Chris Scott Wilson Writer
ROCKIN', NOT WRITING IN WHITBY
September 2017
Chris with Jeff Bannister (left) of the the Swinging Blue Jeans and (centre) Jim Rodford of Argent then later the Kinks and presently with the brought-back-to-life Zombies at Whitby's 60s festival. Jim was deputising for the Swinging Blue Jeans regular bassman, Pete Oakman.
DRUMS ALONG THE RIVER
July 2017
Singer and drummer Denny Chatto, a bandmate back in the day, sharing a joke with Chris out on the river Ouse in York. Denny had been the vocalist when Chris was the drummer in Candy Factory in the early 70s, paying their dues flogging up and down the country in a Ford Transit, prisoners of the white lines on the highway, hostage to many a club audience. Denny's currently with Scarborough band Trigger.
photo by Susan Wilson
WHITBY 60's FESTIVAL
©2010 C.J.S.Wilson
September 2017
Chris and his wife Sue managed to catch up with Jeff Bannister of the Liverpool hit-makers The Swinging Blue Jeans who were headlining the last night of the annual autumn Whitby 60s festival, supported by a surprisingly good Vanity Fayre and Mud II. As usual, the SBJ's played a rousing set which left little room on the dance floor. Jeff's had a long and illustrious career including stints with The John Barry Seven and The Alan Bown Set, as well as providing keyboards on many sessions and tours. He also helped Chris on the Redcar Jazz Club book.
SEEDS OF MEMORY
June 2017
Chris with legendary singer Terry Reid before Terry's intimate gig at Tea, Toast & Post in Robin Hood's Bay on North Yorkshire coast. Perhaps the greatest singer you've never heard of, Terry was discovered by Graham Nash of the Hollies when he was 15 years old, then opened for the Rolling Stones, Ike & Tina Turner & B.B. King right across the USA when he was 16, and even sang at Mick Jagger's wedding to Bianca. Chris hadn't seen Terry for 40 years and was astounded when he could still mesmerise a room full of musos with his songs and stories for over two and a half hours, performing solo, his voice as subtle and evocative as ever, a sheer delight.
October 2016
Nearly a year gone by already... Graham Lowe & Dennis Weller with Chris, signing copies of Backstage Pass : Redcar Jazz Club in the Book Corner in Saltburn last year. photo by Neil
MEMORIES
29th July 2016
Chris with radio presenter Simon Bolton shortly before going on air, and the view out of the window of the vertical pier that houses Radio Zetland FM. It's starting to feel like home...
PUBLISHING DATE
31st JULY 2016
AVAILABLE FROM
Book Corner, Station Square, Saltburn By The Sea
Waterstone's, Captain Cook Square, Middlesbrough
Whitby Bookshop, Church St, Whitby
Guisborough Bookshop, Chaloner St, Guisborough
Clock Gallery, High St, Redcar
Kirkleatham Museum, Redcar,
Worthy Pearson, Gt Ayton
Drake's Books, High St., Stockton
(other stockists to be announced)
Online, you can order from this website - see BOOK SHOP DIRECT
in the menu on the left, or from Amazon
July 2016
MUSOS REUNITED AGAIN
June 2016
Chris was reunited this week with singer Anth (Tony) Clements with whom he shared many stages back in the day when they were both in local bands The Wheel and Pretty Like Me. Anth had previously been in The Steve Brown Soul Sect, and while neither can remember the first gig they did togther in The Wheel, Anth recalled their first gig after he came back to the fold was at The Cat's Whiskers in York. When Chris gave up playing the drums and turned to writing books, Anth continued to sing, his last band Juke Blues, based in Reading before he moved back north.
FRANCIS FITZGERALD EXHIBITION
May 2016 Palace Arts Centre (The Hub) on Redcar seafront is featuring an exhibition by Saltburn photographer Francis Fitzgerald documenting local social events. As well as a host of images in black & white, see them reproduced in colour in a very special book. You've never seen a book with a rusty steel cover? You will have if you visit this exhibition.
