Zoot Money and his bands


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I wonder if any remembers any of Zoot Money's bands playing at the Boat? The ones I'm interested in hearing about for a biography are the short-lived 1967/8 psychedelic band , Dantalian's Chariot who dressed all in while and had a super light show, and then in the early 70s ELLIS, where Steve Ellis was the singer. 

His Big Roll Band played there and at the Brit quite a few times in the early 60s. 

He also played there in January 1980 but under his own name, probably playing R&B again.

Any memories gratefully received! 

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  • Cliff Ton changed the title to Zoom Money and his bands

Bruce, I saw Zoot and his Big Roll Band at the Dungeon but not at the Boat Club.  
Two years ago we went to see him at The Jazz Cafe in Sandbanks, Dorset.  He was there again this July, it’s a local venue for him as he’s from Bournemouth, but disappointingly we weren’t down there at the time this year.  The evening two years ago was brilliant, a wonderful relaxed event during which we had a 3 course meal, a far cry from being crammed into the Dungeon in the mid 60s.  I had quite a long chat with Zoot during the evening and he clearly remembers playing at the Dungeon and the Boat Club.  A lovely man and still a great performer who will be 80 next year.  Long may he continue, we’ll be seeing him again next July hopefully. 

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  • Cliff Ton changed the title to Zoot Money and his bands

To me, Zoot Money is a strange case.

 

I remember being aware of the name Zoot Money and his Big Roll Band back in the mid 60s, and his various other activities since then.

 

But I can't name anything he's ever recorded, and I wouldn't recognise him in a photo from any stage in his career.

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You need to do a bit of Googling then CT, I’ve got a photo of me with him 2 years ago but I haven’t been able to post photos on Nottstalgia for a long time, not sure if PostImage has changed or that I’ve forgotten how to do it.  His best known recording was ‘Big Time Operator’ I think.  

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So many of those guys are still around and still entertaining people.  I think they can be more relaxed as they have nothing to prove.

 

Somewhere back up thread there's a big list of bands which played the 'Boat'.  I saw a lot of them.  Also some of them such as the Clockwork Toys, Carl's Fables and Sons and Lovers and Pete and Billy Cambell and the Mighty Sparrows were local.  We had them at the 360 Club too.  And then there were the likes of 'Tiny Davis Souls A Go Go', who IIRC were from Sheffield, or was that Mickey's Monkeys?.. and the Mike Stuart Span.  I think we also had all of those at the 360.  And of course Root and Jenny Jackson..who nobody believed we had secured for the 360..with the result that few turned up and we lost a small fortune on them. :wacko:

Also listed up there is Victor Brox, who I think hails from Manchester, but often played the Boat with various bands.  I had the pleasure of seeing his daughter Kyla play at 'The Old Courts' in Wigan a couple of years back. Old Victor sat quietly in the audience ..polishing off a bottle of red wine, and joined Kyla on stage for a couple of songs. 

R-12969037-1545552018-3849.jpeg.jpg

 

I spoke to him afterwards and mentioned those wonderful times at the Boat Club in the 60s and could clearly see him thinking back with pleasure.  He shook my hand and smiled.  'I remember that place..some great gigs there..'

 

Who of us would have seriously thought 50 plus years ago... that we would have still been reminiscing about all that?

 

 

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3 minutes ago, DJ360 said:

Carl's Fables

A great local band, Played regularly at the Forest Folk Hotel in Bliduth. The pub is long gone, now a Tesco such a shame as it was a beautiful building, a pity it could not be retained some how similar to the Robin Hood at Renuth.

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10 hours ago, DJ360 said:

So many of those guys are still around and still entertaining people.  I think they can be more relaxed as they have nothing to prove.

 

Somewhere back up thread there's a big list of bands which played the 'Boat'.  I saw a lot of them.  Also some of them such as the Clockwork Toys, Carl's Fables and Sons and Lovers and Pete and Billy Cambell and the Mighty Sparrows were local.  We had them at the 360 Club too.  And then there were the likes of 'Tiny Davis Souls A Go Go', who IIRC were from Sheffield, or was that Mickey's Monkeys?.. and the Mike Stuart Span.  I think we also had all of those at the 360.  And of course Root and Jenny Jackson..who nobody believed we had secured for the 360..with the result that few turned up and we lost a small fortune on them. :wacko:

Also listed up there is Victor Brox, who I think hails from Manchester, but often played the Boat with various bands.  I had the pleasure of seeing his daughter Kyla play at 'The Old Courts' in Wigan a couple of years back. Old Victor sat quietly in the audience ..polishing off a bottle of red wine, and joined Kyla on stage for a couple of songs. 

