Time for the first weekend of Chicago Blues Brothers gigs for a while and it includes a gig that has been eagerly anticipated for quite some time- a return to Switzerland for a show at The Fribourg Jazz Festival.
Friday started early- the long suffering Shirley dropped me at West Ruislip Underground station well before 6 a.m. where I boarded the first Central Line train in to London. I would have gone from Uxbridge but our check-in was at 7.15 and this was the only way that I could get there in time! Somewhat regretting the decision to go for a few beers with East the night before (well- it helps you to sleep doesn't it?!?) I stumbled onto the train with a Fender Telecaster in a recently-repaired case (damaged by those lovable funsters at Ryan Air a couple of months ago) in one hand and a clothes bag over the other shoulder, all the while musing on just how many people are up and about at this unearthly time of the day; that said when I changed trains at Bond Street I was conscious of the fact that most people on the Jubilee Line train were asleep. To keep me company I've got a copy of 'An Unlikely Fooligan' by Pete Haynes- this came out earlier this year and is a travelogue of Pete's times in Japan a few years ago, I got it a month or so ago and had been saving it for this trip which may have been a mistake as the first line makes reference to the the fact that it takes 12 hours to fly to Japan 'if the plane doesn't crash of course' which is not necessarily the best thing to read when you're half asleep and on your way to an airport.
Just after 7 o'clock Squirrel called to see how I was getting on- I was at Canning Town station waiting for a DLR train to take me to London City Airport; 10 minutes later I met Mike at the airport entrance who gave me my e-ticket (that's how it's done these days!) and in no time at all my guitar had disappeared into a hatch in Zone A and I was meeting up with the rest of the band in the departure lounge. Pete's joining Mike in the hat and glasses (he's already out in Switzerland with his wife Jayne) and bandwise it's the A-team with Tracy on vocals, Richard and Dave on sax and trumpet, Squirrel and Marc on bass and drums, Ian on keyboards and yours truly on the afore-mentioned electric guitar. We're due to take off at 8.25 but we don't leave until just after 9 o'clock, the flight's a bit bumpy here and there especially as we start our descent into Zurich Airport where we land at 11.35- the flight's an hour-and-a-half and they're an hour ahead of us. As we come into land I see what I first thought to be a crop circle but soon realise is a Swiss Army knife shaped 'crop circle' with the words 'Victorinox 125 years' next to it, presumably to celebrate the 125th anniversary on the Victorinox company? After collecting our luggage (guitar and case still in one piece- hurrah!) we meet Ronnie the promoter and Marcel the driver and set off to our hotel to check in. I'm sharing room 123 with Marc 'though when we get there we discover it to be a double rather than twin room- we're just about to go down to reception to see what can be done about it when a chambermaid comes in apologising profusely and asking if we'd mind swapping with our friend next door- Squirrel emerges with the words 'I was just getting into The Commitments' as well', a slightly baffling comment until we go in we find that was one of the CD's supplied in the room. There's an hour or so before we're due to leave so there's time for a coffee or two before we set out for Fribourg- Tracy, Dave and Marc are in Ronnie's car and the rest of us are in the minibus with Marcel. The air conditioning's on, there's Freak Power on the stereo and the mood is good, if somewhat bleary from my point of view- as Richard remarks that it's raining on the other side of the road and dry on ours I decide that reading a travelogue while travelling is rather a surreal thing to do. Suddenly there's a loud banging on the roof and everyone is very awake indeed, Richard hangs perilously out of the passenger door window in an effort to see what's happened, the rubber seal around the top of the windscreen has come loose so we pull off the motorway and he and Marcel push it back into place. a couple of miles on it comes loose again so we pull over onto the hard shoulder and remove it.
By the time we pull off the motorway at the sign for Fribourg I've drifted in and out of sleep so many times that I'm not really sure if I'm awake or not- the first thing we encounter looks like a giant building site (probably because it is!) but it soon gives way to attractive cobbled streets and tramways. The jazz festival is an annual event held in the town centre, in what I think is the market square- when we got out at the site I realised how good the air conditioning in the minibus has been as it's very hot and humid. We're there in time for a soundcheck- backline is supplied by the The Swiss Cheese & Chocolate Company (a great name for a great company) who have provided me with a reissue blackface Fender Twin Reverb combo (it's another language isn't it?!?) that sounds excellent from the moment that I plug it in. We soundcheck without too many problems although I for one am struck by how quiet it all seems- there's a decibel meter facing us that doesn't go over 100 decibels throughout the whole soundcheck (it does during the show but mostly because the crowd were making so much noise!) We're then given food and drink tokens but the places that we can use them in aren't open until 6 o'clock and it's been a very long time since breakfast so most of us go to a nearby pizza restaurant where I'm served what is probably the biggest pizza I'll ever see- it must have been the size of a dustbin lid! I was so hungry that I ate the lot!
