How Walton discovered his love for the guitar
Walton was first introduced to Jacksons Lane in 2013, when a flyer dropped through his letterbox which sought budding performers in the local community for an upcoming theatre production. Three years later he is still very much an active participant; a member of inter-generational community project Jumble Theatre Company, and a regular performer at our monthly social lunches for Haringey's senior citizens. Administration trainee, Hazel, interviewed Walton to find out more about his musical roots.
I'm originally from Jamaica and arrived in England in January '62. Smack bang in the middle of winter. I was fifteen and a half at the time and was enrolled at a secondary school in the Midlands. My first experience of television was when I came over to England as there was no TV service in Jamaica at the time. I used to like watching all the people singing on television. When The Beatles came out we were excited and used to talk about them at school. Shortly after, they were followed by The Rolling Stones and I thought- I would like some of that…! Somehow, my dad got wind of the fact that I would dearly love a guitar, and he bought one for me. In '63 my friends and I decided we too wanted instruments to be like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. All of us were youths from Jamaica. There was a big Caribbean community in the Midlands at that time.
"Our new ‘supergroup’ managed to get a room in a pub where we used to get together to make our own lot of racket."
In time, most of us had proudly got hold of our chosen instruments. The only problem now was that none of us actually knew how to play them! Our new ‘supergroup’ managed to get a room in a pub where we used to get together to make our own lot of racket. We weren't any good. The only one of us that was a little better than the rest was Trevor. He could play a few chords on the guitar. He taught me three chords- C, F and G, and showed me about rhythm. The band played together for a little while but before long, people began dropping out. They didn't realise you had to learn to play the instruments and practice for years before you really sounded great- I knew The Beatles had been playing since they were young.
The two of us that were left heard that there was a band in West Bromwich that had also broken up but they were much better than us. When we got in contact with them they told us that those of us that could play should join them. I borrowed a friend’s bass guitar and joined the band as a bass guitarist. I played two gigs with them but had to leave the band and the Midlands when my father decided to move. I took my own guitar- which I still only knew three or four chords on- and came to London with my father.
In London I kept my eye out for adverts for people who wanted to play music together. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and months into years. And somewhere along the way I didn't have my guitar anymore. In 1969 I met a young lady, and by 1970 we had a beautiful daughter. I was living in Plumstead at the time and working at Ford motors. One day I went down in to Woolwich and saw in a secondhand shop an acoustic guitar for sale- it was £12. I went home and happily played the four chords that I knew.
"‘Play the guitar?’ I thought to myself- ‘I only knew four chords!’"
One night at work this guy brought in a state of the art cassette player and was playing a tape of music he'd recorded off of the radio. To my delight I watched as he slapped the side of his face in time to the pulsing rhythm of the music. I asked him if he played the drums and he replied that he was a drummer. I eagerly informed him that I was a musician too and played the guitar. ‘Play the guitar?’ I thought to myself- ‘I only knew four chords!’. He told me he was in a band and miraculously they were looking for a guitar player! The following Sunday I drove down to Catford where they were rehearsing and they sounded pretty good. Eventually it was my turn. I was handed a sheet of paper with chords for the song 'Moon River', a cover by a reggae band called ‘Greyhound’. The chords were C, A minor, F and G-- the only four chords that I knew! What a stroke of luck! That's something I'll never forget. I guess it was meant to be.
"..I picked up my guitar and my chord book and practiced through the night. When I'd look at the time, it would be time to go to work!"
The next day I invested in a chord book, an electric guitar and an amplifier so I could actually be heard within the band as up until then I only had my acoustic guitar. I used to work one week of nights and one week of days at Fords and I remember the first week when I got the electric guitar I went to work, I got home in the evening, had something to eat, picked up my guitar and my chord book and practiced through the night. When I'd look at the time, it would be time to go to work! I'd be up all night practicing and that happened several times. But I was determined to learn. And that was how it all started.
The next week I went to rehearsals, they wanted me to play other songs. Luckily this time, I had my chord book.
