Reign | Shambles | 3am | Tim Renton | Interview
Tim Renton had his beginnings in the 60s, forming bands like Ka and progressive rock band Reign. Later on he formed Shambles and continued to play. In the early 2000s Renton played in a fantastic blues rock band called 3am.
Like so many other musicians from the era, Tim learned to play guitar by listening to The Shadows. Played his first gigs aged about 14 in local community halls and schools in and around Winchester, where he grew up. In the 60’s he abandoned his course at Brighton College of Art to play bass and help form rock band Reign in London’s Earls Court with Robin le Mesurier (son of Hattie Jacques and John Le Mesurier). In 1970 they released their first single ‘Line of Least Resistance’ with EMI subsidiary Regal Zonophone – songs written by Keith Relf and Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds. Reign played across the country for about four years, supporting Genesis, Argent, The Kinks, Family, Arthur Brown and Curved Air with The Moody Blues at a University ball. They also played a few times at legendary central London venues The Marquee (Wardour Street!), The Speakeasy and Ronnie Scotts. By now Tim’s brother Andy had joined Reign as drummer. Reign became involved with Mike Batt and helped promote his Wombles by playing on the early albums, and dressing up in the fursuits to play on Top of the Pops on at least eight occasions and touring Europe for several months. In 1975 they formed “Shambles” with Brian Engel and had a recording contract with RCA, released the John Peel acclaimed single ‘Hello Baby’; eventually Robin left the band to pursue a successful career in the States as a touring/session musician with Rod Stewart and Johnny Hallyday (among many, many others). By this time, Tim was married, with his first baby daughter to care for, so had to give up on the gigs and get a “proper” job! This didn’t mean he abandoned his music – he not only developed his playing skills, but had another musical project with Andy and another record deal with Decca records. In 2002, with his children grown up and independent, and the guitar collection growing to ridiculous proportions, it was time to grab brother Andy and get a band back together again. 3am was born. Had a great time with their first line-up, playing over 150 gigs including Northill Blues Fest, the Chichester Blues on the Farm, Mayfest, Togfest, Rhythmfest, Guilfest (twice), Limelight and Queens Theatres, the New Crawdaddy Blues Club in Essex and the 100 Club in central London. Had time off with several “mis-carriages” from 2008 to find and rehearse a new singer, write some new songs and record a new album ‘Long Time Coming’ with Laura Long. After Laura departed, the band is now working with a new vocalist Claire Bender.
“We were signed to EMI music on the Regal Zonophone label and went into the studios”
Would you like to share some words about growing up? What are some of the early influences and what was the scene like around Winchester?
Tim Renton: At school in the mid 1950s the sound of the electric guitar was compelling but not available, the notes and tones generated by The Shadows began a lifelong love affair with the Fender Stratocaster. Mike Boardley, a school friend and I acquired beaten up acoustic guitars and learned The Shadows tunes religiously. We rehearsed in a basement at School. We bought amplifier chassis from radio shack shops and fitted loudspeakers in boxes. The journey began.
Eventually in a School Common room someone said “why don’t you improvise” and we began to move away from the instrumental. This was helped by some school colleagues with far wider record collections including Cyril Davies, Alexis Corner and The Steampacket from Britain and Chuck Berry, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters.
The learning melded into playing with friends and we formed an instrumental “group” who played at school concerts and around the local community halls. These friends included guys who really knew about music and were to be the background of the band’s development through college.
Winchester now had a music shop. I was asked to look at a guitar for a school friend who did not buy it, so I convinced my mother to buy it for me. It was an electric guitar, a Hofner Colorama, Glorious! £19.
Bands I saw in and around Winchester were: Graham Bond with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, Chuck Berry, The Animals, The Nashville Teens, King Size Taylor, The Downliners Sect (Don Crane later sang with 3AM in about 2010 at the Richmond Crawdaddy Club!)
“We were “spotted” by a portrait artist named Alan Lyndsay who wanted to manage us and move us to London”
Tell us about some of the early bands you were part of.
