Forty years of fun and friendship came to an end in April with the sad death of the Good Old Boys vocalist Alan Barratt. It was back in 1982 that I was first introduced to Alan’s amazing voice. The band, in 1979, was now working with its fourth singer who had ambitions to be a soloist, and so the search was on for a replacement. It was saxophonist Tony Hall who provided the answer. Tony, together with Sid Phillips was part of the ace saxophone duo who worked with Chas ‘n’ Dave and Cliff Bennett’s Rebel Rousers. On their nights off they would sit in with the Good Old Boys. Tony mentioned Alan’s name and so we invited him to come along to our next gig. He sat in one Sunday evening for three or four songs and electrified the audience with a stunning performance of raucous rock ‘n’ roll. From that moment we knew that we had found the right man to front the band and so, after parting company with our current singer, joined Pete Parks, Carlo Little and myself in a musical partnership that was to last for over forty years. I soon discovered that Alan had grown up in the same area as I had. We both went to the same school, knew many of the same people, both hung out in Jim Marshall’s music shop, yet astonishingly we had never met! It’s soon became obvious that Alan was a great asset to the group, with a great image and a voice that was amazing. The females who came to our gigs loved his craggy good looks and wavy hair, often comparing him to the great Tom Jones! His powerful voice was equally at home with a slow ballad, an up-tempo country song or with his great love, old time rock ‘n’ roll!

 

Over the years our partnership went from strength to strength. Sadly, Carlo Little passed away in 2005 and three more great drummers passed through the ranks until the Strawbs’ Richard Hudson joined us. Ace guitar picker Alex Chanter also joined her several years before introducing us to the amazing Simon Bishop. This was the final Good Old Boys line-up that Alan proudly dubbed ‘The A-Team’. For the next thirty years we had more fun than we ever thought possible, achieving a level of performance that led to the band being in great demand. Alan was a wonderful front man, who could charm a crowd with his friendly easy-going manner and infectious smile and of course, amaze them with the range of his powerful voice. It has been a great privilege to share a stage with Alan for all of these years, fabulous singer, a great friend, and above all a lovely man who will be sadly missed.

Rest in peace Alan.

You can read a potted history of Alan’s musical career from 1967 here.