Julius Thurgood. Not only cars but more Guitars and Stars. ELO, Wizard, Elton John, Paul Kossoff . . . . .

 As I said in part one, Julius is mainly known for historic car racing.

That said, his following email was also very interesting, with little mentioned about the cars.

What a colourful past he has! 👍

More from Julius. . . . . .

I did the COYS ROCK sales for a couple of years. I have always bought and sold guitars, more as a hobby than a business – trading up and down on various finds.

 Actually, I am not a player at all. My first ‘kit’ Fenton Weill got me interested in the construction of guitars and that went through a few modifications before parting with it with a ‘Dixson’ headstock logo (Family name). Sold to a guitar shop in Putney for £24.00. So, it was the engineering of guitars (or lack of it in many cases) that interested me.

 Being in and around Ealing, I also knew the late, great, Chris Eccleshall and commissioned a guitar from him – a double cut Les Paul Special body with a single John Birch pickup. I never actually took possession of it as It was spotted by a member of ‘MUD’ or ‘THE SWEET’ (memory fails me as to which group) whilst still with Chris and I was able to pay back the bank loan that I had taken out to buy it!

 Later I worked at Photogram Studios in Marble Arch. Spurred on by my close mate from Ealing, Bob Potter, who was a recording engineer/producer at Island Records. Bob worked with a wide and eclectic range of artists from Jimmy Cliff, Marianne Faithful to Paul Kossoff’s Back Street Crawler Albums. I sat in on many historic recording sessions back then thanks to Bob. Not sure what happened to Bob, sadly we lost touch a few decades ago. Whilst at Photogram, I too worked with a wide range of artists. Bo Diddley, the original ELO, Wizard, Elton John, Stephane Grappelli and even Val Doonican! Great days!

 I have attached a few more photos:

Bob Potter – where is he now? 

Does anyone know where Bob Potter is now??

I am pretty certain that Julius would appreciate any help. Google Julius for an email contact and drop him a line, if you can help.

Ned Callan SG work in progress with Brian and Mike Eastwood. Finished result is testimony to the Eastwoods’ magic.

A Watkins Rapier. No: 1380. Fixed neck. No truss rod. Bought covered completely in thick white gloss house paint. When removing the paint, I found the hippy doodles on it and managed to preserve them. Scratch plate and pickup make by the Eastwoods to my order. Will surely annoy Watkins enthusiasts with OCD for originality, but I think it works well. 😉

Dallas guitar from my archives. I’ve owned a couple in the past.

 Hope that this feedback is of interest.

Do pass on my best wishes to Peter when you next speak to him.

My biggest regret in collecting old guitars was not buying a mint, cased, Peter Cook double-neck at a Northern Guitar Show for £750.00!

Have been kicking myself ever since! 😉

All the best,

Julius.

So the Peter Cook connection is a strong one. Tom Newman, The Tomcats, Ted McDowell and of that era, Sid Watkins.  

There may be a sort of part III to this, so I may add something to it.

So, Best sit tight and I'll come back to you as soon as I can

Cheers. 😎

Julius Thurgood. Cars, Guitars, Ned Callan, Peter Cook, Peter green, Tom Newman and a whole load more!!

 Well, this is indeed a bumper packed post!!

I know of Julius Thurgood from a classic car perspective and on the racetrack, as well as his involvement with The Historic Racing Drivers Club.

Historic Racing Drivers Club

I had a contact from him regarding a Ned Callan and the following email contained some very interesting content and details. Well written and entertaining, I got a second one with even more info and images.

I asked if I could post it up on the blog, as I knew there would be interest in his  story and images. . . . so here we go. . . . take it away, Julius! 👌

Hello Eric.

 Good to make contact with you.

Have always enjoyed your blog!

 NED CALLAN

I was brought up in West London and consequently hung around with the likes of Ted McDowell who occasionally played with Tom Newman and the Tomcats (Ealing Town Hall gigs) and worked for Peter Cook.

Tempo Music in West Ealing was a regular haunt and that’s where I saw the early Ned Callan guitars (including a green Les Paul that Peter Cook had made). Hence my interest in ‘Ealing’ guitars.

I always wanted to add to my small Fenton Weill collection (I bought my first Fenton Weill guitar as a schoolboy from Henry Weill in ‘kit’ form for £5.00. Fenton Weill’s emporium was close to my school), as Peter Cook has always been a bit of a guitar hero.

I later went to work for Sid Watkins at Watkins Electrical Music (a short-lived employment!).

I’ve owned the Ned Callans for a quite few years and the SG-shaped version has just been restored by Brian Eastwood, having previously been modified with twin humbuckers and a horrendous Perspex custom scratch plate. We took a lot of care to restore it correctly and Brian has made a lovely job of it.

The Salisbury has survived in original condition. However, it is currently in storage and I do not have better photos of it to hand.

 I used to run the ‘COYS ROCK’ guitar sales.

Notable guitars were one of the John Entwistle Fender Jazz basses and the ex-Duster Bennet / Peter Green / Eric Clapton / BB King / Muddy Waters 1952 Gold Top Les Paul, which I think is now in a French Collection.

 My collection has been considerably thinned down as my son swapped quite a few in a deal to obtain his stunning 1963 Gibson 335. But I drew the line at my Ned Callan and Fenton Weill guitars going in that deal!

All the best,

Julius.

Well, that will do for part one - Part two will be posted as soon as I can.

Cheers. 😊