Alan Warner (aka Allan Warner) (born 21 April 1947, Paddington in West London, England) is an English musician who has been active from around the mid-1960s. He was a member of groups such as The Ramong Sound, The Foundations, Pluto, and The Polecats.
Alan Warner was born to parents John and Mary Warner on April 21, 1947, in Paddington. Warner is the youngest child of four children (two brothers and a sister).[1]
As a boy he originally wanted to play trumpet but ended up with a toy accordion. He started playing guitar at the age of 11, after his parents bought him a cheap Spanish guitar for Christmas, and he soon realised, listening to the twangy tones of Duane Eddy, Hank Marvin, The Ventures, he wanted to do music professionally.[2]
At some stage he was employed as a printer.[1] According to the back cover of the Foundations' album Digging the Foundations (1969), Warner is 5ft 4in.[3] In 1967, he was living in Elstree, Hertfordshire with his parents.[1] Alan claims to have made guitars out of old bed frames.[1]
Musical career
In the early 1960s, after leaving school at the age of fourteen, Warner played with several semi-professional groups playing local gigs, before becoming a professional musician two years later. Some of the groups he played in were The Leesiders Sect, The Skeletones and The Line-up, a popular Dublin-based group.
His first band was called The Select, a band that mainly covered Rnb songs. The band entered a Beat music competition in 1965, and with a rule that each act had to perform an original song, Warner penned his first song "Red, White And Blue For You".[4]
In 1966, Warner placed an ad in a music magazine looking for work in a band. Soul music was coming into England and thought it would be nice to join a soul type band.[6] He got a reply and then passed an audition with a black band who were playing all over London.[7] He got another call and turned up a pub at Edmonton where the band was. The band didn't have any gigs but Warner felt that they had some great ideas.[8] So for some reason, he decided to go with the Ramong,[9] and became a member of The Ramong Sound,[4] a soul and ska group fronted by Raymond Morrison AKA Ramong which also featured Clem Curtis on vocals.[10][11] Another member was Nigerian born star trumpeter, Mike Falana.[12][13] They ended up leasing the Butterfly club.[14] Warner would be present though the band's name changes and evolution.[15] Morrison ended up being imprisoned for six months.[16][17] They did try and enlist Rod Stewart and they jammed with him but Stewart was heading into other genres. They did manage to have Arthur Brown in their group for a couple of months[11] where he shared lead with Clem Curtis before kicking off his own band the Crazy World of Arthur Brown.[18]
The Foundations
They were eventually discovered by Ron Fairway who managed the group, The Ways and Means Fairway introduced them to a businessman called Barry Class.[11][19] This group apparently were offered the chance to record "Baby Now That I've Found You" but felt that it wasn't for them. So, The Foundations with Clem Curtis on lead vocals and Warner on guitar recorded it and it became a massive hit.[20]
Warner co-wrote "New Direction" with Peter Macbeth and Tony Gomesz, which was included on the B side of their hit "Build Me Up Buttercup"[21][22] which was released in the earlier part of November, 1968.[23]
Digging the Foundations (album)
By July 1969, the group's album Digging the Foundations had been released. It contained compositions Tony Macaulay and John Macleod as well as compositions by band members, Warner, Pete McBeth, Tony Gomesz, Colin Young, Pat Burke and Eric Allandale.[24]
On Friday 19 July 1969, Warner's Fender Stratocaster was stolen while the group's van was being unloaded in Birmingham. This caused the group to delay their recording of the B side to their single, "Born to Live, Born to Die". As a result, the released of the single was delayed by a week.[27][28]
It had been noted by New Musical Express in the week ending 10 October 1970 that Colin Young, lead singer of The Foundations had left the group to pursue a solo career. He had already entered into a contract with Barry Class and was putting together his new group which was called Development.[29] The group then broke up at the end of the year.[30]
Pluto
