Maids Head To Hamburg
by Rick Meek

Merseybeat got rather more national publicity. But out East, a vibrant beat group scene centred around another river: the Great Ouse. In Kings Lynn, Downham Market, even as far afield as Chatteris, people still talk in awed tones about The Sabres, Paul Chris, Ricky Wilson & The Three Quarters and Mike Prior & The Escorts. Rick Meek was the drummer in two of those bands. Now retired from music, he looks back on a 60s and 70s local scene which he knew intimately: the artists, venues (from back-fen village halls to Kings Lynn’s premier music pub, The Maids Head), aspirations and, like so many groups of that time, the near-success. The Sabres played two residencies at Hamburg’s Top 10 Club, did local TV, had a big-selling local EP recorded for Decca, rubbed shoulders with the famous, but broke up in 1965, after which Rick played in various rock and jazz bands. Meek is no literary giant, and he could have used a good proof-reader, but his easy, across-the-kitchen-table writing style brings a vanished era vividly to life. With plenty of period photos, this is an engaging record of how Rick Meek and Ouse Beat nearly gave those Mersey lads a run for their money. (Available from The Record Shop, St James St, Kings Lynn; phone 01553 691972)