Book Reviews Books Mod-related Fiction

Baron’s Court All Change by Terry Taylor

Baron's Court All Change by Terry Taylor
Baron’s Court All Change by Terry Taylor
Note that I independently write and research everything in this article. But it may contain affiliate links.

Ever wondered who the lead character in Absolute Beginners was based on? According to the introduction of Baron’s Court All Change, it was Terry Taylor.

Baron’s Court All Change was something of a ‘holy grail for many years when it came to Mod-related books. It just wasn’t around. Rare copies that did hit the market disappeared just as quickly – and for serious money. It was cult reading and exclusive reading. Then came a reissue via New London Editions back in 2012.

Baron's Court All Change by Terry Taylor
Baron’s Court All Change by Terry Taylor

 

It went (almost) mass market. Until the point when the book disappeared once more. And these copies became collector’s copies, too. Fast forward something like 10 years, and it was reissued once more. Thankfully, this time for good – or so it seems. You can currently pick up a copy for around £12 online.

Why so popular? It has become cult reading because it covers ground rarely touched upon in this era. The book was written in the late ’50s and released at the dawn of the 1960s, covering a drug subculture that was either unknown or ignored by mainstream media at the time.

Not only that, it doesn’t seek to sensationalise the subject matter either. The book tells a tale and leaves you, the reader, to make up your own mind on ethics.

Perhaps that’s because this is (at least, in part) Taylor’s own story, a tale of the early days of modernism, arguably bringing more realism to the table than the similar Absolute Beginners.

Taylor met MacInnes at the tail end of the 1950s when he was working as a photographer. In his ‘modernist’ gear, he must have jumped out as the ideal character study for ‘Beginners’. But whereas MacInnes made his lead character into some kind of ‘ace face’ (to use a much later expression), Taylor’s portrayal of the lead character is far more rough around the edges, which is why it feels more believable.

Like Absolute Beginners, the word ‘Mod’ is never uttered; you have to pick up the clues – the jazz clubs and records, the Cecil Gee suits and the ‘Crombie shortie’ for example, not to mention that desire to be out of the rat race and out of suburbia – to be where the action is. Over the 200+ pages, it gradually paints the picture.

As for the story itself, it’s a tale of a teenager in London at the end of the 1950s. This one, just like Absolute Beginners, doesn’t have a name (or at least, it is rarely mentioned, if at all), working full time in a hat shop and hanging around jazz clubs out of hours.

He also has a strange obsession with spiritualism, which seems to hover around the periphery of the main story. Oh yes, our lead also lives at home in Middlesex rather than in some hipster flat, yearning for the time he can hit Baron’s Court station, which he views as the start of civilisation.

Baron's Court All Change by Terry Taylor
Baron’s Court All Change by Terry Taylor

 

The spiritualism brings him into contact with an older woman (Bunty) who teaches him the ways of the world, while the jazz clubs bring him closer to the hip characters of the street and the day. They also bring him into contact with ‘charge’, which becomes a fashionable addition to the jazz scene lifestyle.

That scene brings new friends, too, including the shrewd Dusty and later girlfriend Miss Roach, both of whom are key to the tale. In fact, Dusty offers our hero a way out of the rat race – selling the highly illegal ‘charge’ to punters on the jazz scene. Our man cashes in his savings and goes into a joint venture, bringing with it riches, troubles, violence and a new and exciting life that is a long way from dreary suburbia.

As you may have got from that, it’s not all plain sailing, not with his family, his friends and the women in his life. There is also an ongoing test of the lead character’s morals – which goes right down to the final page.

If I’m being honest, the story does have the odd weakness and the occasional diversion (Bunty being the most obvious) that perhaps it doesn’t need. But it has two overriding strong points.

Firstly, it tackles ground that others would have run scared from in the late ’50s, and secondly, it has Terry Taylor. Taylor paints a picture superbly. No surprise if he’s lived it. You get a feel for the era, the venues, the people and the style. In fact, I wish there was more of it – Baron’s Court All Change could have run for longer, ending rather abruptly for me. Although I obviously don’t want to give any of that away if you haven’t yet been acquainted with it.

Baron's Court All Change by Terry Taylor
Baron’s Court All Change by Terry Taylor

 

I don’t know what happened to Terry Taylor. He apparently went to live in north Wales, but I have no idea if he is still there or even if he’s still with us. I would hope he is, and I hope someone might one day interview him about his life and the book.

In the meantime, if you love Absolute Beginners or interesting period literature, this is a book to own. In fairness, it could never live up to its hype, but it’s a seriously good read, all the same. And with a reasonable price tag these days, it’s a no-brainer.

Find out more at the Amazon website

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3 Comments

  1. Paul Reaney

    Totally agree with your point, let’s be honest though, most of those early subculture driven books are hit and miss affairs, Derek Raymond’s The Crust on His Uppers for example, is definitley a case in point. Perhaps the reason Absolute Beginners is so highly regarded is because it is far and away the best of its kind. However, like you say, Baron’s Court is still a worthy of a read nonetheless. The Colin Wilson novel Adrift in Soho (part of the series included with Terry Taylor), I think, reads better if you want to unpick late fifties/early mod/boho London life, and has the added appeal of it’s main protagonist moving to the capital from the north Midlands, but that’s just my personal preference.

  2. For your US readers (and possibly others) it’s available from the US Amazon store as a Kindle version for $5.49. Otherwise it’s shipping from the UK for close to $30

    I know it’s a big debate about books vs ebooks, but I only wish to point out the options.

  3. David Burke

    There is a school of thought that the hero in Absolute Beginners is actually Roger Mayne the photographer. One of his shots is used on the front cover of the early edition of Absolute Beginners

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