BRITTON DRUMMED ON ONE HAND CLAPPING AND MANY MORE – WHETHER OR NOT HE IS LISTED AS “GEOFF” OR “JEFF”
FORMER MEMBER OF:
CHAMPION, EAST OF EDEN, THE KEYS, MANFRED MANN’S EARTH BAND, ROUGH DIAMOND, WINGS AND THE SPITFIRES
I love the task of learning as much as I can about the musicians that members of the Beatles chose to work with over the years and the various contributions they made to the songs that reverberate around in our minds. Though Geoff Britton was only with Wings for a very short time, always enjoyed the work that I was aware that he had played on. As well as his drumming skills, he was quite the martial arts expert as well! In keeping with what I said above about learning more about the recordings that the musicians that played with the ex-Beatles over the years, I was fortunate to pick up a rare 45 by the former Wings drummer Geoff Britton. Here is a rare demo of Geoff Britton’s, listed here as Jeff Britton which I recently acquired on Discogs.
Released on Decca in 1976. Special thanks to Dan Ealey for confirming that Geoff and Jeff were indeed the same person before I made my purchase! It is also great to see Geoff getting a writing credit on both of these numbers…
Jeff Britton-Rub Out – YouTube
The flip side-Breakwood
Dan Ealey was so kind in arranging for Geoff Britton to sign a drumhead I had purchased from Dan. Geoff wrote some of Paul’s lyrics from Junior’s Farm about “You Should Have Seen Me With the Poker Man” on the drumhead.
Dan Ealey was the guy who gave a Rickenbacker guitar to Paul McCartney when Wings were in Nashville.
When Wings returned to the UK, they recorded the One Hand Clapping soundtrack which Geoff Britton drummed on and the set was officially released in 2024. There is a special vinyl release as well as a 2 cd set. They are available on the official McCartney website and such vendors as Amazon. It is wonderful to see a man who was only with Wings for a short time having his work preserved and displayed for posterity!
An excellent interview on YouTube of Geoff Britton talking about “One Hand Clapping” and his time with Wings!
PAUL MCCARTNEY & WINGS Drummer GEOFF BRITTON: 50 Years on From ABBEY ROAD Sessions – YouTube
Would love to hear your feedback of the 2 Jeff/ Geoff Britton and the Spitfires songs on the instrumentals presented above from the 1970’s on YouTube. Links are at the top of this post! I happen to like them very much!
BUZZ
Thanks for sharing some of Geoff’s music! Really rockin’ tunes! I feel blessed to have met Geoff in the States over a Memorial Day weekend at a Beatles – themed festival in 2019. He was so nice to everyone. What impressed me the most about Geoff was not necessarily his drum playing, but how he turned the attention of the crowd to take a moment and remember what that holiday weekend was all about, the military that stepped up over the years with many that gave their own lives so that we could be where we were today. He even went on to comment that he may have not even been there had it not been for the Americans, most likely referring to World War II. I’m so happy Geoff’s drumming is officially released on this album and we will be able to be see on the theater screens too (referring to Paul McCartney’s announcement of releasing the One Hand Clapping film in the cinemas). Keep up the fab posts Buzz!
I second that emotion! I was there with Jennifer when we met Geoff at Abbey Road On TheRiver and each got a photo with him!