In The Begining
From 1965 until 1970
Britain, in 1965, was a tough place for beginning rock musicians. Groups like the
Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Dave Clark Five, Herman’s Hermits and Wayne Fontana
and the Mindbenders had sewn up English and American markets, making it difficult
for anyone new to enter the tightly circumscribed circle.
Frustrated in their native land, many British Rockers, among them Deep Purple and
Pink Floyd, migrated to Germany in search of superstardom and fortune. Part of that
mass exodus were Derek "Mo" Moore (bass,
vocals), Roye Albrighton (guitar, vocals), Alan "Taff" Freeman (keyboards, vocals),
and Ron Howden (drums), then members of various
English bands that would eventually disintegrate while on the road in Deutschland.
Mo was born in Dearns, England. As all other Nektar musicians he is a virtuoso on
his instrument. At the age of seven he already was taking classic piano lessons
and at the age of 16 he formed his first group, one of many all of which he managed.
Mo’s ambition is to work on a stable and hones basis as musician and manager, which
holds a breakdown and splitting of the group. Also, Mo teaches once in a while music
at a school. Whereby the Nektar-compositions are discusses on music and English.
Ron Howden (drums) grasped only at an age of
18 musical instruments. He used to play (with skiffle groups) tea-chest-bass, washboards
etc., and learned his own how to get into the magic of drums. He joined different
groups with various influences and so it went that he played with The Upsetters,
Prophets, and Prophecywith Mo and Taff. Ron Mo and
Ron had met in 1964 in Tours France while playing in different bands. Ron joined
Mo’s group the "Upsetters" and the pair soon formed the Prophets. While
in Germany 1965 they picked up Taff from the band MI5 and changed their name to
"Prophecy."
Allan Freeman (keyboards, vocal) with the nickname
"Taffy" / "Taff" took at an age of 8 private lessons in piano
and vocal. His first "free concert" took place in England’s hospitals
for the joy and entertainment of the patients. He played for two years in his father’s
orchestra and later, with Mo and Ron, with "Prophecy," which became Nektar.
While doing some gigs in Germany with The Rainbows,
Roye Albrighton jammed with Mo, Ron, and Taff at the famous Star Club
in 1968. Shortly after the jam sessions with Prophecy, Roye joined
up the band The Outsiders and left for Sweden. One year later he
received a telegram from Mo to immediately come to Germany. In November of 1969
Roye teamed up with Prophecy and together they formed the band
Nektar. For an in–depth article on Roye’s adventures please
read the Roye Albrighton’s Chronicles.