One of Canada's premier Rockabilly bands, The Nervous Fellas began in Vancouver around the winter of 1986. The band took its name from the lyrics of a Smiley Lewis song titled "Real Gone Lover". Their set list comprised obscure covers from the Fifties and their own original songs.
With Butch Murphy on vocals, Ronnie Hayward on bass, Chris Colt on guitar and Al Black on drums, they played mostly in Canada and were known for their exciting stage show and fast-paced Rockabilly. They often played at "The Railway Club" ( http://www.therailwayclub.com/ )in Vancouver, where the idea of the band was formed. By the winter of 1987, the band had a huge following and were billed as "Canada's rockabilly Madmen".
They play rockabilly and blues that are raw, biting, and aggressive
— Tom Harrison, The Province Newspaper Tuesday June 28, 1988
In the beginning, they started as an opening act for such bands as The Pogues, Tragically Hip, George Thorogood, and Junior Wells, but it was not long before they grabbed the main stage themselves.
They had several recordings on EastSide Records. Their first self-titled release was produced by Jimmy Roy from the Ray Condo band. It was recorded in Jimmy Roy's living room. Their second studio recording "Born To Be Wild" was released on the UK label Nervous Records in 1990. While the band had a strong showing on the college radio charts, they were unable to break into mainstream radio play.
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Many personnel changes happened during the fellas short life. Chris Colt left in late 1987 to be replaced by Mark Johnson. Al Black left in 1990 to play fulltime in the Last Wild Sons. Butch Murphy was also in the Last Wild Sons. Al Black was replaced by John Decan, who was later replaced by Billy Rogers.
Billy Rogers ( http://urotsukidojispad.com/rogers.html )had tasted some success with such bands as Johnny Thunders and the Ramones. Billy Rogers died from complications due to pneumonia, at his home in Toronto, on Tuesday, August 7, 2001.
Ronnie Hayward left in 1990 and was later replaced by Pete Turland. Pete, originally from England, had been in The Baskervilles along with Darrel Higham. The only original member to stay to the end, which was in the beginning of 1992, was Butch Murphy. Butch and Ronnie later teamed up to start the Bughouse 5.
Recent postings of the band on YouTube have piqued the interest of rockabilly fans.
Reunion Show : Nervous Fellas (featuring the original members), Swank, The Deadcats @ Rickshaw Theatre June 20, 2009. At the reunion show, a CD release was made available for the first time, which contained lost recordings from 1987.
On their Facebook page, it has been reported that Ronnie Hayward was no longer in the band. Phil Addington from SWANK is now playing upright bass.
Keyboardist Gary Fraser joined the band in 2012.
All members are currently living in the west coast of British Columbia.
Butch Murphy is currently playing with "The Bloody Miracles" which includes Phil Addington.
Al Black is currently the Vice President for the Nanaimo Blues Society ( http://www.nanaimobluesfestival.com/ )
Ronnie Hayward is currently playing with "The Ronnie Hayward Trio" in Toronto
There is word of a new Nervous Fellas CD of currently unreleased material from the original band coming out in 2012
The Nervous Fellas name was also used by a band in UK after the original band broke up but does not have any of the Canadian members.