Chapter 15

In the morning, the four girls got ready for the day, with Willow wondering what Plan B entailed. The went down for breakfast and then back to their rooms to make sure that they had everything packed, with Nancy walking through the suite to see if anything had been left.

The coach was outside, and Sebastian helped them store their cases and souvenirs in the baggage area. Willow made sure that the record was laid flat, so it didn’t buckle. When they were all seated. Mister Bamborough stood up at the front.

“Now, listen to me carefully. Today, we are going to a place where Mister Withers and the record label have negotiated that we have some time in. We have to be out of it by two, so will have lunch on the way home. You may have thought that you saw it all yesterday but be prepared to be amazed. The studio has set up a simple recording system as there is only the one instrument to record, so there’s no red light. All mobile phones off when we get there. No taking pictures inside, but there are postcards to buy.”

Sebastian drove them into the centre of London and pulled up in the carpark of the Albert Hall. Mister Bamborough stood again.

“As you can see, we’re at the Albert Hall. This is where you will be playing on the Monday evening during the Proms final week. We are trying to get a time to run through a complete practise before that time. It may be the early part of the summer holidays, or late in the term. Now, off the coach and follow me.”

They were quiet as they walked towards the imposing building. Inside, it took their breath away. Reg Edwards took Willow up to the organ, with Gina following. They were met by one of the organists that had played it often, and he described the settings that would work for the ‘Toccata’ and for the ‘Seven Variations’.

Harold Withers joined them with a set of headphones and a receiver unit.

“These will help you and hear when instructions are given. We’ve recorded here before, so the microphone settings were easy. Now, I want the ‘Toccata’ first. Are you ready, Willow?”

“No sir, I am not ready. My friend, here, is able to play that as well as I can. If we have a CD of just organ music, why not let her do this one. At least, let her play this organ to get the experience. If the recording isn’t up to scratch, then I’ll have a go.”

He looked at her, then smiled.

“All right. Gina, put the headphones on and warm your fingers. You’ll hear when we’re ready.”

He went back down, and Gina hugged Willow before putting the headphones on and started to play some Bach. The other three put ear defenders on that the organist had brought up with him and stood to one side. Reg gave Willow a grin as they waited. Gina stopped playing and looked at them, then hit the keys with some force. At that moment, Willow realised why they were wearing ear defenders where they were standing.

From her standpoint, Willow couldn’t fault Gina’s rendition and there was silence as the last notes died away. She could see Mister Bamborough down below, with a finger to his lips. The sound man, with Xavier beside him, headphones on, relaxed and there was a cheer from the assembled orchestra, seated in the first rows of the stalls. Gina took the headphones off, tears in her eyes.

“He said it was all right and it’s your turn, friend. This one is the best of the best. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to play. I know that you’ll rock the house with the symphony.”

Willow took the headphones and put them on, handing her defenders to Gina. She sat at the keyboard and played Bach until a voice came through, asking if she was ready. She stopped playing and waited until they were happy with the silence.

“All right, Willow. The ‘Seven Variations’ please. I’ll tell you if I want to restart at any time. Usually, the only thing to upset a recording is an emergency vehicle going by. Ready when you are, recording on.”

She played the ‘Seven Variations’ from memory, finding all the things that made this organ the best in the world. When she finished, there was silence until she could hear cheering from below. The voice came back.

“Willow, it seems that there’s a bit of room in the timing. Do you have something less than ten minutes to fill up the CD?”

She lifted her arm with her thumb up.

“All right, we’ll get this lot quiet again and then I’ll give you the go.”

She turned to the other three next to her and gave them a wink, then turned back to the keyboard to make a couple of adjustments as she waited. Finally, the voice told her that recording was on, and she played the Saint-Saens Opus Nine, the Nuptial Benediction, stretching it out slightly. The orchestra had heard it before, in the Cathedral, but this organ seemed to spread the love over the whole space.

When the last notes died, there was more silence and then a burst of cheering. She took the headphones off and stood, to be hugged by Gina, Reg and the organist, who asked her what that piece was. Willow asked Reg how much time they had left, and he told her that there was plenty.

“Can you pop down and tell the techs that I want to do the last part of the Organ Symphony, seeing that I’m going to do it for the Proms.”

He nodded and went down to the mixing board and spoke to Harold Withers. She put the headphones on again and waited.

“Willow, we have clearance for you to play. We won’t be recording and will be gathering up our equipment while you play. Whenever you’re ready.”