Above: Chris pictured with Francis on the opening day of the show. picture by Susan Wilson
20th February 2016
Deputy Editor Chris Lloyd ran a double page feature in the print edition of the newspaper on Backstage Pass : Redcar Jazz Club with a selction of photos culled from the book as well as publishing the piece on their website. You can find it HERE:
February 2016
From 10th February - 10th April Kirkleatham Hall Museum is hosting an exhibition of landscape & rock images by Graham Lowe, one of the photographic collaborators on Backstage Pass : Redcar Jazz Club. It is well worth a visit. Above: Chris pictured in the exhibition gallery.
photo by Susan Wilson
NEW STOCKIST
NEW STOCKIST
HIGH STREET
STOCKTON
December 2015
Simon Bolton has invited Chris to be a guest on his Zetland FM Radio show on Tuesday 15th December at 6 p.m. As well as chatting about the new Redcar Jazz Club book, Chris will be talking about his other books and of course there''ll be music. Listen in if you can. You'll be welcome.
5th December 2015
Musos reunited? More like skin-bashers reunited. Three drummers in one room and that's without including the house drummer of Cooler King who were providing the music for the book signing at the "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll Music Fair" at Preston Hall. left to right : Denny Chatto who started in the Fireflies and was later the singer in Candy Factory when Chris was the drummer, and Kev Hunt of Rufus Buck. photo by Mick York.
Chris would also like to thank Barry Jones for his surprise gift - his book Stars Fell On Stockton. Probably between them, the three drummers above played most of the venues featured in Barry's book, and remember them fondly.
5th December 2015
Chris, along with jazz and R&B photographer Dennis Weller & rock photographer Graham Lowe, his collaborators on Backstage Pass : Redcar Jazz Club, were at the "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll Music Fair" at Preston Hall Museum on Saturday 5th December to sign copies of their book. As well as enjoying the beautiful surroundings of the museum itself, they would like to thank Nick Mawson for making them welcome, Cooler King for the music, Mr Jagger, Mr Richards & cohorts for the excellent video & also everyone who came to meet them and chat.
PRESTON HALL MUSEUM
EAGLESCLIFFE STOCKTON
DECEMBER - NEW STOCKIST
GREAT AYTON
NEW STOCKIST IN
MIDDLESBROUGH
November 2015
NEW STOCKIST !
SOUND IT OUT RECORDS
15A Yarm St., Stockton-on-Tees TS18 3DR
01642 860068
28th November 2015
Chris, Dennis and Graham attended a book signing at the Book Corner in Station Square in Saltburn today. They 'd like to thank Jenna & Mick for organising it all, with an extra thank you to Mick (for doing the coffee & mince pie run at just the right moment). Nice to meet all those who came to see us, and if you couldn't make it, then Backstage Pass : Redcar Jazz Club is available from the website www.redcarjazzclubmedia.com
November 2015 : Odd Man Out : left to right - Writer Chris and the men in red, both photographers, Dennis Weller & Graham Lowe, signing books at the Clock Gallery, High Street, Redcar on Saturday 21st October, watched over by yet another photographer, award-winning landscape specialist Ged Hickey.
If the reproduction here is poor on your chosen device, you can CLICK HERE then go to page 34 to read the article.
Thanks to the staff of Guisborough Bookshop for their hospitality during our book signing.
Chris, pictured left with Malcolm 'Buck' Buckton, bass player of Government, who helped with the research and called in to buy a couple of copies !
You can now hear Chris with Graham, Dennis & Mick York, the RJC Media Marketing Manager on the radio. BBC Tees & Zetland FM have given permission for RJC Media to use permanent links to their shows. You can find them by CLICKING HERE
October 2015
The new book Backstage Pass : Redcar Jazz Club was featured in Middlesbrough's Gazette. To see the article, CLICK HERE
KIRKLEATHAM MUSEUM BOOK LAUNCH
photo - Dennis Weller
BACKSTAGE PASS
KIRKLEATHAM MUSEUM
Chris, Graham Lowe & Dennis Weller would like to thank all who played their part behind the scenes at the book launch on Saturday 31st October at Kirkleatham Museum. Most of all we'd like to thank those who took the trouble to come and see us and buy the book. It went better than we could have ever hoped.
Dennis Graham Chris
photo - Helena Lowe
THE USUAL SUSPECTS
left to right : Dennis Weller, Mick York, Graham Lowe & Chris
picture by Dennis Weller
October 2015
Chris appeared on the John Foster Show on BBC TEES with collaborator and photographer Dennis Weller to discuss their new book BACKSTAGE PASS : REDCAR JAZZ CLUB which features photographs by Dennis and Graham Lowe. Marketing manager Mick York joined them on air. Thanks John for making us welcome. You can hear it HERE
Chris pictured here with John Foster in the studio.
