Vinyl Relics: If Only For A Moment by Blossom Toes
Vinyl Relics: If Only For A Moment by Blossom Toes
If Only For A Moment by Blossom Toes
The Gravediggers had a difficult decision to make. They knew they were being stretched too thin. The four factory workers couldn’t continue with their day job and their night gigs in the band, it was going to have to be one or the other. Two of them decided that a steady paycheque that afforded them a warm place to sleep and food on the table was simply too attractive a proposition to pass up. The two Brians – Brian Belshaw (aka “Big Brian”) and Brian Godding (“Little Brian”) chose the path less travelled to try and make it in the music biz.
They recruited new members and changed their name from the rather generic Gravediggers to something even worse: The Ingoes, taken from a Chuck Berry instrumental titled “In-Go.” Slowly they started making the rounds through the London clubs, trying at one point to gain the attention of Giorgio Gomelsky. Gomelsky, at the time, was a huge figure in the British music scene. He had briefly managed The Stones, was the owner of the famous Crawdaddy Club, was a record producer and would later start his own label. At the time he crossed paths with The Ingoes, he was managing The Yardbirds and producing their records.
When The Ingoes put their name forward as possible consideration for Gomelsky to manage as well, his response was “piss off and come back when you’ve got yourselves together”. With that note of encouragement, the band accepted a three week residency at a club in Germany. There they played five 30 minute sets a night which helped them tighten up their sound. Upon their return to London they continued playing the clubs and even backed Sonny Boy Williamson on some of his gigs, like The Animals and The Yardbirds had done before them.
While all this was happening, a young guitarist named Jim Cregan was just beginning his incredible career. Now, you may not be familiar with the name Jim Cregan, but I guarantee you know his work. For a couple of decades, Jim would become a sideman to one of rock’s biggest stars. He co-wrote some of his hits and produced others. Huge songs that you could easily recognize and sing along to. Rod Stewart is even the godfather to his children, and Jim was best man at his wedding – one of them anyways. Jim co-wrote “Forever Young,” “Passion” and “Tonight I’m Yours,” just to name a few.
Blossom Toes
Jim was kind enough to join me for Epysode 53 of the Vinyl Relics podcast discussing Blossom Toes, but I had to ask him about his time with Rod The Mod too. Stewart’s first few albums were essentially backed by his band, The Faces. But after leaving them, it was time to strike out completely on his own.
“It was a very interesting time”, Jim said. “I was in the first rendition of the Rod Stewart band. We were partners in that we wrote the music, we did the videos, we played the shows”.
Jim’s walls are lined with gold and platinum records from his days with Rod and from some of his production, too. But that was really “phase two” of his career. Long before that, he was just another London kid with a guitar.
In a familiar story, he got a guitar and music quickly supplanted his interest over everything else, including school. “In those days, people listened to records endlessly. Music was so, so important. We had nothing else. We couldn’t afford to go to the cinema, there was no video, television was useless, so if you wanted to communicate with your fellow teenagers, it was music all the time”.
With a couple of school buddies, he started a band which at that time primarily focused on instrumentals – songs like The Ventures “Walk Don’t Run” were in their repetoire. Jim said “I didn’t know any chords. Once I knew how to tune the thing, all I did was play melodies. Once I met up with a guy from school who knew some chords, he became the rhythm player and I became the lead player simply because I didn’t know what a chord was. And we started a little band called The Falcons”.
Eventually as other members of The Falcons left to spread their wings, Jim continued on and landed a gig with The Muldoons. They recorded one single in 1965, a cool slice of Brit mod/R&B titled “I’m Lost Without You” (seriously, check that out, it’s pretty groovy). The Muldoons didn’t last long, and Jim then started a new group called The Dissatisfied Blues Band. They were making the rounds in the London clubs until eventually they found themselves at the famous Marquee, opening for The Yardbirds. It was there that Jim was first introduced to The Ingoes and their manager Giorgio Gomelsky. Yes, by this time The Ingoes had finally won Gomelsky over. Jim was recruited into the band and they were immediately dispatched to France for another residency there.
They recorded some tracks – a mix of covers and originals and were making headway in Germany, Italy and France. They even recorded French and Italian-sung versions of The Beatles “Help” to appease their ever-growing fan base. After a few months in France, Gomelsky brought them back to London as he felt is was time for them to make a record. By now he had started Marmalade Records and signed the boys to his label.
A couple of changes were made – first, a change in drummers. Next, a change in name. Against the bands wishes, at Gomelsky’s insistence they were now Blossom Toes. Lastly, a change in sound. Jim: “He was changing us into a pop group, even though we didn’t think of ourselves as a pop group”.
