"Paradise Reborn" - The Billy Fury Way!

From Pierre Petrou, Head of Media, billyfury.com

Northampton moves halfway to paradise for fans of rock legend Billy Fury next month.

The Sunnyside family-friendly pub is to host the annual "biggest Billy Fury Show on Earth" in tribute to the Liverpool-born star who died almost 30 years ago after a history of heart trouble which had dogged his stardom.

Organised by the website, billyfury.com, the event takes place at the scene of Billy Fury's last public appearance in 1982, and it raises money for the Heart Fund at Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

It is expected to attract over 200 Fury fans from all over the country and whilst the main show takes place on Saturday 17th March, many of Billy's fans have taken advantage of snapping up a weekend break.

Now in its seventh successful year, it comes at a time of renewed interest in Billy Fury, after a path was named after the singer, last July, close to where he recorded many of his biggest hits at Decca Studios in London.

An album of lost material was also released at the end of last year by the singer, who is the most successful artist of all time never to have had a UK number one.

Prices for the show are just £10.00 which currently includes over a dozen live acts, including Rob Dee, Dean & Jane Hubert, Creeping Bentgrass and Johnny Red.

Many of those snapping up the weekend break are staying at the accommodation base, The Sunley Management Centre, (which is within walking distance from The Sunnyside).

Pierre Petrou, Head of Media for billyfury.com, said, "Billy still has a very loyal following of fans who like to meet up at this gig for a very special night, remembering the man who's music gave so much pleasure.

It's a night of some very talented singers with some amazing voices, capturing the music of the sixties with passion and fondness."

He added, "Billy is a true rock 'n' roll legend, who proved to the world that British pop stars could be just as exiting as their American counterparts and the weekend brings together fans and friends who can all share their common love of this legendary icon."

Billy Fury, who's hits included, "Halfway To Paradise", "Wondrous Place", "I'd Never Find Another You", "Jealousy", "It's Only Make Believe", and "Maybe Tomorrow" was one of the most successful singer-songwriters of all time, having more hits in the 1960's than the Beatles.

Born Ronald Wycherley, he worked as a tugboat-hand after leaving school in Liverpool and at the age of 18 was signed by music impresario Larry Parnes, (today's Simon Cowell), after giving a live 'audition' at a Marty Wilde concert.

He continued to score minor hits up until his death in 1983, just as he was planning a major comeback. His last public performance at The Sunnyside in 1982 makes this event rather poignant for his fans, who will be rocking the weekend away in Fury style!

For tickets and accommodation details, please email sales@peaksoft.co.uk or call 07941 219207 to check room and ticket availability at the Sunley.

Tickets for the main show on Saturday night are just £10.00.

Currently, the line up of live acts for the main show include;

Creeping Bentgrass
Rob Dee
Russ Dee
Michelle Gibson
Geoff Howlett
Dean & Jane Hubert
Dave Jay, (MC)
Laura & Emily
Dave Michael
Johnny Red
Paul Ritchie
Roger Sea
Snowy
Alan Wilcox
Dave Wilcox

Details of the event can be found by following the link on the front page of billyfury.com

The Sunnyside is in Boughton Green Road, Northampton, NN2 7AG.

Proceeds from this event are donated to the Heart Fund at Alder Hey Children's Hospital.

For further information, please contact Pierre Petrou, Head of Media, billyfury.com, via email billyfury@jealousy.co.uk

A Night in Liverpool

Last night we played at Croxteth Hall in Liverpool for a Silver Wedding and Revewal of Vows party. To all extents and purposes it was a wedding party.

It's a while since we've been to Croxteth and with new developments we took a wrong turning somewhere, but got there in good time without too much panic!

David knew the lucky man and he had arranged for a DJ to take over later in the night so that we could join the party as guests. There were a few people there that I knew as well so it was a very pleasant evening for us!

Can You Hear the Drums?

So we were just having a rare rehearsal to remind ourselves of a few new songs we had stuffed into the repertoire...

Not the most polished sound - no microphones, no sound system, the keyboard is coming from its own speakers which of course point straight up and the guitar was plugged through the computer into the hi-fi. Recorded on a Flip camera - no expense spared...

Can you hear the drums?

Staining Charity Gig 2011

Last night saw Creeping Bentgrass on stage at Staining Village Hall.

This was a night we had arranged ourselves and we had invited family, friends and people we have worked with year after year until they too can be classed as friends.

We do one of these every two years or so and they are informal, punctuated by guest appearances and a chance for us to try out new stuff to people we can trust to tell us if they don't work.

After years of having "Abba!" thrown at us we have capitulated and now "Fernando" and "Waterloo" (seen above being road-tested with The Creepettes - or is that the Bentettes?) are added to the repertoire.

We road tested a few last night in fact. The Single Girl, I Can Hear Music, You've Lost That Loving Feeling - the latter after we busked it in response to a request in Chapeltown a few weeks ago!

Then again, Jack who books us every year for his steam fair at Heskin Hall at the beginning of June has been asking for House of the Rising Sun for years. It is a bit of a voice-breaker but we have now come up with a bluesy version which went down a storm last night!

