Sunday 16 July 2017

The Hickory Stix
























Members
 
Reno Gianitto - vocals (Died: January 2016)
Glyn Hewines - guitar ( - Spring 1965)
Graham Bagshaw - bass guitar (Died: ?)
Howard Renshaw - tenor saxophone (Died: ?)
Ken Thursfield - drums
 
John Egan - guitar (Spring 1965-1966)
Chris Burrows - drums (1965-1966)
Barrie Cartwright - drums (1966)
Jimmy Ord - bass guitar (1966)
 
The Hickory Stix were formed in Leek, Staffordshire.
Previously known as The Concords. Changed their name to The Hickory Stix when they added Reno Gianitto as their vocalist.
Ken Thursfield was previously in The Teenbeats.
Reno Gianitto was previously in Reno and the Classics.
Dave Daniels was their agent.
Played many times at 'Big Daddy's Club' in Halifax. Big Daddy was a famous English wrestler.
Supported the Animals at the Pavilion Gardens, Buxton when they were no.1 with 'House of the Rising Sun' in 1964.
John Egan replaced Glyn Hewines on guitar in Spring 1965.
Chris Burrows replaced Ken Thursfield on drums in 1965.
They were sometimes billed as Reno (or Reano) and The Hickory Stix for live appearances.
Played in Germany in early 1966. 
Chris Burrows was replaced on drums by Barrie Cartwright in 1966.
Graham Bagshaw left in 1966 and was replaced by Jimmy Ord.
The band split up around 1966.
Reno Gianitto went on to sing with The Peter Chell Big Band who regularly played at the Crystal Ballroom in Newcastle under Lyme.
John Egan was also later in The Peter Chell Big Band.
Howard Renshaw was later in The Bob Allard Band, and Jazz Cabal.
Ken Thursfield was later in several groups including a vocal trio.
Glyn Hewines was later in The Intrigue who later changed their name to The Inbetweens, Jazz Cabal, Easy Street, and a country-rock/rock 'n' roll trio called Rooster.
Chris Burrows was later in Rey Anton and the Pro Form, then he was a resident drummer at Quaglinos in London's West End. Chris then played with Transatlantic Records bands 'Circus' and 'Spirit of John Morgan'. He then joined Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come.
Chris Burrows gave up his musical career to pursue his interest in Buddhism. He is now a monk (lama) in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and known as Lama Shri Sadhu Dharmavira. 

(Thanks to Glyn Hewines for additional information and pictures).
(Thanks also to Lama Shri Sadhu Dharmavira (formerly Chris Burrows) for additional information and pictures)
(Thanks to John Egan for additional information.).





















UK Singles

1965 Hello My Darling / Feeling Blue                                                                         OAK RGJ 149
   (Released January 1965)




'Hello My Darling' was written by Reno Gianitto (Gianippo on the label) and 'Feeling Blue' was written by Glyn Hewines (Hewins on the label).















Known Gigs

30 May 1964 Leek, Town Hall, Staffordshire. Supporting Gerry Byrnes and the Invaders.
30 Aug 1964 Rudyard, Hotel Rudyard, Staffordshire.
? Aug/Sep 1964 Stoke-On-Trent, Beat City, New Embassy Club, Waterloo Road, Burslem. Supporting Dave Berry and the Cruisers.
4 Dec 1964 Leek, St. Mary's Hall, King Street, Staffordshire.
6 Dec 1964 Leek, Beat Club, Staffordshire.
24 Dec 1964 Leek, Town Hall, Staffordshire. Supporting The Marauders.
3 Jan 1965 Leek, Beat Club, Staffordshire.
6 Jan 1965 Leek, The Milward Hall, Staffordshire.
4 Feb 1965 Stafford, North End Working Men's Club, Staffordshire. Supported by Barry and the Ravens.
11 Feb 1965 Stafford, Stafford College, Staffordshire. 
20 Feb 1965 Leek, Town Hall, Staffordshire. Supporting The Paramounts. With The Flingles.




















