The Ivan Brothers

• Ivan Dooley - guitar
• W.Hickory Smith - guitar
• Sandy Byers - drums

Our first Business card in the gallery and my old address and Manager "Ken Worrall" A local man, always in the Local. He was a great laugh while it lasted. Unfortunately we rapidly out grew him, show business tends to work like that.

Memories

I left the Dellstars finally, after a few minor splits, around 1964, we all had girlfriends and unknown to me at the time I was about to get married.

What a surprise! Everybody said (or words to that effect) it was near enough a registry office back door job, if there was any such thing, they would have paid for it.

It made an arranged marriage look like a blessing. I was stripped of my stage suite and bundled into something resembling a demob suite driven to the registrar asked to sign in and eat ham butties and get pissed again throwing up every time I looked in the mirror and spotted the suit I was dressed in, I mean Christ! I was nineteen years old.

Later that year I had to quit my apprenticeship as an engineer, to get more money. As I now had a wife and baby to keep. So I signed on as a bus conductor.

After six weeks I was on the road, Its then I met Ivan, he was a bus conductor come driver. Within four months of our meeting we quit our jobs and became professional.

We went to Germany! Working for the American bases. This is the first time I had ever seen a Polaroid 8 camera! Guitars:- Gibson J45 Special and Hofner Beatle Bass.

Eventually it even split my first marriage up. I was working all over Europe, even at Christmas times! It's guaranteed to work... 

The Ivan Brothers (Tom and Me) decided to take on a permanent drummer called Sandy Byers (yes you've guessed it.... Scottish) A bleeding nutter! What a great guy.

"Sandy came down from Scotland in the early 60s with the Corvettes, featuring Johnny Rich. They were signed to Decca. Sandy also backed Cherry Rowland for a while and later became Billy J Kramer's drummer. He recalled numerous adventures and fights and would be the first to admit he was a nutter."

We changed our name to Apple tree, bought a bigger van, fitted three bunks over the gear, and off we popped for a year or so. We disbanded in '73/'74.

Ivan now goes under the name Ivan Du-Pree. Still going strong - a good act. Have a look for him around Blackpool, he appears there regularly all season.

W.Hickory Smith