Blues Singer (1966)

This terrible quality photograph shows the Beatles with Beryl in the hotel room in Barcelona

 

Blues Singer

By Steve James

The Eastern Evening News

January 1, 1966

    Christmas usually sees blue singer Beryl Bryden paying a visit to Norwich to see her folk in Branksome Road, and she managed to fit in her usual stay this time, though her engagements made it a bit more fleeting than usual. 

    I managed to get a few words with her before she left on her way to sing in an American Air Force camp. Though she's getting plenty of work, particularly in the clubs up north, she mourned that "nobody wants to record jazz now", and when I asked her about TV and radio dates, I was a bit surprised to hear her say she's had only a couple or so of these in the past year-- for she's one of the country's leading blue singers, after all.

     But whatever the situation over here, they certainly appreciate the Bryden Blues on the continent. Why? Beryl has been taped for the Dutch pirate radio, Radio Veronica! "We did five numbers in three hours," she recalled.

     I've seen Beryl praised in French, Belgian, Dutch, and German papers before, but this time she's added another language to her cutting book. It's Spanish. "Una cantate de mucho peso" ran one headline following Beryl's appearance in Spain. She told me that the words meant "a weighty singer" the reference being to her not inconsiderable poundage, rather than to the nature of her songs. 

    I also noticed a reference to "Una tablar de laver" which is the washboard on which Beryl makes the rhythm sizzle. Another headline was an odd mixture of German and English, "Happy jazz mit Beryl Bryden". No translation needed!

     But Beryl's outstanding memory of recent months is meeting the Beatles when they sang in Barcelona and hearing one of them greet her with, "Hi, Beryl, where's your washboard?"

     They remembered seeing her in the Hamburg club at which they were playing in the days before they found fame. 

    After their performance in the Barcelona bullring, The Beatles invited Beryl to join them at their hotel. There, they got her to sing "Moving On" and persuaded her to fetch her washboard from her own hotel and join them in an informal session. George and Paul were on guitars, John on harmonica, and Ringo played the maracas. 

    Beryl gave me a crisp summary of the personalities of the individual Beatles. "John-- intelligent, witty. Paul --he's sweet, a charmer. George --rather quiet until he opens up. Ringo-- makes dry remarks."