Peter Golding
Encyclopedia
Peter Golding FCSD created the first ‘designer jean’ in 1970, opened clothing store ACE on King’s Road in 1974 and created the world’s first stretch denim jean in 1978. He was the first fashion designer to be invited to join what is now known as the Chartered Society of Designers
, and in 2004 was invited by The Queen to Buckingham Palace in recognition of his contribution to British design.
He has been described by Fashion Weekly as "the Eric Clapton of denim".
Golding came from an academic family background, and became a management trainee and production manager in his teenage years. An early trip to Paris saw him busk in the streets on blues harp and guitar, and take up residence at the infamous No. 9 Git le Coeur, later known as the Beat Hotel
, a renowned hangout of Anglo-American beat artists and performers. Peter features in books on the beat generation by Harold Chapman (The Beat Hotel, 1984) and Mike Evans (The Beats: From Kerouac to Kesey, an Illustrated Journey Through the Beat Generation).
Leaving Paris, Golding set out on a 20,000 kilometre journey with friend Michael Kay on Lambretta Scooters. They travelled overland to Jerusalem via Athens, where they appeared as extras in the Jayne Mansfield film It Happened in Athens, then on through the middle east, appearing on television in Beirut and radio on Radio Jordan, before returning to London in the early-Sixties.
On his return Golding worked for the Rael-Brook shirt company as a designer, combining his technical experience with his artistic background, before setting up one of the first professional fashion design consultancies in 1964, with offices in Old Burlington Street, then Savile Row
. He attracted international clients such as Viyella International, Phillips-Van Heusen, and the International Institute for Cotton, the International Wool Secretariat, ICI (UK), Fabwerke Hoechst AG (Germany) and Hystron Fibers Inc (US), McGregor-Doniger (US), Barracuta (UK) among others.
A series of ‘firsts’ followed. The introduction of the ‘Peter Golding’ label was with the first madras cotton shirts from India (sourced while travelling in India and Nepal) sold through the early boutiques - Just Men, John Michael and the Westerner and George Best's, with celebrity customers including the Beatles. The International Wool Secretariat promoted his designs as the first mens unconstructed clothing collection using double knit-wool jersey and also for Project Adam, chaired by Stirling Moss for the advancement of ergonomic clothing.
In 1970 with a commission from Falmer Company Ltd he created what can be considered the world's 'first designer jean' ‘Peter Golding for Falmer’.This successful line was followed in 1973 with Peter Golding bleached denim jeanswear which was distributed by Jean Machine and Mayfair Fashions in the UK. In that year Peter also exported these jeans and jackets to the US through the Britannia Company in Seattle thus introducing the First Bleached Denim jeanswear to America.
Peter was a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Arts, and was invited to join the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers which today is known as The Chartered Societry of Designers of which he is a Fellow.
and an interior described by European Fashion Guide as “glittering”:
Regular clients included The Rolling Stones
, Britt Ekland
, Twiggy
, Cilla Black
, David Niven
, Mary Quant
, the Princess of Wales
, Joan Collins
, David Bowie
, Ava Gardner
, Marlon Brando
, Bryan Ferry
, Dudley Moore
, Richard Burton
, Adam Ant
, Ossie Clark
, Julie Christie
, Jerry Hall
, Jack Nicholson
, Ringo Starr
, Liza Minnelli
, Amanda Lear
, Zandra Rhodes
, and Cher
. The store is mentioned in Bill Wyman
’s Rolling with the Stones in an anecdote where Keith attempts to try on Peter Golding stretch jeans, but instead takes several pairs on spec.
When the store closed in 1984 an advertisement was taken out in Ritz
magazine to thank the celebrity clientele - the "lords and ladies of the night" which has become known as the "Ace Goodbyes".
Design development and early production began in the mid 70s,as a response to the changing profile of the average jeans wearer. Golding found the solution to the demand for close-fitting jeans in a Japanese stretch indigo denim fabric (96% cotton 4% spandex) and then a sateen stretch fabric in black and plain dyed colours (98% cotton 2% spandex
).
The original product was launched in the UK through the ACE store and other outlets, but was swiftly marketed to the US with great success, stocked by celebrity retailers including Fred Segal and Bloomingdales , and worn by LA's music fraternity: Stray Cats, Jeff Beck, Guns N' Roses, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, Darryl Hall and John Oates, Van Halen, Gloria Estefan, Janet Jackson, Steve Miller and others including of course the Rolling Stones..His distinctive cuts included the Rock Fit, Chelsea Cut, 2-way Cut and Original Stretch.
