UNDER THE RADAR

Artists, bands, and labels meriting more attention

- Lin Bensley

It is hard to believe that it is 11 years since big boss bass-man, Johnny ‘Gus’ Gustafson, passed away. While you may be unfamiliar with his name, most will recognise his music in one form or another which spanned five decades and covered many genres and outfits, from The Merseybeats to Roxy Music.

His music career began in 1959 when he joined Cass & The Cassanovas, a Liverpudlian beat group led by Brian Casser (rhythm guitar, lead vocals), with Adrian Barber (lead guitar, vocals) and Johnny ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson (drums). In 1960 they supported Gene Vincent at the Liverpool Stadium and backed the latest Larry Parnes prodigy, Duffy Power, when he toured Scotland. In December that year, Casser left, prompting the remaining members to reform as The Big Three, taking their name from the summit meeting between Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill.

The group soon earned a reputation as “one of the loudest, most aggressive and visually appealing acts”, and John Lennon once admitted that he considered the trio to be the only serious contenders to The Beatles. He supposedly recommended them to Brian Epstein, who signed them up and booked a residency at Hamburg’s notorious Star Club.

By their own admission the group were at this time unmanageable and out-of-control: “It was drunken insanity,” recalled Gustafson. “I was reduced to being a physical wreck, but it was enjoyable to be lying in the gutter in a whiskey-sodden heap.”

On returning to England, they continued gigging regularly. Graham Nash met them one night in Manchester when they were drinking after hours with The Beatles in a backstreet dive, as he recounts in his autobiography,