1967 saw some major names appearing on the stage of the Borough Assembly Hall. These included some giants from the rock world, and others from the pop world.

Paul Hayward (sometimes shown as Paul Haywood) of the Ricky Tick club, which operated in Windsor and other local towns, had some midweek dates. The first was Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band on 25 January.

On 7 February, Zoot Money played.

A week later, on 15 February, Cream appeared, again presented by Paul Hayward. John Braley in an interview on the Friars Aylesbury website recalls: “That was when Clapton had just got an afro haircut. Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker spent the whole gig staring at him and laughing”.

Paul Hayward, under his own name or as Ricky Tick, also presented John Mayall, Georgie Fame and Tomorrow featuring Keith West.

On 28th March, the Jimi Hendrix Experience played.

Eddie Friday continued to promote gigs on Saturday evenings, and also some in midweek. The list of those appearing contains an odd selection of artists. From the world of pop there was Englebert Humperdinck (30th May) and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich (20th June). There were names from the past, such as Heinz and the Wild Boys (4th February), The Barron Knights (4th March) and Duane Eddy (17th October). And many of those who appeared on Saturday evenings are now hard to recognise.

On February 16th, the Bucks Advertiser reported that the Council would offer grants to support music events in the town:

Grants to support jazz and pop concerts as well as classical music may be made by Aylesbury Borough Council some time soon. But on Monday the council agreed not to under-write a visit by Kenny Ball and his Jazz Men being arranged for promoter Eddie Friday on February 22.

But it also recommended that the council’s officers explore with Mr. Friday the possibility of the council promoting concerts of jazz and pop music with “star performers” in association with Mr. Friday.

This eventually took the form of the Council supporting Eddie Friday with the appearances of Englebert Humperdinck and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich at the Borough Assembly Hall in midweek slots.

However these did not draw in the expected crowds. In an article “Why pop is not a sell-out”, the Bucks Advertsier reported:

Aylesbury’s pop bubble seems to have burst. A dance held anywhere in the district these days just won’t bring in the profits anymore.

Two pop concerts held at the Borough Assembly Hall recently, were sponsored by the Aylesbury Borough Council. They lost over £550. It was stated previously that £400 was to be the maximum outlay for four such concerts.

Things didn’t get any better. Later in the year, Eddie Friday presented Duane Eddy, again in a mid-week slot – but this time only 139 people came.

Towards the end of the year, there was another problem when promoters Andrew Smythe and John Raine advertised The Temptations – which was assumed to be the Motown group.

However as Phillip Apps and Dave James, writing in the Bucks Herald, reported:

The group which appeared was called The Fabulous Temptations, and may well have come from America. But it was not the group which appears on the Tamla Motown hit records credited to The Temptations. Not only was the group which appears on the records not booked to appear at the hall – it was not even in the country.

At other venues, we know that Lol Coxhill set up a jazz club on Monday evenings at the Crown Tavern in the High Street (closed in around 1980, when work began on the construction of Hale Leys Shopping Centre). An ad shows Lol playing on 30th January, with Jeff Read, Ted Speight and Tony Knight. But this was apparently not a success, as on February 23 Tony White wrote in The Bucks Advertiser:

Lol Coxhill tells me that his Crown Tavern sessions are not drawing the crowds he would like.

Later in the year, Lol was reported to be running a monthly jazz club at Unity Hall in Castle Street.

There was also the White Hart Folk Club at the White Hart Hotel in Exchange Street.

Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers were advertised to play at the Zig Zag Discotheque at the Aylesbury Social Club on 5th June, but it is uncertain whether they played. Later in the year, Dave James started his Discville nights at the New Friarage Hall – a venue that would become significant in another context a few years later.

List of gigs at the Borough Assembly Hall in 1967:

Date	Venue	Promoter Name	Artist 1	Artist 2
7/1/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The En-devers Ltd	The Kontax
21/1/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Easy Come Easy Go	The Deep
25/1/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Paul Hayward	Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band
28/1/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Tricia and the Southern Valley Four	Denim Blues, Deuces Wild
4/2/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Heinz and the Wild Boys	The Ironsides
7/2/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Paul Hayward	Zoot Money
10/2/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Bucks Ass of Youth Clubs / Eddie Friday	The New Jump Band	The Tridents
11/2/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Uglys	The Associates
15/2/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Paul Hayward	Cream
18/2/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Phil Hunter and the Jaguars	The Substitutes
21/2/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen
25/2/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Bobcats	The Choosey Beggars
4/3/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Barron Knights with Duke D'Mond	Pinky and the Phellows, Just Us
25/3/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Anzaks	The Vibratones
28/3/1967	Borough Assembly Hall		Jimi Hendrix Experience
31/3/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Paul Hayward	John Mayall
1/4/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The En-devers Ltd	The Tridents
8/4/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Scots of St. James	Freddie Fingers Lee and the Upper Hand
15/4/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Meantimers	The Vivas
22/4/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Sound City	Lloyd Williams, Sounds from Spectre
29/4/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Soul Reason	The New Era
6/5/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Gates of Eden	Deuces Wild
12/5/1967	Borough Assembly Hall		The Small Faces (did they play?)	The Soul Trinity
13/5/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Reasons	The Daystroms
27/5/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Step	The Tridents
30/5/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Englebert Humperdinck	The Bystanders
3/6/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Anzaks	The Sneakers
10/6/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Motown Trinity	The Memphis Gents
17/6/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Block	The Nett
20/6/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Dave, Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich	The En-devers Ltd
24/6/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Symbols	The Driftwood
1/7/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Gates of Eden	The Crew
8/7/1067	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Pinky and the Phellows	The New Era
15/7/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Worrying Kynde	The Industrial Revolution
22/7/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Wages of Sin	The Flowers
29/7/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Johnny Carr and the Cadillacs	Marie (DJ)
5/8/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Memphis Gents	The Vibratones
11/8/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Ricky Tick Promotions ?	Georgie Fame
12/8/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Driftwood	The Angelo Six
18/8/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Ricky Tick Promotions	Tomorrow featuring Keith West
19/8/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The En-devers Ltd	The Vivas
2/9/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Maze	plus supporting group (unknown)
9/9/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Memphis Gents	The Exit
15/9/1967	Borough Assembly Hall		Horatio Soul and the Square Deal	J. J. Bender and the S.O.S.
16/9/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The U-No-Who	The Re-action
23/9/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Crash Landing	The Flowers
30/9/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Impulse	The Associates
7/10/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Kobalts	The Ironsides
14/10/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Purple Barrier	Granny's Attic
17/10/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Duane Eddy	Bobby and the Rebels, Soho's Fabulous Go-Getters
21/10/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Cole Trane Union	The Dream
4/11/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Wages of Sin	The Acceleration
11/11/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Quick Re-action	The Spectre Powerhouse
21/11/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Andrew Smythe and John Raine	The (Fabulous) Temptations	The Avalons, Parkers Mood
18/11/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The En-devers Ltd	The Ginger Factory
25/11/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Virgin Sleep	The Reaction
2/12/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Memphis Gents	Granny's Attic
9/12/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	The Dream	Surrealist Adventure
23/12/1967	Borough Assembly Hall	Eddie Friday	Pinky and the Phellows	The Denim Blues