1960s

The ‘60s witnessed the birth of Sussex when, in 1961, the University welcomed its first cohort of students. Shortly afterwards, The British Invasion saw the emergence of beat groups like the Beatles and the more blues-influenced Rolling Stones. The popularity of psychedelia and imported US blues and folk music also laid the foundations for many of the bands and artists who played at Sussex, at a time when University campuses were heavily targeted by music promoters.

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Chuck Berry

"One highlight was Chuck Berry. I nearly didn't go as it was double the normal entry price - but jolly glad that I did as he was an amazingly consummate performer.  Before he came on stage there was a black bloke leaning against the wall at the back of the old refectory.  My friend Colin said "that's Chuck Berry" I said "can't be but let's go ask". We asked him if he was Chuck and he said "sure am, man", so he shook hands with us - a treasured memory." - Peter Sampson (MAPS 1966)

"I saw Chuck Berry, even by then a veteran, and still performing recently at over 80 years of age." - Bob Davis (SOC 1964)

"*THE* thing about the Chuck Berry concert was the clever lighting. Chuck always did his trademark duckwalk, and the lighting was set to project a shadow of him doing that onto one of the walls of the (then) Refectory.  Utterly amazing." - Stephen Carter (MAPS 1965)

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Cream

December 1966, Falmer House

"We had expected The Who, but they pulled out and Cream (Eric Clapton's short-lived 'supergroup' with Ginger Baker & Jack Bruce) came instead." - Rupert Nichol (CCS 1966)

"We were lucky our Freshers dance in 1966 in Falmer house [hosted] the Cream! been an Eric Clapton fan ever since!" - Carol Lashmar (BIOLS 1966)

"Nothing compared to Cream at the 1969 Graduation Ball. I remember the light show, which at its climax gave a very convincing impression that Falmer House had caught fire. Some hysteria followed..." - Professor Alan Marsh OBE (SOC 1966)

"The very first band that I saw was a small 3-piece combo that had just formed. If I remember correctly their booking fee was a mere £90. The band was Cream. I can remember standing right down at the front leaning on the stage gazing up at Eric - I was transfixed." - Peter Sampson (MAPS 1966)

"I saw Cream twice in 1966-67. The first was just a regular gig in the refectory in Falmer House, but they were the big thing of the moment. Apparently, the ticket for this gig made the faux pas of printing ‘Eric Clapton and The Cream’ [sic]. The second time was at the 1967 Summer Graduation Ball – when I also remember strawberries and cream being served up in a marquee in Stanmer Park some time between the many acts." - Bob Davis (SOC 1964)

"Cream in the Falmer House Refectory in 1967 were wonderful; I remember Ginger Baker's 20-minute drum solo..." - Jolyon Bone (ENGG 1966)

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Jimi Hendrix

"I helped out with the lighting on the Jimi Hendrix concert in the New Refectory. He came on an hour late at least after drinking rather a lot of whiskey, but don't think it made much difference to the concert in the end!" - Carol Lashmar (BIOLS 1966)

"I also saw Hendrix in Falmer House, that would have been '67 I think. Hendrix was in a bad mood and kept sticking his tongue out at the audience." - Andrew Forrest (AFRAS 1966)

"I was there for the Hendrix gig and climbed gym wall bars to get a good view. He was fantastic. On at the same time in another room was Bonzo Dog Doodah Band who seemed to make up a song about the holes in a string vest when invited to play something they did not know." - John Trory, Hove (John never studied at Sussex, he just attended the concert on campus)

"[The Jimi Hendrix gig] must have been '68 or '69. My friends and I were standing really close to the stage and at the end of the concert, one of the group asked us "would you like to come out after with Jimi and the boys?" My friends were all for going, but I decided against it, imagining that we would probably end up with the stage hands, not with the man himself!" - Gillian Rosner (ENGAM 1967)

"Jimi Hendrix was aggressive and completely off his face!" - Jolyon Bone (ENGG 1966)

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Pink Floyd

February 1967, Falmer House; May 1968

"I was on the balcony in the Old Refectory, Falmer House for the Pink Floyd concert operating the lighting with the jellies for the psychedelic effects on all the walls - great fun." - Carol Lashmar (BIOLS 1966)

"Another memorable gig was the first time that Pink Floyd played. They had draped a huge white sheet over most of the big window at the end of the Old Refectory and there was a chap up in the gallery with a projector and some immiscible coloured fluids (and possibly a blowlamp) creating the first (and best) lightshow that I ever saw (Pink Floyd have a lot to answer for now every bloomin' disco, every wedding party, every do - has a lightshow and always a pale shadow of that first one accompanying Pink Floyd's act that I saw that evening)." - Peter Sampson (MAPS 1966)

