NME (7/12/68) GUN ARE A VERY STRANGE GROUP

According to their publicist the Gun are "the Brain" Adrian Curtis who has a fantastic hairstyle like a electrified Busby; "the Business man" Paul Curtis who boasts a ginger moustache and Louis Farrell who "just sits there and looks cute!"

"Six months ago we were so brought down when our organist failed to turn up one night, and left us in the lurch, we were prepared to chuck it all in." admitted Adrian.

"We had a few drinks and realized that we had to go on that night and for the first time we got something really together.

"Louis affirmed that he had never been in musical sympathy with their organist and that night was the first time they played together as a team.

Impressed

Jazzman Ronnie Scott heard the group playing at the London Roundhouse and was sufficiently impressed to book them for his new club, where I was now talking to them.

"The Scott Walker tour helped to bring us to a few peoples’ attention. "said Adrian, "but we’ve not really had an easy time of it in fact I rather resent groups who are made with money.

"The people we most admire are the Cream  not that we are trying to emulate them but they are three brilliant musicians and groups like Family who have never compromised their musical integrity. If ever a group deserved a hit it’s them."

It was Adrian who wrote "Race With The Devil" and he believes, unlike some, that it is the "diddle do dah dee" guitar riff which has caught the public’s imagination and not the maniacal laugh on the disc.

"We never wanted the laugh on the record at all." Said Adrian, "We knew it would let us in for a lot of you’re copying Arthur Brown remarks. Our Producer Johnny Goodison thought it was a good idea so we went along with it."

One of the best unkept secrets in show business circles at present is just how the Gun got that maniacal cackle of Adrian’s on disc. All I can reveal in print is that "cute lovable Louis" is at the bottom of it all. (Later my Dad informed me that he actually walked into the studio whilst Adrian was singing with his dick out and this induced Adrian to start laughing which ended up being the ‘cackle’ on the record editor)

When questioned about it during the interview he seemed to get highly confused and disappeared under a table allegedly looking for his "magic penny!"

Now that the Gun has one foot in the door of success they are determined not to let it slam in their faces.

Adrian is already hard at work turning out new compositions like "Rat Race," "Sad Sag Of The Boy And The Bee" and "Yellow Cab Man" which is likely to be their next single for which one of their co mangers Jimmy Parsons has supplied the Lyric.

A kick

"You can’t imagine what a kick it is to go on stage and get applauded before you’ve done anything because your known" said Adrian. "This happened to us for the first time in Plymouth recently and the audience was so great I just wanted to go on playing all night.

"I don’t understand all these people who go all weird and start in on LSD and meditating. I could never get any satisfaction out of anything but playing!"

They have all the earmarks of a group who would go down very well on the American West Coast. Does this mean we may shortly lose them in the big beat drain to the United States.

"It’s funny how people always seem to get a big reaction if they come from far away," interposed Adrian. "We went to see Blue Cheer at the Roundhouse recently and they were so disgusting they hurt my ears but because they were from America they got a big hand."

The Gun are very aware of the pseudo "underground" scene which exists more in the publics imagination than with the groups. "Take the Pink Floyd for example," said Adrian. "We went to hear them the other night and they put on this tremendous show of lights and weird exciting sounds.

I bet half the audience thought they were all on LSD but you go backstage and Sid Barret’s saying something like, ‘Get my coat George,’ and someone else is asking for a cup of tea. It’s all in the mind."

"I just sit here and groove all on my tod," said Louis for no apparent reason. Manager Jimmy Parsons flitted by our table and observed that "MacArthur Park" was the best pop song of the year to which Adrian remarked something about "all the cakes walking in the rain it’s a shame!"

Adrian would also like to make it clear that the Gun have never been Terry Reid’s backing group as some people seem to think, and that he is very disappointed that the Moles have turned out to be Simon Dupree and two of the Big Sound. Life however must go on.

  KEITH ALTHAM