Artist

The Pathfinders (Birkenhead)

Pictures

History

The Pathfinders originated in the Wirral area of Merseyside circa 1960. They recorded two singles released by Decca and EMI in 1964 and 1965 respectively.

"The Downbeat and Mardi Gras Clubs were owned by local promoter Jim
Ireland. We liked playing there not least because they were licensed
and you could get a pint! People forget that most venues were
un-licensed, you could only get soft drinks or maybe tea and coffee.
This was certainly true of the likes of The Cavern and The Iron Door.
So we'd roll up, unload the gear and then head for the nearest pub.
To put the sums of money into context £ s d of course. In 1964 the
average weekly wage was about £16 and a pint of bitter cost about 1s
6d. So our TV appearance on RSW (14/7/64) Ready Steady Win! was a big
deal.
The actual gigs:-
Clatterbridge is a Wirral hospital and we played at a private
function for a nurse's party.
WKSC - West Kirby Sailing Club was also a private booking. So you can
see that as well as the clubs and dances we also did private functions
which generally paid better.
These two months give you a good idea of the number of gigs we did
'tho in May we did 19, mostly weekends, some nights we'd do doubles
(two venues) as well as holding down day jobs. Happy days!

We recorded at Decca's London studio on 13/11/64 (released 4/12/64) produced by Mike Smith. The B side of I Love You Caroline was 'Something I Can Always Do.
The Pathfinders in 1964 - Tom Earley, Tony Aldridge, Billy May, Roy Brockhurst and Frank Hopley.

I Love You Caroline, Something I Can Always Do, Don't You Believe It (second single title track) were written by members Tom Earley and Billy May.
I Love You Caroline was written specifically to be used as our (and Radio Caroline's) signature tune.
Our then manager Barry Lloyd, had connections with the station, but in the event The Fortunes won! But we did get plenty of air-play on Radio Caroline North. The band split up in 1966 - but all that's another story!

Demo recording details:

I’m Ashamed (May)
Recorded March 1964 Curly Clayton’s Studio, Highbury, North London
Unreleased Produced by Curly Clayton.

Tom Earley (rhythm, vocals)
Billy May (lead, vocals)
Roy Brockhurst (bass, vocals)
Tony Aldridge (drums)
John Hinton (piano, Melodica)

Lonely Room (Carter, Ford, Lewis) / Love, Love, Love (Carter, Ford, Lewis)

Recorded early summer 1965 IBC Studios, Portland Place, London
Unreleased Produced by Shel Talmy

Tom Earley (rhythm, vocals)
Billy May (lead, vocals)
Roy Brockhurst (bass, vocals)
Tony Aldridge (drums)
Kingsley Foster (organ)

I’ll Always Love You (Stevenson, Hunter) / Come Back Baby (Lewis, Lisi)

Recorded 9/3/66 EMI Abbey Road Studios, London NW8
Unreleased Produced by David R. Gooch

Tom Earley (rhythm, vocals)
Billy May (lead, vocals)
Roy Brockhurst (bass, vocals)
Tony Aldridge (drums)

Location

Merseyside.

Members

Tom Earley (vocals, rhythm guitar), Billy May (vocals, Lead guitar), Roy Brockhurst (vocals, bass guitar), Tony Aldridge (drums), John Hinton (piano), Frank Hopley (piano), Kingsley Foster (organ).

Copyright Notices

The text was submitted by Tony Aldridge, 2012.

Further information can be found at:

http://www.wix.com/ruffprods/the-pathfinders-web#!__home-page

All recorded and photographic material kindly supplied by Tony Aldridge

Special thanks to: Tony Aldridge