Ning

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One of the main functions of Backbeat, as I see it, is to unlock the door on local bands that may have been forgotten or even seldom heard of. Today’s band is very much of the latter description. Ning were not just a jobbing band, these guys were part of the chosen few and were actually signed to Decca Records.  I had been very aware of this secretiveCoventry band for some time, and I mentioned them in my Godiva Rocks book in 2004. Until now though I had no obvious point of reference to find out more about this unit, that was until I discovered Jim Pryal, a man that actually drummed with the band.

Ning were put together in 1971 by producer Mike Berry (not to be confused with the singer/actor of the samae name) for Sparta Florida music publishers. “I played drums in ‘Ning’ in 1971 to early 72,” reveals Jim. “Ning consisted of  Mick Ross, a bass player from a Nuneaton band called ‘Gregorian Chant’, Jimmy Edwardsa keyboard player from Coventry.  Jimmy lived in Bagingtonand sometimes played the organ at Bagington church. He did a great rendition of the intro to Beethovens 9th symphony. Local guitar hero of the day Derek Wilson, wason guitar. Derek or ‘Beck’ as he was known, played previously with a Coventry blues rock band called 3.am. He had the  ‘freaked out’ hairstyle which was just becoming a fashion at the time. He had lived in london for a while and had made contact with Mike Berry while trying to promote his music. He came back to live in Coventry and I shared a flat with him in early 1971”.

I’m happy to say I have their single “Machine” in my Coventry archive music collection, it’s not easy to label the sound, but if Steppenwolf’s Born to be Wild, and Springwater’s “I Will return” had a baby then it would sound something like this. The vocals have a Lemmy sound to them, and the guitars are distorted beyond recognition. 

“We rehearsed the song in Bagington village hall” Jim tells me, “Before we went to London to record it. Mike Berry put us up in his flat in Putney. We were all crammed into a Thames van with our equipment as we crawled through the London traffic rush hour traffic. We had to sneak intoLuxembourg studios in Hertford St, near Mayfair in London, at night time and record it in studio ‘down time’. (The early Fleetwood Mac had done some  recording there).  We were in and out within a few takes. We didn’t stay for the mixing. That was done later. It was released on the Decca labelin 1971 in a white sleeve. It didn’t make the radio 1 playlists but did get airplay on radio Luxembourg for 2 weeks. ‘Machine’ was  also released in Holland and Germany in a picture sleeve. We did get some press coverage and in one article we were quoted as saying ‘We couldn’t get any gigs so we planned to open a club in Ford Street, Coventry, under a hairdressing salon and put on live music 7 nights a week and only charging 3 or 4 shillings, while playing for 4 hours a night ourselves’ – thus providing a cheap alternative to the usual ‘palaces of entertainment’ – fine words but we split up before we could realise that dream! 

Ning Trivia

  • The B side of the single was ‘More Ning’.
  • Mike Berry also produced the UK subs “Live Kicks’ in 1977, they sued him 190, for the non payment of royalties. 
  • Because the band never gave interviews,  a music paper of the day – ‘Record Mirror’ran a competition on the front page, where punters were invited to draw  a cartoon of what they thought a Ning looked like!

For more Backbeat information go to www.covmusic.net

Contact Pete at backbeat@covmusic.net

You can hear Pete Chambers “Backtracking” every Friday at 3.00pm on

The Bob Brolly Show on BBC Coventry & Warwickshire.

Posted in Ning, Pete Chambers.
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