We're headlining and due on until 11 p.m. so there's plenty of time to catch up on phone calls (yeah I know it's expensive but people worry if you don't let them know that you're ok- in fact I worry if I don't let them know that I'm ok!) and to have a walk around town. It's an excellent place, with buildings that look exactly like uncultured Brits like myself think that they're going to look, and with friendly people who speak English better than I do. Pretty soon there's music in The New Orleans Cafe- I watch Merrie Hot Melodies for a while with Richard and Dave, the former marvelling at their bass saxophone ('very rare') and the latter observing '5 clarinet players- welcome to hell' on more than one occasion.
Meanwhile on the main stage it's time for the first band- Five Blind Boys From The Parish. One could argue that there's questionable humour at work here (they're not blind, and there's only 3 of them) but they were certainly excellent musicians who also offered a simultaneous translation of their stage announcements (first in English with an exaggerated American accent, then in somewhat calmer French) and a particularly fine version of the Robert Johnson classic 'Stop Breaking Down'. The guitarist said that it was great to be back in Zurich and then introduced the band including a harmonica player and a keyboard player, neither if which existed- see what I mean about the humour? Next up it's The Charlie Morris Blues Band who offered up an hour and a half of tasteful laid back blues which might have all been a bit too tasteful and laid back for me if he hadn't have swapped his Stratocaster for an open tuned Les Paul and delivered a great slide guitar-driven version of the Muddy Waters song 'I just Can't Be Satisfied' (most if not all slide players use a variety of different tunings.) I miss their last few numbers as I go backstage to get changed, when I go on stage to set my gear up I'm amazed at the sight that greets me- the moon has come up, the buildings around the market square are all lit up and there's what looks like thousands of people waiting to hear us. We've not played for the best part of a month but it's a great gig from the word go although the audience takes a little while to get going which if anything helps push us to new heights as the show progresses. A gang of young girls near the front join in with Pete at the start of 'Do You Love Me?' so he gets them up on stage with us for that and 'Shake your Tail Feather'- I wonder how many of them noticed that Mike split his trousers during the latter number? Perhaps it's time for a P.J. Proby tribute act? Our set ends to near hysteria, pandemonium ensues during the encore and with the backstage bar- yes, backstage bar!- was still open after the show we're told that we're rebooked for next year's festival- great stuff all round.
After packing our gear away and a drink or two it was time to leave for our hotel; as Marcel goes to collect the minibus I walk over to The New Orleans Cafe where The Big Four Quintet were playing and festivities were in full swing. I looked around- there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of people about, eating, drinking, enjoying the music and the atmosphere. Squirrel and myself mused on the situation- why don't we have events like this back home? 'People will moan' we said, what with all the noise (not that noisy actually) and the mess (not that messy actually) on the streets...
So- why don't we have events like this here? In 'An Unlikely Fooligan' Pete contrasts British and Japanese society, often referring to 'geezers' (click here and see definition no. 9!) or rather, the lack of them in Japan- well I don't think he'd have found too many of them in Fribourg either. He'd have found lots of people who know how to talk politely, how to use a waste bin, how to drink for several hours without turning into something out of a horror movie... I was amazed by the youth and relatively small size of many of the security staff, until I realised that there was a very low likelihood of any trouble breaking out. Sad to say that I fear that a similar event in Britain would see the genial European atmosphere replaced by an altogether tenser, darker feel to proceedings, with the threat of 'Clockwork Orange'- style violence on every street corner and with innocent blood mixing with tons of rubbish as a depressing aftermath.
Meanwhile back in the real world The Big Four Quintet begin another tune as the dancers dance and the young man at the bar tries just one more time to catch the eye of the barmaid as he orders another round of drinks for him and his friends. It seems that the night is young- but sadly I'm not, or I certainly didn't feel it. It was time to return to our hotel for a few hours rest before the next adventure...
...which began with my alarm going off less than 5 hours after I'd got to sleep. After a shower I staggered downstairs for some breakfast. The receptionist asked if I was with the group- when I said I was she directed me to a smallish room away from the main dining area. I sat there for a minute or so- no sign of anyone else so I guess I just help myself? I walked through to the buffet area and got some coffee and cereal; when I'd finished that I went back to get another drink and saw most of the band sitting in the main dining area enjoying their food- I of course got my coffee and went back to where I'd eaten my cereal to find that someone had taken my seat. A confusing start to the day.