Leaving school, I went to Brighton College of Art in 1966, a time when everybody learned guitar. I soon met up with ex-school musicians and new found student friends to form a band “Ka”. The band included Peter Johnson and Peter Cooper from school on bass and vocals respectively. We were joined by architect student Simon Radford on drums. We played the pubs and colleges and supported Gino Washington in the Brighton Mini Festival.
I bought my first Fender Stratocaster in Denmark Street for £100 and the shop delivered it to me in Brighton.
We were “spotted” by a portrait artist named Alan Lyndsay who wanted to manage us and move us to London. This was 1969 and I was at the point in my Architecture training when I had a year out. I told him I would only move to London if I had work. He had a studio next to an Interior Designer in Kensington and she needed someone who could prepare drawings. Her Clients were based in Dubai and we designed villa interiors…all good stuff.
Alan had a partner Ted Francis in the film business and he had a preview theatre in Soho where we were able to put on showcases, one of which was for Simon Dee, the disc jockey.
In Brighton bands I saw were: Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett, The Who, The Move, Jeff Lynn with The Idle Race, Chicken Shack with Christine Perfect, I heard Jimi Hendrix. We saw Deep Purple in the cafeteria of a college just after their ‘Hush’ success. On the jazz side I saw John Surman, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Soft Machine, Jon Hiseman’s Colosseum with Dick Heckstall-Smith, Jack Bruce’s Lifetime.
Then you moved to London and formed Reign. The band was together for almost five years.
The association faded. Some of the Brighton band were not keen to remain in London so we advertised for another guitarist. Remarkably we met Robin Le Mesurier, then nineteen, and his friend Andy Banks and “Ka” moved on. The line-up merged through various personnel changes to be Robin on guitar, my brother Andy on drums, me now on bass guitar and Andy now on vocals. It was this line up that changed its name to “Reign”. We found another more professional management set-up, Evolution Music with John Michelle and Chris Peers; and they almost immediately asked us to record ‘Line of Least Resistance,’ written by Keith Relf and Jim McCartney of The Yardbirds. We were signed to EMI music on the Regal Zonophone label and went into the studios with the help of Keith and Jane Relph, and John Hawkin (Nashville Teens and Renaissance) on keys.
We have to thank Hattie Jacques, Robin’s man who looked after us royally during this period. We rehearsed at her house in Earls’ Court and Kim Robin’s brother roadied for us.
Reign was signed by March Artistes of CBS, worked a lot in the College circuit travelling all over the country and supporting Genesis (with Peter Gabriel) in Surrey University, The Kinks at Kent University, The Moody Blues at an Oxford College and also Family, Curved Air, Arthur Brown.
We played the Marquee in Wardour Street supporting Argent and later on our own. We played the Pink Flamingo, Bumpers with Graham Bond, the London Speakeasy and many other London Clubs including working with Hawkwind (with Lemmy) in Wimbledon.
We had several changes in vocal line up ending with Dave Thomas from Blonde On Blonde, Shirley Roden and Debi Doss. The band were booked to play several dates in Frankfurt at a US air base. Guitars included Fender Bass, changed to Gibson EB3, changed to Rickenbacker 4001 (which I still own) Reign had always played original material but it was not recorded. All this was from 1970 to 1973.
What followed?
A change of fortune. Just before Christmas in 1973 the band split and we were considering our future. My brother had a school friend in Mike Batt. Mike called us and explained that “He was walking up-and-down Oxford Street in a furry costume and needed a band to fill some suits to film the interval of the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.”
Despite the immediate disbelief we were transformed from being out of work to being met by limos and driven to the Hotel Metropole in Brighton, as Wombles. Following the filming we worked with Mike for about nine months doing television shows, Top of the Pops, Crackerjack, Pebble Mill at One, Sally James et cetera. We did European television shows in Germany appearing with The James Last Orchestra and Luxemburg with the “Eurovision caravan” so we spent time with Abba and the others.
We also did regular personal appearances which included opening a record shop in Ealing Broadway with Peter Sellers.
Robin was asked to leave due to drug irregularities and I left as I was aware that we were working very hard for the cause but getting no recognition. I spoke to the Daily Express.
