Tricky [Jack Adams]

Jack Adams

My names Adams, Jack Adams
Bom in the East End of London 1943
Me mum was in the air force
We lived just off Cable Street
Me father was in a prisoner of war camp
And when he come back, he didn't know nothing about me
Walked out the door, we never seen him again
1948 Brixton, I met me new dad, Eddy Steele,
I was known as Jacky Steele
Most of my younger years round Brixton were spent
just really nicking stuff off of stalls, out of shops,
We used to go over the railway yards at nine elms, break into the carriages,
see what we could find,
I was arrested in 1956 with me brother, taken to a magistrates court,
they sentenced me to an approve school,
Most of the time I was there, I spent trying to get out,
Three times I escaped, I was only thirteen years old,
nearly fourteen, I was sixteen when I finally got released,
only had a couple of jobs, only small jobs
You could never earn enough money, so I used to go out,
doing almost anything and
That's when we used to earn a lot of money,
do all sorts of things, anything to earn a crust,
Most of the time, I was out with me mates
By 1958 I was working with a little team, in South London,
As young as I was I was getting quite a lot of money,
I had a nice car even though I was too young to drive,
And most of the jobs we done, I drove on them,
I was caught in 1958 as well and sent to Borstall,
stayed there until 1960
When I came out of Borstall, I met up with same litte firm,
We started going on, different blags, a few post offices,
the air terminal was the one that put me away a long time,
I got thirteen years for that, came out in 1970
Half way through my prison sentence, I was granted leave to appeal,
I came out and my uncle Georgie
That's Georgie Cornel, got me a few hot dog barrels up the West End he had
taken off someone that owed him money,
After about four months of working the Barrows,
I was approached by a representative of the Kray twins
and was taken to meet them.
And a proposition was put to me which I couldn't really refuse
I had to go around collecting money for them.
One night I had to deliver some money to a man called Jimmy Emit in the
Flamingo Night Club in Wardour Street,
When I got there he wasn't there
Jack the Hat as he was known who also worked
with the twins said he'd take it
I gave him one thousand and fifty pounds, the thousand and fifty pounds
was never given to Reggie and Ronnie
And that was one of the reasons he was killed, he took liberties,
My uncle Georgie, Georgie Comel was killed before him
He was shot in the Blind Beggars Pub, It was after that,
that McVitie done me,
McVitie and a couple of his mates almost killed me one night,
trying to get more money off me,
I had nothing else I could do really except try and
get word to the twins
And a few weeks later he was killed, after I came out of hospital,
I had to go on my appeal which failed,
I was sent back to prison
Most of the good days I had were in the fifties and sixties, yeh,
they were good times, I had lots of money, holiday and flash cars
When I went into prison I had quite a lot of money and when I come out I had nothing,
absolutely nothing
I lost all that when I got put away
Since then I haven't been in any kind of trouble
And I don't wanna be.

from: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/music/soundqlt/crims/adams.htm

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		*Jack Adams*
		My names Adams, Jack Adams Bom in the East End of London 1943 Me mum was in the air force We lived just off Cable Street Me father was in a prisoner of war camp And when he come back, he didn't know nothing about me Walked out the door, we never seen him again 1948 Brixton, I met me new dad, Eddy Steele, I was known as Jacky Steele Most of my younger years round Brixton were spent just really nicking stuff off of stalls, out of shops, We used to go over the railway yards at nine elms, break into the carriages, see what we could find, I was arrested in 1956 with me brother, taken to a magistrates court, they sentenced me to an approve school, Most of the time I was there, I spent trying to get out, Three times I escaped, I was only thirteen years old, nearly fourteen, I was sixteen when I finally got released, only had a couple of jobs, only small jobs You could never earn enough money, so I used to go out, doing almost anything and That's when we used to earn a lot of money, do all sorts of things, anything to earn a crust, Most of the time, I was out with me mates By 1958 I was working with a little team, in South London, As young as I was I was getting quite a lot of money, I had a nice car even though I was too young to drive, And most of the jobs we done, I drove on them, I was caught in 1958 as well and sent to Borstall, stayed there until 1960 When I came out of Borstall, I met up with same litte firm, We started going on, different blags, a few post offices, the air terminal was the one that put me away a long time, I got thirteen years for that, came out in 1970 Half way through my prison sentence, I was granted leave to appeal, I came out and my uncle Georgie That's Georgie Cornel, got me a few hot dog barrels up the West End he had taken off someone that owed him money, After about four months of working the Barrows, I was approached by a representative of the Kray twins and was taken to meet them. And a proposition was put to me which I couldn't really refuse I had to go around collecting money for them. One night I had to deliver some money to a man called Jimmy Emit in the Flamingo Night Club in Wardour Street, When I got there he wasn't there Jack the Hat as he was known who also worked with the twins said he'd take it I gave him one thousand and fifty pounds, the thousand and fifty pounds was never given to Reggie and Ronnie And that was one of the reasons he was killed, he took liberties, My uncle Georgie, Georgie Comel was killed before him He was shot in the Blind Beggars Pub, It was after that, that McVitie done me, McVitie and a couple of his mates almost killed me one night, trying to get more money off me, I had nothing else I could do really except try and get word to the twins And a few weeks later he was killed, after I came out of hospital, I had to go on my appeal which failed, I was sent back to prison Most of the good days I had were in the fifties and sixties, yeh, they were good times, I had lots of money, holiday and flash cars When I went into prison I had quite a lot of money and when I come out I had nothing, absolutely nothing I lost all that when I got put away Since then I haven't been in any kind of trouble And I don't wanna be. from: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/music/soundqlt/crims/adams.htm