RON KAVANA . . . thanks for the memories

The emphasis here is mainly on Ron's musical and recording adventures during the period he was based in London, including of course his association with Ace/Chiswick Records and the Rock On record shop where for a time he helped out behind the counter.

Born and raised in Fermoy, County Cork, Ron Kavana had been a member of progressive folk group The Loudest Whisper and can be heard on their first album "Children of Lir" released on Polydor (Ireland) in 1974. His musical ambitions, however, eventually took him to London where he initially found work as a jobbing bass player on the west London country circuit. Not exactly what a creative soul would have hoped for, but it paid the bills. He then hooked up with a bunch of like-minded players for a somewhat more challenging project. Kicking off as Kavana's Krisis Band they soon expanded in number and underwent a significant name change that would well-serve the band’s various line ups for the next dozen years.

Juice On The Loose (named after a Cousin Joe Pleasant recording) began life in 1978 as a loose conglomeration of musicians with the parallel intention of providing London with a house-band to back any visiting American rhythm & blues artists. However, the band grew in popularity, the line up crystalised and Juice became a very in-demand act on the London R&B scene.

A matter of months after the band’s re-branding the late and still lamented Charlie Gillett featured their demo tape on his Radio London Honky Tonk show. Kavana’s tribute to Little Junior  Parker, ‘ The Blue Flames Boogie’, was subsequently included on Charlie’s influential “Honky Tonk Demos”  compilation (Oval Records)  along with early offerings from other ‘unknowns’ at the time such as the Darts and Dire Straits. It is pertinent to mention the band’s personnel on this demo as it would lead to future associations with Ace Records: as well as Ron Kavana on vocals and rhythm guitar, it featured former (Gay & Terry] Woods Band member Ed Deane on slide guitar; Charlie Hart (veteran of Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance and Kilburn & the High Roads) played bass; Gerry MacIlduff was an excellent drummer but his stay with the band was brief and the drum stool was handed to Les Morgan; New Orleans-style pianist Diz Watson and accordion maestro Geraint Watkins completed the line up. Not long after, Diz left the band for a solo career, formed Diz and the Doormen and would later record two fine albums for Ace.

As a backing unit Juice On The Loose warmed up with dates in Germany accompanying Alexis Korner and Chris Farlowe. On returning to the UK the two headliners performed at a legendary Dingwalls party with a genuinely all-star big band including the likes of Charlie Watts and Jack Bruce. Two guitarists were featured … one of them was Ron Kavana. Juice would later play some UK dates with Clarence “Frogman” Henry, although I’ve been unable to sequence this with any accuracy.

I moved to Highbury, north London in 1979 and soon after found myself working at the Rock On record shop in Camden Town. The following year one of the shop’s regular customers, Vic Lockwood, recommended a band he was filming for an Open University project. They were playing a pub called the Royal Exchange tucked away beside the North London railway line between Camden and Kentish Town. That was the first of many times I encountered Juice On The Loose and witnessed the unswerving self-confidence of Ron Kavana. Keyboard man Geraint Watkins was by then alternating between accordion and the piano stool vacated by Diz Watson’s departure. With his comparatively mellow voice Watkins was also taking a share of lead vocals which provided a distinct counterbalance to Kavana’s more intense delivery. It transpired that Juice also had a weekly residency at the Pegasus in Stoke Newington which turned out to be just a ten minute walk from my flat. Well, that was my Friday nights taken care of for the foreseeable future! Gradually other London gigs came to light such as the Cricketers by the Oval cricket ground and the Bull & Gate in Kentish Town, and I discovered other excellent bands too … but that’s very much another story. And yes, the aforementioned documentary did materialise although I didn’t catch it until a year or two later. Ron had it on video. While on the subject it feels worth anecdoting that the documentary’s production team had come in under budget that financial year and they seemingly felt an obligation to spend the unused funds rather than have it written off. What better than a slap up party in Alexandra Palace with Kavana and co. as the main entertainment! Happy days.