Production of the stretch jean required an in-depth study of the performance of the fabric - namely shrinkage and stretchability and fit. The Peter Golding brand remained dedicated to the design and technology of stretch denim and other fabrics right through the eighties and nineties and beyond,as the brand expanded the range to include numerous jean fits, skirts, and jackets as well as his Ace inspired glamorous T-shirts and tops.
In October 2002 Jerry Hall
kindly agreed to be featured in an article by Hilary Alexander
for the Daily Telegraph with photographs by David Bailey to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Peter Golding Stretch Jeans since 1978.
The collection had its beginnings at a “happening” in Hyde Park
in 1967, when Golding picked up a hand-drawn poster from the ground, and has grown to be one of the most comprehensive collections of its kind. It includes drawings, studies, finished artwork and paintings. Golding was a major lender of items to the popular Tate Liverpool
exhibition: ‘Summer of Love’, in 2005, which went on to important museums in Germany and Austria in 2006, and to its exhibition at the Whitney
Museum of American Art in New York in 2007.
The collection includes works by Nigel Waymouth
, Michael English
, Victor Moscoso
, Stanley Mouse
and Alton Kelly
, and artworks commissioned for bands and performers such as: The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Quicksilver Messenger, The Cult, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, and Journey. Stanley Mouse’s painting, 'The Jester' (see photo, right), for the Grateful Dead
is particularly well known, as is the late Alton Kelley’s ‘Rolling Thunder
’: This Kelley painting of the Mouse-Kelley artwork for Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart
’s LP, with its star studded line up which includes Jerry Garcia, Stephen Stills, Bob Weir and Grace Slick, stands at over 6ft 6 inches square and is possibly the largest rock and roll art painting by a major artist!
The collection includes extensive work by the late Rick Griffin
, considered the ‘grand master’ of this art form. It includes his working portfolios, sketchbooks and paintings as a special spectrum of his unique artistic style, with the Grateful Dead being well represented as one of his most important clients. There are works from his student days through to his gospel period and his later paintings – covering three decades of his talented and renowned artistic journey.
Another feature of 'Inspirational Times' is its early San Francisco original poster printing plates for local bands and events, as well as an extensive collection of double uncut posters and plates for major venues and Family Dog promotions; created by the well known artists of the era. Together with the original artwork of an extensive group of press ads by Randy Tuten for Bill Graham
’s events over many years, these items serve as a great visual history and spectrum of the famous bands and musical influences of this unique American counter culture.
A selection went to auction under the title 'The Peter Golding Collection of Rock & Roll Art' at Bonhams in New York on 14 May 2008, as a first showing of its kind with a preview tour of the United States in April.
The first publicised and curated exhibition for Inspirational Times was held in London in 2003 courtesy of Sotheby's Olympia. A celebrity crowd, including the Marquis of Bath
, Jeff Beck
, Noel Gallagher
, and Jimmy Page
attended the gala opening, and the evening and exhibition was extensively featured in the British press.
San Francisco Art Exchange have recently been appointed to represent the collection, being particularly prominent and knowledgeable in this field.
His influences have strong roots in the US, and Golding enjoys jamming and performing there: on R & B cruises around the Caribbean, or performing with friends like Slim Jim Phantom
of The Stray Cats at his ‘Cat Club’ on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. Peter Golding with April De Silva and their band the Ace All-Stars, co-hosted the Valentine's Ball charity event at the Royal Albert Hall in 1990, playing with Mick Jagger’s brother Chris Jagger.
He recorded his 1997 album Stretching The Blues with eminent blues musicians, including Otis Grand
, Doris Troy
and Slim Jim Phantom
, and released it with a fashion and live music and fashion extravaganza at the Café de Paris London. The crowd included close friends, the fashion industry, Larry Adler
, the Marquis of Bath
, Kid Creole
and Leo Sayer
.
Golding was invited by the Adler family to play harmonica at the tribute to Larry Adler concert in 2001, joining Sir George Martin, Ned Sherrin
and Issy Van Randwyck
.
He presented a ‘Talking Jazz & Blues’ series at London’s Chelsea Arts Club
, including his own lecture: ‘75 year of the glorious Blues Harmonica’.
Golding’s own jump-blues band "PG & The T-Bones" continues to perform at the Chelsea Arts Club and other London venues, as does his group Cafe Django, featuring Gypsy Jazz with hot harmonica swing. The T-Bones played London's famed 100 Club
in January 2010 and Cafe Django recently played London's renowned hot spot Momo in September 2010. The Cafe Django band continues to play selected London venues and recently added accordion, and sometimes saxophone instead of violin to its line up of a 6-piece harmonica led combo, to great audience appeal.
