Zoot: Young Group That Really Swings
Zoot At The Kommotion Klub Spectacular
Left To Right: Beeb Birtles, Darryl Cotton, Ted Higgins & John D’Arcy
Long before he joined The Angels, Doc Neeson made a significant contribution to Australian rock history. At the time Neeson was trying his hand as a promoter, running local venues and occasionally managing bands.
Doc Neeson: “I heard about this group down Christies Beach way. I really liked their stuff but they had a really hippy name and were doing Hollies type material. I suggested they call themselves Zoot. I used to like the UK player Zoot Money. I thought he was a good musician and just Zoot had a ring to it.”
Down The Line
Beeb Birtles: “This is going way back before I owned my first real bass guitar. My Dad, who was a carpenter, shaped the body of this guitar and John D’Arcy laid the frets in it. We bought a cheap pickup to turn it into an electric bass guitar. Before we called ourselves Zoot we were called Down The Line. Me, Darryl Cotton and Ted Higgins. Thanks to Terry Higgins for the photo.”
“We called ourselves Down The Line, which was after a Hollies song.”
Beeb’s First Guitar
Beeb Birtles: “Here I am in the backyard of my family home with my first Australian made Maton guitar that my parents gave me for my 15th birthday.
Being a lefty you can see I had already turned the guitar upside down.”
Beeb Birtles First Bike
Beeb Birtles: “Guess who was given his first bike on Christmas Day, 1951 in Amsterdam?”