She sat and played a little Bach again and made more adjustments. The other two donned the ear defenders and waited. She stopped playing, winked at Gina and the hit the notes with the same force that Gina had used. Down below, everyone stopped in their tracks as the sound rolled down towards them like a pyroclastic cloud. She played the last movement through, in the version that they would be using, hearing the orchestra singing the words.

When she finished and Jupiter’s Voice was silenced, the organist told her that she would have a standing ovation if they were ending their evening with that. Gina gave him her defenders, and the girls left the organ to join their friends and give the headphones and receiver back. The organist went to pick up the music and then realised that it was untouched, with everything he had just heard played from memory. He looked down at them being hugged by the others and knew that he had just experienced a once-in-a-lifetime event.

He went down and spoke to Harold Withers.

“Those girls just did the whole session without even touching the music I’d put out.”

“I expected that. They were in the studio yesterday and did the ‘Carnival of the Animals’ from memory on two keyboards, and Gina played the Grieg Piano Concerto from memory. I’m told that when they’re with their band, they can play four hours straight, without repeating anything.”

“What’s the band?”

“They’re Summer Rose, and we have eight members of that band in this orchestra. The only ones missing are three guitarists, although one of them recorded a sublime Rodrigo yesterday. We have them in the studio next week.”

The orchestra were shown where they would be seated when they played here, to give them an idea of the tiers of seats that they would be looking out at. Then, via a visit to the shop for postcards, they all got back in the coach to head back towards Coventry. They stopped at Luton for lunch, and all called their pick-up that they would be at the school in a few hours. Reg sat with the girls and told both of them how proud he was with their playing today, especially Gina, who he had never heard play something so powerful before, especially from memory.

“It was one of the first things Willow got me to do while I was learning the Grieg. She sat me at the organ at St. Marys and told me to listen to the music in my head. That wasn’t the most successful playing, but it was better the second time. I’ve been practising that, and others, at home on my keyboard, and playing the Cathedral has been a real help. This was, by far, the most amazing experience of my life.”

“I gather that you’ll be doing the Grieg after Jacob plays the Rodrigo. Before yesterday, I knew that the orchestra was good, but you lot blew my mind with what you recorded. When it’s released, it will get rave reviews from the critics, I’m sure, and having eight members of Summer Rose in the line-up may even get some non-classical attention.”

Vivienne grinned.

“Not as much as what we’re recording next week, sir,”

………………………………………………

Back in London, Harold Withers, Jill, Clive and the technicians were listening to the playback of the recordings. Clive took control.

“Harold, treat this one with kid gloves. No stupid enhancements, please. Jill, you have all the details to get a cover design and inner notes. Make sure that they include details of the eight members of Summer Rose for the first CD and emphasise that it’s Gina Summer and Willow Rose on the organ for the second one. Also, make a special note with ‘The Swan’, as the cellist is Zara, the singer with G-Force. I want this project to be a priority and on the market in two weeks,”

…………………………………………………..

When the coach arrived at the school, there was a fleet of cars waiting for them. There was a prolonged period of hugs and kisses as they pulled their things from the lower compartment. Maisie was there to take Jacob and Gina home, while both Wendy and Ashley were there to take Willow, via the club. When they arrived, Willow asked her father to open the back of the car so she could get something out.

She had decided that the Abbey Road Studio Two sign would be better here than on her bedroom door. In the club, she presented the paper bag to Malcolm.

“I picked this up yesterday. I thought it might look good on the door to the back room.”

He opened it up and laughed.

“Thank you, Willow. I’ll put it up during the week. Then, when I advertise events, I can say that they’re being held in Studio Two. I love it!”

He came out from behind the bar and gave her a hug.

“How did the recording go?”

“It was really good. The orchestral items were in the can on Saturday, and the producer was very happy. You should see that recording studio! It’s big enough to fit this building inside and still have enough room for a good garden. Sunday, we went to the Albert Hall to record Gina and me on the big organ. We both had a ball!”

They had a relaxing time with some drinks and then had dinner, after which Willow was starting to flag. They went home and told her parents not to peek at the shopping bag as she went up to change for bed. They sat in the kitchen with a hot drink, and she pulled out the six mugs that they could use in future. Then she pulled out the book and they looked at the pictures, with a couple showing just how vast the studio was.

“I brought back something for you two. It was sitting there, just shouting at me that it could make you both very happy.”

She pulled out the Deep Purple album and her parents started laughing.

“Thank you, sweet child. Just propped up on the vanity is going to improve my sleep.”

“I thought that might be the case, Mum.”

“We don’t have a record player, Willow.”