Chartered Society of Designers
The Chartered Society of Designers , headquartered in London, England, is the professional body for designers. It is the world's only Royal chartered body of professional designers...
, and in 2004 was invited by The Queen to Buckingham Palace in recognition of his contribution to British design.
He has been described by Fashion Weekly as "the Eric Clapton of denim".
Beginnings and the Beat Hotel, Paris
Beat Hotel
The Beat Hotel was a small, run-down hotel of 42 rooms at 9 Rue Gît-le-Cœur in the Latin Quarter of Paris, notable chiefly as a residence for members of the Beat poetry movement of the mid-20th century -Overview:...
, a renowned hangout of Anglo-American beat artists and performers. Peter features in books on the beat generation by Harold Chapman (The Beat Hotel, 1984) and Mike Evans (The Beats: From Kerouac to Kesey, an Illustrated Journey Through the Beat Generation).
Leaving Paris, Golding set out on a 20,000 kilometre journey with friend Michael Kay on Lambretta Scooters. They travelled overland to Jerusalem via Athens, where they appeared as extras in the Jayne Mansfield film It Happened in Athens, then on through the middle east, appearing on television in Beirut and radio on Radio Jordan, before returning to London in the early-Sixties.
Fashion Design and Consultancy
Savile Row
Savile Row is a shopping street in Mayfair, central London, famous for its traditional men's bespoke tailoring. The term "bespoke" is understood to have originated in Savile Row when cloth for a suit was said to "be spoken for" by individual customers...
. He attracted international clients such as Viyella International, Phillips-Van Heusen, and the International Institute for Cotton, the International Wool Secretariat, ICI (UK), Fabwerke Hoechst AG (Germany) and Hystron Fibers Inc (US), McGregor-Doniger (US), Barracuta (UK) among others.
A series of ‘firsts’ followed. The introduction of the ‘Peter Golding’ label was with the first madras cotton shirts from India (sourced while travelling in India and Nepal) sold through the early boutiques - Just Men, John Michael and the Westerner and George Best's, with celebrity customers including the Beatles. The International Wool Secretariat promoted his designs as the first mens unconstructed clothing collection using double knit-wool jersey and also for Project Adam, chaired by Stirling Moss for the advancement of ergonomic clothing.
In 1970 with a commission from Falmer Company Ltd he created what can be considered the world's 'first designer jean' ‘Peter Golding for Falmer’.This successful line was followed in 1973 with Peter Golding bleached denim jeanswear which was distributed by Jean Machine and Mayfair Fashions in the UK. In that year Peter also exported these jeans and jackets to the US through the Britannia Company in Seattle thus introducing the First Bleached Denim jeanswear to America.
Peter was a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Arts, and was invited to join the Society of Industrial Artists and Designers which today is known as The Chartered Societry of Designers of which he is a Fellow.
Ace
In 1974, Golding opened his flagship store, ACE, in London’s King’s Road, with sculptures by Andrew LoganAndrew Logan
Andrew Logan is an English sculptor, performance artist, jewellery-maker, portraitist and painter.He was born at Witney, Oxfordshire, in England. He was educated as an architect at the Oxford School of Architecture, graduating in 1970...
and an interior described by European Fashion Guide as “glittering”:
‘This may be the “hottest” store in the world. There is nothing inside here that does not glitter: the jeans, the shirts, the walls and the people. The black walls shine under silver lights, music plays continuously, and there’s no telling what stars may pop in - Liza Minnelli, Rod Stewart, Bianca Jagger or the Rolling Stones’...models,rock stars,movie people and lords and princesses come here for clothes that Golding designs to be both fun and sexy.Famous are the Golding jeans which fit like a second skin..'
(Alan Flusser - European Fashion Guide US 1977)
Regular clients included The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Britt Ekland
Britt Ekland
Britt-Marie Ekland is a Swedish actress and singer, and a long time resident of the United Kingdom. She is best known for her roles as a Bond girl in The Man with the Golden Gun, and in the British cult horror film The Wicker Man, as well as her marriage to actor Peter Sellers, and her...
, Twiggy
Twiggy
Lesley Lawson née Hornby known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree....
, Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...
