Thursday 18 November 2010

Bert Biscoe and a piece of very important and very rare memorabilia

Bert is well known in Truro as a musician, writer and City councillor. Although he saw quite a lot of them he is at least two years younger than Roger Taylor, Mike Dudley, Dick Halliwell and the other boys associated with The Reaction, and so has a different perspective on that time.

He remembers Roger and Dick at Truro School. During dinner Roger was head of the table he sat at, and Dick deputy head, and they had to supervise the younger kids as they ate their food. Bert also recalls sneaking into PJs after school where he listened to Smile rehearse on more than one occasion.

He also saw Queen play at Tregye and has an original ticket, which - and he probably does nt realise this yet - is probably the earliest printed ticket for a Queen concert in existence anywhere in the world. (I'll e-mail him in a sec to point this out!!!!). Here it is.


The gig he remembers most, though, is the Fantastics playing at the Rock and Rhythm Championship in 1968. This band was actually Roger Taylor's Cornish band The Reaction under another name, and  - for one night only- they had a French go-go dancer called Joelle...(who may have also danced with one of the other groups).



It should be said that Bert has a great knowledge of Truro, and of the Cornish folk scene as it was in the 60s...For example he remembers seeing Eric Clapton play with Maddy Prior at the Folk Cottage in Mitchell. But that's a story for another day...Thanks Bert.

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