Mick Hutchinson

Barely Appreciated

MICK HUTCHINSON
 

This month’s last-minute replacement as the Under-Appreciated Rock Band of the Month is the Sons of Fred.  Bandmembers in the Sons of Fred were Ray Redway (lead vocals), Alan “Boh” Bohling (rhythm guitar and vocals), Mick Hutchinson (lead guitar), Pete Sears (bass guitar), and Tim Boyle (drums).  Alan Bohling wrote 5 of the 6 songs on their three singles; “Baby What You Want Me To Do” is the Jimmy Reed blues standard.  Pete Sears was just 16 when he joined the band.  The Sons of Fred are described by Allmusic as an “obscure but intense British beat band”. 

 

There is some misinfomation out there about the Sons of Fred – such as the caption on the above photograph – and I found a letter from Pete Sears that was reprinted on the Radio London website at:

www.radiolondon.co.uk/rl/scrap60/fabforty/65fabs/jun65/fab130665/fab130665.html .  Much of what I am presenting in this post is based on this letter.  Contrary to what Allmusic saysthe Sons of Fred are not from the coastal town of Great Yarmouth.  The band was actually based in Dulwich and Beckenham, where Ray Redway and Alan Bohling were from.  Mick Hutchinson and Tim Boyle were from Chislehurst, while Pete Sears grew up in Hayes, near Bromley.  However, Sears does not know where the band name the Sons of Fred came from.  Also, the Sons of Fred are not at all related to another band called Odyssey, despite what is shown on Allmusicalong with plenty of other Internet sites. 

 

While I, I, I Want Your Lovin’” and “She Only Wants a Friend feature the harmony vocals and intricate guitar that are hallmarks of the Hollies’ sound, the band’s R&B roots are still evident on both songs.  The liner notes on the English Freakbeat, Volume 3 CD (probably by Greg Shaw) says that “their three releases are consistently intense, brilliant R&B ravers”.  The Sons of Fred broke up after Mick Hutchinson and Pete Sears left the band. 

 

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In 1966, two of the bandmembers in the Sons of Fred joined an underground psychedelic rock band called Sam Gopal’s Dream.  Sam Gopal is from Malaysia and plays the tabla, a type of drum that often accompanies the sitar in Indian music.  Bandmembers initially were Sam Gopal (tabla), Mick Hutchinson (guitar), and Pete Sears (bass guitar); a little later, Andy Clark was added on organ. 

 

Sam Gopal’s Dream performed at The 14 Hour Technicolor Dream, the benefit concert mentioned earlier for the International Times underground newspaper, and also at the UFO Club.  To date, the recordings made by Sam Gopal’s Dream for Screen Gems Records in 1967 remain unreleased. 

 

After Sam Gopal broke up in 1968Mick Hutchinson and Andy Clark recorded three albums under the name Clark-HutchinsonHutchinson also played guitar and bass guitar on the 1980 album Tennis by English singer-songwriter Chris Rea, who is best known in America for his 1978 hit “Fool (If You Think it’s Over)”.  Along with Magic DragonMick Hutchinson was later involved in the creation of the four-CD box set, The Woody Guthrie Story that was released in 2000

 

(March 2014/2)

 

Last edited: March 22, 2021