9.15 and it's time to leave for the airport. Pete's driving himself and Jayne and the rest of us are in our by-now familiar places with Ronnie and Marcel; as we pull away we see Ronnie's hatchback door fly open, Marcel sounds his car horn to alert them and Tracy gets out to close it. We're only 10 minutes or so from the airport, when we get their we say our goodbye's to Ronnie and Marcel and thank them for their help and hospitality, it's strange to think that we're only been there for one day as so much has happened in such a short space of time. We check in- Squirrel and myself hand over our guitars to the man in the pink vest (the same one as last time! The same one as every time!) before we go through to the shopping area to while away a half an hour or so before we need to got through security to the departure area. Squirrel and I compare tickets (like you do in these odd times) and he sees that I've got seat 6F- we reason that it must be a window seat which he prefers so I swap seats with him and we go through to the departure area. After a short wait it's time to go to gate B28 which leads out onto the tarmac where our bus is waiting to take us to the aircraft; once we're on the bus things take an odd turn- Tracy is sitting in the back corner seat making what might politely be called 'suggestive' noises, she then starts pole dancing to the delight of several lads on board ('I think I might have sleep deprivation' was her rather sheepish comment later) not to mention the rest of the band. When we get on the plane I go to seat 7B; across the aisle a row in front of me a bemused Squirrel observes that there are only 5 seats in a row and so they 'only go up to E'- he gets a seat anyway 'though I can't for the life of me work out how... the flight gives me chance to finish Pete's book (it's excellent, and I'm not just saying that because he's my mate, honest!) and get a few vague minutes of sleep.
After landing it's time to see what damage has been done to my guitar this time (none thankfully) before myself and Squirrel join Pete and Jayne in their car for the journey to Clandon Park near Guildford where we're playing at a wedding- it's all go this group lark isn't it? It would normally take an hour or so but today it takes us 3 times that- the M25 is a series of traffic jams and go-slows so we end up taking various detours- and by the time we get to the venue we're all tired and hungry. However there's no time to anything other than get ready as quickly as possible as myself and Dave are doing what Pete refers to as a 'jazz set' with him and Mike out on the lawn near the marquee where the evening's festivities are taking place. We last attempted this at our first show of this year in Birmingham, since then I've told myself over and over that I really must practice some jazz songs or at the very least get more familiar with the type of chord sequences that I'm likely to encounter- anybody unfortunate enough to here my attempts at playing along with some of the backing tracks would have to be tone deaf not to realise that I hadn't done anywhere near enough work.
Clandon Park is another one of those amazing houses that we have dotted around The British Isles, a National Trust property that has probably appeared in countless costume dramas over the years. It also has among other things a Maori meeting house, a room called Tom Tit's Stable, a folly (excellent!) and a museum devoted to The Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment- oddly enough the latter was given over to us to use as a dressing room. I must say that I doubt that I'll get changed next to a Victoria Cross very often in my (ahem) illustrious career... the band has changed a bit from last night's show with Roger on keyboards, Steve on drums and Bev on sax, and Ian Bond has returned behind the sound desk. As always with these things it's a hurry-up-and-wait gig 'though there's plenty of food and drink to go round which contributes to a good atmosphere in the band, with Roger telling joke-after-unrepeatable-joke and much marvelling at the museum exhibits from everybody. We're all ready for an 8.30 start but eventually go on the best part of an hour later. I didn't have much contact with the guests or indeed the happy couple (Dorian and Jo) which might have been just as well as I've done more than enough ranting about the British class system (click here for the Wikipedia definition- behold the first sentence!- and click here for a rather more irreverent take on things) in these hallowed pages in the past and you can only ask questions like 'why these things are allowed to happen?' so many times before you start to go around in circles; suffice to say that the ones that I did encounter didn't let me down... still we play a good show (although the broken glass on the dancefloor was a sure sign that we were back in Blighty) with the deps all doing a fine job, and everybody goes home happy which is another reason for me to cheer up and stop moaning. So I will! In fact I have! But I'm very tired now- it's been great to be back playing again, but it was a l-o-n-g couple of days...
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
My mate's in Spinal Tap!
Well clearly I have got a lot of time on my hands if the length of the last posting is anything to go by... I might not be playing much myself at the moment (although we did have an excellent Flying Squad rehearsal the other night with plenty of new material ready to be performed- better get some gigs then!) but it's given me chance to get out-and-about to some other people play.
The Friday before last- the 19th if you're counting- saw The Kast Off Kinks visit Tropic at Ruislip. Featuring 3 of The Kinks (click here for the story) and including Chicago Blues Brothers keyboard king Ian Gibbons they played a fine show lasting the best part of 2 hours to a very appreciative audience; you forget just how many great Kinks songs there are until you hear 20-odd of them in a row don't you? Guitarist/vocalist Dave Clarke did an excellent job filling in for the Davies brothers, and it was great to see the venue so full- in the days of disappearing gigs it shows that there are still people out there that want to hear live music, which is good news all round methinks.
The latest Acts Less Ordinary show at The Load of Hay went well- both Rob Power and Mr. Kite played good sets to a small but enthusiastic audience (it had been a very hot day) with Rob's cover version of Blur's 'End Of The Century' giving him chance to mention the (then) upcoming Glastonbury Festival just one more time (I think he managed to say the word 'Glastonbury' more times that The BBC will during the whole of this year's coverage!) and Mr. Kite playing their spiky pop songs in what they called 'stripped down' mode (i.e. not as loud as usual.) They sounded pretty good to my ears 'though I'm sure bands used to play longer sets back in my day...
