Gerry Storme and the Falcons

Gerry Storme and the Falcons formed in 1959 with Gerry Storme on lead vocals, Tony Beharrel on bass (b. Anthony Beharrel), Bobby Elliott on drums (b. Robert Hartley Elliott, Monday, December 8, 1941, 13 Chilton Avenue, Burnley, Lancashire, UK), Ronnie Bullock on rhythm? guitar (b. Ronald Bullock) and Kevin Foster on lead guitar. In 1960 Storme was replaced by Eddie G. Marten.

Eddie G. Marten and The Falcons formed in 1960 with Eddie G. Marten on lead vocals (b. Glyn Thomas, 1943, Burnley, Lancashire, UK d. March 2011), John Sumner on bass, Bobby Elliott on drums, Tony Beharrel on bass and Kevin Foster on lead guitar. 

The band was managed by Alan Green. 

Marten had been to Lane Head Priory School and Burnley Grammar School in Burnley, Lancashire. Marten met Elliott in a small hall in Lane Head, Burnley, where Marten was rehearsing with The Meteors. 

Bobby Elliott then joined Jazz band The Bob Price Quintet in 1960, who had a line-up of Bob Price on trumpet, Jimmy Holt on alto sax (b. James Holt), Alan Thacker on piano, Alan Cooper on double bass and Elliott on drums. He stayed with Price until 1962. 

While playing with Bob Price, Elliott also played in Ricky Shaw and the Dolphins. This band had started out in Winter 1957 as The Les Skifflettes, a seven-piece group, who included 14 year-old Pat Belshaw on lead vocals (b. Patrick Belshaw, 1943), 12 year-old Tony Hicks on lead guitar (b. Anthony Christopher Hicks, Sunday, December 16, 1945, Nelson, Lancashire, UK) and Harold Russell. This band had started out with Russ Lee, Paul Shanhan and Keith Shackleton all on guitars, David Shanhan on washboard, Frank Lord on tea-chest bass, Gerry Cuncliffe on vocals, Alan Holt on guitar, vocals and Alan Buck on guitar, vocals (b. Wednesday, April 7, 1943, Halifax Road, Briefield, Lancashire, UK d. Late March 1994, at home in Ealing, West London, UK, from a heart attack). They also had a a girl vocalist for a while called Pat Askew, but as she was classical trained she did not last long. Holt left the band quite early on and formed The Silhouettes. Buck who was now playing drums, also left as his father had asked the band to pay towards the drums, but the other guys did not have the money. By this time Belshaw, Hicks and Russell had joined the band.

The Les Skifflettes became Ricky Shaw and the Dolphins in Late 1959 with Ricky Shaw (Pat Belshaw) on lead vocals, Hicks on lead guitar, 17 year-old Bernie Calvert on bass (b. Bernard Bamford Calvert, Wednesday, September 16, 1942, Briefield, Lancashire, UK) and 16 year-old Alan Buck on drums. This line-up lasted until 1960 when they split and reformed in 1961 without drummer Buck, who went onto play in Joe Brown and the Bruvvers, Johnny Kidd and the Pirates and The Lionel Morton Four from 1962, that became The Four Pennies (Nov 1963 - 1966). Buck was replaced by Bobby Elliott. Ricky Shaw and the Dolphins also added rhythm guitarist John Shaw (b. John Robert Shaw). In 1962 the band became The Dolphins without John Shaw. This band split in 1962.

In Early May 1963 Hicks joined The Hollies replacing their original lead guitarist Vic Steele (b. Victor Winston Farrell, Tuesday, May 8, 1945, Manchester, Lancashire, UK), who did not want to turn professional. He didn't want to take the risk of an uncertain existence as an artist and wanted to finish his education in Engineering. Steele had been in The Hollies since they started in September? 1962.

In 1963 Elliott joined Shane Fenton and the Fentones replacing their drummer George Rodda. He did not stay long and he left in April 1963. The Fentones carried on until September 1965. In August 1963 Elliott join The Hollies and was replaced in The Fentones by Don Burrell (b. Donald Burrell). Elliott replaced The Hollies original drummer Don Rathbone (b. Donald Rathbone, October 1942, Wilmslow, Cheshire, UK). Rathbone before joining The Hollies in September? 1962 had been in The Electrons (from 1960) and The Arrows (1961 - Autumn 1962). 

As for Eddie G. Marten in 1962 he formed Eddie G. Marten and the Sabres with Marten on lead vocals, Jimmy Jewell on tenor sax (b. John Jewell, Sunday, February 18, 1945, Gillingham, Kent, UK), Tommy Smith on drums (b. Thomas Smith), Ian Fraser on bass and Robin Whitaker on lead guitar. This band supported The Beatles and Freddie Starr and the Midnighters on Saturday, May 11, 1963 at The Imperial Ballroom in Carr Road, Nelson, Lancashire.

John H. Warburg 8/4/14