Steve May (guitar)

25 Feb

Recollections of Steve May, lead guitarist with The Vulcans and rhythm guitarist with The Gravel Camp from 1963 to 1965

Steve was born in Canterbury, England, in 1948.

Earliest recollections of playing 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.

Steve’s father took pity on him and bought him a second-hand acoustic guitar and a copy of Bert Weedon’s “Play in A Day Guide to Modern Guitar Playing”.

Early electric guitars, amplifiers and bands

By the time Steve was about 14 years old, his family had moved to Whitley Bay in the north-east of England, and he had acquired a second-hand Futurama 2 guitar. Initially, Steve didn’t have an amplifier, and when he first got the guitar home, he hooked it up to the family’s “radiogram” and promptly blew out the speakers, much to the annoyance of his father.

After that, Steve’s father made him a valve amplifier which had an output of about 20 watts. Steve made a speaker cabinet from an old linen chest that he reinforced, then lined with egg boxes and foam rubber. The cabinet contained two 12” Fane speakers which Steve bought inexpensively from Exchange and Mart. He thought it sounded pretty good.

By around 1962, Steve was playing Shadows numbers with Alec and Ian Newman, two friends from Whitley Bay Grammar School which they all attended. Their first gig was at a dance held at the school. A lovely young girl named Carol Davidson, who attended the same school, sang a couple of Cliff Richard numbers with Steve and the Newman brothers.

The Newman brothers moved to Surrey in 1963. Steve and some other friends formed a group named The Vulcans, which also played Shadows numbers. By late 1963 the line-up was David O’Donnell on rhythm guitar, Garry Cosgrove on drums, George Fairbairn on bass and Steve on lead guitar. This line-up only played one gig which was at the Oxford Street Methodist Church, where they played 5 tunes including Steve’s stand-out solo “Spring is nearly here”.

In 1964, Steve jammed with a few other local players and even made a record (Love Potion No. 9) with a local singer / guitarist called Ernie Johnson. Later that year along with David, Steve was also rehearsing with a drummer called Johnny Claydon and a bass player called Michael Robinson. Johnny decided he wanted to concentrate on just being the lead vocalist, so Garry was invited to join the group on drums. In early 1965 the group decided on naming itself "The Gravel Camp."

By the time the group was formed, Steve was using a Futurama 3 guitar, a Watkins Dominator (20 watt) amplifier with two 10” speakers, and a Watkins Copicat tape echo unit. He borrowed the money from a friend to buy that kit and repaid it by working in a supermarket at the weekends and through two summers. David, the lead guitarist with the Gravel Camp, worked with Steve at that time. They had a lot of fun together at the supermarket, but that’s another story …

In the summer of 1965, the members of the Gravel Camp went their different ways.

Different paths

Around September 1965, Steve started work with the Swan Hunter Group which, in those days, had some 10,000 employees in civil construction, shipbuilding, ship repair and heavy engineering, mainly in the north-east of England. Initially, Steve was an apprentice fitter and turner (machinist), and trained for two years in the manufacture of marine diesel engines, steam turbines, boilers, compressors, etc. He then obtained a Student Apprenticeship. For the next four years, he worked six months of each year in various departments of the shipbuilding division, and devoted the other six months to full-time education. During that time, Steve got married and became the father of two girls.

Upon completion of formal education, Steve was appointed as a Development Engineer with the Swan Hunter Group, responsible for the plant and equipment aspects of facilities development projects within five shipyards located on the rivers Tyne and Wear in the north of England.

Steve left Swan Hunter in 1972 and joined an engineering consultancy, where he worked on projects in more than a dozen countries during the next eleven years. In 1983, Steve emigrated to Canada where he held increasingly senior positions in a number of engineering and manufacturing companies. For the last ten years of his professional career, Steve worked in the Middle East, in charge of major engineering and construction projects. During that time, he began to collect guitars.

From time to time over the years, Steve jammed with various friends, but has not played publicly for more than 15 years. The last time was in 2003, when he was CEO of a manufacturing company in Montreal, Canada, and persuaded several of his colleagues to get together, practice in secret for many hours, then perform a few numbers as a surprise for the employees at a company Christmas party. Apparently, the employees were gobsmacked to see their usually serious CEO, who always wore a suit and tie to work, play lead guitar in a five-piece blues / rock band, wearing scruffy jeans and a T-shirt!

Ongoing love of music / present day

Steve currently lives in Montreal and still loves music. He now has quite a collection of guitars, including some iconic ones, such as a Fender Telecaster, two Fender Stratocasters (six string and twelve string), a Gibson ES335, an SG and a Les Paul, as well as several six string and twelve string electro / acoustic guitars, including a Taylor 314ce, and a Yamaha bass. In terms of amplifiers and accessories, Steve currently has a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (40 watt) amp, a Marshall MB 60 (60watt) bass amp, various Boss pedals and a Wah-wah.

Gerrit Groteloh https://go4mo.com