“Dad, they’re all the rage these days. Vinyl is back and you can pick them up at any electrical store. You might want to look in record shops to see all the old greats back on disc. I could have come home with a case full of records from the Abbey Road shop. They have quite a lot of Pink Floyd albums and tee shirts. Do they do something to you like Purple does?”

“Are you looking for a brother or sister?”

“Why do you think I brought home six mugs.”

She had a long day, and went off to bed early, leaving Ashley to ponder on what their child was thinking about when she picked up the record.

“What a lot of young women think about, darling, and quite a lot of men as well. I’m not sure that I would want another child so late in life, but it’s fun trying, isn’t it. We can prop it on the vanity and imagine that night we saw them. I think she was right about one thing, Pink Floyd might have the same effect, seeing that Kansas worked.”

Monday morning was almost back to normal. When Willow was having breakfast, she assumed, from the smiles, that the record had worked. Sebastian and Max picked her up, as usual, and Sebastian told her that if he died tomorrow, he would have a smile on his face at the memory of the two girls playing that organ.

Everyone was smiling that day. Her friends, her school chums, the teachers. Lunch was fun, with some of the orchestra having brought in their purchases from the Abbey Road shop. There were several who wanted to congratulate Gina and Willow on the session in Albert Hall. It had made the entire orchestra keen to be there when they were playing the Proms. Zara came over to tell them that the ‘Swan’ had made her think about going further with her classical career if the singing faded.

“You’ll be at the club next week, so you’ll start to realise the joy of entertaining. The money isn’t bad, either.”

“You sound like my mother, I had to work hard to stop her trying to transfer my money to her account. I’ve spoken to Peter, and we have a code word that only we know if I want to transfer money. I’m going to see an accountant on my own, to set up an interest-bearing account and keep it secret.”

“We have a syndicate account which is buying property, and I have my own company account. It takes a bit to get going and may need an adult to be a director.”

“I have an older brother who works in the real estate business. I’ll talk to him.”

Monday night, when Willow checked her laptop, there were three songs that Herb and Roy had submitted, and another that Victor had sent. Willow worked with them and sent back the tracks with her extra workings. She went to bed, early, and read the book on Abbey Road.

Tuesday morning, it was her turn to play in the chapel. Reg had a grin when he said that it was a big come down from Sunday. There was a lot of notices about the vocal auditions around the school, instead of orchestra practise. During lunch, Jim came over and told the girls how much he enjoyed playing in the church.

“I see why you two love it so much. It has a stronger voice than a keyboard, and you feel as if the music is part of you that’s emerging through your fingers.”

“We’re going to be away again next week, so the seat’s yours as long as you want it. We’ll have to find someone else during summer when we’re all away playing.”

“Yes. We had an email last night, confirming that we’re part of the tour with you and the Hikers. Just playing at the local football stadium will be massive! It will be interesting to find out where the other venues are.”

“I’ll see if Jill knows more when we see her on the weekend. Hopefully, we’ll have enough for a second album by then. Your album would be heading for Platinum by now.”

“I believe that it’s getting close. I think the Hikers album may be the same. It’s crazy to have so much money. I know that Gerry is starting to think about leaving school as soon as he can, but it would need the band to keep going, or him being invited to join another band. That’s too scary for me. I’m a good enough student to go to university, and my folks have made it clear that they want that to be in my future.”

“We’ll all have to make our own decisions. It’ll be hard for a lot of us, especially when you get pressured by others. Stick with what you want to do, Jim.”

That afternoon, the auditions were set up, with so many wanting to be listened to that they had to set up a second Yamaha in another room. Willow, Tom, and one of the school choir worked in one room, working with the line of girls, while Gina worked with Mister Bamborough and another choir member with the line of boys. Jacob was sent out to the main entrance to ask Sebastian to wait until they were finished.

When the line of boys were evaluated, Gina had girls diverted to her room. They finished the auditions after just over two hours. The two choir members had three or four notebooks full of details. They must have auditioned at least a hundred students.

On the way home, they discussed the auditions, noting how many of the girls were from the first year, and how many had good high voices. Most of the boys were classed as ‘normal’, with Gina saying that Herb, Roy, and Victor would be coming back for further testing. The next week would have some brought back to sing parts of the ‘Messiah’.

“I think that Victor may be a candidate for our tenor, and there was a fourth-year lad, built like the proverbial brick outhouse, who will be a good bass, if he can actually sing.”

“We had about twenty girls who can be part of the big choir. There are some parts of the piece where the voices get to the limit. Most of those boys can fill the centre of the choir, if needed.”