And talking of going down a storm - here was a bit of fun!

I walked off stage to leave David singing a West-End musical song - Love Changes Everything. It raised a few eyebrows but then I walked back on to join him in harmony from the second verse on and if we surprised the audience with a new style of song, then in turn we were blown away by the reception the song got at the end.

Thanks have to go to Miss Franny and Miss Jeannie for arranging raffles, hot pots and to willing helpers, Gill, Chrissie, David and Elaine, Claire, Shelagh, Janet and Doreen who dished out grub, sold raffle tickets, managed to separate people from money for the charities, to Marcus and his friend for arranging and manning the bar, to Shelagh and Peter Cooney for the guest spot, to the Bentettes: Louise, Marion, Janet and Shelagh, and to all of you who came from far and wide. A special mention to Harry and Maureen Whitehouse who had come over from Scarborough for the night. Harry is the head of the Peaksoft recording label and was responsible for convincing us to contribute to a CD of Protest Songs (see here) and he donated a copy for the raffle. Harry is also the man behind billyfury.com and so absolutely a VIP member of the audience!

A quick aside to Billy Fury New Zealand Fan Club Manager Moya Gleave here - Harry did stop a little short of giving me a "big sloppy kiss on the top of my head" but thanks for the thought...!

A huge thank you to all who came to see us - we didn't have much time to talk to anyone but it was great to see you there and we appreciate it so much!

After paying the expenses for the hall, bar and food we made £200 profit which will go to the two charities - a Cat Rescue Centre and Diabetic UK

Clubs and Pubs Weekend

Creeping Bentgrass were out and about this weekend.

We started on Friday night at the Longshaw Sports & Social Club in Blackburn. This was a charity night in aid of the Mayor's charities.

An upstairs function room, a stage and some rather hot stage lights! The crowd set the standard for the weekend, crowding onto the dance floor early on in the proceedings!

Then on Saturday night we played for a 70th birthday party (that's two of those in a week!) out at the Chetham Arms, Chapeltown. Again the guests made a beeline for the dance floor early in the night and a good time was had by all.

Our appreciation and thanks to those who booked us, particularly for the very kind compliments and feedback and today has been a nice, relaxing day which didn't start until long after normal get-up time...!

A Fabulous Time at the Party

What a wonderful fabulous time we had last night!

We were out at Garstang Golf Club for a 70th birthday party, playing a country and western set before the guests had a meal and then playing for dancing later on.

The lady wife of the birthday boy had done a lot of preparation for the event - there were games, competitions and a lot of fun and once the meal was over the dance floor filled up and we had a ball.

It's always very nice when bar staff tell us we are the best band they've ever heard and I have to say, the bar staff last night showed some excellent taste...

Huge thank yous to all concerned!

Check out the Creeping Bentgrass YouTube channel for samples of our work!

Rain Stops Play in Garstang

Such a shame. We had played around an hour or an hour and a half and then the heavens opened at Garstang's Music and Arts Festival yesterday.

Unlike Saturday when we covered up for a bit and then played again, Monday turned into a steady non-stop downpour and we had to move the equipment to a dry place and then try to dry it all off. Definitely not the place to be using electricity out in the open!

Thanks to the people who came to see us - especially those who had come some way especially. A couple came and he introduced himself as Hughie - they had seen us on the Internet and come all the way from Manchester. Another family had come from Blackburn after seeing us at other events and some had come down from Lancaster.

It was lovely to meet and talk with you all and we were as disappointed as anyone at not being able to carry on. We hope to see you at future events. Our dates can be found in the left hand column of the blog.

Dodging the Weather at Garstang

We wondered how we would get on yesterday, but apart from one very short period where we had to cover up, the rain skirted round us and the sun tried its best to make an appearance!

Even the wooden kingfisher had its warm clothing on!

Anyway, although quieter than the previous Saturday there were a number of people out and about and we had a sizeable crowd during the last hour of our set.

Creeping Bentgrass will be back in Garstang on Bank Holiday Monday for the third of our three appearances at Garstang Music and Arts Festival.

Playing Like High-Speed Gas!

Yesterday we played for the British Gas Pensioners following an excellent meal at the Elgin Hotel, Blackpool.

Both David and Jeannie used to work for British Gas so we were invited to dine with them and the Elgin put on a superb meal. I have to praise their staff and manager too, who were so pleasant and accomodating it was a pleasure to be there.

We played two sets and David had devised a little extra involvement for the audience. As we played our country and folk set, he had distributed a list of all the pop and rock songs we do from the late 50s upwards and audience members were able to vote for their favourites for us to play in the second set.

It worked very well and some brave souls ventured out of the 60s voting enough to include both Westlife and Take That songs that we included.

All in all we enjoyed ourselves every bit as much as the audience and the Committee were full of praise for us afterwards which was very nice too!

Garstang Music & Arts Festival 2011

Yesterday we played the Garstang Music and Arts Festival for the first of three appearances this year.

We will be back in the same place - our usual spot by the Information Centre next Saturday and Bank Holiday Monday.

From yesterday's spot, here's a taster!