"I saw the Floyd play an open air gig outside Falmer House, probably in 1969. It was with David Gilmour rather than Syd Barrett" - Andrew Forrest (AFRAS 1966)

"I do remember seeing Pink Floyd, circa 1966 - they were pretty unknown at the time, and the line up must have included a certain Syd Barrett. It was the first time I’d seen a psychedelic light show, which was impressively timed to coordinate with the beat and rhythm of the music. There was definitely something about this group, and it wasn’t a great surprise to watch their ascent." - Bob Davis (SOC 1964)

"I was an undergraduate student at Sussex from 1971 to 1974. Along with many other Sussex students I went and saw Pink Floyd at the Brighton Dome in January 1972. It turned out to be their first performance of the iconic Dark Side of the Moon. The new sound was great but the electronics went wrong and it broke down in the middle - that sort of thing was commonplace in those days. They did eventually do some of their older pieces like Atom Heart Mother, which was what we were really hoping for that evening. Little did I know that concert was going to be part of music history!" - David Clary (MOLS 1971)

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The folk scene

"I joined the Folk Society at Freshers' Fair. The most memorable performer to come there was Martin Carthy, now one of the grandfathers of the English folk scene but then a very young man. I bought him a pint in the interval I recall - he still owes me one!" - Peter Sampson (MAPS 1966)

"At the Folk Club, I’m fairly certain I saw Tom Paxton, and the great Davy Graham" - Bob Davis (SOC 1964)

"I was at Sussex in the second year of its charter. I was a folk singer  and went on to help run the folk club. I knew performers like Paul Simon, Bert Jansch, John Renbourne and Tom Paxton from singing in folk clubs, so it was natural when I arrived at Sussex to get involved with the Folk Club, then called the Rhythm Club, and to invite them to perform. Shirley Collins, Alex Campbell and Deroll Adams also come to mind. We paid Paul Simon about 5 guineas, and a return trip in Pullman on the Brighton Belle. I think it cost 14/6d. I remember he sang Scarborough Fair with such ease and charm - I realised then that I was never going to be in his class! However, when I bemoaned the material my manager came up with for the record I was due to make, Paul offered to write me a song. Beat poets Mike Horovitz and Pete Brown also performed at Sussex, I think at the behest of the Literary Society."
- Susan Bennett née Rose (EURO 1962)

The Baskervilles were setting up in the Junior Common Room of Falmer House for our spot at the Summer Ball. Our dear leader, rhythm-guitarist Brian Davis, had managed to mislay his plectrum, and no other spare was available. I mentioned that there was a folksinger/guitarist on the bill, consigned to a smaller coffee area for his performance. I was delegated to seek out this performer to request a plectrum, and found him also setting up for his spot. After initial reluctance, and with the promise that it would be returned, he duly handed over a spare plectrum. Sadly the plectrum was never handed back as the performer had left the building by the time we finished our (triumphant!) set. Who was the folksinger short of one plectrum and playing second fiddle to the Baskervilles?  Er, Paul Simon!” - Andy Brentnall (MAPS 1966) (quote courtesy of Mo Foster's book British Rock Guitar)

"Susan Bennett ran the wonderful folk club when I was at Sussex (1963-66). I remember Tom Paxton and Alex Campbell performing, and I also remember Paul Simon at one of the big dances - I sometimes wonder if I imagined this, but I see that other people remember him at Sussex as well!" - Sallie Tangir née Sebba (MAPS 1963)

Folk singer Alex Campbell performs in Falmer House in 1967 (Image: Marc Ansell (MAPS 1966))

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The 60s scene

"Remember? If you can remember the 1960s, you didn't enjoy them enough!" - Professor Alan Marsh OBE (SOC 1966)

"In the late '60s Sussex had developed a reputation in the yellow press for "sex and drugs and Rock&Roll" well I was there from 66-69 there was a small modicum of sex, virtually no drugs - but a lot of awfully good Rock&Roll. We did get the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band for one Summer Ball and they were a hoot. Also memorably excellent was Julie Driscoll singing with Brian Auger's Trinity. We never had the Beatles there but I can still remember the afternoon Sgt Pepper was released - a friend of mine bought a copy that day and we sat all afternoon in front of his record player entranced playing it over and over." - Peter Sampson (MAPS 1966)

"I saw Solomon Burke, Chuck Berry, Alan Price and the Fairport Convention (before Martin Lamble's fatal crash). There was also a tremendous free jazz scene in Brighton and on campus in those days: Chris McGregor, John Surman, Mike Osborne, etc and Dave Holland on bass before he left for Miles Davis in New York. On another occasion a friend who was studying Fine Art with Quentin Bell hired a van and we went up to Middle Earth to see The Crazy World of Arthur Brown." - Andrew Forrest (AFRAS 1966)

"I started with Deep Purple and The Nice in 1968 at the newcomers concert." - Stephen Murray (SOC 1968)