It's my birthday next month which can only mean one thing- yes, it's The Flying Squad at The Load of Hay. Well- I'm booking the gigs so the least I can do is get one for myself! I can't see us in 'stripped down' mode though...
Last Wednesday (24th) it was time for a very different event- an evening to celebrate the publication of 'Malayan Swing', the latest book from drummer-turned-author Pete Haynes. Organised by the ubiquitous Mark Wyeth (now there's a name that's been absent from these hallowed pages for a while) and taking place at The Edgar Wallace public house just off The Strand (the same place as the launch party for his first book 'God's Lonely Men') it was as we Sherlock Holmes fans like to say, a singular evening that among other things featured Pete reading extracts from the book. I'd travelled up on the tube with him and he was very nervous about reading; we decided it would be good for him to read part of the plot synopsis from the back cover to set the scene before reading selected chapters. The book looks at the world through the eyes of Aiden, a care in the community patient let down by the system that should be looking after him, and as Pete himself says it's not the happiest of tales- it's undergone a few changes since I read the first draft of it over 10 years ago but in my opinion it's a brilliant bit of observational writing. It's been published by London Books which is the brainchild of 'Football Factory' author John King (didn't I once write an album with him?!?) and fellow writer Martin Knight, both of whom attended the event, along with Garry Bushell who I remember from his writing for Sounds music magazine in the '70's and '80's 'though he's done rather a lot since then... as with anything put together by Mr. Wyeth there was the odd rather surreal moment, not least when Mark compared Pete's writing to the gospel according to St. Matthew (yes you read that bit right- he also played a tape of cricket commentaries by John Arlott in the car on the way home...) but overall the evening was pronounced a success by all concerned- let's hope Pete's book is too.
And then Michael Jackson died.
It's weird when a really famous person- and let's face it, Michael Jackson definitely qualifies as 'really famous'- dies isn't it? You think you know them as they're in your life all the time, on the the internet, radio, T.V. etc but of course you don't know them at all. I first remember him in The Jackson Five all those years ago, singing 'Rockin' Robin' on Top Of The Pops- he was a little lad like me then, I've changed a lot since then although I don't think I've changed quite as much as he did... I can't say I was a big fan of his music (although it was obviously very good, just not really a style of music that I personally enjoy listening to) but rather like when Richard Wright died last year I can appreciate that his death will effect a lot of people in the sense that they've literally grown up with him. For anyone under the age of 40 he's been a successful high profile performer for all of their lifetime, which is an extraordinary thing to consider, especially in these famous today / obscure tomorrow times. There's been a lot of talk in the media about how he was 'hounded' after various allegations were made about his private life, and about how this might or might not have contributed to his fragile condition and therefore to his demise- but surely it's the very same media that hounded him and that are now self-righteously reporting on how badly he was treated?
And Farrah Fawcett died- I remember her from when I was a lad too! No, I didn't have that poster on my wall, but I knew a lot of people who did... but I also heard from Andy Peart that Steven Wells has died- Andy and myself interviewed him for 'So What' fanzine in the mid-'80's (he frightened the life out of us!) and I spoke to him at a couple of gigs after that; no I didn't know him but yes I did meet him and also saw him live a few times in his ranting poetry days as Seething Wells when his performances were controversial but never less than thought provoking. (Click here to read Attila the Stockbroker's excellent tribute to him.)
Hmm... they say it comes in three's don't they? But who are 'they'?
Last weekend I saw 3 very different blues performers, starting with the wonderfully named Chicken Legs Weaver at The Load of Hay in Uxbridge on Saturday. I first saw CLW supporting Wilko Johnson at The 100 Club a couple of years ago when as a trio they played an excellent set of garage-y rhythm and blues; here though we just had mainman Andy Weaver armed only with a guitar and a mic'd-up wooden box which he stomped on with his left foot- John Lee Hooker would have been proud! I got there in time to give him a hand soundchecking (he comes in the shop now that he's moved down from Sheffield) and it was interesting (not to say amusing) to see the looks on the faces of the Saturday night regulars more used to hearing 'Brown Eyed Girl' than 'Back Door Man' as Andy powered his way through 2 suitably raucous sets of original songs and old blues and folk material; since we play 'John The Revelator' in the Chicago Blues Brothers theatre show it was particularly good for me to hear it being performed in a style closer to the original recordings. I can't help thinking that it would have been better suited to a Sunday evening (and I'm not just saying that because I book 'em, honest!) but it was all good stuff nonetheless- and I changed his top E string for him when it broke. I really must have a night off sometime!
