The MisfitsI had always liked the Misfits they had a clean sound a bit like the Hollies although in their earlier days when they had Ian Fellows as a singer, they were a bit heavier more like a refined Rolling Stones.
I have always believed that brothers perform well together especially vocally and the Misfits had two sets of brothers, Ian and Graham Fellows and Brian,David Hughes and Phillip Hoyle (Ben) the drummer. Also they were managed by the father Mr Hughes. During 1969 Ian Fellows had left the group, leaving them without a soloist singer, however, the three guitarist harmonised very well together, hence my comment about the Hollies. Due to a family dispute, Brian the bass player ( maybe due to wanting to spend more time with his girl friend) decided to leave the band. David and Graham contacted me with a view to joining them. Things had changed for me, I had got married and I had sold my gear with a view that my gig days were over. Gosh, I did want to play but mainly because of my respect for the band and the clean sound they had developed. Mr Hughes told me that there was no need to buy any gear as all the equipment belonged to the band so I inherited a Vox amplifier and a Fender Bass guitar. They would practise in some disused offices in the centre of Halifax where I was working at the time which was great. They had little time to practise as they had a full diary of bookings at that time. I knew a lot of the Misfits numbers but also I had a lot of new ones to learn the bass parts for. This is nerve racking as they did not want to lose any bookings so I had to slot straight in which I did. Whilst learning new numbers they also wanted me to sing more than Brian had and harmonise as they did a lot of 3 part harmonies. Most bass players dont like harmonies as it conflicts with a bass line, much easier for a 6 string guitarist to sing and play at the same time. Although I admit McCartney and Sting did OK. Within a few weeks I felt I was catching up with the learning process and looking forward to contributing more of myself within the band. I recall one cold winter night after a long run of Christmas and New Year gigs, we were driving back to Halifax in the van driven by Mr Hughes. I lived 5 miles away from the lads so they had to run me home first. On this night we stopped outside my house and Mr Hughes said " Jim we have a problem, Brian wants to come back to the band" I had no defence, he blended with them better than I, it was his equipment and maybe the boys wanted him back too. My first let down in the music game but somehow I did not mind as long as in my heart I was not being asked to leave because I was not good enough. It was I who was the Misfit. I would have enjoyed the challenge. So it was back to retirement. |