Blossom Toes
Blossom Toes first album, We Are Ever So Clean was released in November of 1967. Immediately it drew comparisons to Sgt. Pepper, which was released a couple of months prior. “It came out shortly after Sgt. Pepper, and people said ‘oh, they listened to Sgt. Pepper and then they made this record’”, Jim said. “Of course, anyone who knows anything about making records knows that’s pretty well impossible. We were making the record, maybe three months before they started on Sgt. Pepper and we were not aware of it, we didn’t know any of The Beatles, we didn’t know anyone at Abbey Road. We were making ours and they were making theirs. Theirs came out a few months before and everyone said ‘oh, you copied them’, but of course that was a lot of bollocks. They had no influence on us whatsoever. Everything we did came out of our own daft heads”.
We Are Ever So Clean today is regarded highly among psych fans and was included on Record Collector’s 100 Greatest Psychedelic Albums. Music journalist Ritchie Unterberger called it “one of the happiest, most under-appreciated relics of British psychedelia”. Highlights are a-plenty, with songs like “Look At Me I’m You”, “The Watchmaker” and more.
Despite its strengths, the album sold poorly. With Gomelsky’s attempt to move the band in a poppier direction having failed, the band put their foot down and demanded their second album be more true to their sound.
If Only For A Moment was released in July of 1969 and features a decidedly heavier sound. So radical in fact, you would hardly recognize the two albums were recorded by the same band. Jim said simply, “it was a whole other band”.
The album kicks off with “Peace Loving Man”, and the opening riff is so heavy, it wouldn’t sound totally out of place on a Black Sabbath record. Later the track does however incorporate a much poppier chorus, hearkening back a little to the sound of their first album. And this sets a theme of sorts with this record – shifting genres. Stylistically, they’re all over the place here, and the LP as a whole is better for it. Seven of the eight tracks clock in at five minutes long, or just shy of. There isn’t a weak song on the set, with Brian Godding’s and Jim’s writing mixing well with one another. There’s also some great harmony guitar playing, which was a part of their signature sound on stage. “Wait A Minute” is a great example of this. Jim explained that they worked on this while in France when they were living across the street from the club they had a residency at. They’d go in to rehearse during the day, “just to annoy the cleaners”, and that was when they perfected their style of guitar counterpoint, playing off each other.
Their first album was only pressed in Europe. If Only For A Moment saw a little more promotion with Canada being added to the pressings, but oddly not the states. As a Canadian, I can say with good authority that that is rather strange. Usually a popular album would be pressed in both countries, while less popular ones – like Blossom Toes – would be pressed in the states only, with a few copies here and there trickling across the border. Why this occurred in the reverse is hard to say. What’s even stranger is that even though both Toes albums are highly regarded (AllMusic guide gave them both 4.5 stars out of 5), still to this day, neither have yet to see an official American reissue on CD or LP. It’s no wonder they are virtually unknown there.
After the album’s release, the band continued touring to support it. They played several festivals and were really starting to get noticed. Sadly a car accident turned out to be the catalyst that ended up splitting the band apart. Travelling together in a Volkswagen bug, they hit some black ice. The car flipped over and was spinning like a top right into oncoming traffic. Thankfully they all survived, but the band ultimately did not.
Jim said the car accident “really shook the band up”, and ultimately the two Brians decided they wanted to go down a different musical path. They formed a new group called B.B. Blunder and released one album titled Worker’s Playtime that featured guest performances by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and Mick Tayler. This album saw a re-release in the 80’s under the title New Day and was billed as “Blossom Toes (formerly B.B. Blunder)”. As a result, it’s often considered the third Toes album. Though that’s not entirely accurate, it is an album worth exploring for anyone who digs the Toe’s sound. Blunder didn’t last long, and Brian Godding moved into a decidedly more jazz style, working with several bands and issuing solo records in that style until his death in 2023.
Blossom Toes - If Only For A Moment back cover
Jim was fantastic to chat with as his story is pretty incredible. Those in the industry that know him as Rod’s sideman typically have no idea of the fantastic music he made before that gig. According to Jim, his son thinks his time with the Toes produced the best music of his life. I tend to agree.
The tale of this band is quite interesting, lead by their really innovative sound – a band this good should have gotten more recognition. Check out their story by tuning in, turning on and dropping by the Vinyl Relics podcast on all pod platforms. You can hear the full discussion with Jim and we do a track by track dive into the Moment LP where he provides insight into the writing and recording. My hope is that more people discover this band as a result.
I hope you dig If Only For a Moment as much as I do.
– Farmer John
Farmer John’s Vinyl Relics Podcast – Epysode #53
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