On the recording scene Juice released two 45s on the low-key Songwriters Workshop label in 1980 and 1981 respectively, with two Kavana-penned sides, a trad. arr. instrumental celebrating Ron’s home town ‘Fermoy’, and Geraint singing his own composition ‘Cowboys and Indians’. Around this time Kavana teamed up with singer/guitarist Gary Rickard for a series of acoustic gigs at the famous King’s Head theatre pub in Islington. Billing themselves as the Elderly Brothers they delighted the bar’s audience with their country blues and harmonies. They also recorded together at Ron’s home studio and some of that material may possibly have been the actual cuts included on an album Ron would later release under his own name. Gary Rickard would go on to become a founder member of the Balham Alligators.

Meanwhile 1981 also saw Juice On The Loose undergo some personnel changes in a remarkably short period. Nick Pentelow (formerly of Roy Wood’s Wizzard) had already been drafted in on tenor sax, while both Ed Deane and Geraint Watkins departed within weeks of each other; Deane to Frankie Miller’s band and Watkins to the pop charts with Shakin’ Stevens. Fran Byrne had been brought in to put the brake on a seemingly revolving door of drummers following Les Morgan’s stint, and was shortly followed by Alan “Bam” King on rhythm guitar and vocals. Byrne had previously seen action with pub favourites Bees Make Honey, while King’s musical credits stretched back to the 1960s as a member of mod band The Action, and later Mighty Baby. Both musicians had also enjoyed success with 70s chart band Ace. As a result of the reshuffle Ron Kavana switched to lead guitar while continuing as frontman. This was to become Juice’s most stable line up. They were also about to record the band’s debut album.

Juice On The Loose had lately come to the attention of Ace/Chiswick Records whose A&R department made a short trip up the road to check them out at the Bull & Gate in Kentish Town. A deal was made and Juice were booked to cut an album’s worth of tracks at the local Chalk Farm Studios in early August 1981. Co-produced by the band and engineer Vic “Valves” Keary, the twelve tracks selected included four Kavana originals and three co-writes with the band. Former members Ed Deane and Geraint Watkins also contributed to the proceedings along with several other guest musicians. Ron Kavana was always a stickler for credit where due (both giving and taking) and it was a nice touch for all previous Juice members to be credited on the LP sleeve. The eponymous album was duly released on Chiswick’s custom JOOS label, a sure sign that it wouldn’t be receiving a hefty promotion push. The album certainly had its moments, but  even a fan like myself could see that several cuts, for various reasons, did not transfer too well from stage to studio. Perhaps it happened a little too soon after all the personnel changes. However, I seem to remember it sold well in Rock On. My memory also tells me that when auditing the Ace/Chiswick tapes some twenty-five years ago I noticed at least a couple of unissued tracks from the Juice sessions, one being Sam & Dave’s ‘I Take What I Want’ which was then part of the band ‘s live set.

Some three months after that venture Ace Records booked the same studio to record an album on Ron’s old bandmate Diz Watson, with Juice On The Loose stalwart Charlie Hart brought in as producer. Diz was by then, and still is as far as I know, a master purveyor of New Orleans rhythm & blues. It so happened that Fats Domino was in London and three of his horn players, including the legendary Lee Allen, had sat in with Diz and the Doormen at a late night pub gig (possibly the Hare & Hounds). They were invited to the recording studio and ended up playing on half the tracks.  No surprise that Ron Kavana’s driving rhythm guitar can also be heard on several cuts. The resulting LP “Bluecoat Man” fared very well and garnered plaudits on both sides of the Atlantic, and notably in Louisiana. One particular music journalist heard a preview copy being played in Rock On and enquired if it was the new Professor Longhair album! Ace Records kept the faith and released a second Diz Watson LP “Rhumbalero” in 1984, again produced by Charlie Hart. There was no Ron Kavana involvement on this occasion but Juice’s Nick Pentelow was heavily featured on tenor sax.

At the end of a Scandinavian tour in 1982 the Sir Douglas Quintet played an extra gig in London (The Venue, Victoria) before jetting back to the States. Long-time keyboard player Augie Meyers was in anti-flying mode and opted for the QE2, due to embark two weeks later. He and his wife Carol ended up staying at Ted Carroll’s flat above Rock On in Camden Town. The Ace Records director wasted little time: Augie Meyers kicking his heels for a couple of weeks?; Chalk Farm Studios just up the road? Click! An all-night session was duly booked along with Juice On The Loose members Ron Kavana, Charlie Hart and Fran Byrne, augmented by Dusty MacSheffery from one of Ace’s then current bands, Albania. Seven tracks (mostly Meyers songs) were recorded, four of which saw the light of day on the Ace/Big Beat various artists compilation “Texas Dancehall Favourites”. Also catching the session was Philip Chevron during his stint at Rock On following the break up of his band the Radiators. While still in Camden Town Augie  Meyers sat in with Juice On The Loose who were conveniently playing one of their regular gigs at the Dublin Castle.

