Steve May (guitar)
Steve’s first guitar was one he made himself when he was about 12 years old, by copying the photo of an acoustic guitar on the cover of a Tommy Steele LP. Most of the materials were scrounged from Steve’s grandad. The body of the guitar was plywood, cut from an old tea chest, and the neck was part of an old sideboard. After being painted white, it didn’t look too bad. However, as Steve didn’t know anything about guitars, it sounded terrible.
Dave O’Donnell (guitar)
Dave was born in September 1948 in the North East of England. In 1962 he was attending Ashington Grammar School but his family moved house to Whitley Bay and Dave relocated to Whitley Grammar. He was already playing guitar but wasn't in a band and in 1963 he met Steve May who was also a guitarist so they began rehearsing a few Shadows instrumental numbers at Steve's house.
Johnny Claydon (vocals)
Johnny was born in 1948 and by the time he played in The Gravel Camp he was attending Valley Gardens Secondary school which is adjacent to Whitley Grammar. Johnny was a drummer and was a popular young man who was already well known in the growing music scene in his home town.
Michael "Robbie" Robinson (bass)
Robbie's full name was Michael Robert Robinson so naturally everyone called him Robbie. He played bass guitar and joined the group as he was a school friend of Johnny's. Robbie played very well and also did a bit of backing singing and once the group split up he carried on playing for a few years notably in a popular local band called "Autumn States".
Garry Cosgrove (drums)
Garry was born in a small mining town called Ashington in 1949 and, as he grew up, he was introduced to music by his father who loved jazz and pop music. Garry remembers his dad having records by Little Richard and Duane Eddy and there was always music being played on the radio. When Garry was around 10, at the encouragement of his dad, he began to learn the clarinet. In 1963 the family moved to a nearby town called Whitley Bay.