With The Foundations having broken up at the end of 1970, Warner had gone on to join the progressive rockband Pluto, who would sign up to the Dawn Label, a subsidiary of PYE.[31] The band was already formed and Warner had come in and replaced the previous guitarist.[32]
The Polecats
It was noted in the February 7, 1983 issue of Record Business that Alan Warner was the new guitarist with the group The Polecats and the group after a year's absence had returned to the scene with a new single, "Make A Circuit With Me".[33]
Reconnection with Foundations members
Warner later teamed up with original Foundations lead singer Clem Curtis to re-cut the original Foundations hits.[34] The result was Greatest Hits released on Double Play GRF176 in or around 1994. The recordings were produced and arranged by Keith Bateman and besides Warner on guitar and Curtis on lead vocals, featured Andy Bennett on Drums and Vince Cross on keyboards.[35][36]
In the late 1990s, due to the popularity of the hit film, There's Something About Mary and the revived interest in the song, "Build Me Up Buttercup", Warner reformed a version of The Foundations that featured Colin Young, and another former Foundations member, Steve Bingham. After Colin Young left another singer Hue Montgomery was brought in to front the group.[37] and they toured throughout the UK and down under in Australia.[citation needed]
Alan Warner's Foundations
In 2012, Warner and his Foundations had planned to take a mini tour. The exercise proved to be a success that they added more dates which included a date in Borehamwood in February.[38]
In May 2014, Warner's Foundations which was made up of himself on guitar and backing vocals, Hue Montgomery on lead vocals, Dave Lennox on keyboards, John Dee on bass and backing vocals, Pete Stroud on drums, Nick Payn on saxophone, and Matt Winch on trumpet were set to undertake the Superstars of Soul Tour which was to continue until August. Other artists were Geno Washington and Jaki Graham.[39]
An article about Warner and his Foundations ensemble appeared in the 8 February 2020 issue of the Ilkley Gazette. They were booked to appear at the King’s Hall at 7pm Friday, 28 February. The line up at the time was Hue Montgomery on lead vocals, Alan Warner on lead guitar and backing vocals, Paul Hirsch on keyboards, Roger Nicholas on bass and backing vocals, Pete Stroud on drums, Nick Payn on saxophone and Backing Vocals), and Matt Winch on Trumpet.[40]
As of August 2022, Warner was still playing venues with Hue Montgomery as the vocalist for his version of The Foundations.[41]
Further activities
In 2010, his book 100 Lead Licks For Guitar was published.[42] In January, 2017, Warner, Iain Houndog Terry and other artists were appearing at the Back In Our Rock ‘N’ Roll Days show which was headlined 1960s star Billie Davis known for the hit "Tell Him".[43]
Warner got together with bassist Roger Nicolas, vocalist Terry Rice-Milton, tambourine player Martyn McCoy, backing vocalist Nancy Ann Lee, drummer Tristan Long and vocalist Stefan Long. And from different locations they recorded their version of the Frank Wilson northern soul classic "Do I Love You". The clip was uploaded to Youtube on 15 January, 2021.[44]
In 2022, the three CD compilation Am I Groovin' You was released on the Cherry Red Records subsidiary, Strawberry (cat# CRJAM011T). The liner notes by Lois Wilson were based on a fresh interview with Warner.[45]
As well as being a musician / guitarist / guitar teacher, Warner is also an author of various guitar instruction books and instructional videos that include How To Play Rock Blues Guitar.[47] The first book he wrote was called The Guitar Cook Book, the first of a succession of about 30 similar books and videos.[48][citation needed] He has also played on releases by Bob Mortimore and The Bobby Graham band.[49]
Publications
The Blues Guitar, By Alan Warner, Published by Waltons Mnf. Ltd, (1986)[50]
The Guitar Cookbook, By Alan Warner (Not officially published. Sold at venues)[51][citation needed]
100 Lead Licks For Guitar, By Alan Warner, Omnibus Music Sales Limited, 2010 - ISBN9781849383875[42]
How to Play Electric Blues Guitar, By Alan Warner - Music Sales America (January 1, 2000) - ISBN978-0825617935[52]
Country Guitar Licks: Start Playing Series by Alan Warner - Music Sales America (2000) - ISBN978-0825617867[53]
The Rascals are an American rock band, formed in Garfield, New Jersey, United States, in 1965.
