1968
04 - Lucifer Sam/By Others/John, Bud (Lead Vocals) & Cliff/Swan Street - 1968
05 - Animal Magic/John Gregory & Ian Street/John (Lead Vocals), Bud (Vocals), Terry (Vocals) & Tommy/Paris - 1969
06 - Gabriel Says Yes/John Gregory & Ian Street/John (Lead Vocals), Bud (Lead Vocals), Terry (Vocals) & Tommy/Paris - 1969
07 - Harry The Hermit/John Gregory & Ian Street/John (Lead Vocals), Bud (Lead Vocals), Terry (Vocals) & Tommy/Paris - 1969
08 - Look At Yourself/John Gregory & Ian Street/John (Lead Vocals), Bud (Vocals), Terry (Vocals) & Tommy/Paris - 1969
09 - On The Dole/John Gregory & Ian Street/John (Lead Vocals), Bud (Lead Vocals), Terry (Vocals) & Tommy/Paris - 1969
10 - Better By You, Better Than Me/By Others/John, Bud, Terry (Lead Vocals) & Tommy/Paris - 1969
11 - Exodus/By Others/Instrumental - John, Bud, Terry & Tommy/Paris - 1969
12 - Champion Dung Spreader/By Others/John (Banjo), Bud & Steve (All Share Vocals)/Upton Pyne - 11/75
13 - Christmas Medley/By Others/John (Lead Vocals), Bud (Vocals) & Steve (Vocals)/Upton Pyne - 11/75
14 - Tell Me/By Others/John (Lead Vocals), Bud (Vocals) & Steve (Vocals)/Upton Pyne - 11/75
15 - Don't Tell I Tell Ee/By Others/John (Banjo/Lead Vocals), Bud (Vocals) & Steve (Vocals)/BBC - 06/01/76
16 - I Will/By Others/John (Vocals), Bud (Lead Vocals) & Steve (Vocals)/BBC - 06/01/76
17 - Oh Boy/By Others/John (Vocals), Bud (Vocals) & Steve (Lead Vocals)/BBC - 06/01/76
18 - Rain/By Others/John (Lead Vocals), Bud (Vocals) & Steve (Vocals)/BBC - 06/01/76
19 - The Marrow Song/By Others/John (Banjo), Bud & Steve (All Share Vocals)/BBC - 06/01/76
20 - Don't Look Back/John Gregory & Ian Street/John (Added Guitar/Lead Vocals), Bud (Vocals) & Steve (Vocals)/Upton Pyne - 04/76
21 - Don't Tell I Tell Ee/By Others/John (Banjo/Lead Vocals), Bud (Vocals) & Steve (Vocals)/Upton Pyne - 04/76
22 - Mr Goodtime Man/John Gregory & Ian Street/John (Acoustic Guitar/Vocals), Bud (Lead Vocals) & Steve (Vocals)/Upton Pyne - 04/76
23 - The Day The Cider Cart Got Stuck/Steve Orgee - Tweaks by John & Bud/John (Banjo), Bud & Steve (All Share Vocals)/Upton Pyne - 04/76
24 - Twice Daily/By Others/John (Banjo), Bud & Steve (All Share Vocals)/Upton Pyne - 04/76
25 - Valerie/Steve Orgee - Tweaks by John & Bud/John (Acoustic Guitar/Vocals), Bud (Vocals) & Steve (Lead Vocals)/Upton Pyne - 04/76
26 - The Marrow Song/By Others/John (Banjo), Bud & Steve (All Share Vocals)/Live on BBC Radio 4 - 21/05/76 at the “Devon County Show” - via Radio on Cassette
Photos of the “Morning Sou'West” Team
Above Right - Left to Right - Steve, Bud, John, David Rogers, Dick Woodarce, Francis Prougfoot-Wallis, Jenny Milscough & Guy Slatter
27 - The Day The Cider Cart Got Stuck/As Track21/As Track21/Recorded at BBC TV, Plymouth - 16/09/76 & Transmitted on “Spotlight” - 21/09/76 - via TV on Cassette
28 - Chains/By Others/John (Lead Vocals), Bud (Vocals) & Gary (Vocals)/BBC - 22/03/77
29 - Diamonds/By Others/Instrumental - John, Bud (Lead Bass) & Gary/BBC - 22/03/77
30 - Lying Eyes/By Others/John (Vocals), Bud (Acoustic Guitar Added/Lead Vocals) & Gary (Vocals)/BBC - 22/03/77
31 - Skiffle Medley/By Others/John, Bud & Gary (All Share Vocals)/BBC - 22/03/77
32 - Sowing Me Oats/By Others/John, Bud & Gary (All Share Vocals)/Live gig at “Moorland Links Hotel”, Yelverton - 15/06/85 - via Mixing Desk on Cassette
There were two videos made - below was recorded at the Fiesta Suite, Plymouth circa 1980. This has been made onto a DVD but for personal amusement only & not for release. The other video made was at The Royal Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet on 30/06/84 but this has been lost - thank goodness as it was full of mistake as there was a three week gap between gigs, due to holidays, with no rehearsals
Below there are three snippets of the Fiesta Suite
These links might open automatically but safer to right click on one >> save to the hard drive >> open it in "Windows Media Player"
The original recording was pretty poor but these clips look worse as they have been processed at a very low definition to save web space
These three videos work well on our PC, iPhone & iPad but not on our MacBook - this will be investigated later
Peter Rice recently e-mailed me with this link below - very old footage of the Spartans filmed by Brian Roberts (Brian Day)