The Sid Worth Memorial Tribute Fund

A Brief History

Friday 13th May 2005 would have been Sid’s 54th Birthday, if he’d still been with us. Tragically, he took his own life in September 2002, and left a band without a lead guitarist, a town without a second music shop, a gap in many people’s hearts and a family without a brother/son/father…. Oh, and a space at the end of a lot of bars!

He made a decision to end it all, and that was it… he was gone. I remember the day; it’s etched on my brain in the same way as President Kennedy’s assassination… He was the life and the soul of the party, a helping hand to many young bands, the drinking buddy with a kind word for everyone, the guy from whom many of us bought our first guitar and the rockin’ lead guitarist with The A Band. I should add here that he was also an inspiration to me, personally, as he persuaded me to get back into performing after a near 30 year break. It’s a long story, which can be wrested out of me by the application of a pint of Fosters (or three)

Sid encouraged and influenced many people over his music career, both as a player and as a trusted source of advice in many of the town’s music shops, from Mr Music, to HMV, The Music Centre and finally at Live Sounds Ltd. Many local musicians used to gather in his shop for a natter, a fag and a free cup of tea, and many bands were formed as a result of chance meetings or recommendations by Sidney.

His funeral was an eye-opener for us all, hundreds of his friends and family showed up to pay their last respects, and later to raise a few glasses to his memory at the wake, which was held at Danny’s bar. Fitting, as Sid was a great supporter of the annual Battle of the Bands competition held upstairs.

At the funeral, and later at the wake, there was a growing feeling that we should do something to remember Sid, and this feeling has developed into a small committee – The Sid Worth Memorial Tribute Fund.

This has been a fluid entity, many members have been involved over the past 2+ years, but the current line up is as follows:

Mat Roberts – Chairman
Rob Vernon – Vice-Chairman
Philippa Fleming – Secretary
Jan Bingham – Treasurer
Russell Stevenson – member
Nigel Grodde – member
Kim Yarger – member
Mark Walsh – member
Liz Yallop – member

Rik (front-man – Rubberneck) and Pauleen King were the first to arrange a fund-raising event. This gig preceded the formation of the committee, and raised £1000 which was used to purchase two memorial benches.

Here’s the text of Rik’s announcement when they were installed, and a couple of pictures to set the scene:

Sid's benches have been sited and the memorial plaques fitted to give Bedford a permanent reminder of a greatly missed friend and fellow musician. Those with long memories(!) may remember that a memorial gig was held at the Cricketers in Bedford in February 2003 to raise money for a bench to be sited near the bandstand on the embankment. The cost of a bench was a whopping £500 - we all thought it would be an uphill task to raise the cash, but on the day and, due to the enormous generosity of all those who supported the project, we managed to raise double that amount - a fantastic £1000. Pauleen King, who originally masterminded the idea, then arranged for a second bench to be sited by the lake in Bedford park.

After a lot of chasing, pushing and reminding, the suppliers of the benches finally came through for us all last weekend.

We asked Mike Dakin - photographer and all round nice chap - to pop down to the locations and take a couple of snaps. He did us all proud, and these can now be found on the website.

For those of you wishing to visit the benches and keep Sid's memory alive for yourselves, here's where they are.

EMBANKMENT: If you go over the suspension bridge and turn right towards the bandstand, Sid's bench is the one nearest to the bandstand. It has a lovely view overlooking the river and, of course, is where he used to set up for music at the river festival.

BEDFORD PARK: As you go down Park Avenue with the park on your right, there is an entrance near the lake end (usually with an ice cream van parked there) which takes you straight to the lake. Turn right at the lake, and you'll see the bench overlooking the water. It is a lovely, peaceful spot, as is the river site.

Just a thought - maybe it would be nice if any of you visit the benches to have some photos taken there to put on the site?

Many thanks to everyone who supported the project - remember ... they are YOUR reminders of the great man himself and wouldn't be there if it wasn't for all your generosity. God Bless You Sid Worth.
RIK

Later that year (2003) Liz Yallop (of the Lizard Live Music Venue) suggested that we should run a marathon gig in Sid’s memory, around the anniversary of his departure. A small committee was formed, and within a few days we were overwhelmed with offers from local musicians and bands.

Sunday, 28th September 2003 saw the first Sid Trib Gig, 12 bands in 12 hours, and an absolute blast! Lizzie’s place was packed to the rafters, and over 50 musicians gave their time for free. We raised over £800, which became the foundation for the fund.

There’s a long review, and some pictures, at: http://therelayer.com/Sid_Benifit_28_9_03.htm

Complaints flooded in from the younger bands! “Why weren’t we included?” was the question… The answer was that we had received so many offers from Sid’s friends and colleagues that we filled the schedule within days of putting the word out! I guess the old-stagers have better communication channels than the young guys!