, David Niven
David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
, Mary Quant
Mary Quant
Mary Quant OBE FCSD is a British] fashion designer and British fashion icon, who was instrumental in the mod fashion movement. She was one of the designers who took credit for inventing the miniskirt and hot pants. Born in Blackheath, London, to Welsh parents, Quant brought fun and fantasy to...
, the Princess of Wales
Princess of Wales
Princess of Wales is a British courtesy title held by the wife of The Prince of Wales since the first "English" Prince of Wales in 1283.Although there have been considerably more than ten male heirs to the throne, there have been only ten Princesses of Wales. The majority of Princes of Wales...
, Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Ava Gardner
Ava Gardner
Ava Lavinia Gardner was an American actress.She was signed to a contract by MGM Studios in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew attention with her performance in The Killers . She became one of Hollywood's leading actresses, considered one of the most beautiful women of her day...
, Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
, Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
, Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television...
, Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
, Adam Ant
Adam Ant
Adam Ant is an English musician who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1980 and 1983, including three No.1s...
, Ossie Clark
Ossie Clark
Raymond "Ossie" Clark was an English fashion designer who was a major figure in the Swinging Sixties scene in London and the fashion industry in that era...
, Julie Christie
Julie Christie
Julie Frances Christie is a British actress. Born in British India to English parents, at the age of six Christie moved to England, where she attended boarding school....
, Jerry Hall
Jerry Hall
Jerry Faye Hall is an American model and actress, also known for her long-term relationship with Mick Jagger, with whom she had four children.-Early life:...
, Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
, Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
, Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli is an American actress and singer. She is the daughter of singer and actress Judy Garland and film director Vincente Minnelli....
, Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist....
, Zandra Rhodes
Zandra Rhodes
Zandra Rhodes, CBE, RDI, is an English fashion designer.Zandra Rhodes was introduced to the world of fashion by her mother, who was a fitter in a Paris fashion house and a teacher at Medway College of Art, now the University for the Creative Arts. Rhodes studied first at Medway and then at the...
, and Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
. The store is mentioned in Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman
Bill Wyman is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for the English rock and roll band the Rolling Stones from 1962 until 1992. Since 1997, he has recorded and toured with his own band, Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings...
’s Rolling with the Stones in an anecdote where Keith attempts to try on Peter Golding stretch jeans, but instead takes several pairs on spec.
When the store closed in 1984 an advertisement was taken out in Ritz
Ritz Newspaper
Ritz Newspaper, colloquially Ritz Magazine, sometimes simply Ritz, was a British magazine focusing on gossip, celebrity and fashion. It was launched in 1976 by David Bailey and David Litchfield, who acted as co-editors. Published on newsprint and described by Litchfield as "the Lou Reed of...
magazine to thank the celebrity clientele - the "lords and ladies of the night" which has become known as the "Ace Goodbyes".
Stretch Denim
The ACE store was the platform from which Golding created and launched the World's First Stretch Denim Jean in 1978.Design development and early production began in the mid 70s,as a response to the changing profile of the average jeans wearer. Golding found the solution to the demand for close-fitting jeans in a Japanese stretch indigo denim fabric (96% cotton 4% spandex) and then a sateen stretch fabric in black and plain dyed colours (98% cotton 2% spandex
Spandex
Spandex or elastane is a synthetic fibre known for its exceptional elasticity. It is strong, but less durable than natural Latex, its major non-synthetic competitor. It is a polyurethane-polyurea copolymer that was co-invented in 1959 by chemists C. L. Sandquist and Joseph Shivers at DuPont's...
).
The original product was launched in the UK through the ACE store and other outlets, but was swiftly marketed to the US with great success, stocked by celebrity retailers including Fred Segal and Bloomingdales , and worn by LA's music fraternity: Stray Cats, Jeff Beck, Guns N' Roses, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, Darryl Hall and John Oates, Van Halen, Gloria Estefan, Janet Jackson, Steve Miller and others including of course the Rolling Stones..His distinctive cuts included the Rock Fit, Chelsea Cut, 2-way Cut and Original Stretch.
Production of the stretch jean required an in-depth study of the performance of the fabric - namely shrinkage and stretchability and fit. The Peter Golding brand remained dedicated to the design and technology of stretch denim and other fabrics right through the eighties and nineties and beyond,as the brand expanded the range to include numerous jean fits, skirts, and jackets as well as his Ace inspired glamorous T-shirts and tops.
