Ronnie Lane (Small Faces/The Faces); 1952 GUY Bus/Motorhome
My association with motorhomes and campervans stretches back to the late 1960s, influenced to a large extent by my fathers Rootes Commer Maidstone campervan ownership, and later his home-built ex-Co-op mobile butchers van. Like the majority of teenagers during that period I discovered music, at a time when the hippy trend was giving way to heavy metal, Glam rock and the tail end of the Beatles. I was a huge fan of bands such as The Kinks, The Small Faces and rock 'n' roll in general. I was a bit miffed when the Small Faces broke up, with Steve Marriott going off to form Humble Pie and the rest of the band becoming The Faces, with Rod Stewart as lead singer. Although a big fan of Marriott, I was never taken with HP, opting to follow the rest of the band and the Faces music. The stand out member for me was always Ronnie Lane, who with Steve Marriott in the Small Faces co-wrote such hits as Itchycoo Park, All or Nothing, Here Comes the Nice, Lazy Sunday, My Minds Eye and many more. After forming The Faces, Ronnie would write/co-write such classics as Ooh La La, Flags and Banners and Debris, to name but a few.
Ronnie became disenchanted with life as a member the Faces, and departed the band in 1973 to collect his thoughts and generate future plans. At around this time, Ronnie purchased an ex-London Transport GUY bus of 1952 vintage, and after drawing up some plans, enlisted the help of 'Alistair' to convert the bus into a fully-fitted motorhome. Ronnie already had by this stage, his lovely Airstream caravan, which had been converted into a recording studio, which he christened his 'LMS' (Lanes Mobile Studio). The full story of which can be found here https://www.ronnielane.com/ronnie-lanes-mobile-studio-lms.html
Together with his second wife Katy, Ronnie turned his back on London suburb life in favour of a large farm on the Shropshire/Wales border, 'Fishpool Farm', near the village of Hyssington. Any number of internet searches for 'Ronnie Lane Fishpool Farm' will bring up plenty of info about his years there with Katy and his family.
The picture above is the album sleeve for Ronnie's 'One for the Road' LP (with the band Slim Chance), and this is a great shot of Ronnie's Fishpool Farm, with his small white cottage visible left/centre and the various outbuildings, together with his large collection of vehicles, the GUY bus can clearly be seen, and behind that is 'Queenie', his period Eccles living van, which was towed beind the bus. The barn in the centre of the picture (the right half), housed a small recording studio, though his LMS Airstream was also kept at the farm.
Once moving to Fishpool Ronnie dispensed with the snazzy wardrobe and threw himself fully into the country gent lifestyle, wearing old tweed jackets, scruffy boots and his trademark neck scarf. According the the Eric Clapton autobiography, Ronnie had one of his gold records nailed to the front door, so there was no doubting who lived there! Soon after moving to the farm, Ronnie put together a band by the name of 'Slim Chance' (who still perform today) http://www.slim-chance.co.uk/pages/ronnielane.html , a mixture of 'rockabilly' folk musicians featuring a fiddle, accordion, drummer and pianist, with Ronnie as lead singer/song writer/guitarist. The music was a far cry from the familiar tones of the Small Faces and The Faces, with a lovely 'earthy' quality. For a newly formed band they did very well with their first single 'How Come', performing on Top of the Pops on TV, and a couple of other TV slots for promotion purposes. I fell in love with that song the first time I heard it, though I had no idea that Ronnie was behind it; it still remains a firm favourite of mine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ0AI_w_70w
By the late 70s, Ronnie was diagnosed with MS, leaving Fishpool Farm and returning to London to seek treatment. Around 1980 Ronnie gifted his GUY bus to his friend (and ex-roadie) Neil, who still lived near Fishpool Farm. I believe that the remainder of the Passing Show vehicles and living vans were sold off. Ronnie's 1952 GUY bus/motorhome (one of just 84 GS 28 models built) was used and maintained by Neil for several decades.
After the first lockdown was lifted in the UK, my wife and myself decided to pre-book a couple of campsites in rural Shropshire, to visit in our campervan. One evening I was scanning through various Facebook groups, and Ronnie's GUY bus popped up. It was being listed for sale after 40 years of ownership by Neil, and as the location was given, I quickly looked it up to find we were on a campsite only three miles away; I couldn't resist a visit, being a huge Ronnie Lane fan. I explained to owner Neil that I was not in a position to purchase the bus, bus as a freelance motorhome writer I would love to take a few pictures and give the bus a mention in a UK motorhome magazine pages; he kindly agreed and off we set.
That was a special moment setting eyes on such a well known bus for the first time, a vehicle which played a big part in Ronnie's 'Passing Show' UK tour of 1974, appeared on an album cover and played host to some well known names from both the music and film business. Stepping inside is rather like entering a time machine, left much as Ronnie had left it, with his pipe rack nailed on the wall and the internal fixtures still in place, complete with kitchen, rear bedroom and dining area behind the driver's seat.
The bus is mentioned in Eric Clapton's autobiography and Ronnie's ex-wife Katy mentioned it during her podcasts on Youtube. The interior is a little crude, but has a real charm, and as the owner Neil said "If this bus could talk, it could certainly tell some tales!" I have since found an interview from around 1981 when a journalist interviewed Ronnie in London, where Ronnie mentioned the fact that he wrote the song 'Steppin an' Reelin' whilst sitting in the bus.
As you might expect, given that I was in the vicinity of Ronnie and Kate's old Fishpool Farm, I could not resist popping down the lane to take a couple of pictures. The one below is of the barns opposite the little cottage, one of which Ronnie made into a makeshift recording studio. The little cottage, the barns pictured and the setting remains the same as in Ronnie's time there during the 1970s, though a couple of barns have been removed and the rickety old stables replaced. I did not realise that the cottage was so small, so it was no wonder that visitors were asked to sleep in some of the various living vans, and the GUY bus during their stay. Just some of the illustrious names to visit Fishpool were Eric Clapton, Pete Townsend, Ronnie Wood and Steve Marriott.
Ronnie moved to Colorado in 1994 with his third wife Susan. Ronnie passed away in June 1997 in Trinidad, Colorado USA, he was 51.
The Ronnie Lane/Passing Show bus is still in roadworthy condition, with many new parts fitted, and remains a great part of British music history. It went up for on-line auction on the 25th of November 2020, but failed to get near its £24k price guide. Having spoken with the owner Neil, He informed me that he was prepared to sell the bus for the sum of £18,500. That seems like a very realistic figure to me, given that it is in a roadworthy condition, and given its amazing history. The market for such a unique piece of music history is quite limited I know, and if it was a famous guitar, it would have no problem achieving a high price. But of course this is no guitar, this is a very large piece of music memorabilia! Perhaps suited better to a film prop hire company, or as a unique glamping unit for someone setting up a rural airbnb business?
One can only hope, that long term, a new owner will purchase and appreciate it for what it is.
If anyone is seriously interested, then please message me, and I'll put you in touch with the current owner.
If anyone happens to know the whereabouts of 'Queenie', the vintage Eccles showmans wagon which was towed behind the bus in the 1970s, then please get in touch, ta.
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We were able to track this vehicle down, and included it in the documentary we made on Ronnie, "PASSING SHOW: The Life and Music of Ronnie Lane". In fact, the first scene of the film is of this war wagon driving into view. Filmed out near Hyssington, of course.
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Yes I am aware of that great video, watched it a couple of times since its release.
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