Bronx Cheer

The moniker Bronx Cheer stems from the playful, impolite sound created by forcing air through the lips and tongue. This British rock ensemble, dedicated to high-spirited performances, first took the stage in the early 1960s under the name Jug Trust. Its lineup featured Brian Cookman on guitar, harmonica, and vocals, John Reed on guitar, banjo, and mandolin, and Tony Knight handling jug and percussion, with Cookman and Reed supplying most of the original songs. Their energetic jug-band approach and acoustic blues repertoire earned solid notice on the British folk scene, resulting in a Parlophone contract; yet two singles that moved few copies led the label to end the arrangement.

Keyboardist Chas Johnson came aboard in 1968, shifting the sound toward greater rock-and-roll drive and inspiring the new Bronx Cheer identity. Producer Barry Murray at Pye Records caught one of their shows, appreciated what he heard, and placed the group on the Dawn Records roster. After the Barrelhouse Player EP appeared, they entered the studio for a debut album whimsically titled Greatest Hits, Vol. 3. The LP found little favor with buyers, and when another Pye act, Mungo Jerry, scored a major success with “In the Summertime,” support at the label evaporated; although Bronx Cheer finished a second album, Pye chose not to release it.

The band continued performing into the early 1970s. Brian Cookman then formed the Brian Cookman Band and built a parallel career as a magazine designer—he helped introduce the British edition of Rolling Stone—and as an author of desktop-publishing software manuals. Tony Knight started a company that produced decorative clocks, while John Reed sustained his work as a musician and writer. The Jug Trust reconvened for occasional reunion concerts throughout the 1990s and 2000s, a run that ended with Cookman’s death in 2005 at age 58.