That evening, Willow checked her emails and worked on a few of the new songs. If they all worked, there was enough for the ‘Homegrown’ album. Wednesday was almost normal, except for a notice around the school that selected applicants from the auditions would be contacted for further testing, and that there would be another room set aside for any who had missed out on being auditioned. It went on to say that successful singers would be expected to join the orchestra on Tuesday evenings until the end of term, so a choir could be selected for the performance at the Proms, in the Albert Hall. For many, that was the first that they’d heard that their first step was to be a gigantic leap.

Wednesday evening was the choir practise in the club, with those wanting to be part of ‘Messiah’ being picked out. None of these would be part of the Proms concert, as that was purely a Blue Coat affair, but the ‘Messiah’ was expected to have outsiders in key positions, being almost impossible to stage without them.

Thursday evening, Willow and her parents went into the club. Ashley to unlock and look after the bar, and Wendy to start the pie heaters and get the deep fryer up to temperature. The rest of the band came in, with a parent or sibling, and they pulled everything out of the storage. Xavier and Frank arrived, so Willow went back to the house with them to bring the recording equipment. The crowd all had the light meal, and some drinks, and then went through to the back room, now designated as ‘Studio Two’.

They had an audience as they worked on the new songs, before getting them recorded. They stopped for a drink and then went back on the stage to record them. They had discussed them and had written out the order on big bits of paper, which were on music stands. Xavier nodded that recording was on and they played ‘Homegrown – the album’ for the first time.

When they finished, Rick came over and gave everyone a hug. He was full of praise for what he thought might be a Platinum album. Xavier downloaded the recording to his laptop and burned a dozen CDs with a portable CD unit. One was given to each of the band members as a memento of the event. This was to be their second album to be recorded on Saturday.

They were all looking forward to the visit to Abbey Road. This was to be a private visit, so Clive had booked them to the same hotel, and Max and Sebastian would be picking them all up on Friday evening. They would be staying Saturday night, in case another recording session was needed, and would be appearing on the talk show with the BBC.

Xavier and Frank helped carry the equipment back to the house while Gina and the others cleared the stage. Willow went back to the club to say goodnight to everyone. Some parents of the wind section were trying hard to match their schoolchild with the rock band they had just seen.

When the club had been closed up and they were back home, Willow used her CD unit to transfer the CD to her laptop. She added the file to an email to Jill, telling her that this would be the second album to be recorded, and that the cover art should be a single red rose, with sharp thorns on the stem. It was to be called ‘Homegrown – Summer Rose.’ She went to sleep easily, satisfied that they had enough for a good show.

Friday morning, she had a small case packed, with something classy for the TV show. She made her bed and laid out something to the trip, and then went to get breakfast. When they arrived at Gina’s home, she came out with some garment bags.

“These arrived yesterday evening. I have yours to pick up on the way home. We can drop Jacob’s on the way in and give the others out at school.”

Willow found Jacob’s, and when they got to the farm, she got out with it to give him. He took it into the barn and came out to give her a hug before they got into the vehicle. At lunch, she went to the nurse who gave her the injection and took a blood sample for the pathology. When she got to the lunchroom. Gina had handed out the other outfits, telling them that they were for the studio and the TV show, with Vivienne and Nancy both opening the bags to have a look. As Willow ate, her phone pinged. It was a text from Jill.

‘CD Gr8. Rose now blue, red done before. SeeU2nite.’

The Music Studies session was a lot of fun, with them finally nailing a longer version of ‘Her Day’ as an instrumental. They were told that the next lesson was the last for the year, and that they would be allowed out once they had performed for the Head, while being recorded and filmed. The vehicles were waiting for them when they walked out, and they were taken home. Sebastian said that he was picking the others up first, so was likely to be at Stoneleigh about six-thirty.

Willow got herself a sandwich, expecting that they would stop along the way for a comfort stop. She showered and dressed in the outfit she had laid out, then sat with her parents for a drink as they had dinner. There was a beep outside and she kissed her parents to go out and join the band. In the bus, she was surprised to see Xavier, Frank, and Dave, but just said ‘hello’ as she went to find the seat beside Jacob, passing another surprise in Mister Jamieson.

“I’ve volunteered to be the responsible adult, seeing that you’re all students.”

He grinned.

“Besides, Reg told me that the recording studio is an experience not to be missed!”

Sebastian had the radio on, and they sang along as their own songs were played. They stopped at Luton for a comfort visit, with everyone getting fast food from the counter. When they arrived at the hotel, Jill was waiting for them with lanyards for those who didn’t already have them. Xavier had a new one with ‘Recording Engineer’ on it, while Frank and Dave both had ‘Video Cameraman’ on theirs.

Marianne Gregory © 2025