Peter Thorp, songwriter
(02): Simon De Lacy

 

In these articles, we focus on the song-writing of Peter Thorp  and particularly the two songs that were released as a single by one  Simon De Lacy on the  Spark label in 1968: ‘Baby Come Back To Me’ c/w ‘Goodbye Love’.

Simon is a group

In part 1, we mentioned that Peter Thorp placed two songs with Southern Music that were released on Spark by ‘Simon De Lacy’ ‘[Baby Come Back To Me’ c/w ‘Goodbye Love’, cat. no. SRL 1001, Feb. 1968].
But who is Simon De Lacy? The name and the photo used for the sheet music and the picture sleeves suggest a solo artist, but in fact Simon De Lacy was a group. A group no-one had ever heard of and would never be heard of again. So, who was in the group….? Several parts of the Simon De Lacy story are clear, but fifty years on a number of questions remain.

I have tried to reconstruct the story and spoke to Peter Thorp (song-writer, lead guitar), Chris Jennings (vocals), Chas De Lacy (guitar) and John Ford (bass).  

Thorp

Of course, songwriter Peter Thorp played guitar, as he had done in The Roulettes (1961-1967) and pre-Roulettes outfits The Fenders and The Strangers. Thorp also did numerous sessions at R.G. Jones studios in Morden, among other things (see part 1).

Two Gremlins

There is no doubt about the involvement of Chris Jennings and Chas De Lacy. Both singer Chris Jennings and guitarist Chas De Lacy were in a London-based R&B group called The Gremlins who recorded at R.G. Jones studios in 1966. Their version of ‘High Time Baby’ would later gain cult status.

The role of Chris Jennings is clear: he sang both songs, since Spark wanted to launch him as a solo artist. This explains why a photo of Jennings was used for the picture sleeves released on the Continent and the sheet music printed in the UK. The confusing bit is that Jennings was launched with the surname of his mate and The Gremlins bassist, Chas De Lacy - because ‘De Lacy’ sounded cool! The first name was chosen because ‘Simon’ was popular at the time. Hence ‘Simon De Lacy’. Spark seemed to be rather serious about this project, as they contracted a famous photographer. Chris Jennings: ‘The publicity pictures were done by Dezzo Hoffman and were just of me - no group’.
It is not sure if Chris Jennings played another role: ‘I think I may have played acoustic guitar, it may have been Pete or maybe both - not sure’.

Gremlins bass-player Chas De Lacy, who lent his ‘cool’ surname, told me he played guitar on both sides: ‘I played on the demo at Oak and also at the Southern Music sessions, but I wasn’t on bass! I was a second acoustic guitar to Pete (Thorp). Pete and I sat opposite one another playing guitars, really just rhythm on the A-side, but more prominent on the B-side, where you can hear the two guitars picking together’.

Hudson & Ford

As for drums and bass, both Jennings and De Lacy refer to ‘the bass-player and the drummer from Elmer Gantry’ Velvet Opera’ – without mentioning names. Now, at the end of 1967 (the recording took place over Christmas) this group was new on the scene and there is no doubt about their line-up: John Ford played bass and Richard Hudson drums. Ford and Hudson would work together for decades, notably in The Strawbs.
John Ford sent the following comment: “Hi Eddy, the name Simon De Lacy does sound familiar, but I can’t remember the actual session for this guy. We did a lot of stuff for Southern Music in Denmark St., London. Hudson and I were in Elmer Gantry’s band at the time, so it’s probable that we were on the recording”.  

So far, I wasn’t able to get in touch with drummer Richard Hudson.

Mellotron

Chris Jennings points out the use of a less obvious instrument: the Mellotron. This was the end of 1967 (the Summer Of Love year!) and pop music had turned psychedelic. A Mellotron probably sounded like a good idea to give Peter Thorp’s songs a more a psych spark - so to speak. According to Chris, it was played by one Barry Kingston.
A web page devoted to the Mellotron, has this to say: ‘The usual unknown session player adds MkII Mellotron to the 'A', overloading to the point of distortion around the 2:39 mark, making this possibly worth hearing for that reason, if not the actual composition’. (https://www.planetmellotron.com/revs10.htm#delacy)

It would seem that Barry Kingston played on other Spark sessions as well. Reviewing the Spark compilation CD ‘Hello Everyone. Popsike Sparks from Denmark Street 1968-70’, Jason Barnard notes: ‘(…) Typical of this is the ridiculously rare Sir Ching I’s ‘Hello Everyone’ that kicks off the CD with its insistent beat and mellotron backing played by Barry Kingston, the single’s producer and co-writer’.  (https://thestrangebrew.co.uk/hello-everyone-popsike-sparks-from-denmark-street/)

So far for the easy bits. Now come the difficult parts…

Drummer 2

Remarkably, another drummer is mentioned and he’s not just anyone: Tony Newman of Sounds Incorporated and Pinkerton’s Assorted Colour’s fame, who would later joinMay Blitz and Jeff Beck and become one of the most in-demand session men in the rock business. The Simon De Lacy record is mentioned in Tony Newman’s vast discography (https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/tony_newman/credits/), although he himself doesn’t mention the sessions it in the interviews I found. To Newman, it may have been a passing thing.
The confusion may be due to the fact that two sessions were held: one at Oak (a demo) and the final one for Southern Music in Denmark Street.
Chas De Lacy: ‘I seem to remember that the drummer we had on the demo wasn't used on the Spark record and Tony Newman and the bass player were. I think they only ended up on the B-side, and we had another session to do the A-side again, but this time with the drummer and bass player from Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera’.
Chris Jennings: ‘Pete (Thorp) and Chas (De Lacy)  played acoustic guitars on the B-side with a bass-player that Pete knew -  can't remember his name - and I think Tony Newman on drums. He also laid down a drum track for ‘Baby Come Back to Me’ which wasn't used’. Peter Thorp can’t remember that bass-player’s name either: ‘I seem to remember a guy nicknamed ‘mouse’ on bass, ‘cause he also played on other demos I did at Southern’.

