Bronx Cheer

by Mark DemingNamed for the cheerfully rude "raspberry" noise made by blowing through the lips and tongue, Bronx Cheer was a good-time British rock outfit who began playing out in the early '60s as the Jug Trust. Comprised of Brian Cookman (guitar, harmonica, and vocals), John Reed (guitar, banjo, and mandolin) and Tony Knight (jug and percussion), with Cookman and Reed writing the lion's share of the material, the Jug Trust earned enough of a reputation on the U.K. folk circuit with their uptempo jug band and acoustic blues sound that they landed a record deal with Parlophone, but after two poor-selling singles the band was dropped. In 1968, the Jug Trust added Chas Johnson on keyboards to the lineup, brought a bit more rock & roll energy to their sound, and adopted the new name Bronx Cheer. Barry Murray, a producer for Pye Records, heard Bronx Cheer and liked their sound, signing them to the label's Dawn Records subsidiary. After releasing an EP called Barrelhouse Player, the group returned to the studio to cut their first full-length album, humorously titled Greatest Hits, Vol. 3. Unfortunately, the album failed to click with record buyers, and when Mungo Jerry, another Pye act with a similar musical approach, scored a major hit with "In the Summertime," Bronx Cheer was left without much support at their label, and while the group completed a second LP, Pye opted not to release it. Bronx Cheer soldiered on until the early '70s, when Brian Cookman formed his own group, the Brian Cookman Band, and established a successful career as a magazine designer (he helped launch the U.K. edition of Rolling Stone) and author of desktop publishing software. Tony Knight opened his own company making decorative clocks, and John Reed continued to work as a musician and writer. The Jug Trust played occasional reunion shows in the 1990s and 2000s until Cookman died in 2005 at the age of 58.