East Light was Coventry singer Songwriter - Roger Williamson's folk rock band c1970.

Roger Williamson was around the Coventry Arts Umbrella Club, playing at the Umbrella folk nights on a Saturday evening. I got to know him a bit through Esther who used to be a regular at the Umbrella. I have vague memories of him siting in the Umbrella coffee bar in the wee hours playing and talking.

In 1970, as well as putting on the bands at the Umbrella, I used to help out on the door at Pete Waterman's Tuesday

night Walsgrave gig. on Tuesday June 2nd 1970 Pete organised a folk-rock night (this may be a bit of a shock to those who only know him as the man behind Kylie and Jason or Pop Heroes!). The night consisted of some of the finest Coventry folk artists - April - the electric folk outfit led by Ron Lawrence (later bassist with Sniff and the Tears) / The New Modern Idiot Grunt Band with Rod Felton and Rob Armstrong (who went on to make guitars for the likes of Bert Jansch and George Harrison) Rod Felton also appeared solo on this gig and it was here Pete Waterman introduced me to Rod with the comment that Rod was one of the few 'stars' Coventry had produced so far. (These bands and artists are blogged about on Hobo - see index). I kept the ticket (on view here). Roger played much further afield than Cov as this Melody Maker ad testifys to.

NEWS

We have now heard from Roger and he's living in Minneapolis, MN, USA running Magus Bookstore 

and is an artist - you can view his art work  HERE

Roger Says in his e mail - "

I remember it being a wonderful and exciting time but then of course it was
the 60's.  There were so many small folk clubs in the back rooms of pubs,
The Fox and Vivian in Leamington, others in Warwick and Stratford and so
many in Coventry.  Such a lot of talent as well June Tabor, Rod Felton,
Martin Jenkins just to name a few.  It was a great time to grow up in.
I have lived in Minneapolis for about the last 23 years and started Magus
Books 15 years ago.  Magus is in Dinkytown next to the University Of
Minnesota, Minneapolis on 4th Street SE, which is immortalized in Bob
Dylan's Positively 4th Street.  He used to live across the street from the
store.  I have written several books since moving here, The Sun at Night,
set in London, The Black Book of the Jackal, Lucifer Diaries and Howling at
the Sky.  These are all available from Magus or Amazon USA.  I recorded a
limited edition CD, "On the Arrival of the Machine" a couple of years back
which is myself reading some of my short stories set to music by my son
Luke." 

Here is some information on Roger's Bookstore - Magus Books

About Magus Books

Magus Books began business at high noon on September 1st, 1992 with the commitment of supplying new and used religious, metaphysical and thought-provoking books to the community at large.

You will discover upon inspecting our inventory that we do not subscribe to any one belief system, as we realize that what is right for one person's quest of self-discovery is not necessarily right for the next person.

Therefore our selection of titles covers a wide range of material including Wicca, Buddhism, Hindu, Christianity, Islam, Alchemy, Voodoo, Santeria, Magic, Freemasonry, Tarot, Astrology, Palmistry, Dowsing, Mythology, Herbalism, Alternative Healing, Celtic Mythology, Norse Mythology, Native American, Psychedelic, UFO'S, Lost Civilizations, Martial Arts and other subjects.  We supply herbs, candles, oils, incense, tapes, compact discs and jewelry. Our focus has always been to develop individuality, to encourage interested parties to explore themselves and the environment, and to seek out our own untapped potentials.