(c’68-’71) – Andrew “Andy” Latimer (guitar), Andy Ward (drums), and Doug Ferguson (bass).
Out of the ashes of, mostly covers band, Strange Brew, which had been brothers Ian Latimer (bass) and Andrew Latimer (guitar/vocals), with Alan Butcher (drums) and Graham Cooper (guitar) came this three-piece Guildford blues band The Brew.
Ian Latimer and Cooper had departed (Ian to get married) Strange Brew in the Summer of ’68, and an advert placed by Andy Latimer and Butcher in The Surrey Advertiser attracted bassist Ferguson. Ferguson auditioned on 13 November ’68 and reportedly “impressed…excellent gear…and his own roadie!”. Butcher, who was supporting his mother and sister, couldn’t afford to leave work and dedicate the time needed to The Brew and subsequently left. Ferguson then introduced his new band colleagues to drummer Ward. Ward, who had not seen his drum kit for 3 months and was only 14 at the time, left a mark on the band members, was recruited and joined the band on 15 January ’69.
As The Brew they recorded a demo of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” in a Cream’y mode. DJM Records showed interest and connected them with keyboardist / singer Phillip Goodhand-Tait. While not happy with how things panned out, The Brew auditioned to be Goodhand-Tait’s backing band on 20 Feb ’71. That year they played on his “I Think I’ll Write A Song” album, but it failed to take off and the trio were dropped by the label.
Undeterred, and recognizing the value of a keyboardist, an ad in Melody Maker in Sept ’71 found Peter Bardens, who had played with Shotgun Express, Them, The Peter B’s, Peter B’s Looners The Love Affair, The Cheynes, The Machine, Hamilton King’s Blues Messengers, The Village, and more, as well as releasing two solo LPs with Transatlantic Records. Bardens came with some prior commitments to a number of gigs in Ireland. As a result the new groups first gig together was in Belfast on 8 October ’71 as Peter Bardens On. Ultimately, after an agreed name change, this was to be the formation of Camel.
Butcher would later find a place in Poppa Ben Hook. Copper would be later found performing under the Graham “Cupcake” Cooper moniker, and some recall Eric Clapton joining him and other local musicians onstage at The Royal, Guildford for a charity gig in the rearly ’80s with Bruce Foxton of The Jam in the audience. Ward appeared in Marillion’s “Garden Party” video in ’83 and performed with them for a short while, and has worked in bands such as Caravan of Dreams, Going Going, Mirage, Chrysanthemums, and Bevis Frond. Bardens had joined Van Morrison’s band in ’78 and kept busy with various projects over the years, including Mirage with Ward and Latimer. He departed this world on 22 January 2002 as a result of lung cancer.
In 2003 The Brew held a studio jam reunion. This was recorded and posted to Facebook. The recorded material was originally for an album, but this never got pressed.
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