Meanwhile on Sunday myself and the long-suffering Shirley saw a very different blues gig, featuring B.B. King and John Mayall at The Wembley Arena. I'd not seen John Mayall before- no, I'm not sure why either- and whilst I can't exactly say that I was disappointed I found that the songs were all a bit overlong for me with everyone getting a solo in every number. They were all brilliant players (and I mean brilliant- check out Mayall's website for names, history etc) but it just got a bit much after a while. Maybe I was expecting a bit too much... then again it went down very well so what do I know? On the other hand I thought B.B. King was absolutely tremendous- after 2 instrumental numbers from the band (somewhere between a soundcheck and a warm-up) B.B. came on to a rapturous reception (his entourage helped him to a chair in front of his amplifier- well he is 83!) and launched straight into a stinging guitar solo that began with one of those notes that we all try to play but somehow only the mighty Mr. King can achieve. For the next 2 hours we were in B.B.'s world- with the band following his every move he went from song to song, solo to solo and story to story and kept the audience enthralled throughout. At the end of the show he was helped to his feet whilst throwing plectrums into the crowd; he then put on his hat and coat and left the stage- now that's how you finish a gig! A masterful performance from a true legend of the blues.
And talking of legends it was back to Wembley again last night for a gig that I'd been looking forward to for quite a while- oh yes, it's time for Spinal Tap. It's interesting to note that if you're in a band you almost have to like Spinal Tap- if you don't then you get accused of every artistic crime under the sun, from taking yourself too seriously as a musician to pretension and beyond. As such they've become something of a barometer for rock musicians to measure their antics against- I've lost track of how many times I've heard somebody say 'it's all getting a bit Spinal Tap' when things are getting a bit bizarre. It's easy to forget just how funny the original film is, and the impact that it had when it first came out- suddenly every second rate heavy metal band stopped sounding 'not bad' or 'ok' and just sounded silly. For that if nothing else we should all be grateful.
Support came from The Folksmen who looked rather familiar... I've not seen 'A Mighty Wind' so am not sure of their involvement in the film but their set was a suitably peculiar affair which ended with an excellently odd version of 'Start Me Up' to the general bemusement of all concerned. Meanwhile the bar ran out of beer (how 'Spinal Tap' is that?) and excitement grew by the second... there's 'backstage' footage on the screens of the band allegedly preparing to come on stage, followed by the promo film for 'The Majesty Of Rock'- and then suddenly there they are, the band that made it ok to like and indeed to laugh at heavy metal. All the classics were performed with increasing absurdity, to such an extent that when Keith Emerson joined them for 'Short and Sweet' ('it's called that because it is neither...') and Justin Hawkins and Andy Scott both played bass on 'Big Bottom' it actually didn't look anywhere near as ridiculous as it should have... but the oddest moment for me was spotting my mate Paul Dinnage playing drums alongside Gregg Bissonette on the afore-mentioned 'Big Bottom'. I sent him a text message- 'Hello from block B row 13 seat 50!' I've just talked to him on the phone, he's an old mate of Gregg's and had provided the drumkit for this and the band's Glastonbury show; Ex-Style Council sticksman Steve White was supposed to be playing but had elected to watch the show instead so as the song started Gregg told Paul to pick up a set of sticks and join in! Excellent! (Click here for video evidence- that's Paul standing to Gregg's left.)
So- that's a week-and-a-half of gig watching for your humble narrator, and very good it was too. Now it's time to get back to playing...
The Friday before last- the 19th if you're counting- saw The Kast Off Kinks visit Tropic at Ruislip. Featuring 3 of The Kinks (click here for the story) and including Chicago Blues Brothers keyboard king Ian Gibbons they played a fine show lasting the best part of 2 hours to a very appreciative audience; you forget just how many great Kinks songs there are until you hear 20-odd of them in a row don't you? Guitarist/vocalist Dave Clarke did an excellent job filling in for the Davies brothers, and it was great to see the venue so full- in the days of disappearing gigs it shows that there are still people out there that want to hear live music, which is good news all round methinks.
The latest Acts Less Ordinary show at The Load of Hay went well- both Rob Power and Mr. Kite played good sets to a small but enthusiastic audience (it had been a very hot day) with Rob's cover version of Blur's 'End Of The Century' giving him chance to mention the (then) upcoming Glastonbury Festival just one more time (I think he managed to say the word 'Glastonbury' more times that The BBC will during the whole of this year's coverage!) and Mr. Kite playing their spiky pop songs in what they called 'stripped down' mode (i.e. not as loud as usual.) They sounded pretty good to my ears 'though I'm sure bands used to play longer sets back in my day...
It's my birthday next month which can only mean one thing- yes, it's The Flying Squad at The Load of Hay. Well- I'm booking the gigs so the least I can do is get one for myself! I can't see us in 'stripped down' mode though...
