Out On His Own
Towards the end of 1966, Ronnie decided it was time to focus his talent on singing and fronting a band. Trini Lopez was popular at the time. Ronnie liked his style and recruited Ron Wolstenholme on drums and Al Jarman on bass guitar. The trio played pub gigs and working men’s clubs.
Ronnie’s singing was complimented by his venture into songwriting. The trio was musically tight. Ronnie’s rhythm guitar, with bass and drum accompaniment, complimented his vocals well, with that musical intuition tight trios often have.

Ronnie’s first serious composition was “A Day Gone By”, recorded by Paul Nicholas (pictured here with Ronnie at a friend’s house in Stanmore in 1964).

GOD BLESS
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
Performed by Bill Haley
Published by Campbell Connelly & Co. Ltd
Written by Ronnie Harwood & Nigel Jenkins

Lookin’ thru’ my window,
My memory serves
me well,
I go back to the places,
And all those
happy faces,
Under your spell.

I remember my
first guitar,
That made me a Rock ‘n’ Roll star,
I traveled the whole world over,
With fame and fortune in my hands.

I want to thank you Rock ‘n’ Roll,
From the body, from
the soul,
God bless Rock ‘n’ Roll,
Thank you Rock ‘n’ Roll,
God bless Rock ‘n’ Roll.
 

The gigs continued but failed to provide enough income. To achieve some financial stability, Ronnie started working for musical instrument supplier Boosey & Hawkes.

From Family Man to The London Rock ‘n’ Roll Show
Ronnie met his future wife, Janet, while gigging at the New Edgware British Legion Club in 1966. They married in the August of 1968. They remain happily married.

At this point Ronnie decided that he needed to earn more than the pub gigs and building instruments for Boosey & Hawkes could offer, and so during 1968 he began working for aerial companies as a television aerial installer.

Stuart was born in 1969, followed by Martyn in 1970. To break the ‘hat trick’, Joanne came along in 1972. During this period Ronnie formed his own aerial business, “Colourbrite Aerials” (yes, spelt that way - the contemporary mix of Brit and American spelling) and started to invest time in the studios, using some of the money earned from the aerial installation business to make demos of his songs.



 The Ronnie Harwood Band
performing at The Green Dragon in
Borehamwood, Hertfordshire in 1971.
From left to right: Nick Saunders,
drummer Ron Wolstenholme, Ronnie H,
and Dick Frost (‘Big Dick’) on bass.
The photo was taken by Ron, who had rushed back to the stage to be in the picture!

The picture on the right of Ronnie was also taken at The Green Dragon in ‘71.

David Sutch called Ronnie and asked if he would reform The Savages with Pete Phillips for “The London Rock and Roll Show”, the first music show to be staged at the Wembley Empire Stadium. The show featured some of the truly great artists including Bill Haley and the Comets, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Bo Diddley. Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages brought the house down, along with Jack the Ripper, Joe Brown, Billy Fury and the House Shakers.

It was the 5th August 1972. A South Stand seat ticket cost just £2.80. The show, watched by a sell-out audience of 87,000 (the authorities restricted attendance for safety reasons), lasted 11 hours. It was the concert of the year and was captured on film and the highlights later released as a video DVD.

Working The Circuit
After the success of the Wembley show, Ronnie carried on performing in working men’s clubs and pubs. Drummer Mike Wells (far left in the photo opposite, from around 1976), or Mick as Ronnie still calls him - an old mate and former Twilight from the 60’s - joined Ronnie and they went out on the circuit for a year together as a duo. Al Jarman (pictured on the right, with Ronnie in the centre), also a former Twilight, joined them on bass guitar.

During the next few years, the trio played the circuit under the name of Harvest and worked on studio demos of Ronnie’s latest songs. Ronnie, famous for his ten minute medleys, always kept Al and Mike on their toes.
Alan Jarman passed away some years ago and is sorely missed.

God Bless Rock ‘n’ Roll - Haley’s Last Single Became a Favourite
In 1977 Ronnie signed a publishing deal with Terry Oates at Eaton Music. The single “Baby I Love You” was subsequently released in 1978, with B side “Rolling On”. These were recorded at CTS studios in Wembley and produced by Kenny Denton and Stuart Taylor. Ronnie performed “Baby I Love You” on the British TV show “Get It Together”.

Kenny Denton, Ronnie’s producer, heard a demo of Ronnie’s “God Bless Rock ‘n’ Roll”. Kenny was also producing Bill Haley and asked Ronnie to rewrite some of the lyrics for Haley.
In 1979, Bill Haley’s album “Everyone Can Rock ‘n’ Roll” featured Ronnie’s “God Bless Rock ‘n’ Roll”, which is said to have become Haley’s favourite for the way in which it captured his story like no other song he had ever known (source: Sound and Glory - The incredible story of Bill Haley, by John W Haley & John Von Hoelle).
“God Bless Rock ‘n’ Roll” was released as a single in late 1980. This was to be Bill Haley’s last single.
Bill Haley died in 1981.
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A promotional photo of Ronnie to accompany the release
of “Baby I Love You” in 1978, his first single on RCA.

Text and all images © RonnieHarwood.com