Shag
Connors & The Carrot Crunchers
biography
| discography | gigs
| gallery | links | acknowledgments
Who
Are Shag Connors & The Carrot Crunchers
West
Country band Shag Connors & The Carrot Crunchers are
Gloucestershire's answer to The Wurzels; a humorous and fondly remembered
band led by the inimitable and sadly missed Shag Connors.
The band is still doing the business in the capable hands of Shag's
son Mart, as Mart Connors & The Carrot
Cruchers.
Described
as a 'country comedy musical act' singing ribald songs of country
life such as Gloucester Calypso, Blame the Breathalyser
and I'm Jealous of the Farmyard Cockerel; the The Carrot
Crunchers were perhaps best known for their black cockerel,
which Shag taught to drink beer from a pint glass, and which was
an integral part of the act. Story has it that one night the band
played at an army base, and after the gig a bunch of squaddies killed
the cockerel! This might explain why the two pictures in the gallery
show different coloured birds - obviously he trained up a replacement.
Although
Shag Connors & The Carrot Crunchers didn't achieve the
chart success of Adge and The Wurzels, they were nevertheless is
demand, appearing on various TV shows in the 1970s including The
Wheeltappers & Shunters Show, the David Nixon Show
(7/5/73 and 22/4/74), the Sooty Show and Opportunity
Knocks which would have put them in front of a massive national
audience.
The
band line-up appears to have mutated album by album. The
descriptions below were found engraved on the back of their 1970
album Furzlin':
- Mick
"Shag" Connors - Found drunk with his head resting
on a manure heap, which caused a Tobacco-like hair to grow on
the sides of his face. Shortage of cigarettes on the farm caused
him to try some in a roll-up, very strong but good. Now everybody
smokes it in the village. He says "They all know I grow me
own tobacco, so they call me Shag".
- Pete
"Plonker" McQuaid - Champion milker, can knock a
fly off the wall at 25 yards with the swing of a teat. He says
"I like the feel of teats, you can't beat a bit of the udder".
- Richard
"Cowcake" Harris - Caught eating the farmer's cowcake
to counteract the cost of living, hence the name. Well known as
the local "Ram"; so would you be if you eat the same
food as the farmer's prize bull. Married the 20-stone Radstock
Queen, says "What I der go through".
- Keith
"Scarecrow" Harris - Only human crowscarer left
in the country. Covers hundreds of miles a day up and down the
farmer's fields. Comes back to the pub at night white from head
to foot. He says "I'm sure the crows have got to know me,
they've been a-bombing me hard all day".
The
1973 line-up from the album notes on A Little Of What You Fancy
was Shag Conner (sic) - (vocals and harmonica), Martin
Conner (electric guitar), Terry Conner (organ), Ray
Elder (bass guitar), Graham Jefferies (drums) and Keith
Harris (electric guitar).
And
by the time of the 1976 Country Capers album, the line up
was Shag
Connor (sic) - (vocal and harmonica), Martin
'Scarecrow' Connor - (electric guitar), Barry
'Plonker' Hinchley - (organ), Adrian
'Silage' Garland - (drums), and Richard
'Cow Cake' Smith - (bass). Additional
musicians on the album were Steve Darrington (piano
and harmonica), Phil Beer (fiddle and mandolin)
and Paul Downes (acoustic guitar).
By
1978, the next reference I've been able to find, it had mutated
to Shag Connors (vocals), Cowcake Smith (bass), Scarecrow
Connors (guitar), Silage Garland (drums), Raker Harris
(guitar) and Plonker Connor (sic) (organ). I've got
no idea whether any of this lot are related.
Mart
Connors & The Carrot Crunchers has the line-up:
- Mart
Connors - Jokes, Lead Vocals and Acoustic Guitar
- "Ram"
- Drums and Backing Vocals
- "Goldtop"
- Bass and Backing Vocals
- "Lucky"
- Electric Guitar and Backing Vocals
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Shag
and the lads taking a break taken around 1976 - and a sad
reminder that the Courage Bristol Brewery (formerly
George's) was closed by its owners in 1999 in spite
of a protest by the local branch of CAMRA and many
others - most of the historic old buildings are being pulled
down to be replaced by luxury flats. Note also the famous
Farmyard Cockerel - coincidentally the old Courage
logo.