Last Wednesday (24th) it was time for a very different event- an evening to celebrate the publication of 'Malayan Swing', the latest book from drummer-turned-author Pete Haynes. Organised by the ubiquitous Mark Wyeth (now there's a name that's been absent from these hallowed pages for a while) and taking place at The Edgar Wallace public house just off The Strand (the same place as the launch party for his first book 'God's Lonely Men') it was as we Sherlock Holmes fans like to say, a singular evening that among other things featured Pete reading extracts from the book. I'd travelled up on the tube with him and he was very nervous about reading; we decided it would be good for him to read part of the plot synopsis from the back cover to set the scene before reading selected chapters. The book looks at the world through the eyes of Aiden, a care in the community patient let down by the system that should be looking after him, and as Pete himself says it's not the happiest of tales- it's undergone a few changes since I read the first draft of it over 10 years ago but in my opinion it's a brilliant bit of observational writing. It's been published by London Books which is the brainchild of 'Football Factory' author John King (didn't I once write an album with him?!?) and fellow writer Martin Knight, both of whom attended the event, along with Garry Bushell who I remember from his writing for Sounds music magazine in the '70's and '80's 'though he's done rather a lot since then... as with anything put together by Mr. Wyeth there was the odd rather surreal moment, not least when Mark compared Pete's writing to the gospel according to St. Matthew (yes you read that bit right- he also played a tape of cricket commentaries by John Arlott in the car on the way home...) but overall the evening was pronounced a success by all concerned- let's hope Pete's book is too.
And then Michael Jackson died.
It's weird when a really famous person- and let's face it, Michael Jackson definitely qualifies as 'really famous'- dies isn't it? You think you know them as they're in your life all the time, on the the internet, radio, T.V. etc but of course you don't know them at all. I first remember him in The Jackson Five all those years ago, singing 'Rockin' Robin' on Top Of The Pops- he was a little lad like me then, I've changed a lot since then although I don't think I've changed quite as much as he did... I can't say I was a big fan of his music (although it was obviously very good, just not really a style of music that I personally enjoy listening to) but rather like when Richard Wright died last year I can appreciate that his death will effect a lot of people in the sense that they've literally grown up with him. For anyone under the age of 40 he's been a successful high profile performer for all of their lifetime, which is an extraordinary thing to consider, especially in these famous today / obscure tomorrow times. There's been a lot of talk in the media about how he was 'hounded' after various allegations were made about his private life, and about how this might or might not have contributed to his fragile condition and therefore to his demise- but surely it's the very same media that hounded him and that are now self-righteously reporting on how badly he was treated?
And Farrah Fawcett died- I remember her from when I was a lad too! No, I didn't have that poster on my wall, but I knew a lot of people who did... but I also heard from Andy Peart that Steven Wells has died- Andy and myself interviewed him for 'So What' fanzine in the mid-'80's (he frightened the life out of us!) and I spoke to him at a couple of gigs after that; no I didn't know him but yes I did meet him and also saw him live a few times in his ranting poetry days as Seething Wells when his performances were controversial but never less than thought provoking. (Click here to read Attila the Stockbroker's excellent tribute to him.)
Hmm... they say it comes in three's don't they? But who are 'they'?
Last weekend I saw 3 very different blues performers, starting with the wonderfully named Chicken Legs Weaver at The Load of Hay in Uxbridge on Saturday. I first saw CLW supporting Wilko Johnson at The 100 Club a couple of years ago when as a trio they played an excellent set of garage-y rhythm and blues; here though we just had mainman Andy Weaver armed only with a guitar and a mic'd-up wooden box which he stomped on with his left foot- John Lee Hooker would have been proud! I got there in time to give him a hand soundchecking (he comes in the shop now that he's moved down from Sheffield) and it was interesting (not to say amusing) to see the looks on the faces of the Saturday night regulars more used to hearing 'Brown Eyed Girl' than 'Back Door Man' as Andy powered his way through 2 suitably raucous sets of original songs and old blues and folk material; since we play 'John The Revelator' in the Chicago Blues Brothers theatre show it was particularly good for me to hear it being performed in a style closer to the original recordings. I can't help thinking that it would have been better suited to a Sunday evening (and I'm not just saying that because I book 'em, honest!) but it was all good stuff nonetheless- and I changed his top E string for him when it broke. I really must have a night off sometime!
Meanwhile on Sunday myself and the long-suffering Shirley saw a very different blues gig, featuring B.B. King and John Mayall at The Wembley Arena. I'd not seen John Mayall before- no, I'm not sure why either- and whilst I can't exactly say that I was disappointed I found that the songs were all a bit overlong for me with everyone getting a solo in every number. They were all brilliant players (and I mean brilliant- check out Mayall's website for names, history etc) but it just got a bit much after a while. Maybe I was expecting a bit too much... then again it went down very well so what do I know? On the other hand I thought B.B. King was absolutely tremendous- after 2 instrumental numbers from the band (somewhere between a soundcheck and a warm-up) B.B. came on to a rapturous reception (his entourage helped him to a chair in front of his amplifier- well he is 83!) and launched straight into a stinging guitar solo that began with one of those notes that we all try to play but somehow only the mighty Mr. King can achieve. For the next 2 hours we were in B.B.'s world- with the band following his every move he went from song to song, solo to solo and story to story and kept the audience enthralled throughout. At the end of the show he was helped to his feet whilst throwing plectrums into the crowd; he then put on his hat and coat and left the stage- now that's how you finish a gig! A masterful performance from a true legend of the blues.