A year or so later Augie and Doug Sahm were back in London, this time on a promotional visit. A night at Dingwalls became available and Juice On The Loose were booked to back the duo following a brief run through at a local rehearsal studio. I also recall Juice accompanying Sahm and Meyers at a Sunday lunchtime gig at the Cricketers during which Doug featured his Little Richard impression, pounding hell out of the piano and wiggling his arse for the audience.

Then in August of 1983 came the legendary Rock On-promoted ‘1950s R&B Jamboree’ extravaganza at Camden Town’s famed Electric Ballroom, featuring vintage American rhythm & blues artists Big Jay McNeely, Chuck Higgins, Willie Egan and Young Jessie. Juice On The Loose and South Wales’ finest, Red Beans & Rice were engaged to share backing duties, with Ron Kavana and co. taking on Big Jay and Willie. The show was recorded by Vic Keary on his Valvemobile and an album featuring three numbers per artist was rush-released by Ace Records. Juice also recorded studio albums with McNeely and Egan, both of which saw release the following year, again on Ace. Vic Keary was credited as producer on all three albums, although I’d be inclined to think that Ron also had an input, at least on the studio recordings.

Big Jay McNeely stayed in London long enough for a memorable gig with Juice On The Loose at the Pegasus. Mid-number and still honking his sax, he left the stage, then the building, and for several minutes ‘entertained’ the traffic while swerving about in the middle of Green Lanes  before returning to the stage. Somewhere around this time the same venue provided another noteworthy experience when Slim Gaillard and Juice played a set together.

Away from backing band duties Ron and the boys were as busy as ever continuing their relentless tour of the capital’s finest watering holes. There was an occasional foray outside the metropolis, such as the long-established weekend dates in Somerset and Devon known affectionately (and effectively) as the cider circuit. It was a weekend of the utmost hospitality that Juice and other invited bands always looked forward to.

Seems it was 1985 when Ron Kavana left Juice On The Loose, citing that he could no longer work within the confines of a democratic band. He wanted his own band where he could call the shots. After taking a sabbatical in the USA for several months Ron got down to work, but it would take some  three years before he had the band he wanted as a vehicle for his songs. Meanwhile Philip Chevron had finally joined the Pogues full-time, vacated his job at Rock On, and Ron was glad to take over for a while on a part-time basis (they had both got on well and would go on to work together on the album “Father’s Lying Dead On The Ironing Board” for veteran Cabaret artist Agnes Bernelle). 1985 also saw the Italian Appaloosa label release Ron Kavana’s “Rollin’ & Coastin’” album. It comprised tracks he’d recorded with Gary Rickard (Elderly Brothers), together with Ron’s final recordings with Juice cut at Steve Broughton’s Weemeenit Studios in Barnet the previous summer.

To fulfil their booking commitments Juice On The Loose had drafted in two vocalists, Les Walker and Andy Winfield, to replace the departed Kavana, with Winfield doubling on lead guitar. It was an interesting transition with a few more soul covers easing their way into the set, a move which particularly suited Walker’s voice. However, the change in personnel also signalled the end of Juice as London’s house-band.

Meanwhile Ron Kavana was up and running with a prototype line up under the name Nightbeat. Just like the Pogues were successfully infusing traditional Irish music with a punk attitude, Ron had the notion of marrying the music of his roots to a rhythm & blues rhythm section. Musicians came and went but the band gradually evolved into something of a less fragile line up. It included guitarist Mick Molloy and drummer Fran Byrne, both former members of Bees Make Honey, with Byrne having more recently become an ex-Juicer. Ron sometimes claimed that Nightbeat’s change of name to Alias Ron Kavana was inspired by him being wrongly credited as Ron Carver on an Augie Meyers album released by Sonet Records, together with a lack of credit for various other records he’d played on. Another train of thought might also suggest that  ‘Alias’  would have given the band an alphabetical advantage in certain gig listings. Whatever, the new name was a positive move and considerably more eye-catching.