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Photo
taken from one of their promotional flyers, and shows the
band complete with the original (?) black cockerel drinking
beer.
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Shag
Connors & The Carrot Crunchers Discography
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Singles
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| SRS2105 |
The
Cotswolds EP (?)
a-side
- Nagging Woman / The Cotswolds
b-side - Watching The Chicks / Pub Crawl
[Ed.
Not sure about the title]
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1979 |
| Play
154 |
A Little Blondie Called Jean / Watch It |
1982 |
|
Play 204 |
The Cleanest Little Piggy In The Market / That's Life |
Dec 1985 |
|
Play 208 |
I'm Jealous Of The Farmyard Cockerel / Put Your Shoulder To
The Wheel |
Aug 1986 |
Albums
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Marble Arch MALS1342 |
Furzlin'
with Shag Connors & The Carrot Crunchers
Side 1: Gonna Have Some Fun Tonight / Farmyard Cockerel
/ Furzlin' /
Whopper Of The West / Radstock Queen / Au Pair Girl
Side 2: De Doodlin' / Blame The Breathalyser / Cauliflower
Power
/ Oh Ar! / Gloucester Calypso / Kilroy Was Here |
1970 |
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EMI Starline SRS 5186 |
A
Little Of What You Fancy
Side 1: Winter Time In Gloucester / A Little Of What
You Fancy (Does You Good) / Gloucester Cheese / If I'd Have
Known / Go Man Go / Shorty / O Lordie It's A Crying Shame
/ Go Tell Your Mother /
Side 2: The Whistle Of The Train / Far Better Off When
I'm Gone / I Can't See You Until Saturday Night / Girl Called
Anne / A Fella's Got To Earn His Corn / Man It's A Hard Life
/ Don't Ever Let It Get You Down / Turkey In The Straw
Recorded at the Globe Inn, Newton St Loe, Bath, Somerset
on 27 November 1973 |
1973 |
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Sweet Folk & Country SFA 064 |
 Country
Capers
Side 1: On The Boghorn / I Can't Read The Thoughts
(That's In Your Mind) / The Skinniest Legs / I Ain't Got No
Money For My Wedding / The Bristol City Streaker / The Girl
With The Big Blue Eyes / The Irish Washerwoman /
Side 2: Gypsy Joe / Rich Man's Daughter / Nellie From
Poole / Missing Kissing Blues / I Never Told You (But I've
Known All Along) / Poking The Fire / The Chicken Reel |
1976 |
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Sweet Folk & Country SFA 084 |
Sing
Country Style
Side 1: Trip To Heaven / Snowbird / There'll Be No
Teardrops Tonight / Oh! Susanna! (jig) / Five Hundred Miles
/ Everybody's Talking At Me / Abilene
Side 2: What Made Milwaukee Famous / Little Green Apples
/ So Lonesome I Could Cry / Ruby / Time Is Tight / Help Me
Make It Through The Night / Okie From Muskogee |
1977 |
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SRT SRTZ/CUS 78099 |
The
Best In The West
In The Springtime / I'm Feeling Blue / Shut The Gate / The
Local Vicar / Glad To Be Alive / Within A Hundred Years /
Waiter Bring Me Wine /
On The Phone / The Girl Who Works Next Door / On The Milk
Round /
Cos I'm A Peeping Tom / I've Been Born To The Sound Of An
Alarm Clock |
1978 |
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Shag
Connors & The Carrot Crunchers Links
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Acknowledgements
Thanks
to the following Carrot Cruncher fans who have helped with
information:
- Ian
Goodridge
for drawing to our attention the album Country Capers and
providing the track listing, personnel details, etc.
- Andrea
Llewellyn for drawing our attention to the album A Little
Of What You Fancy and providing the track listings, personnel,
etc.
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