Outside of London we played various places in Surrey, Caesar’s Palace in Birmingham but never strayed too far. Also played at The Pontiac Club in Putney, the Establishment in Soho, Flamingo and a lot of Universities in London. We were a resident band at London’s Marque Club and the UFO Club also The Round House Camden town, The 100 Club Oxford St. Mick and Terry put the words to my ideas. The main picture uses the head of the “Charioteer of Delphi”. The cover was done by Philips’ inhouse design group, based on my discussions. The cover artwork is absolutely stunning. As I couldn’t speak French I used my imagination to think up the ideas for songs such as “My Mind Cries”, “Thor the Thunder God”, “Magic Potion”, “Horses & Chariots”, “Before My Time” and “Cast a Spell”. I had a set of French graphics Sci-Fi books. I wanted to get away from the soppy songs like “Dear Louise” and become more edgy. Mick would come up with a song, Terry would say “Let’s do it this way” then I would say “No, let’s do it this way” eventually the song would be structured. I would really love if you could comment songs from the album.Ĭan’t comment on all of them, but most of the music was composed and put together during rehearsals. How was the LP distributed and how many copies were pressed? Our manager’s son, stopped the recording to announce that his dad (our manager) had died and then just walked off!
It was recorded at Philips studios in Stanhope Place, Kensington. Our producer was Johnny Franz who produced Dusty Springfield and Scott Walker. What do you remember from recording and producing your LP? You released “Horses and Chariots” / “Before My Time” and “Magic Potion” / “Cast a Spell” and an LP back in 1969 on Philips Records. She said “Why not call it The Open Mind” because she said she didn’t understand my way of life but had to have an open mind. I told her I needed to think of a new name for the band and was thinking up all sorts of weird things. How did you decide to use the name “The Open Mind”? It goes well with the spirit of the times. Armada gradually faded away in the mid-70s. Me, Terry, Garry Window and Steve Florence were the members (plus a drummer, who I can’t remember the name of) and we played progressive jazz at The Electric Garden, Happening, 100 Club. Was “Armada” a temporary name for the band?Īrmada was after the Open Mind folded. Was there any line-up change when you decided to become The Open Mind? We also backed Alexis Korner, Cyril Davies and Brownie McGhee. We were also last-minute replacements at The Crawdaddy, if the band didn’t show up. We covered mainly Motown stuff and R&B (Chuck Berry etc).
On the bill were bands such as Unit 4+2 and The Small Faces. Yes, we played mainly in London clubs such as The Flamingo, the Playboy Club, Cafe des Artistes in Chelsea, and The Pontiac to name a few. To my knowledge, it was never played on the radio nor was it for sale to the general public. It was released as a single and played in clubs around London and the counties. It was recorded as a demo for our agent to promote the band. “Day and Night” / “Get Out of My Way” was released on Go! label in 1967. I took up the bass because the original bass player left – sorry not much inspiration there! Originally I was singer in a band called the Apaches, then I was guitarist, then bass player. When did you start playing bass and what did inspire you to do so? I remember as a child, in Putney, with friends investigating bomb sites. We then moved to Putney, London when I was four. We moved to Tooting, London when I was two.
My father was Chief Petty Officer at HMS Duke, a land based naval station during the war. The Open Mind interview with Timothy Dufeu The Open Mind released a wonderful slice of British psychedelia in 1969 on Philips Records.
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