Early Career
Barre began his career playing saxophone with the Birmingham band, The Moonrakers, in the early 1960s. During July 1966, he joined Beau Brummell's former backing band, The Noblemen, with fellow ex-Moonraker, Chris Rodger, and the group subsequently changed their name to The Motivation. The band also comprised singer Jimmy Marsh, bassist Bryan Stevens, keyboardist Mike Ketley and drummer Malcolm Tomlinson. The group appeared at London's legendary Marquee Club on two occasions and also supported Cream at the Upper Cut in the Forest Gate district of London. They also performed at the Piper Club in Rome for six weeks in mid-1967.
In the summer of 1967, Marsh and Rodger left and the others brought in former Clayton Squares singer Denny Alexander and became The Penny Peeps. Signed to Liberty Records, the band released two singles in 1968 — "Little Man With A Stick" backed by "Model Village" and "I See The Morning" backed with "Curly, Knight of The Road". By this point, Barre had switched to lead guitar and his impressive solo on "Model Village" has made the track a popular collectors' item.
Alexander left the band in mid-1968 and the group became a blues outfit under a new moniker — Gethsemane. The new band recorded further material which was never released, and broke up in mid December 1968, when after a brief career in Fat Matress with Noel Redding of Jimi Hendrix fame, Barre joined Jethro Tull.
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