That name

Peter Thorp told me that he chose the name ‘Simon De Lacy’ and Chas De Lacy confirms this claim: ‘I was never sure about the name Simon de Lacy, I think someone said it was a management/studio idea, but it's quite logical that Pete came up with the idea’. Chris Jennings seems to remember he was involved too: ‘Pete and I chose the name using Chas's surname 'cause it sounded a bit cool and ‘Simon’ which was a popular name at the time’.  

Paprika Pepper

Whenever this recording is mentioned, a group called ‘Paprika Pepper’ turns up.
Says ‘45.cat’ member ‘burdockman’ : ‘Although their sole 45 ‘Baby Come Back To Me’ was released under the name of Simon De Lacy, the band in question were actually known as Paprika Pepper, who'd been formed out of the ashes of The Gremlins’ (https://www.45cat.com/record/srl1001).
Chas De Lacy: ‘It always felt to me that it was a follow-on from Paprika Pepper because it was the next thing that happened at the time.’
Chris Jennings: ‘(…) I seem to remember that Paprika Pepper was a name considered for a band that didn’t really happen involving Pete, Chas and myself!’.
Peter Thorp however, is unequivocally clear: ‘I decided on the name. In no way was it a follow-on band from Paprika Pepper’.

More ??

A few questions marks remain.

Simon De Lacy’s single clearly features backing vocals.  ‘Burdockman’ seems to be sure these are by ‘noted session singers Sue and Sunny’, but singer Chris Jennings refutes this: ‘I can't remember the names of the backing singers but I think they may have supported The Roulettes at some time and they certainly weren't Sue and Sonny! ‘.

The most intriguing part of the story is the involvement of the man whose name was used for this project, Chas De Lacy… Says songwriter Peter Thorp: ‘ I don’t remember Charles (i.e. Chas) being on the recording as I seem to remember a guy nicknamed “mouse” on bass ‘cause he also played on other demos I did at Southern. Charles may have played on the original demo at R. G. Jones though’. 
It’s safe to conclude there’s a misunderstanding here, since Chas claims he wasn’t on bass anyway. If John Ford wasn’t the only bass-player, we are still looking for a mystery man here!

IN SUMMARY

1
Simon De Lacy wasn’t a solo artist, but a group put together for the occasion.
2
Some say it was a follow-on band from Paprika Pepper, but according to Chris Jennings this band ‘didn’t really happen’. Paprika Pepper sounds more like a project.
3
Two sessions were held, one at Oak / R.G. Jones (for the demo) and one for Southern Music in Denmark Street. Some musicians do not necessarily appear on both sessions, nor on both songs.
4
The group certainly consisted of former Roulettes guitarist Peter Thorp (guitar), former Gremlins-singer Chris Jennings (vocals), former Gremlins bassist Chas De Lacy (on guitar, not bass) and Barry Kingston (Mellotron). It is also clear that the rhythm section consisted of John Ford (bass) and Richard Hudson (drums), as several sources refer to ‘the bass-player and the drummer from Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera’.
5
Drummer Tony Newman participated too, though it remains unclear whether he played on both songs / both sessions - and if the tracks he laid down were used for the final version.
6
The backing singers remain anonymous and ‘Paprika Pepper’ remains an enigma.
7
Bass-player ‘Mouse’ remains a mystery.

 

But then again, it’s all more than 50 years ago.

© Eddy Bonte www.eddybonte.be

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NOTE ON THE GREMLINS
Former Gremlins bassist Chas De Lacy runs The Gremlins facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thegremlinsbeatgroup/. He is still active in two bands, The Actualisers [https://www.facebook.com/theactualisers/]  and The Evening Shadows.
De Lacy and former Gremlins singer Chris Jennings still meet since they have had some reunions (incl. a 50th anniversary re-union concert!).

ORIGINAL 45 rpm RELEASE ‘Baby Come Back To Me’ c/w ‘Goodbye Love’.
Apart from the UK release on Spark on 28 Feb. 1968 (no picture sleeve), the single was also release in Belgium: Palette, 1968 (exact date unknown), picture sleeve. Germany: Spark, April 1968, picture sleeve. The Netherlands: Philips, 11 March 1968, picture sleeve [reference: 45cat.com]. Italy: Spark, picture sleeve, 23 February 1968 [reference: discogs.com] . All four picture sleeves are different, but the picture that houses the Philips single is the same as the one used for the sheet music printed by Brio Music in London.
RE-RELEASES
 A-side ‘Baby come Back To Me’: V.A. compilation cd ‘Hello Everyone: Popsike Sparks From Denmark Street 1968-70’, Grapefruit, cat. no. CRSEG028, 2014.
A-side ‘Baby come Back To Me’: V.A. compilation cd ‘The Electric Lemonade Acid Test’, vol. 3, Tenth Planet.
B-side ‘Goodbye My Love’, V.A. compilation cd ‘The Electric Lemonade Acid Test’, vol. 43, Tenth Planet.