On the first day that Brian
Willoughby moved to Twickenham in the 70s, he went for an exploratory stroll through the town and found Jemimah's Wine Bar (now The Eel Pie) in Church Street, with a billboard saying that blues was playing inside. Brian wandered in for a listen and chatted to Bob Lewis at the interval, mentioning that he was also a guitar player. Bob invited him to join in for the second half and they have been playing together in many different bands ever since.
Cathryn Craig tells the story that Bob Lewis was instrumental in the creation of "Alice's Song", by spilling tea on Brian's new carpet. Cathryn leapt for the cleaning fluids, whilst Brian sat on the sofa playing his guitar. Brian hit on a beautiful melody that made Cathryn cry, but Brian assumed she was overcome with fumes from the carpet cleaner. He recorded the melody for her and she then wrote the lyrics
Bob's Red Hot Pick-up Band featured another excellent guitar player, John Evans. Bob and John teamed up and calling themselves Dr Bob and Big John, they have made quite a name for themselves as a rhythm and blues duo, around the Twickenham area. Whenever other commitments permitted, Brian would join them. Originally, the three of them played as Dr Bob and Big John featuring Brian Willoughby, but now they play as The Three Mustgetbeers. The maths and nomenclature get slightly complicated though, as occasionally they are joined by Rob Townsend (Family, The Blues Band, The Manfreds) on drums. Dr Bob and Big John still play as a duo when Brian isn't available.
The 3MGBs play mainly covers of Country Blues standards, but do sneak their own compositions in occasionally. They are characterised by a driving rhythm from Bob's acoustic guitar, with beautiful improvisations from John and Brian, orchestrated by an almost telepathic connection between them.
To date, the 3MGBs have not produced a studio album and Dr Bob and Big John's CD One Take, Two Man Band is sold out. A recent gig in the Queen's head, in Kingston was recorded as a DVD. The Three Mustgetbeers is available at live shows, but potential purchasers must be warned that the video was shot with a hand-held camera and is not of professional quality.
See also Brian Willoughby & Cathryn Craig
Page contributed by Pete Bradley
A recording from their gig at the Queen's Head in Kingston on June 6th 2010 has been released on DVD, available from the band at concerts.