The day we played football with Bee Gees

A lifetime in music has certainly given Brian Russell some memorable moments, explains David Clayton.

- David Clayton

When Brian Russell’s grandmother took him into Norwich and bought him the latest pop records, little did she know it would result in an entertainment career lasting six decades.

As Brian’s formative years were the 1950s, it influenced him enough to try to emulate the close harmony of the Everly Brothers with a mate. That, in turn, gave way to Brian joining a succession of local bands throughout the 1960s. He was the singer, the frontman, the one who connected with the audiences and he learned his trade in village halls, RAF camps, and dance halls all over East Anglia.

As the Dark Ages, Brian’s first band took on a moody look with black polo neck sweaters. After a while gave they themselves a more fashionable name, Influence. They played Norwich’s version of the Cavern Club, the legendary Orford Cellar, but Brian particularly remembers the support gig to the Bee Gees at Gorleston’s Floral Hall.

“We turned up to find them already there, but the venue hadn’t opened up yet,” he recalls. This was around the time of their famous hit, ‘New York Mining Disaster 1941’.

“The Bee Gees got a football out the back of the van and we had a game on the car park.” After the gig, Brian remembers Barry Gibb played them a few chords of a song he’d started to write. It turned out to be their hit, ‘World’.

Boz Burrell, from just over the border in Lincolnshire, popped up in Norwich, long before he became world-famous as the bass player with King Crimson and Bad Company. For a while, he led a nomadic life sleeping on sofas around Norwich, including Brian’s.