"Every night was a riot. There were some good
musicians in the band but you couldn't play for laughing. Billy MacGregor
was probably the greatest showman band leader that I ever worked with"
....Jimmy Philips who joined the Gaybirds in 1956
The line-up remained the unchanged for over ten years
before the fire in 1959. The band played six or seven nights per week
and earned £15 in the early 1960s.
" Billy never gave us the opportunity to play what we
consider is good music. It is fair to say that he had his finger on the
pulse of what a certain audience wanted. He knew exactly. Nobody could have
done what he done." .....John Murray who played with the Gaybirds 1963-97
All the band's instruments and music were destroyed
in the fire but Director Sam McIver replaced the instruments and gave all
the musicians other work until the Barrowland opened again. During this time
Jimmy Phillips became a bookkeeper.
