PAUL ASHFORD:PAUL ASHFORD, who has died aged 61, was a bass player, songwriter and veteran of the 1960s beat scene in Dublin. A member of the popular southside group, the Chosen Few, he attracted strong criticism when he left with singer Fran O'Toole to join the Miami showband.
The Chosen Few had a residency at the Cavalier Club, off Harcourt Street. There, on the opening night, St Patrick’s Day 1966, the group was recorded playing a blistering set while supporting the Alex Harvey Band. Unfortunately the tapes were lost.
The group regularly played at the Caroline Club, Dún Laoghaire, which had a reputation for wild and uninhibited dancing. Undercover gardaí visited one night and some group members were charged with inciting the crowd to indecency.
The group weathered the storm but did not survive the departure of Ashford and O’Toole in 1967.
Fellow musicians accused them of "selling out" by joining a showband. Their annual salaries of £3,000 were reported by The Irish Timesto be the "highest paid to an Irish showband membership".
Interviewed for the book Green Beat(2006), Ashford said that beat groups generally did not like showbands because they "were just playing other people's music".
He acknowledged that he had been offered a “huge amount” of money. “I bought a house when I was 17 and I couldn’t even sign for it, I was under the legal age.”
He also said that “a lot of good guys came out of showbands”.
Ashford left the Miami in the early 1970s. Later, in 1975, three Miami bandsmen, including O’Toole, were murdered by a UVF gang at Buskhill, Co Down. Their van was stopped as they drove home from a gig in Banbridge.
After a brief stint with the Emmet Spiceland folk group, Ashford helped to form the rock band Stepaside. The band played mostly original material with a strong US west coast influence, also drawing on reggae, and rhythm and blues.
In 1978, the band drew praise from this newspaper’s rock critic Joe Breen: “They deserve a chance, for in my book, there will always be room for a hot, rocking band without frills.”
The band had a residency at the Mississippi Rooms, Bray, and regularly played at the Baggot Inn, Dublin. An album Sit Down and Relapsewas released in 1980.
Stepaside failed to establish a national profile. Ashford left to join the Sharks.
Much in demand as a session musician, he had a long association with the Furey Brothers. He also played with Paul Brady, Ronnie Drew and Mark Knopfler, and toured with Jerry Lee Lewis.
With the Paul Ashford Band he played corporate events and weddings. As a songwriter he is best known for Jenny, The Last Resortand There's One in Every Town.
Originally from Bray, Co Wicklow, he lived in Greystones. His son Ian, sister Chrissy and former wife Breda survive him.
Paul Ashford: born 1950; died January 10th, 2011