AL READ
Singing with the Descants 1958
Skiffle at the Beeches Club 1957
It began when Al received a guitar for his fifthteenth birthday and formed the Cemetery Skiffle Group and, very soon after, started the Beeches Skiffle Club. This once a week gathering was surely one of the first teenage music clubs in Bristol.
On to art college at sixteen and from skiffle to pop with Daryl Grant and the Descants. Then he fronted Alan G Read and the Statesmen, all Buddy Holly with the occasional Shadows instrumental. Soul outfit Franklyn Big Six was next with the superb vocalist Joanne Justice and the talented Fennell brothers Frank and Tony.

 Statesmen 1959
Franklyn Big Six 1961 to 1968

East of Eden 1969. Al second from right
Towards the end of the Sixties Al joined Picture of Dorian Gray who underwent a quick name change to East of Eden. Al was with them when they recorded their first single "King of Siam" and when they appeared in the Tony Richardson film "Laughter in the Dark". The band started their own regular progressive rock Monday night at the Dugout Club which nearly came to an end when East of Eden split in two with Al, bassist Terry and drummer Tony left. Calling on other local groups, the popular Monday nights at the Dugout continued and Al, Terry and Tony became rock trio Barnaby Goode
Soon afterwards the 'Plastic Dog' club night was moved to the newly opened Granary Club. Rejoining up with Frank Fennell, Al's final band was Phineas Fogg. At the Granary Al became the club's DJ, its booking agent and, for a time, the licensee. His serious involvement in both the Granary and the Plastic Dog Agency, Management and Concert Promotion Company attracted the attention of local BBC radio who wanted someone to front a new weekly rock show.
Al in those hairy Plastic Dog days 1969 onwards
Rock shows on BBC Bristol 1976 onwards
For sixteen years Al presented programmes on BBC Radio Bristol, at first rock shows but then general entertainment programmes like 'Til Midnight, the Weekend Wonder Show, Late Night West and the Afternoon Show. He became one of the station's regular daily presenters. In 1976 Al left the Granary but carried on with radio until 1990. Nowadays Al can be found working part time in the graphics studio at Bristol Zoo and also puts in a regular appearance at the Prom bar as a member of a pop quiz team.
Al's passion for music and the Granary came together when in 1999 he decided to list the bands that had played the Granary over its twenty year existence as a rock venue. The list became a book and Al found an all encompassing hobby in keeping the memory of the Granary alive.