Picture by Dennis Weller
Sept 2015 BACKSTAGE PASS : REDCAR JAZZ CLUB
I keep getting asked what the cover's going to look like on the new book when it's published. Instead of explaining, thought I'd give you a sneak preview. So, here 'tis for your delight. If you want to know some more, then click on the TELL ME MORE button below the book cover.
August 2015
For the last... well, since February last year I've been working on a book about Redcar Jazz Club, culturally a very important venue in the North east of England, whose golden years coincided with that explosively innovative golden decade of the 60s.
While we put an astronaut on the moon who took a small step for man, but a huge step for mankind, down here we were taking a few steps of our own... Everything in England's youth culture underwent a comprehensive overhaul as teenagers fought, screamed and danced their way out of the drab post-war years. Clothes, music, haircuts, entertainment venues, films... and most of all, attitudes.
The builders are Here!
January 2015
Yes, they're here... and like all builders they've got big muddy feet... and they're trampling everything underfoot. We're trying our best to put it right, so please bear with us. Techies have been contacted & recruited and have joined the slave task force all toiling to try and sort out this mess... And when we're back on our feet again, we're hoping to have some amazing news for you. Right now, shhhh, it's a secret....
The builders are Coming!
November 2014
Due to improvements in software, and the necessity of being able to access websites on the move via mobile phones and tablets etc., we have to migrate to a newer format. This means we have call in the builders because the pages will get knocked about a bit in transit. We shall try and minimise the disruption but if you encounter pages that seem a bit, er, all over the place, then please come back a bit later and hopefully they'll be sorted! Thank you for your patience
February 2013
Biting Duck Press announces the opening of on-line bookstore section on the Biting Duck / Boson website. You can reach it by clicking HERE or use the link button below their logo on the left hand side of the home page.
November 2012
Biting Duck Press are introducing a new retailers’ “partners” scheme. If you own a business, you can display cards showing book jackets which customers can scan either in-store or later to order ebooks from the publisher. The scan will also include the merchant’s personal code which will generate a percentage from the sale. The full press release can be read HERE which includes contacts.
December 2011
You've heard of the song Rock Island Line? A Mighty fine road, it's the road to ride? Well Rock Island is on the border of Iowa & Illinois and is served by the River Cities Reader which ran Chris's comments this month about the internet tearing down the fences of communication. See it HERE
June 2012
The Bitingduck Press have announced they are merging with Boson publishers, but hope to continue expanding and developing the Boson imprint. We wish Jay Nadeau and all the team at Bitingduck the best, without forgetting Nancy and David McAllister at CM Online who have worked so diligently establishing Boson since 1994.
December 2011
"No more fences," is a line familiar to many Texas readers, and The Gilmer Mirror ran it as a headline to a piece heralding the use of video trailers for Chris's westerns. Click HERE
October 2011
NEW YORK STATE Hockey On-Line ran the NO MORE FENCES statement by Chris on their website which you can find HERE
Website A Year Old
October 20th 2011
Today, this website has been on-line for exactly one year. Chris would like to thank all the newspaper and magazine editors who have given space to his endeavours, and especially the thousands of people who have visited this website, and who Chris hopes found enough of interest to encourage them to return
October 2011
On Saturday 8th October Chris was a guest on Nick Murray's Show At Your Leisure between 3pm - 5 pm. on Teesside's SouthSide Radio. As well as talking about his books, Chris was even asked to select five of his favourite tunes for the programme. If you want to hear what they were, you can listen to a podcast HERE
On The Radio
3rd August 2011
Publication of Scarborough Fair was announced under the headline BOSON BOOK RELEASE in the on-line version of the Whitby Gazette. You can read it HERE
1st August 2011
Saltburn-by-the-Sea Blogspot continued to support local author Chris, announcing Scarborough Fair's worldwide release on ebook. Read the full news item HERE
Crossing Hits #4 !
30th July 2011
As part of the Tainted Archive's Wild West eMonday, Chris's Double Mountain Crossing was given the accolade of being #4 in the Magnificent Seven ebook choice.
29th July 2011
Saltburn-by-the-Sea's monthly magazine again gave generous coverage to Chris's latest release, Scarborough Fair. The on-line version of the magazine can be accessed via the same link as the Saltburn Blogspot. Click HERE
21st July 2011
David Hayes of Astrodene's Historic Naval Fiction conducted a comprehensive interview with Chris, which can be read HERE
The Voice of Doncaster
July 2011
Yorkshire Author Spins Salty Yarn of Fighting Ships proclaimed Doncaster's the Villager website to welcome Boson Books' publication of Scarborough Fair in ebook format.