R-12969037-1545552018-3849.jpeg.jpg

 

I spoke to him afterwards and mentioned those wonderful times at the Boat Club in the 60s and could clearly see him thinking back with pleasure.  He shook my hand and smiled.  'I remember that place..some great gigs there..'

 

Who of us would have seriously thought 50 plus years ago... that we would have still been reminiscing about all that?

 

 

We, "The Litter" asked Tiny to join the band after "Souls A Go Go" had broken up and we played twice at the 360 as was mentioned in one of your earlier posts.

Regards,Will

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Loads of Zoot stuff spread all over this site which can be found if you use the fantastic search facility, if Bruce ever comes back here’s a few quoted :biggrin: snippets.

 

On 5/12/2008 at 9:15 AM, Beefsteak said:

Another great selection

By the way Zoot Money (of the big roll band fame) went on to become an actor , usualy playing a villian in programmes like "The Bill"

 

On 5/12/2008 at 10:12 AM, sussexred said:

I saw Zoot Money earlier this year with the British Blues Quintet. It was an excellent gig - recommended if you get a chance to see them. The full ine up is:

Maggie Bell (Stone The Crows), Colin Hodgkinson (Back Door & Spencer Davis Group), Miller Anderson (Keef Hartley Band & Spencer Davis Group) Zoot Money (Big Roll Band) and Colin Allen (Stone The Crows).

 

On 5/12/2008 at 7:57 PM, Pete C said:

Saw Zoot Money on a tv program about a year ago..singing with Georgie Fame...Zoot also played at the Dungeon in 1966..Andy Somers who later joined The Police was a member of the Big Roll Band..when I say he joined the police I mean the group..not he became a copper!!!

pete c....still riding a vespa

 

On 5/13/2008 at 3:50 PM, hippo girl said:

i saw zoot money at the dungeon in 1966...also at the beachcomber and the twisted wheel in Manchester..great times

 

On 4/21/2009 at 6:10 PM, zab said:

This might make a few people happy, among the bands appearing in the Square on the 23-25 May are the excellent Manfreds with special guests Alan Price and Zoot Money.

All together now,

5-4-3-2-1

 

On 8/27/2013 at 5:43 PM, DAVIDW said:
Not exactly a Notts concert but lots went from Nottingham to the Spalding Tulip auction halls Bank Holiday May 1967 , where Hendrix ,Cream,The Move,Pink Floyd,Geno Washington and Zoot Money were on the bill and the admission was just £1 !!! Check out the posters .
 

http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/spaulding-festival.html

http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/Barbeque-67-poster-big.jpg
I have an awful admission about this , as when we got inside the place , Pink Floyd who were low down the bill, were playing .

It was the most awful racket you could imagine (to our ears ). Much worse than that , we couldn't see any girls to chat to and actually left before Cream , Geno or Hendrix came on . I guess with only paying £1 we were pretty blase about the whole thing ! Wish I could go back in time for that one !

 

On 10/22/2017 at 12:47 AM, DJ360 said:

Hey Lizzie!  We could well have been at the same All  Nighters around 67/8.

 

Rod Stewart and Jeff Beck.. Chris Farlowe... Zoot Money and many others.. not to mention all the great records.  Amazing times..

We used to stagger out into the blinding daylight and make our way to a newsagent near the old Bus Station in Huntingdon St.  Just about the only place open.  A pint of milk went down very well.

We'd usually then go to the top of the multi story car park in Trinity Square and play cricket with a stick and a pebble until the first bus arrived.

 

I have been known to walk home to Bestwood from town though, both  after all nighters or just late..  Not that far....  Even done it from the Boat Clubs.

On a similar subject.. I always loved the smell of the Beachcomber.  Mix of booze, stale perfume, stale bodies, tobacco etc..  Not exactly a 'nice' smell, but one which just meant music, excitement and good times.

 

Doubt I could cope with it now though...

 

Col

 

On 7/23/2019 at 8:55 PM, LizzieM said:

In 1965 as a Mod and still at school I saw Zoot Money and his Big Roll Band at the Dungeon.  Last Friday I saw him play again, for only the second time ever, at The Jazz Cafe in Sandbanks and it was a brilliant night of great music.  I had a chat with him (what a lovely man) and told him I’d seen him in Nottingham all those years ago and he said he remembers playing at the Dungeon, Boat Clubs and Beachcomber. Nottingham really was a ‘go to’ place for bands back then.  I was born at the right time and in the right place, Nottingham was a fantastic place to grow up.  

 

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That's a fairly major quoting sessionfor you RR have you had some sort of epiphany?

