THE music of the Swinging Sixties is defined by bands such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and The Who. But many people will also recall The Nashville Teens.

They were formed in Weybridge in 1962, and some of their members came from Woking and Addlestone. 

The Nashville Teens reached number six in the UK charts in 1964, with the song Tobacco Road, which also did well in the US. There it reached number 14 in the hit parade.

Tobacco Road was written and first recorded in 1959 by an American, John D Loundermilk, and is regarded as a classic across several music genres.

The Nashville Teens have had many changes of personnel over the years, but are still rocking today.

They were an evolution of a Weybridge band called The Cruisers, who included Mick Dunford, John Hawken, Pete Shannon (Harris) and Dave Maine. 

They were soon seeking a new vocalist, but recruited two lead singers – Arthur Sharp and Ray Phillips. 

Arthur had been the manager of the Aerco record shop in Woking.

Now named The Nashville Teens, they gigged widely, including playing clubs in Hamburg, West Germany, in the wake of The Beatles.

The Nashville Teens’ follow-up single to Tobacco Road was another song composed by Loundermilk, Google Eye. It reached number 10 in the UK charts. In 1965 and 1966, minor hits by the band included Find My Way Back Home, The Little Bird and The Hard Way.

Today’s line-up includes only Ray from when the band became The Nashville Teens. The gigs they now play are often at Sixties-themed festivals.

This look back at the band has come about via News & Mail reader Alan Fairlie.

His stories about the Wey Navigation at West Byfleet and the wartime barrage balloons at Brooklands have been featured in Peeps recently.

Alan sent copies of those articles to his friend Mike Gathercole, who lives in Guernsey in the Channel Islands.

Mike’s reply to Alan reads: “The New Haw lockkeeper’s cottage was occupied by a Captain Shannon, whose grandson Peter Harris was in my class at school. 

“Although a year older, he had been ill and was held back a year. I remember him as a good footballer, but he later became quite famous as a member of The Nashville Teens – at the time they had a couple of hit records – where he used the name Pete Shannon.

“Close to the lock there was a Spar shop, in the main New Haw road, and this is where life’s coincidences come into play. 

“In the late 1980s, I had a meeting in Guernsey with a man named Mike Brown, who was then deputy states treasurer.

“I worked in the housing department, and Mike wanted to discuss a potential employee, who he wanted to bring to Guernsey, named Peter Harris. 

“As I had a good working relationship with Mike, who later became the island’s top civil servant, I said ‘I know Peter Harris, I was at school with him and he played bass in The Nashville Teens’. 

“Mike replied ‘I can top that – he taught me to play guitar’. It turned out that Mike’s parents ran, and lived over, the Spar shop, and Pete lived almost next door in the lockkeeper’s cottage with his grandfather. 

“I had no idea that Mike had lived in our area. 

“By the way, the potential employee was not the New Haw Peter Harris.”

IF you have memories or old pictures relating to the Woking area and its people which you would like to contribute to this page, call David Rose on 01483 838960, or write to the News & Mail.