Melly, Diz Disley, Acker Bilk, Alex Welsh, Kenny Ball, Ken Colyer, Sunshine, Bob Wallis, Bruce Turner, Mick Mulligan and Barber. Barber stunned traditionalists in 1964 by introducing blues guitarist John Slaughter into the line up who (apart from a break between April 1978 and August 1986 when Roger Hill took over the spot) played in the band until shortly before his death in 2010. Barber next added a second clarinet/saxophone and this line-up continued until 2000. A recording of the Lennon–McCartney composition "Catswalk" can be heard, retitled "Cat Call", on The Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away. Written by Paul McCartney, the song was recorded in late July 1967 and released as a single in the UK on 20 October 1967. In 1969, Barber signed up to the progressive Marmalade Records label and released the album Battersea Rain Dance, featuring both McCartney and Brian Auger. Throughout the 1960s The Chris Barber Band was very popular in Germany, including parts of communist eastern Europe. In 1968 they released the album Live in East Berlin. Later career With guitarist Rory Gallagher, Barber and his band recorded the 1972 album Drat That Fratle Rat, described by Bob Stanley as an "unlikely but terrific trad jazz/blues rock fusion album". The band toured with the American clarinettist Russell Procope in 1976 and with Dr. John in 1981. Venturing into classical music, Barber commissioned and co-write a Concerto for Jazz Trombone in 1986 with Richard Hill, which was premiered behind the Berlin Wall at the Palast der Republik on 2 October 1986. He also recorded the album Under the Influence of Jazz with The London Gabrieli Brass Ensemble in 1991. In 1998 Barber began to expand his band, partly so that he could play the music of the early Duke Ellington band, one of his favourites. He was joined by fellow trombonist/arranger Bob Hunt and added another clarinet/sax and trumpet. After his only 'Down Under Tour' of Australia and New Zealand in 2000 he permanently grew the band to 11 members, eventually renaming it The Big Chris Barber Band in 2001. This opened up the band to a broader range of music, although a spot was still reserved in the programme for the traditional six-man New Orleans line-up. Barber published his autobiography Jazz Me Blues in 2014, with co-author Alyn Shipton. He announced his decision to retire on 12 August 2019, after some 70 years of