Obit: John Kelly of Kelly's Eye (August 2004)

Subject: John Kelly of Kelly's Eye
From: Cpt. Snapper
Date: 29 Aug 04 - 04:17 PM

Hullo,

Some of you may know John Kelly, from Bedford who led the band Kelly's Eye. Unfortunately I've learned that he died recently. As yet I have no details re: his funeral.
John was one of the first people involved when Bedford Folk Club started. I remember seeing the advert in the local paper & going to visit him which led to my becoming a member & playing there. In fact it was John who taught me how to play finger style guitar. He ran a session at the Wellington pub in Bedford for several years & a wake will be held there in is honour. He was one of those unsung people who form the backbone of the folk music world & will be much missed.

George Norris

Subject: RE: Obit: John Kelly of Kelly's Eye (August 2004)
From: GUEST,Edgware
Date: 12 Sep 08 - 04:32 AM

I am a little confused. According to my information the lineup of Kelly's Eye was:Brothers Graham and Kev Prigmore who have been playing folk music together on fiddle, accordion, mandolin and bass since the mid sixties, and the third member is rhythm guitarist Steve Aldridge.

Can somebody explain - was there more than one group with the same name or more than three members in the band, and who was it that appeared on Country Meets folk in the early seventies?

Subject: RE: Obit: John Kelly of Kelly's Eye (August 2004)
From: Zany Mouse
Date: 12 Sep 08 - 07:40 AM

I'm not sure if there is more than one group called Kelly's Eye but John Kelly certainly had a band by that name. John was a fantastic guy and I'm sad to see he has passed on. I wish I'd known about it at the time as I would certainly have attended his funeral. He must have been only in his early 50s. Does anyone know what happened?

Blessings
Rhiannon

Subject: RE: Obit: John Kelly of Kelly's Eye (August 2004)
From: cptsnapper
Date: 12 Sep 08 - 01:35 PM

Same group: I knew that John worked with Graham although I hadn't realised that Kev was involved. In the early days one of the members was an Irishman called Stuart who played the whistle and who incidentally went out with my sister for a while. Sadly I don't really know what happened to John but I owe him a lot because he taught me clawhammer finger picking.