Ultimate showman of 60s pop
IN THE mid-Sixties, the red-haired “clown prince of pop” Zoot Money, was never out of the music press.
Generating free publicity was key to draw gig-goers, and showman Zoot was the master for himself and his R&B Big Roll Band. It worked too, for a time.The band broke club records everywhere they played, including London’s Flamingo where they had a residency.
They were the biggest draw at a time when up against Georgie Fame, Manfred Mann, Geno Washington, Chris Farlowe and John Mayall.
They supported James Brown, Otis Redding and other R&B greats, and also shared festival bills with Cream and Jimi Hendrix.
Considered by his peers as one of the finest jazz-oriented rock musicians of his generation, George Bruno Money, dubbed “Zoot” after his hero Zoot Sims, was born in Bournemouth of Italian immigrants.
He later recalled: “We were a band, not a guitar group.We had saxes and trumpets... even a flute.”
They also had Andy Summers on guitar, Colin Allen on drums and PaulWilliams on bass.All of whom would go on to achieve rock stardom. Pack the clubs they might, but that all-important hit record eluded them and they could never capture their exciting live vibe in LP format.The band morphed into the psychedelic Dantalian’s Chariot but success eluded them too.
Money spent the Seventies as a sideman for others, notably with Alexis Korner, and The Animals. He also became a sought-after session man on recordings by stars including Lonnie Donegan and Slade.
Punk and new wave consigned him to the sidelines but in 1980 he had one final crack at a solo career, making the album Mr Money for Paul McCartney’s MPL label, covering classics that McCartney had just acquired the rights to.
The music big time still did not happen for him but later he enjoyed a second career as a character actor popping up on hit soap EastEnders, and in The Bill, and in films such as Ronnie Barker’s Porridge.
Money found a new lease of life touring with packages recreating the “sound of the Sixties” and contributed to Richard Desmond’s RD Crusaders charity shows.
The ultimate showman passed away after a short illness.