 

I've actually never heard of Zoot Money. The only zoot I know of is a zoot suit from way back when...

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14 hours ago, Will2017 said:

We, "The Litter" asked Tiny to join the band after "Souls A Go Go" had broken up and we played twice at the 360 as was mentioned in one of your earlier posts.

Regards,Will

 

Thanks for that Will.. my memory is not what it was...;)

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It was more out of frustration@BrewI do realise that being a nostalgia site we are dealing with an older clientele, we just await the obligatory like to your post & the cycle is complete :biggrin:

 

Zoot suits you say, they did make a comeback early 80s brought mine from G-Force down Hockley, it last outing was Charlie’s Barn in Beeston, almost ripped off me back. 

 

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Must admit I have never heard of Zoot Money at all. Does anyone remember Geno (think that is how you spell it) Washington. I can remember seeing him on quite a few occasions, can remember chanting Geno, Geno at his gigs. Think he had one hit called Michael. 
Sorry to highjack the subject and go off on a tangent. 

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11 hours ago, philmayfield said:

I don't recollect hearing of Zoot Money. I lost interest in popular culture many years ago.

He WAS many years ago but has carried on performing in small ‘intimate’ venues down south.  

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One of my most played vinyl LPs is Geno's "Hand Clappin Foot Stompin,  Funky-Butt Live" . Don't think it ever came out on CD but if you check the track listing the band play most if the soul hits of the time . It's very raw, upbeat and reminds you of the atmosphere in clubs in the 60s and 70s.

https://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=647156&from=GPUSUK&utm_source=GooglePLA-GPUSUK&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=GS-EIL&gclid=CjwKCAjwp_GJBhBmEiwALWBQk8NeIUN2LQJALUxgLNcohnlOPjtJUW0E9QuNDB1LifaKKDaP2BtRPBoCBWEQAvD_BwE

 

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7 hours ago, Stavertongirl said:

Must admit I have never heard of Zoot Money at all. Does anyone remember Geno (think that is how you spell it) Washington. I can remember seeing him on quite a few occasions, can remember chanting Geno, Geno at his gigs. Think he had one hit called Michael. 
Sorry to highjack the subject and go off on a tangent. 

 

As I recall Geno was a US Air Force chap stationed here, who started singing... with the Ram Jam Band.

I saw him a couple of times.. most notably at Nottm Palais.  To be brutally frank, Geno wasn't a great singer..but he made up for it in enthusiasm and personality. A real club land force in the 1960s.

His big hit album, Hand Clappin' Foot Stompin', Funky Butt..Live..was basically a 'fake', or 'contrived' 'live' album.. but it was also huge fun.  I have a copy...which gets a 'run out' on occasion.

The album charted at No 5 in the UK Album Charts in Dec '66.

The much less well remembered  'Hipsters, Flipsters and Finger Poppin' Mamas'...charted at 8 in Sept. 67.

He had top 50 single hits with Water, Hi Hi Hazel, Que Sera Sera, and Michael.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 hours ago, LizzieM said:

Yes I saw Geno a few times, I particularly remember a gig at what was Trent Poly, before all the Polytechnics were given a lift up to University status.  

 

Not sure I'd agree with 'Given a lift' Lizzie... but I know what you mean.

 

 

54 minutes ago, DAVIDW said:

One of my most played vinyl LPs is Geno's "Hand Clappin Foot Stompin,  Funky-Butt Live" . Don't think it ever came out on CD but if you check the track listing the band play most if the soul hits of the time . It's very raw, upbeat and reminds you of the atmosphere in clubs in the 60s and 70s.

https://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=647156&from=GPUSUK&utm_source=GooglePLA-GPUSUK&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=GS-EIL&gclid=CjwKCAjwp_GJBhBmEiwALWBQk8NeIUN2LQJALUxgLNcohnlOPjtJUW0E9QuNDB1LifaKKDaP2BtRPBoCBWEQAvD_BwE

 

 

Certainly does David.  Full on stuff!!

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On 9/10/2021 at 6:45 PM, Brew said:

The only zoot I know of is a zoot suit from way back when...

 

I'm no expert on 'Zoots', but I do recall the name 'Zoot Simms'.  He played jazz with Gerry Mulligan and others.  If i'm not mistaked, the very blue Sax player in the Muppets was also called Zoot.

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nOzSyjTx2dCJO3642o3k4VkH7DI=/0x0:200x267/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:200x267)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6306013/TF1-MuppetsTV-PhotoGallery-27-ZootLeSaxophonisteDuElectricMayhemBand.jpg

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