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Hy-Kells photos

They say that if you remember the 60s then you weren’t there,  Thats not so !
The Hy-Kells began in the early 1960s with Peter, my elder brother, Barry our cousin and myself.
Peter had a great voice and loved the old Rock’n’Rollers, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Gene Vincent to name a few
Barry was already an accomplished lead guitarist with his own band  The Tempo’s
I played guitar and banjo, having an early introduction to band life playing in the school jazz band, The Turves Green Trad Lads.
For a while we played for ourselves and at family parties and then graduated to weddings !

The Early Years

There were a few early drummers who played in The Hy-Kells including Tom, despite failing eyesight he was one of the best technically playing drummers I have heard.

Barry, Me, Bobby Mac, Pete and Brian.  60s swingers !!

A few facts...

Uncle Harry Hyett took us under his wing and we were joined by Malcolm on the bass and Stan on drums.
The name The Hy-Kells was a combination of the Hyett and Kelsall surnames.
Alan Nichols joined us he was a superb natural drummer. We had some fun Al !!!!!
My younger brother Brian replaced Mal on bass.  Brian had a big influence on
The Hy-Kells joining myself and Pete on vocals to create our great sound.

Rock concert in Cannon Hill Park

Over the years The Hy-Kells became a tighter outfit and more successful.     We were unique in that we could play strict tempo music for dances, lots of comedy and messing about for concerts but good old fashioned Rock’n’Roll most of the time.

The Beatles were obviously a big influence on everyones music, still are today, and we played their hits along with just about every song that ever got into the 60s and early 70s charts.

Barry began writing numbers for us and he produced some great tunes.  Pete and myself also penned a few, Brian was a prolific songwriter.

By now we were becoming very popular as a Birmingham band and in 1970 were asked by the BBC to do recordings for Radio 1.  Wow ! stars at last.

The Hy-Kells were the first band to record at the newly opened Pebble Mill studios, it was an exciting time for all of us.  We appeared on Radio 1 on shows such as Terry Wogan, Dave Lee Travis, Dave Cash.

Sir Jimmy Saville agreed to be an honarary president of our fan club.

Paul Sale ( Trigger ) joined us on drums along with Richard McDonald, bass and a tremendous voice.

This was one of several occasions that we played at Birmingham City Football Club. Being big Blues fans, this was a real highlight of ours !
If you have any memories of these times then why not drop me an email.

Now my chronology may not be right, so in no particular order here are some of my highlights of The-Hy-Kells

Playing several times on the pitch at Birmingham City Football Club in front of 20,000 people.  Phew !

Supporting Status Quo at Small Heath park for a Birmingham rock festival.

Supporting Jimmy Ruffin and Bruce Channel at La Dolce Vita and Cavendish clubs.

Rick Price bass player with The Move wrote a couple of songs and produced a few recording sessions for us.

The many thousands of gigs we played at clubs and pubs.

Being BBC Radio 1 Recording stars !

One of the most rewarding things about  this band was being able to help many charities.
We bought a kidney dialysis machine for The Queen Elizabeth hospital. A dozen or more electric wheelchairs designed by Lord Snowdon. A minibus for the disabled, and T.V sets galore.
The money for all of this was raised by donations from our audiences, 30 years later I am still really grateful to them for the help and support they gave to both the band and the charities we helped. Thanks.

With Freddie Goodwin,  Birmingham City F.C manager

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