Grandad Arthur Richards & Grannie Richards

John Sharkey

Biography

When Johns' mother and father met, Music, Methodism and Alcohol all merged.

The granddaughter of John Sharkey, the landlord of the Black Horse at Sodom (Upper Ettingshall), met the son of the Choirmaster of Sodom chapel (Arthur Richards) who unlike many Methodists of the time felt that an hour in the pub before choir practice was essential.

Black Horse at Sodom

Both families were intensely musical and as well as the Choirmaster liking a drink, the pub landlord was a violinist. By the time that John was born, there was a whole collection of family choirmasters, singers and musicians.

Johns' mother was a lead soprano and violinist and his father a bass singer and stand-in Chapel organist.

At five years of age, John was dispatched to Uncle Harold, who was church organist at Hurst Hill, to learn piano. Piano was not a fashionable instrument in 1950's Coseley and Johns' footballing mates were not impressed by this excuse for time off. John also hated it, had no interest in the music that he was being taught, and failed to practice. After some years of under achievement, Johns' practice of wandering around the house strumming his Mothers violin finally persuaded, his parents to buy him his long term wish, his first guitar, an Eros six string.

Lessons on chords with a guitar playing member of the local chapel, lead to the revelation that the years of playing piano with uncle Harold and singing Methodist Hymns at chapel had not been wasted. Suddenly, John realised that the three chords that he had learned, opened the door to hundreds of songs.

Echo Four

The guitar teacher was also teaching his two nephews', one lead and one bass, so John learned rhythm guitar, sold the acoustic, and bought a Watkins Rapier 33 electric guitar and a WEM amp and became the lead singer. The group recruited a drummer and the Echo Four was formed.

A few years of local youth clubs and working men's clubs playing numbers by the Small Faces, The Who, and other mod bands, together with R'n'B standards, followed until 'O' levels,'A' levels and a Lambretta TV 175 interfered.

The mod, however, soon grew his hair, sold the scooter, and bought a Hoyer 12 string acoustic guitar.

John was now a regular member of the audience at Wolverhampton's Catacombs Club, with its progressive rock bands, where his favourite acts were often blues based. A growing interest in the origins of the blues lead him to look back into its roots and the playing of the great Blues and Country Blues guitarists.

Robert Johnson, Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcghee and Muddy Waters, all joined the record collection and it was the involvement of acoustic blues in the folk music revival that lead John into the folk clubs.

Albums by Fairport Convention and the Incredible String Band now joined John's collection and the transition from progressive rock to acoustic blues and folk music was completed.

At college, John was recruited to run, and be resident at, the folk club. His musical knowledge was to broaden out booking a long line of acoustic folk and blues players, whilst also encountering the qualities of traditional music for the first time. The combinations of acoustic instruments used by bands like Planxty fascinated John but he also loved the addition of electric instruments as in Fairport, Steeleye and Dransfield.

Bev Pegg

When John left college in 1972 he responded to an advertisement for a singer songwriter / guitarist in a local newspaper. John was on his way to his first recording. The resultant album with Bev Pegg contained songs by each of them but one jointly written song 'Did you like the battle sir?' became the first Richards song to be covered.

Robin Dransfield sang it first then, Paul Downes who worked with Phil Beer recorded it, having allegedly learned the song from Steve Knightley.

During the recording with Bev Pegg, John met Mike Tinsley, an excellent mandolin player and guitarist. They formed a working duo operating as residents at the Saracens Head folk club in Dudley and playing at other local clubs.

John wanted more instruments and voices on his songs to enhance arrangements and he had listened with excitement to developments within folk-rock, which lead to the duo joining forces with Greenmantle, a Kidderminster based traditional folk band, that was experimenting with the addition of electric instruments.

From this experiment, a light folk rock band emerged. The name changed to Springheel Jack and John continued writing.

The Ivor Smallpiece Big Band

The next development saw the formation of a good time entertainment band called The Ivor Smallpiece Big Band, which enjoyed a number of successful years around the Midlands clubs and produced an E.P record at Zella Records in Birmingham, that included 'Did you like the Battle sir?'

Maurice and the Minors

When Smallpiece split, half the musicians joined John in a new band called Maurice and the Minors. Once the line up had settled the band travelled to Dave Peggs' Woodworm Studio to record their first cassette 'One Lady Owner.'

The only Richards song on the cassette was 'Honour and Praise' but Dave Pegg heard it and loved it. Richards's first Fairport cover soon appeared on Gladys' Leap and has remained in their performing set for some years.

'Maurice' continued to mature and after a further cassette, 'Bodywork needs attention' the bands L.P. 'Run by the moon' was released. This was a definitive work and produced by Mick Dolan who was Steve Winwood's producer of the time. It contained five new songs by John that would be covered by Simon Nicol, Fairport, Paul Downes, Bill Caddick and a long list of folk club acts.

Good things, however, do end and after John Hendley left, the remaining members felt that the name had to change and so Three Desperate Men was born.

John was writing prolifically by now, and as this line up developed the three required more musical options. In 1991 John met Wolverhampton based drummer, Dave Jones who was a big fan of Dave Mattacks. He was recruited and then introduced long standing friend and lead guitarist Paul Dowswell to complete the line up.

The name changed to Five Desperate Men and another transition started. <See Desperate Men web site>

In 2001, John finally recorded his first solo album 'Behind the Lines' which contains the more acoustic of his songs. The C.D. features Jim Sutton and Chris Drinan from 'Maurice' and the early 'Desperates' as well as Paul Downes (guitar), Phil Beer, (fiddle) Beverley Ball (accordion) and of course the 'umbilical vocals' of Johns eldest daughter Emma Richards.

The C.D. has received excellent reviews and Johns' reputation as one of our most interesting songsmiths continues to grow.

The best known of Johns acoustic songs appear on the album with
'Did you like the battle'?
'Honour and praise'
'The Deserter'
'Shine on'
and
'Roaring Water Bay'

All present and performed as the writer originally intended.

The following professional artists have adopted Johns' songs together with a host of folk club acts.

Robin Dransfield
Paul Downes
Fairport Convention
Simon Nicol
Bill Caddick
Show of Hands
Phil Beer
Damien Barber