Home town: Salisbury
Circa: 1966 / 67
The Jagged Edges, a group initially comprising Oriel Boys School pupils, were first formed in 1966. The original band members were:
- Jeremy “Jay “ Jackson – Lead guitar (younger brother of Martin Jackson who played flute for Otis Waygood)
- Dave “Joubs” Joubert – Bass Guitar
- Dave Steele – Rhythm Guitar
- Brian Collett – Drums
The band was formed around Jay’s Gibson Les Paul guitar and amplifier which had 4 inputs and was sufficient to run 2 guitars and 2 microphones. The bass amplifier was home made and the first gig was at a house party in Highlands at which the same 7 songs (our complete repertoire at the time) were played all night long ! Not surprisingly, the band was nick-named “The Buggered Edges” after this performance.
Towards the end of 1966, Brian Collett was replaced by Graham Guthrie (see Themme Thynges and Rubber Storm) who, at that time, was the lead drummer for the Churchill pipe band but had never done any rock drumming. Shortly after joining the band, Graham brought Terry Winchester , also from Churchill , into the band as bass guitarist and “Joubs” Joubert moved to lead singer.
During 1967, the group enjoyed great success playing once a month at Highlands Sports Club, once at Highlands Presbyterian Church, once at Borrowdale Country Club, at various house parties in Borrowdale and Highlands, and also out in the farming communities at Selous and Bindura Country Clubs. Most of the group’s music was drawn from the hit parades of the day comprising plenty of Beatles, Rolling Stones, Troggs, Monkees, Animals, and Beach Boys’ songs.
Graham Guthrie competed in the Discotheque’s Drummer of the Year competition in 1967 and won the first prize of a new drum kit.
The group was sadly disbanded in 1968 when Jay and “Joubs” left for University in South Africa. Jay later became a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe and “Joubs” a successful Matabeleland cattle farmer. Terry Winchester was last heard of running a hypnotherapy clinic in Johannesburg which specializes in treatment of phobias – he apparently trained in the United States. Dave Steele, who interestingly started out playing with Phil Horne when he was 12 years old (see the Experimental Beard Band), now lives in Roodepoort and does the odd gig with friends. As a university student he started playing folk music and later took an acoustic guitar with him on all his National Service postings with the Rhodesian Air Force. A favourite haunt was the pub at FAF 1 in Wankie where, once the beers began to flow, there was no shortage of backing singers. After National Service, Dave spent a year in Umtali where he bumped into Julian Pellatt (see solo artists) and participated in one of Julian’s folk nights at the Cecil Hotel. There is no recent news of Graham Guthrie.
These photos of the band were taken by Martin Jackson at Highlands Presbyterian Church in 1967.
Left to Right: Jay Jackson, Dave Steele, Graham Guthrie. (Hold on to that A chord). Note the fancy uniforms !
Graham Guthrie in full flight !
Sunday Mail Classified Ads December 1967
Submitted by Dave Steele, January 2013.