The Primevals

(c’64-’67) Colin Telling (guitar), Geoffrey Andrews (bass / vocals), Alan Franklin (drums), and Bruce Roberts (guitar).

A group of friends got together in Franklin’s home at 49 Stoke Fields, Guildford to play records and ‘make music’, although there was no drumkit and Franklin just kept a beat at the time. They became The Primevals, as named by Franklin, with the band’s early days playing around hometown Guildford at venues such as Congregation Hall, Bellfields.

In ’64, The Primevals were the runner-up in a ‘Battle of the Bands’ contest, undertaken at the Civic Hall, Guildford; losing to Phillip Goodhand Tait and The Stormsville Shakers. In a similar Battle of the Bands at Charlotteville Youth Club they were the runners-up again, this time to The Phantom Four. That didn’t deter the band, and over the coming years they kept roadie Peter Greaves very busy.

After more rehearsals at the Methodist Church Hall, Guildford they secured a regular spot at the Harvest Moon Club, Guildford, once sharing the stage with Rod Stewart, they certainly supported Group Survival there on 27 August and The Stormville Shakers on 3 December ’65. Ian Latimer, of The Phanton Four, recalls a night at The Harvest Moon, standing in for Andrews on bass with The Primevals to support The New Seekers.

The Primevals were the first band to play the ‘new’ Youth Centre, Guildford on 16 October ’65. Almost a year later, on 31 September ’66 they were at the Stoke Hotel, Guildford supporting The Downliners Sect. At some point the band became “a threesome but no trio” as their promo card proclaimed, with enquiries to be made at the Ministry of Noise. This followed Telling and Andrews getting into an argument in the buildup to a concert at the Civic Hall, with Telling leaving. This trinity proved of interest to Deram Records, who sent scouts to the Town Hall, Godalming to evaluate. Reportedly, the band members didn’t want to leave their day jobs, so a can-can – featuring Franklin and Andrews with fire buckets jammed on their feet and dancing across the stage- delivered a performance unbecoming to future Deram stars, scaring off the A&R men.

The last gig listing we have found to date was on 19 March ’65, when The Primevals supported the Mark Leeman Five at the Methodist Youth Club, but there was a farewell concert at The Stoke Hotel, where Franklin switched from his kit to bongos and, ex-Stormsville Shaker, Dick “Fancy” Forcey took up the sticks. Although, we are aware of images of Primevals playing the Wooden Bridge, Guildford in ’67 with Forcey on drums.

After leaving the band Andrews went on to form The Geoff Andrews Group and run a garage. Franklin became a journalist but was offered drumming positions at a Paris nightclub and touring with a band around Germany. Roberts went on to form and play with The Quik, who released three singles on Deram Records in ’67 and have appeared on over 30 compilations since. In the early 70’s he was with Southampton based Iguana, staying with them when they morphed into The Jess Roden Band in the mid-70s.

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