The Nationwide Gig Guide John St Field in the folk clubs

Three small entries in the New Musical Express gig guide bring John St Field’s early performing life into focus. For Friday 27 October 1972, the paper lists him with Helen Woodall at the Star Inn in Portsmouth. On Sunday he is due to play with Alex Atterson at the Pembroke Arms in Bournemouth; the following Monday, the two are on the programme at the Blacksmiths Arms in Shirley.

The scale is different from the rock clubs Doll by Doll would later play: three evenings in the folk listings, among many other musicians. Yet Alex Atterson is also one of the musicians associated with Control. The listings establish that Leven was being advertised as John St Field by October 1972, giving concrete places and dates to an early musical life so often known only through later recollections.

The guide was compiled by John Pidgeon, with Eric Winter credited for the folk listings. Portsmouth appears on printed page 24, Bournemouth and Shirley on page 33. These are announcements rather than concert reports: they do not establish whether the evenings took place as planned or how the musicians performed together.