In October 2002 Jerry Hall
Jerry Hall
Jerry Faye Hall is an American model and actress, also known for her long-term relationship with Mick Jagger, with whom she had four children.-Early life:...
kindly agreed to be featured in an article by Hilary Alexander
Hilary Alexander
Hilary Alexander is a British journalist and the Fashion Director of The Daily Telegraph.-Biography:Alexander was born in New Zealand and is a passionate traveller, long distance walker, gardener and cat-lover...
for the Daily Telegraph with photographs by David Bailey to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Peter Golding Stretch Jeans since 1978.
Rock Art Collection
Peter Golding is also known for his unique collection of Rock and Roll Art – 'Inspirational Times'.The collection had its beginnings at a “happening” in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
in 1967, when Golding picked up a hand-drawn poster from the ground, and has grown to be one of the most comprehensive collections of its kind. It includes drawings, studies, finished artwork and paintings. Golding was a major lender of items to the popular Tate Liverpool
Tate Liverpool
Tate Liverpool is an art gallery and museum in Liverpool, Merseyside, England, and part of Tate, along with Tate St Ives, Cornwall, Tate Britain, London, and Tate Modern, London. The museum was an initiative of the Merseyside Development Corporation...
exhibition: ‘Summer of Love’, in 2005, which went on to important museums in Germany and Austria in 2006, and to its exhibition at the Whitney
Whitney
-Places:Canada* Whitney, OntarioUnited Kingdom* Whitney-on-Wye, Herefordshire* Witney, OxfordshireUnited States* Whitney, California, a community in Placer County* Whitney, a neighborhood in Beverly, Visalia, California...
Museum of American Art in New York in 2007.
The collection includes works by Nigel Waymouth
Nigel Waymouth
Nigel Waymouth is a designer and artist, a co-partner in the boutique, Granny Takes a Trip, and one of the two-man team, Hapshash and the Coloured Coat, which designed psychedelic posters in the 1960s. He has since had a solo career, including portrait painting.-Life and work:Nigel Waymouth was...
, Michael English
Michael English
Michael English is an American Christian singer. Initially, he was a member of his family's singing group, and is currently a member of The Gaither Vocal Band. During his solo career, he recorded eight studio albums. English's highest-charting solo single was "Your Love Amazes Me", which reached No...
, Victor Moscoso
Victor Moscoso
Victor Moscoso is an artist best known for producing psychedelic rock posters/advertisements and underground comix in San Francisco during the 1960s and '70s....
, Stanley Mouse
Stanley Mouse
Stanley George Miller , better known as Mouse and Stanley Mouse, is an American artist, notable for his 1960s psychedelic rock concert poster designs and Grateful Dead album cover art.-Early life:...
and Alton Kelly
Alton Kelly
Alton Kelley was an American artist best known for his psychedelic art, in particular his designs for 1960s rock concerts and albums...
, and artworks commissioned for bands and performers such as: The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Quicksilver Messenger, The Cult, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, and Journey. Stanley Mouse’s painting, 'The Jester' (see photo, right), for the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
is particularly well known, as is the late Alton Kelley’s ‘Rolling Thunder
Rolling Thunder (album)
Rolling Thunder is the first solo album by Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.Although Hart had temporarily left the Grateful Dead at the time he made Rolling Thunder, members of the Dead play on the album, along with a number of other well-known musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area music scene...
’: This Kelley painting of the Mouse-Kelley artwork for Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart
Mickey Hart
Mickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...
’s LP, with its star studded line up which includes Jerry Garcia, Stephen Stills, Bob Weir and Grace Slick, stands at over 6ft 6 inches square and is possibly the largest rock and roll art painting by a major artist!
The collection includes extensive work by the late Rick Griffin
Rick Griffin
Richard Alden Griffin was an American artist and one of the leading designers of psychedelic posters in the 1960s. As a contributor to the underground comix movement, his work appeared regularly in Zap Comix. Griffin was closely identified with the Grateful Dead, designing some of their best known...
, considered the ‘grand master’ of this art form. It includes his working portfolios, sketchbooks and paintings as a special spectrum of his unique artistic style, with the Grateful Dead being well represented as one of his most important clients. There are works from his student days through to his gospel period and his later paintings – covering three decades of his talented and renowned artistic journey.
Another feature of 'Inspirational Times' is its early San Francisco original poster printing plates for local bands and events, as well as an extensive collection of double uncut posters and plates for major venues and Family Dog promotions; created by the well known artists of the era. Together with the original artwork of an extensive group of press ads by Randy Tuten for Bill Graham
Bill Graham (promoter)
Bill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...
’s events over many years, these items serve as a great visual history and spectrum of the famous bands and musical influences of this unique American counter culture.