The Tornados were an English instrumental rock group of the 1960s that acted as backing group for many of record producer Joe Meek's productions and also for singer Billy Fury. They enjoyed several chart hits in their own right, including the UK and US no. 1 "Telstar", the first US no. 1 single by a British group.
The Foundations were a British soul band who were primarily active between 1967 and 1970. The group's background was: West Indian, White British and Sri Lankan. Their 1967 debut single "Baby Now That I've Found You" reached number one in the UK and Canada, and number eleven in the US. Their 1968 single "Build Me Up Buttercup" reached number two in the UK and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. The group was the first multi-racial group to have a number one hit in the UK in the 1960s.
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The Grass Roots are an American rock band that charted frequently between 1965 and 1975. The band was originally the creation of Lou Adler and songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri. In their career, they achieved two gold albums and two gold singles, and charted singles on the Billboard Hot 100 a total of 21 times. Among their charting singles, they achieved Top 10 three times, Top 20 six times and Top 40 14 times. They have sold over 20 million records worldwide.
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"If You Have to Ask" is a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers from their 1991 studio album Blood Sugar Sex Magik. It was released as the album's fifth and final single in 1993.
"Baby, Now That I've Found You" is a song written by Tony Macaulay and John Macleod, and performed by the Foundations. Part of the song was written in the same bar of a Soho tavern where Karl Marx is supposed to have written Das Kapital. The lyrics are a plea that an unnamed subject not break up with the singer.
"Build Me Up Buttercup" is a song written by Mike d'Abo and Tony Macaulay, and released by The Foundations in 1968 with Colin Young singing lead vocals. Young had replaced Clem Curtis during 1968, and this was the first Foundations hit on which he sang.
Clem Curtis was a Trinidadian British singer, who was the original lead vocalist of sixties soul group the Foundations.
The Ramong Sound was a British R&B, soul and ska band, active from 1965 to 1966.
Clive Chaman is a UK-based bass guitarist and session musician, born in Trinidad and Tobago.
Colin Young is an English singer who led Joe E. Young & The Toniks in the 1960s. He is mainly known for being a member of the British soul band the Foundations. He also led a progressive rock band and was part of a hit making dance band of the 1980s.
Steve Bingham is an English bass guitarist, best known for being in the band The Foundations in 1970, and remaining with them until their break-up.
Mike Elliott is a Jamaican-born British saxophonist. He played on ska recordings in the early 1960s and on pop and soul music hits in the late 1960s. He is best known as a co-founding member of the British band The Foundations, and played on their hit singles "Baby, Now That I've Found You" and "Build Me Up Buttercup".
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Clem Curtis & the Foundations were an English soul, R&B recording and performing act who were fronted by Clem Curtis. They were formed some years after the Foundations broke up. They were entrants in the 1977 UK Eurovision contest. They also had a chart hit with "On Broadway" in 1980. One of their early members would go on to be a member of the Glitter Band. One would later join the band Hot Chocolate and another would go on to be a member of the funk band Heatwave. At times, the group would alternate between the names Clem Curtis & the Foundations, and the Foundations.
Development was a progressive rock and pop band fronted by Colin Young, former lead singer of The Foundations. They were signed to Barry Class' Trend record label. The original Foundations had broken up in late 1970 and this new group would alternate between calling themselves Development and The Foundations.
Digging the Foundations is the final studio album by English soul group the Foundations. The album includes two of the group's hits, "In the Bad, Bad Old Days" and "My Little Chickadee". The album was released in the UK on the Pye label in 1969. There would be various issues relating to the album that would be a cause of concern for the group.
Barry Class is an entrepreneur, former music store chain owner, band manager, record label founder, musical director, producer and recording studio owner. His greatest success as a manager was with the soul group The Foundations. He also managed the group The World of Oz, Swegas and others.
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