Russ Sainty RIP

Very sorry to hear of the death, at the age of 85, of Russ Sainty, who was one of the artists to star in Tales From The Woods Shows over the years. Russ was very much a nearly man, who had at least ten singles released on labels such as Top Rank, Decca, HMV and Columbia but never had a major hit. Despite that, he had a long career as a performer and was named as one of Britain's Rock and Roll Founding Fathers, along with Cliff Richard, Wee Willie Harris and others when a plaque was unveiled at London's 2I's coffee bar. Russ was known as the 'King of the 'Cali'', the title of his 2008 autobiography (packed with great photos), as a result of a six year residency at the California Ballroom in Dunstable. With his band the Nu-Notes Russ's record releases deserved more success. One of them, 'Keep Your Love Locked', was written by Goffin and King with a B side, 'I've Got A Girl' (written by Russ) which he believed should have been the A side. When I saw Russ at a British Rock and Roll Reunion in 2013 at the Lakeside in Frimley Green he said that he was first booked at the venue by club owner Bob Potter in 1961 and was promised a return date - and true to his word he was back there 52 years later! Russ was one of the stalwarts of the UK rock and roll scene and it's sad that he's passed away. In his book he says that despite having ten 45s released on major labels, including several self compositions, he couldn't recall receiving a penny for any of his records, and didn't get more than about £50 in total for the songs he wrote. Such was the early rock and roll period sadly. The top photo shows Russ at the 2009 TFTW show, backed by a youthful John Spencely on guitar and Brian Clark on drums.

Another recent death is that of Graeme Edge, founding member and drummer of the Moody Blues. When the Moody Blues took a break in 1974 he formed the Graeme Edge Band with Adrian Gurwitz which had two albums and several singles released. When the Moody Blues reformed in 1978 Graeme was again a member and was the only original member with the band when he retired in 2018.