Having already played mandolin on the Balham Alligators’ first single and contributed some lead guitar to the Augie Meyers album “Augie’s Back” (Sonet), Ron notched things up a bit by producing and playing several instruments on the Alligator’s eponymous debut album released on Topic’s Special Delivery label. Awaiting on the horizon was a different kind of collaboration which would have a more dramatic effect on Ron Kavana’s fortunes.

The Devonshire Arms was just a two-minute walk down the road from Rock On, and situated between them happened to be the Pogues’ management office. When Ron started a Sunday round-the-table session at the pub various members of the Pogues would begin to turn up and join in. As a result, Ron gradually befriended the entire band to the point where he gladly allowed himself to be drawn into their circle. In due course he provided the songs ‘Everyman Is A King’ and ‘Young Ned Of The Hill’, both co-written with Terry Woods and duly recorded by the Pogues. Ron also contributed his musical talents to some of the band’s studio work. Alias, too, benefitted by being chosen to support the Pogues on a number of gigs, and I was fortunate enough to catch one of them at Kilburn’s Grange Park. Ron’s love affair with the Pogues’ juggernaut eventually soured and he managed to extricate himself from the madness it had become to concentrate more fully on his own band.

In summer 1987 musician/publican Joe Giltrap took over stewardship of the Weavers Arms and transformed it into a full-on roots music venue. Joe had faith in Ron Kavana and his music and offered him an open weekly residency on Wednesday nights, plenty of time to build up a following with an unproven band. Fran Byrne had left during this period and was replaced by another former Juice drummer, Les Morgan. Filling the bass role for any length of time had been a problem but it was finally solved when former Electric Bluebird and Fabulous Poodle Richie Robertson was brought in to add extra drive to the rhythm section. Guitarist Mick Molloy had remained the only constant  through all the changes. Deep into 1988 the ball started rolling, and rolling, and Alias were on their way to taking over the Saturday night slot which they went on to play regularly until Joe Giltrap’s reign at the Weavers came to an end in 1999. That’s not to say that Alias didn’t play any other London gigs in their earlier days. Steve Beggs was another champion of the band and booked them regularly at the 100 Club. There were also gigs at the Mean Fiddler and the Dublin Castle among others.

At the end of 1988 Alias Ron Kavana was voted best band of the year by Highly Strung, a free monthly magazine run by music enthusiasts and distributed to appropriate London music venues. My memory was further jogged when a Weavers gig listing in the same issue showed that you could still catch Alias there on a Wednesday night for the princely sum of £2.50, but not for very much longer! There was a reminder too that Kavana and Rickard had also re-activated the Elderly Brothers and played a couple of support gigs at the 100 Club that month. Earlier in the year the 100 Club had hosted an unusual event to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of Juice On The Loose. Promoter Steve Beggs had been plotting for some time to have the then current band (whom he was managing) play a double bill with a reunited original line up. Surprisingly they all agreed to do it.

Nineteen-eighty-nine would prove to be a breakthrough year for Alias Ron Kavana. With the now settled line up of Mick Molloy (guitar), Richie Robertson (bass) and Les Morgan (drums), Alias were really gelling and constantly improving both in musical terms and levels of excitement. It was a great buzz to see Ron’s project starting to happen. They were selling out the Weavers, filling more column inches in the influential Folk Roots magazine, and larger venues outside the pub circuit came a-calling, all of which would lead to the band’s association and success with  the Heineken Big Top festivals. And once again Ron Kavana came to the attention of Ace Records.