A selection went to auction under the title 'The Peter Golding Collection of Rock & Roll Art' at Bonhams in New York on 14 May 2008, as a first showing of its kind with a preview tour of the United States in April.
The first publicised and curated exhibition for Inspirational Times was held in London in 2003 courtesy of Sotheby's Olympia. A celebrity crowd, including the Marquis of Bath
Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath
Alexander George Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath , styled Viscount Weymouth between 1946 and 1992, is an English politician, artist and author...
, Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
, Noel Gallagher
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
, and Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
attended the gala opening, and the evening and exhibition was extensively featured in the British press.
San Francisco Art Exchange have recently been appointed to represent the collection, being particularly prominent and knowledgeable in this field.
Music
Peter Golding is an avid musician, dedicated to blues and jazz playing harmonica, guitar and piano.His influences have strong roots in the US, and Golding enjoys jamming and performing there: on R & B cruises around the Caribbean, or performing with friends like Slim Jim Phantom
Slim Jim Phantom
Slim Jim Phantom is the drummer for Stray Cats. Alongside band mates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he spearheaded the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s.-Biography:...
of The Stray Cats at his ‘Cat Club’ on Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. Peter Golding with April De Silva and their band the Ace All-Stars, co-hosted the Valentine's Ball charity event at the Royal Albert Hall in 1990, playing with Mick Jagger’s brother Chris Jagger.
He recorded his 1997 album Stretching The Blues with eminent blues musicians, including Otis Grand
Otis Grand
Otis Grand is an American blues musician, best known for his album, Perfume and Grime .-Biography:Although born in Beirut, Grand has spent much of his life in the United States...
, Doris Troy
Doris Troy
Doris Troy was an American R&B singer, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul".She was born as Doris Higginson in The Bronx, the daughter of a Barbadian Pentecostal minister. Her parents disapproved of "subversive" forms of music like rhythm & blues, so she cut her teeth singing in her father's choir...
and Slim Jim Phantom
Slim Jim Phantom
Slim Jim Phantom is the drummer for Stray Cats. Alongside band mates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he spearheaded the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s.-Biography:...
, and released it with a fashion and live music and fashion extravaganza at the Café de Paris London. The crowd included close friends, the fashion industry, Larry Adler
Larry Adler
Lawrence "Larry" Cecil Adler was an American musician, widely acknowledged as one of the world's most skilled harmonica players. Composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Benjamin composed works for him...
, the Marquis of Bath
Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath
Alexander George Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath , styled Viscount Weymouth between 1946 and 1992, is an English politician, artist and author...
, Kid Creole
Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Kid Creole and the Coconuts is an American musical group created and led by August Darnell. Its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular "American and Latin American, South American, Caribbean, Trinidadian, Calloway" and conceptually inspired by the big band era...
and Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer
Leo Sayer is a British singer-songwriter, musician, and entertainer whose singing career has spanned four decades. Sayer became a naturalised Australian citizen in 2009. Sayer was a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s...
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Golding was invited by the Adler family to play harmonica at the tribute to Larry Adler concert in 2001, joining Sir George Martin, Ned Sherrin
Ned Sherrin
Edward George "Ned" Sherrin CBE was an English broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister and then worked in independent television before joining the BBC...
and Issy Van Randwyck
Issy Van Randwyck
Issy van Randwyck is an English singer and actress of Dutch descent. She is a former member of British comedy singing group and satirical cabaret act Fascinating Aida, she has since acted on stage and television.-Biography:...
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He presented a ‘Talking Jazz & Blues’ series at London’s Chelsea Arts Club
Chelsea Arts Club
The Chelsea Arts Club is a private members club located in London with a membership of over 2,400, including artists, poets, architects, writers, dancers, actors, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers...
, including his own lecture: ‘75 year of the glorious Blues Harmonica’.
Golding’s own jump-blues band "PG & The T-Bones" continues to perform at the Chelsea Arts Club and other London venues, as does his group Cafe Django, featuring Gypsy Jazz with hot harmonica swing. The T-Bones played London's famed 100 Club
100 Club
The 100 Club is a music venue in London situated at 100 Oxford Street, W1, originally called The Feldman Swing Club.The 100 Club attained legendary status in modern British music, having played host to live music since 24 October 1942....
in January 2010 and Cafe Django recently played London's renowned hot spot Momo in September 2010. The Cafe Django band continues to play selected London venues and recently added accordion, and sometimes saxophone instead of violin to its line up of a 6-piece harmonica led combo, to great audience appeal.