Members reformed?
Andy, Robin and I reformed as “Shambles” with a new singer Brian Engel, we had met him on Womble assignments and he had a large catalogue of songs which we began to develop. This was 1975.
We signed with RCA records to record the single ‘Hello Baby’. We were assigned Roy Thomas Baker as producer who at that time was beginning work with Queen. Evolution took us on again and we gigged with this line-up and did countrywide radio stops to promote the record. John Peel liked this record!
It was at this point Evolution split the band and brother Andy and I were dismissed.
Robin le Mesurier moved to the United States and was in a band called Farm Dogs with Bernie Taupin. He later joined Rod Stewart and recorded and toured with his band. He was also musical director for Johnny Halliday in France.
One song Brian Engel had written was ‘Where did the Woolly Rhino Go?’
The vast merchandising train that followed The Wombles was very attractive and I developed the cartoon character The Woolly Rhino and my brother and I wrote some songs and began to try to sell the idea.
I got a publishing deal to write a set of children’s books and we worked with Annabel Ogilvy who wrote the stories. I did all the illustrations.
Andy and I wrote several songs for the character. We were signed by EMI music as Shambles Production Limited for publishing and got an album deal with Denmark Records. We followed that with a single and narrative album deal with Decca Records in 1978. The stories were read by Norman Shelley.
Our aim was to try to get the character animated but we did not succeed. We did some television slots and worked with the World Wildlife Fund to promote our friend.
Brian Engel with Robin continued as Shambles and then formed Mandrake Paddle Steamer. Brian moved on to join The New Seekers.
So, I had married in 1973 and by now had one daughter and one on the way so I reverted to the architectural profession to earn a living.
Bands I saw in this period were: Eric Clapton many times at the Albert Hall, Gary Moore many times, Robert Cray, Yes, The Move, Deep Purple many times. My musical influences have always been around the guitar. I have had the huge privilege of growing up musically in a magical time of great British guitarists, Hank Marvin, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Gary Moore, Rory Gallagher, Richie Blackmore, Mark Knopfler. Many of these preferred The Stratocaster.
In the early 2000s you had a new start.
In the early 2000s Andy and I proposed the idea of forming a band again. He had been gigging in Norfolk where he had lived and thought we should try again. We looked for fellow musicians starting with a friend of Emma, my youngest daughter, Kat Pearson-Thomas, an Anglo-American blues singer. This did not work out and the first incarnation of the band Andy, myself Helen Turner, Iain Black and Trevor Turley were born as “3am”. It was now about 2005. 3am was a name Andy had used in Norfolk. I made the acquaintance of Chris Parren, a keyboard player I really admired and at this stage had a band I felt I could ask him to join. He did.
Once again the band played mainly original material and there were several attempts at recording. The line-up played many gigs including The Guilfest festival twice, The Essex New Crawdaddy, The Richmond Crawdaddy, Blues on the Farm in Chichester and other festivals around Essex.
Another personnel split and Trevor, Helen and Iain left, musical differences.
Again through my daughter Emma we met Laura Long who was singing with jazz outfits in North London at gigs including the Engineer, a pub Emma worked in.
Laura took time to develop into the new genre of our blues-rock and contributed to the song writing. With her we developed ‘Long Time Coming’ and recorded it in Panic Studios in Acton. The album featured ‘Insatiable’ which has been our most successful YouTube track.
Personnel were now Laura on vocals, myself on guitars, Chris Parren on keys, Fussi Andersen on bass and Andy on drums. Later Andy left and was replaced by Jamie Fisher, and Fussi left with one of our former singers to play “metal” and we found Phil Evans on bass.
3am with Laura again gigged extensively culminating in supporting Steven Segal and his blues band at the Clapham Grand and covering some tour dates with Reeves Gabrells and his band. Reeves was one of David Bowie’s guitarists and now is with The Cure.
Laura has now left and the band are working with a new and exciting vocalist Claire Bender. First gig today…..3am move on.
Klemen Breznikar
Headline photo: Reign | Credit: Tim Renton archive
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