Label director Roger Armstrong was Ron’s main liaison with the company once an album deal had been secured, and David Young was hired to produce the sessions at the noted Church Studio in Crouch End. Ron had written or co-written all the material including ‘Everyman Is A King’ his collaboration with Terry Woods which had been recorded by the Pogues. Old Juice On The Loose mates Geraint Watkins and Fran Byrne contributed some keyboard and bodhran work respectively, while Abdul Tee-Jay guested on lead guitar for ‘Soweto Trembles’, a rollicking instrumental somewhat akin to the Pogues’ ‘Fiesta’ in that it begs you to dance the hell out of it, even if you can’t dance. The tune itself began life in the Alias live set as ‘Tralee Trembles’, played in lively traditional Irish style until Kavana got on his world music kick and accordingly adapted both arrangement and title. My own favourite track ‘This Is The Night’ (Ron’s tribute to Van Morrison) is nicely topped off with some very effective femme backing vocals courtesy of Debi Doss and Shirley Roden. One-time Pink Fairies member Mickey Weaver played fiddle on a few tracks but  technical issues during recording led to his contribution being subdued in the final mix, although he fared better with the congas. The completed album entitled “Think Like A Hero” was a fine addition to the company’s varied catalogue and was duly released on Ace’s Chiswick imprint, Ron’s preferred choice of label. Both ‘This Is The Night’ and ‘Soweto Trembles’ were justifiably issued as singles. Ron Kavana’s year was capped off by Alias being voted Best Live Act of the Year by Folk Roots magazine for what would be the first of three consecutive years.

In the middle of the decade Kavana and various other volunteers from the London-based arts community had formed a charity, The London Irish Live Trust (LILT) to work towards peace in Northern Ireland. An album was planned with profits to be donated to the Belfast Charitable Trust For Integrated Education (BELTIE). Ron had laid the groundwork for this project during his American sojourn and work began in earnest on his return to London. Musician friends freely contributed their time and talent during recording sessions held in 1986 and 1988, with vocals shared between The Pogues’ Philip Chevron, Shane MacGowan and Terry Woods, along with Mary Coughlan, Rod Demick  and Ron himself. Mixing finally took place in 1990 and the finished album “For The Children” - written, arranged and produced by Ron Kavana - was released later that year. Many of the musicians involved in the recording process came together for a one-off performance at the 100 Club for a magic night and undoubtedly a proud moment for the project’s instigator.

Meanwhile Alias were riding high and well on their way to becoming darlings of the festival scene around the UK and Europe, and particular favourites at the Heineken Big Top events of which they eventually became headliners. However, they still found time to show their appreciation to Joe Giltrap at the Weavers on a fairly regular basis, and for old times’ Joe put on a sort of Juice On The Loose reunion with Ron fronting a line up that was somewhat removed from the original band.

Both Ron and Ace Records’ Roger Armstrong were interested in doing a second Alias album and sessions took place at Elephant and Watershed studios with David Young and Ron as co-producers. Following the departure of the luckless fiddler Mickey Weaver, Fran Byrne had returned to the fold as bodhran player while Geraint Watkins again added some keyboards and backing vocals. Other guest musicians included members of Boiled In Lead and the wonderfully idiosyncratic Sons Of The Desert, along with uilleann piper Tomas Lynch who would continue to feature on Ron’s recordings and live performances over the coming years. All but one of the songs were Kavana compositions or co-writes, with a couple of ‘trad arrs’ included for good measure. The one non-original was Smokey Robinson and Co’s ‘Ain’t That Peculiar’, an Alias stage favourite along with Ron’s undoubted classic ‘Irish Ways’. The resulting album “Coming Days”, released by Chiswick Records in 1991, seemingly offered a slightly mellower production than its predecessor (“Think Like A Hero”) without particularly distracting from the passionate venom in some of Ron’s lyrics.

That same year Topic Records’ Special Delivery label released “Home Fire”, Ron’s first ‘proper’ solo album. Self-produced, acoustic, and Irish to the core, it featured the aforementioned Tomas Lynch as well as Terry Woods, Alan Dunn (former Electric Bluebird and later with Bob Geldof’s band) and several other first-rate musicians Ron had befriended over the years. It was another fine album from our subject which included ‘Young Ned Of The Hill’, the Kavana-Woods composition they had sung in the Ken Loach film Hidden Agenda, and which had also been recorded by the Pogues for their “Peace & Love” album.

Ron Kavana’s connections with both Ace and Topic at the time resulted in a rather different kind of collaboration. While discussing Irish music with Ace’s Roger Armstrong they bemoaned the fact that Topic could have been doing a lot more to exploit their considerable archive of traditional Irish recordings acquired over several decades. Roger agreed, and duly arranged a licensing deal with Topic Records for a series of various artist CDs to be released over a period of time. Ron had talked himself into another long-term project in addition to keeping Alias on the road. It would have been a daunting task for many, but he had the knowledge, insight and desire to see it through, and see it through he certainly did. Altogether nine volumes were issued on Ace’s Globestyle Irish imprint between 1993 and 1997, all compiled and annotated by Ron Kavana.