And talking of legends it was back to Wembley again last night for a gig that I'd been looking forward to for quite a while- oh yes, it's time for Spinal Tap. It's interesting to note that if you're in a band you almost have to like Spinal Tap- if you don't then you get accused of every artistic crime under the sun, from taking yourself too seriously as a musician to pretension and beyond. As such they've become something of a barometer for rock musicians to measure their antics against- I've lost track of how many times I've heard somebody say 'it's all getting a bit Spinal Tap' when things are getting a bit bizarre. It's easy to forget just how funny the original film is, and the impact that it had when it first came out- suddenly every second rate heavy metal band stopped sounding 'not bad' or 'ok' and just sounded silly. For that if nothing else we should all be grateful.
Support came from The Folksmen who looked rather familiar... I've not seen 'A Mighty Wind' so am not sure of their involvement in the film but their set was a suitably peculiar affair which ended with an excellently odd version of 'Start Me Up' to the general bemusement of all concerned. Meanwhile the bar ran out of beer (how 'Spinal Tap' is that?) and excitement grew by the second... there's 'backstage' footage on the screens of the band allegedly preparing to come on stage, followed by the promo film for 'The Majesty Of Rock'- and then suddenly there they are, the band that made it ok to like and indeed to laugh at heavy metal. All the classics were performed with increasing absurdity, to such an extent that when Keith Emerson joined them for 'Short and Sweet' ('it's called that because it is neither...') and Justin Hawkins and Andy Scott both played bass on 'Big Bottom' it actually didn't look anywhere near as ridiculous as it should have... but the oddest moment for me was spotting my mate Paul Dinnage playing drums alongside Gregg Bissonette on the afore-mentioned 'Big Bottom'. I sent him a text message- 'Hello from block B row 13 seat 50!' I've just talked to him on the phone, he's an old mate of Gregg's and had provided the drumkit for this and the band's Glastonbury show; Ex-Style Council sticksman Steve White was supposed to be playing but had elected to watch the show instead so as the song started Gregg told Paul to pick up a set of sticks and join in! Excellent! (Click here for video evidence- that's Paul standing to Gregg's left.)
So- that's a week-and-a-half of gig watching for your humble narrator, and very good it was too. Now it's time to get back to playing...
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
B-side myself
You know how some days you wake up with a song in your head for no apparent reason- you haven't listened to it for ages, no one's spoken to you about it, you haven't even thought about it as far you know but there it is, as large as life in between your ears. Well, it happens to me... anyway the latest one to manifest itself in this way was a Deep Purple song called 'When a Blind Man Cries'. Do you know it? It's brilliant- somewhat out of character for them as it's a slow minor-key blues that's rather at odds with the hard rocking material that they're better known for, but it's one of my favourite songs by them. Check out the original studio version here or a more recent live version (with Steve Morse on guitar) here and see what I mean- it's good isn't it? It's currently available as a bonus track on the CD release of their classic 1972 album 'Machine Head'- it was recorded during the sessions for said album but, so the story goes, guitarist extraordinaire Ritchie Blackmore didn't like it and so insisted that it was left off the record. I hadn't heard it for ages but it sounds to me to be as good as anything on the album, in fact when it comes on after the last track 'Space Truckin' ' it sounds like it's part of the album, sounds like it should have been part of the album...
Why am I telling you all of this? Well, leaving aside the fact that it's my blog and I'll write whatever I want to write (it's been a bad day ok?!?) it took me back to those days when music came on flat circular pieces of vinyl either 7 or 12 inches in diameter, specifically the smaller of the 2 options which, for the benefit of any younger readers still wading their way through this madness hoping for a punchline, used to be referred to by us disciples of sound as singles. These for cash-strapped schoolboys such as myself were among the greatest things ever created, as they enabled us to own music by the gods that we'd made without having to save up for an album which, lets face it, normally went on a bit and therefore wasn't as magnificent as the breathless bloodrush of mayhem mysteriously contained within the grooves of a single. You bought the single because you'd heard the A-side but you also got the B-side- and that's how I first heard 'When A Blind Man Cries' as it was the B-side of the 'Never Before' single. B-sides were often songs that were recorded during sessions for the A-side and/or accompanying album- they might have been rejected as not good being enough to be on the album, or they didn't fit in with the rest of the tracks. Not all artists that took singles seriously (more about them later) but those that did would often specifically record material for single release. In my opinion great bands made great B-sides, and given the fact that some of my favourite songs by my favourite artists were often on non-album singles or hidden away on the flip side I thought it would be interesting to explore this subject further here- so let's start as we mean to go on, with arguably the very best singles band of them all...