However, we decided to run a ‘Next Generation’ gig on 30th November 2003, following a similar format, but with youth in mind. We were knocked out by raw talent, originals and covers, from The Zipper, El Barbs, Revelation, Dummy Run, Black Tiger Feet, Blackout, Cut In Quarters, Borderline, Burning Monkey Truck, Sphere and New Road.

With ears ringing, (part of the Grumpy Old Man thing, I think) we added £386 to the fund, and took a few months off to recover!

Our next challenge was provided by Andy Pigeon, of Bedford Borough Council: Stage the musical entertainment at the bandstand over the first weekend in July 2004 for the bi-annual River Festival.

We decided to approach some of our more acoustically leaning friends, and were pleasantly surprised with a brilliant response. Not a fund-raiser, but we still managed to add a few quid to the fund via a few collection boxes, and the generosity of the great Bedford public! The weather was challenging (high winds and showers!) but our line-up of Rachel Kirkham, Paul Carrington, Terry Jamieson, Danni Nicholls, Mat Roberts, Full Circle, Brimstone, Rik King, Ray Lloyd, El Barbs, Trevor Hensley, Broken Drum, Hensley & Wright, Max and Denny (The Oblivious Bros.) Paul Bonas and John Verity laughed in the face of adversity, and roundly entertained the passers-by with some excellent music throughout the Saturday and Sunday. The Borough Council were very generous in providing a donation of £200 to the fund, ostensibly for ‘expenses’ for the artists, but they all waived their fee (well, it was less than £10 per act!) and the fund grew yet again!

Things went really badly over the summer of 2004, with The Lizard closing (still not re-opened as a pole/lap-dancing club, thanks to objections from ‘Disgusted of Bedford’) and removing our free home for the Sid Trib Gigs! We did, however, run the second Annual Sid Tribute Gig at The George and Dragon on Saturday, October 2nd 2004. 120 paying punters packed the upstairs room and were superbly entertained by Bent Like Bob, Cutting Out, The A Band, and Thunderbird Five!
This was a brilliant event, very hot, very sweaty, and VERY LOUD! Another £377 (after expenses) was added to the fund. This, along with donations from Sid’s mum and aunt brings the total raised to just over £2000.
So, what have we done with the money, and what’s planned for the future?
Finding good causes to spend the money upon has NOT been easy! We have purchased the following gear (which is available for any upcoming band to borrow, if it helps to get them out to do that first gig):

PA Speakers (200watt)
Laney Line Backer 70 watt lead amp
There’s also a magnificent 600watt Yamaha PA available (courtesy of our Vice-chairman – mail for details: gear{AT}robvernon.com - substitute the {AT} for the "at" sign before you send the e-mail!)
Bent Like Bob (average age 15) have been sponsored for recording and CD production, to the tune of £150 plus some free recording time from our Chairman.

Summer Fall won the Sid Worth prize at the Battle of the Bands competition final (last Saturday) and are now £250 better off… we hope they’ll spend the money on promoting themselves, as they are SUPERB!)
This still leaves the best part of £1600 to be distributed, and we’re looking for suggestions…

However, it’s time to remember the happier times… on what would have been Sid’s 54th birthday, we decided to celebrate with a non-profit gig, and we have a brilliant line-up!
The Date: Friday 13th May 2005
The Venue: Esquires, Upstairs
The Cost: £3.00 on the door (this covers the cost of the venue, and free beer for the performers who can provide proof of 18+ status – Max and John, you’re already qualified…!)
The Time: 7.30pm (no, I really mean this, 7.30pm, or you won’t get in!)
The Line-up:
Scratch Plate – young and upcoming band featuring local sex-symbol, Rob Miller. Our next sponsorship deal, maybe… depends on how well they entertain, I expect!
Max Milligan and John Verity – Acoustic set by two of the best wrinkly guitarists in the known universe! (One of them penned a Eurovison entry, and the other has had a Top-Ten hit – there may be a prize for anyone who can remember the name of his original beat-combo! – it was before the war, I think…)
The Vibe – Local band with a BIG sound that has been trying to break into the Sid Trib scene for many years! Look out for the lead singer… a lady with a big voice…
Philippa Fleming – Acoustic singer songwriter and guitarist.
Headlining - The John Verity Band – the Bluesiest Blues, loud, professional and DON’T MISS THIS! (Ear-plugs recommended)
Future event: We’re planning to run something called ‘Sid-Stock’ probably at the end of September 2005, where we expect all the town’s muso’s to mix-and-match. Initial estimates indicate that The Reverend Bob P will be forming a tribute band of some ilk, and Woody will be putting together a SOUL outfit … further information will be available on the Sid Worth website, in the next couple of weeks. The website address will be available in the next week or so… subject to committee meeting agreement today!

If you would like to know more about our aims and objectives, or apply for sponsorship for your bands’ activities, mail: info{AT}swmtf.org.uk - substitute the {AT} for the "at" sign before you send the e-mail!

Keep It Live!!

Rob Vernon

Pictures for use in promotional activity can be found at:
www.therelayer.com, or by direct application to rob{AT}robvernon.com