The early 90’ also saw Alias take on a new member. Fiddle player Miriam Kelly had previously contributed to Ron’s “For The Children” charity album and was certainly not forgotten. She settled in well, had stage presence, sang harmony, and she could play! Many, including myself, were surprised to learn that Miriam was actually Dutch but had an overriding yen to be Irish. Sadly, I never got to see this line up in a festival setting although they never failed to raise the Weavers’ roof on the numerous occasions I was in attendance. Ron and Miriam almost inevitably became an item, with Miriam eventually using the Kavana surname. Did they marry? Alas, I don’t have the answer. Although she gigged with the band for several years it would appear that Miriam played on just two of Ron’s albums (ref. the RK website): 1984’s “Dancin’ To The Ceili Band” by The Bucks (Alias plus Terry Woods and various guests) and “Galway To Graceland” by a re-vamped Alias Band and issued on Ron’s own Alias label the following year. Sadly, due to record business machinations both albums received only limited release. This led Ron to take stock of his career, especially with regard to putting out records, although Alias were still a popular live attraction at festivals and overseas. His daughter Georgia remembers accompanying the band on a 1997 trip to the Far East where they played festivals in Hong Kong and South Malaysia. She got on well with Miriam who was on the gigs but could not recall much about the other members, only that one of them played the pipes.

On the occasions I caught Ron Kavana at the Weavers towards the back end of the decade, the band as I remember was trimmed down to a four-piece (including Ron) and known as the Alias Acoustic Band. I don’t recall Miriam being present at that stage. I still enjoyed attending Ron’s gigs but have to say I missed the excitement and power of the early 90s model. Guess it must have been the old rock ’n’ roller in me!

Back on the recording scene with Proper Records! In 1998 Proper, regarded by many as a reissue label (not unlike Ace really), released Ron’s 2-CD set “Irish Songs of Rebellion, Resistance and Reconciliation”  followed a year later by “Alien Alert”, a live set recorded at various locations in the San Francisco area with local band The Resident Aliens. It would appear that all but one of Ron’s subsequent albums were only released in Ireland, be it commercially, limited editions, private pressings, for sale at gigs or for charity. The exception was “Irish Ways: The Story of Ireland in Song, Music and Poetry”, a 4-CD set again released on Proper in 2007. A discography of all Ron Kavana’s album releases appears on his website shown at the end of this piece.

Ron’s gradual move from London back to Fermoy and his roots began around Millennium time and took several years of to-ing and fro-ing before he could say he was ‘back home’. We met occasionally during his visits to London in that period, but when I saw him again a dozen or so years back he was on serious medication but happy to sit in a pub nursing a soft drink. Actually, ‘happy’  might not be the right word but he put on a brave face. All the more surprising then that in 2016 he took part in another Juice On The Loose reunion, this time for a two-show weekender kicking off in the West country and followed by a gig in south London. I was unaware of the first date until I arrived at Lewisham’s Fox & Firkin venue to be greeted by complaints of tiredness by various band members after a lengthy drive following their reported stormer of a gig at Evershot Village Hall in Dorset. Ron no doubt would have felt it most, but they were all game, gave it a good go and sent the many original Juice fans home in good spirits. That was the last time I saw Ron Kavana on stage, and it was possibly his final gig in Britain. We met a couple more times in a social setting, the last being some five years ago when his health had seriously deteriorated. Since then periodic updates from his daughter became progressively more disheartening until it became just a matter of time. Ron Kavana finally passed away in May of this year.

Cheers for the memories, Ron!

Ronald Aloysius Kavanagh: born 21 June 1952; died 4 May 2024

Bob Dunham - September 2024

With thanks for information/assistance to Roger Armstrong, Ted Carroll, Georgia Kavanagh and Neil Scaplehorn.

Thanks also to Chris Urquhart whose excellent interview-based essay on Ron Kavana for 1999’s “Alien Alert” album provided some useful info on the very early days of Juice On The Loose.

Ron Kavana website: www.aliasronkavana.com