Palaver Records PR0001 Released February 1966
Ronald Kray (Vocals), Reggie Kray (Vocals, Maracas), Long Jimmy Felder (Guitar), Archie ‘The Flusher’ Burns (Piano), Lord Boothby (Harmonica), Frank Mitchell (Drums)
Many know Ronnie and Reggie Kray’s reputation as notorious London gangsters but few remember their attempt to launch a pop career. In 1966 they were at the height of their powers. They owned several clubs, including the glittering Club De Brick Lane, and, when not disposing of enemies in the Thames, could be found rubbing shoulders with show business stars like Felicity Wind and Hephzibah Goldblatt. Aware of the criminal activity rife in the music business, the boys knew they would feel at home and quickly formed a band.
Ronnie kick-started the group by masterminding Frank Mitchell’s escape from Dartmoor prison. Ronnie knew Frank was a large man given to random acts of violence but Frank had his own kit.
Reggie hired Long Jimmy Felder, a superb guitarist with ready access to stolen musical equipment, and Archie Burns. Burns earned the nickname ‘The Flusher’ after disposing of Fatty Kyriakos down the lavatory in his mother’s flat. Burns was a terrific pianist, having learnt to play the chapel organ in borstal.
A friend of Ronnie’s, Lord Boothby, joined on mouth organ and The Kray Twins were ready to take on show business.
But problems arose during the first recording session . The internal dynamics of pop groups being what they are, arguments are always likely. When you bring together five deranged gangsters and a Lord of the Realm, they’re inevitable. Before a note was recorded Reggie sliced up Mitchell’s drums with a sabre, a studio engineer ran from the building with his ears on fire and a tea lady found herself dangled from a fifth floor window for forgetting Ronnie’s biscuits.
The band did manage to complete the session, albeit at gunpoint. Ronnie and Reggie laid down the vocals separately and what comes through is their unnerving sweetness. The twins always claimed they had an artistic side and their gentle tribute to their dear mother, Iris, brings a tear to the eye.
Sadly, the record failed to reach Number 1. Ronnie and Reggie did their best but found their acts of bribery were helpless in the face of Little Harry Knockandie’s novelty hit “Foot Bath”. A fifty year old midget who masqueraded as a blind girl of twelve, Little Harry was the comedy sensation of the year and turned his catchphrase of “Well, you could wash me in a foot bath” into a million-seller.
Disappointed at not hitting the high spot, Ronnie Kray went on a rampage which culminated in him shooting George Cornell in the Crown of Peas pub in Whitechapel. As he lay dying, Cornell raised himself up and whispered to Ronnie: "Well, you could wash me in a foot bath".