"Perhaps you could mention a concert – which was held in an unbelievably crowded Falmer House JCR – by a US R&B/Soul artist called Garnet Mimms. It was memorable because it was recorded and formed part of his (cleverly named) "Live" album." - Stephen Carter (MAPS 1965)

"The first act of the year was The Nice. The Nice played the autumn 1968 Freshers’ Ball, not that it was remotely a formal affair! This was in what was then called the Refectory Building. My claim to fame was being in touching range of Keith Emerson's electronic organ, though I retreated when he started hurling knives at a board and one bounced back! We did however use the Nice track Brandenburger as the play in/play out music for our monthly student programme on BBC Radio Brighton. The Radio Brighton student team assembled around then, going on air early 1969. It was then Student Union Secretary Barry Jackson who pulled the team together and presented the programme. I did the occasional interview and edited tape, feeding the master tape with the features which went between Barry’s links. Barry made a career in local radio, another member Phill Hill went into technical journalism. I went away for a couple of years after my Physics degree and came back to complete a doctorate and four post-doc years in the Engineering School. I have been lucky enough to return multiple times professionally and watch the University grow and change. It’s still a wonderful campus and the students are still as lively and diverse as ever." - Phillip Willis (MAPS 1968)

"Other groups and artists I saw at Sussex included Steam Packet, featuring Long John Baldry, and with a very young Rod Stewart singing blues, together with Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger and The Trinity; and The Nice, with Keith Emerson jumping around on his organ Little Richard-style. Amongst the blues legends were Sonny Boy Williamson (or at least one of several bluesmen going by that name), circa 1965, backed by the Gary Farr’s T-Bones; and Champion Jack Dupree. There was homegrown music talent too. If you spent a lot of time in the JCR at Falmer House, you couldn’t help but develop a greater appreciation of modern jazz as the University Jazz Trio practiced there most days – the excellent pianist Lynton Naiff, Nick Nicholas (‘Nick the boards’) on bass, Grant Serpell and later Mo Foster on drums." - Bob Davis (SOC 1964)

"At the Christmas Ball we supported Georgie Fame and The Blue Flames. During the afternoon sound-check their diminutive drummer came over to our stage to ask if he could borrow my large tom-tom as he had left his in London. No problem. Six months later I was amazed when I heard that this same drummer – Mitch Mitchell - had joined The Jimi Hendrix Experience." - Mo Foster (MAPS, 1964) (from Mo's book British Rock Guitar)

"[The campus music scene] was vibrant. It was a very exciting time for music, and for young adults who came of age during the '60s. Music marketers and record labels were beginning to see University campuses as a great way to reach consumers, so there were a lot of opportunities to tap into some great new talent." - Alan Melina (ENGG 1969) 

"My memories of the May Balls at Sussex are my most precious! I remember Tyrannosaurus Rex with Marc Bolan played in 1968. It was quite early in the rise to fame of Marc Bolan and Tyrannosaurus Rex (only subsequently abbreviated to ‘T-Rex’ after they went electric) and I can remember the band – consisting of just Marc Bolan on Acoustic guitar and Steve Took on Bongos and other percussion - playing out in the open, nestled in the trees adjacent to the path by the south east corner of Falmer House, with Marc Bolan playing seated cross-legged on the ground. A remarkably informal and chilled performance, with men in Dinner Jackets and women in long dresses sitting on the ground around them. An interesting aspect of the May Balls was that several headline acts would be playing simultaneously in different locations, and students and guests would promenade from gig to gig. So privileged!" - Jolyon Bone

"On the day Otis Redding died (10 December 1967) the musician Pete Wingfield paid tribute on a grand piano in Falmer House (or maybe another building!). I last saw Pete on stage at an Everly Brothers concert playing piano - brilliant musician." - Lynda McAnuff née Russell (EURO 1967)

"You need to track the students down who ran the the Sussex Blues Club at the Richmond Pub. All the great names in blues and RnB played there. When I was a student we had a great band who were studying at Sussex; I’m referring to Jellybread, who had several albums on the Blue Horizon label. Pete Wingfield, the pianist, went on a successful career as a solo musician, producer and writer including the pop hit Eighteen with a Bullet. Other members were Paul Butler, John Best and Chris Waters. By 1968, when I arrived, gigs were largely no longer held on campus, but there were several live music venues in town and I saw Hendrix and Cream at the Metropole Exhibition Centre, and many gigs at the Dome. I don’t have any photos I’m afraid. If only camera phones existed then!" - John Rudd (ENGAM 1968)

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, live at Falmer House, 28 October 1967. Image: Jeff Alterman (SOC 1965)

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You might also be interested in:

• talkin bout my generation: memories of live music on campus
• Sussex scrapbook
• sporting memories.