Young John in a nameless trio

When John Knowles was thirteen he started to play in a small band aping the early recordings of Cliff Richard and the Shadows. The drummer (shown here) was Ian Purdy, who went on to play with some famous bands and later moved to Germany where he ran a recording studio for many years. He now records film music that he composes and performs himself.

John (shown here playing bass) went on to join a jazz band playing double bass. No name for the band but they played standards and numbers by Django Reindhart. The band featured a clarinet player, two guitars and a drummer.

Later on he joined a rock band called The Barristers.
The other guitarist shown here was also called John, but his surname has gone with the intervening years. He played a Broadway guitar and had a Watkins amplifier.

John Knowles' first band

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Daniel J Quinn
Editor of Walthamstow Memories

It's always a pleasure to receive your messages! If you have your own memories and pictures of Walthamstow you'd like to share, just drop me an email and, if you wish, I shall post it in our Current Postbag, where all visitors may read it.
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