A 50-year career is beckoning, as 60s star Pete Langford talks to Viv Hardwick about the highs and lows of touring

ONE of the more sobering challenges of being 60s stars aged 60-plus is the knowledge that the long and winding road of touring cannot continue forever. Pete Langford is the last remaining original member of the Barron Knights and still out on the road with the Call Up The Groups tour which reaches Darlington Civic Theatre tomorrow with The Fortunes, Marmalade and the Tremeloes.

The guitarist-singer, who came up with BK's legendary idea of parodying the top bands of the 1960s, officially becomes a pensioner this year but admits to being heavy-hearted at the start of this year's tour because Rod Allen, lead singer of The Fortunes, died from liver cancer two weeks ago.

"It's terribly sad because he went so quickly. He was diagnosed a couple of days after the last show we did together on November 14 and it was a lot worse than the specialists first thought. On December 28, he had a scan and nothing had worked and he asked how long and they said three months, but he died in two weeks. All of us who were associated with the 60s scene agreed that he was the voice of 60s music. He had the incredible voice that we all wished we could sing like, " he says.

The "voice of the 60s" tag actually came from Paul McCartney and Langford reveals that Allen was never a band member who "got out of hand, lost their money or went on drugs.

There were a lot of us who didn't and Rod was one of them, a real gentleman and a lovely family man".

Allen gathered The Fortunes together after hearing his bad news and asked them to keep the band's name going.

The band are due to play at Darlington with Eddie Mooney, who is current lead/bass with another 60s band, The Dakotas, standing in for Allen.

After the first leg of a UK tour, the Barron Knights are heading off to celebrate 30 tours of Australia and New Zealand.

"The other night, I started off at 10.20pm doing radio and Press interviews and I finished at 12.10, " he laughs about demand for the band still providing sell-out signs since the BKs formed 48 years ago.

"We'll pass the 50-year mark for sure.

We've cut down the number of shows, although it wasn't the number but the travelling that was getting us down. We decided to reduce the shows from 80 or 90 to 60 but this year we've got 65. Every show in 2007 sold out, " Langford says.

Even cutting back on touring didn't prevent Langford's one other original BKs sparring partner Butch Baker from hanging up his guitar a year ago.

"I speak to him about twice a week and we play golf together, but he got extremely tired and he didn't want to travel any more, so the last 12 months have been without him. I had to reorganise the whole show because nobody could do things like Butch and was worried how fans would react, but the reviews, emails and texts in 2007 were as good as I can remember, " he says. Langford brought back some of the BKs original material and says: "I'm lucky to be around to still enjoy doing it because it's my hobby as well as my job and I've got great guys in the band and we've added in The William Tell Overture and Duelling Banjoes. The reason I've chosen this line-up of bands is because of the talent I know is there.

Even the drummers can come out and sing in four-part harmony, " he says.

The Durham-born performer, who now lives in Bedfordshire, recalls turning down regular work as an engineer to become a member of the Barron Knights and feels that "pure luck" led to his long music career.

"I think when you get luck like that you've got to work hard to keep achieving what you've done. We don't sit at home, we rehearse and come up with ideas. Some people say 'why do you still do it' and they don't realise that McCartney, Jagger and Sting are all still doing it. . . and I'm sure that none of us are out there just for the pounds, shillings and pence. We enjoy entertaining people.

"I told an Australian DJ, that I travel around the world, I make people laugh, I play the guitar and get paid for it and I take the family with me. I said 'you come here, don't have a window and don't know who the hell you're talking to'. He said 'you win mate'."

On the subject of the band's bestknown song Langford says: "I wrote Call Up The Groups on my mum's kitchen table and I took it to the boys just after we'd finished touring with The Beatles in February 1964 and they loved the idea and we did it live at Baginton Airport Social Club, Coventry, and the audience just stopped and stared. When we finished there was a big cheer and they said 'do it again' and we played it twice, " he says.

Asked about memories of his days touring with The Beatles, Langford reveals that he still contacts Paul McCartney from time to time and the megastar agreed to sign a guitar to auction on behalf of his fund-raising for Downs Syndrome youngsters and the MacIntyre Homes.

"That raised a few thousand quid and Hank Marvin signed another and Eric Clapton has signed one which is sitting in my house at the moment waiting to be auctioned this year. Clapton won't sign a guitar unless it's a white Fender Stratocaster and normally the money goes to his drug rehabilitation center in Barbados. So to get three of the UKs most famous guitarists proves that our business is full of really nice guys, " he says.

"Clapton said that he used to queue up with John Paul Jones to watch us at the Kingston Jazz Cellar because everyone wanted to be like the Barron Knights. Now everyone wants to be like Eric Clapton, " Langford laughs.

Call Up The Groups, Darlington Civic Theatre, tomorrow at 7.30pm.

Box Office: 01325-486555