11 Jun 1965 Burton Upon Trent, 76 Club, High Street, Staffordshire.
7 Sep 1965 Manchester, Oasis Club. Supporting Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich.
4 Dec 1965 Nantwich, Civic Hall, Cheshire. With The Klubs.
8 Dec 1965 Liverpool, The Cavern, Mathew Street. Supporting Earl Preston's Realms.










22 Mar 1966 Crewe, L.M.R. Sports & Social Club, Goddard Street, Cheshire.










1 Apr 1966 Burton Upon Trent, 76 Club, High Street, Staffordshire.



A later line-up of The Hickory Stix. Left to right: John Egan, Graham Bagshaw, Chris Burrows and Reno Gianitto.


































 
 
 
 
Chris Burrows today. Now known as Lama Shri Sadhu Dharmavira.

15 comments:

  1. Hi. My name is Glyn Hewines an original member of the Hickory Stix. I am on the far right of the photo. the record was released as a private venture in January 1965. There were 500 copies of the disc which sold out in one weekend. As a result of this the disc charted at no 76 in the top 100 for one week only. The only record on the Oak label to ever enter the charts. The words Demo Disc should have been omitted. I actually left the band in the Spring of 1965 a was then as I was in the final year of my exams. It was then that John replaced me. We used to play at local venues during the week and then further afield at the weekends. They were good times and we always remained friends even after the band split up. Howard Ken and myself had a brief reunion in 2000 at the Millenium concert in Leek. Sadly Graham, Howard and Reno have all passed away and are much missed. I still enjoy playing guitar in a local band even at my age. Hope this is of interest. I have numerous press cuttings which my mum kept from the days in the band. Glyn Hewines

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    1. Hi Glyn. Thank you for your comment. I have a copy of this record. I will update the entry with this new information. Sorry to hear about Graham, Howard and Reno. If you would like me to add any of your press cuttings to this blog then please email them to me at britishchallenge@gmail.com Any help with bringing more information about the group to the world is very much appreciated. I believe history should be preserved, whatever the history is and more needs to be written about Staffordshire groups of the 60s. Ian

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    2. I am Renos widow.He died Jan 2016 not as stated in your article.

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    3. Thank you. I will correct it accordingly. Any more information about Reno would be very much appreciated.

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    4. GRAHAM BAGSHAW WAS TRAGICALLY KILLED AFTER HIS E-TYPE JAG OVERTURNED.

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    5. I lived in Butterton, the same village as Graham and Howard and knew them both and their families quite well. I vividly remember the day Graham died as do most of the village , very sad day - does'nt really matter but the car was actually a Triumph Spitfire .

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  2. As the Concords I think that on 22 Nov 63 the day JFK was assassinated they played The Bull n Thorn pub Buxton.

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  3. Hi, I spent 6 months in a children's hospital with Reno in the 50s. His family were recently arrived from Italy and he was known by the name of Theodoro Gianito.

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  4. Hi,
    My name is John Egan. I replaced Glyn in the Band in 1965. We later played in the German clubs in Early 1966 and the Cavern on our own several times and at an all-mighter with Zoot Money and the Bid Roll Band. Also supported the Pretty Things at Buxton Pavilion, Manfred Mann in Carlisle and The Walker Brothers in Nottingham. I also joined the Peter Chell Big Band along with Reno. I still play guitar, but only for fun these days. You can find a selection of my stuff on YouTube and Bandcamp. Good times !

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comment John. Good to hear you are still playing the guitar. Thanks for the extra information. Ian T

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  5. Hi. I should mention that Chris Burrows was replaced on drums by Barrie Cartwright, a terriffic local drummer who went on to play in a number of good bands, including I think, Sandie Shaw's band
    Regards, John

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    1. Thank you once again John. I have updated the post accordingly.

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  6. The photo showing the later line up of the Stix features (L-R) John, Graham, Chris and Reno.

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  7. In 1966, Graham Bagshaw was replaced by Jimmy Ord a great bass player, whose family moved to Stoke-on-Trent from Tyneside.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks John. I have updated the post with your latest information.

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