During their time together as a band The Beatles released 22 U.K. singles; well over half of them contained material not on any of their albums. (The 'Past Masters' albums neatly collect together these 'missing' tracks.) This was a common situation in the 1960's as we shall see, but The Beatles took it further than most, and as such are often seen as the definitive pop group. There aren't any bad Beatles singles in my not-so-humble opinion and picking a favourite is practically impossible (it changes on a day-to-day basis, as does my favourite Beatles album) but I've always thought that 'Paperback Writer' is a brilliant band performance on every level. Recorded during the sessions for the 'Revolver' album the single also features a track often held up as the best Beatles B-side- 'Rain'. It's a state-of-the-art recording for the time, with both vari-speeding and backward vocals (click here for further technical details, and here for the promotional films for both songs- imagine looking that cool! And do people really still think that the first pop video was made for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'? Silly people...) heavily featured, and Ringo's tremendous drumming shows up his detractors to be little more than the jealous no-hopers that they so often are. A magnificent single in every way. Other famously brilliant Beatles B-sides include 'Yes It Is', (extraordinary vocal harmonies) 'I'm Down', (out rock 'n' rolls their rock 'n' roll heroes) and the wonderfully mad 'You Know My Name (look up my number)' which is allegedly Paul McCartney's favourite Beatles track. And then there are the double A-side singles, where both songs were so strong that they were both hits in their own right- 'Strawberry Fields Forever' / 'Penny Lane' is probably the most lauded of these 'though 'We Can Work It Out' / 'Day Tripper' isn't exactly hopeless in the 'perfect pop music' stakes. It's no accident that millions of words have been written about The Beatles and that they continue to be a huge influence on today's pop culture- even the best part of 50 years after their first recordings were released, one listen to any of their music tells you why.
Running parallel to The Beatles many of the greatest bands and artists of the 1960's released non-album material on singles. The Rolling Stones released many classic 7-incher's (oo-er missus) but were never great B-siders for me- then again with the likes of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', 'The Last Time' and 'Paint It Black' among their A-sides it hardly seems to matter. The first 3 Jimi Hendrix singles stand up as fine psychedelic pop with his first recorded composition 'Stone Free' on the B-side of 'Hey Joe', 'Purple Haze' giving us our first hearing of 'the Hendrix chord' (and '51st Anniversary' on it's flipside) and 'Highway Chile' (the B-side of 'The Wind Cries Mary') featuring a great 'live-in-the-studio' performance from the band. Unsurprisingly from my point of view I have to say that The Who win the race (with The Kinks and The Small Faces not too far behind, and The Beatles somewhere else entirely if you know what I mean) for the definitive '60's singles band. Most of their early singles can be found on the 'Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy' compilation album; I'll rave about the A-sides another time (all of which were written by Pete Townshend) and concentrate on the b-sides here, many of which were written by The Ox himself, John Entwistle. Among his classic flipsides are 'Doctor Doctor', 'Heaven and Hell' and 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', all of which feature his trademark black humour 'though my personal favourite is probably 'When I Was A Boy' which reveals an oft-overlooked philosophical side. Keith Moon wrote 'Waspman' and 'Dogs part 2', both of which have to be heard to be believed; Roger Daltrey came up with the country-ish 'Here For More' and there was a blistering live take of 'Baby Don't You Do It' on the B-side of 'Join Together'. As the singles were all deleted shortly after initial sales subsided (a common practice for the time) most if not all of these tracks were unavailable for many years until the 'Who's Missing' and 'Two's Missing' compilation albums appeared in the mid 1980's- it's a testimony to the strength of the songs and the performances that they were both fine albums in their own right, and with the advent of a comprehensive CD re-issue programme, many of which featured the B-sides as extra tracks, younger listeners (like me!) were finally able to hear the 'lost' songs in the context of the better known material. They rarely sounded disappointing.
As a schoolboy in the 1970's glam rock loomed large in my embryonic singles collection, and the king of it all for me was the mighty Marc Bolan. Many of the T.Rex singles featured 2 songs on the B-side, giving a value-for-pocket-money feeling every time you bought one. The first record that I bought with my own money (earned on a milk round no less) was 'Metal Guru' which featured 'Lady' and 'Thunderwing' on it's flipside- unsurprisingly these are among my very favourite Bolan numbers. (Click here for a classic T.O.T.P. clip that I remember seeing at the time.) Whilst the B-sides can't quite compete with the A-sides they still sound pretty good in their own right- the double CD re-issue of 'Great Hits' featured one CD of A-sides and one of B-sides and both can be played through without skipping too many tracks- which considering how many pop classics bear the Bolan name is quite an achievement. The Sweet were an interesting B-side band as their A-sides were mostly written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman whereas the B-sides were self-penned and showed a much heavier side to the band, although their later Chinn/Chapman material also moved in this direction and they ended up writing their own hit material after splitting with the Chinnichap team. Mud were another very successful band of the time who's Chinnichap A-sides were backed by their own material- if you ever thought them to be little more than a novelty band then check out 'Mr. Bagatelle', the other side of 'Tiger Feet' which is a great song in anybody's book. Slade were another classic singles band although their A-sides beat their B-sides by no little distance in my book, and David Bowie released any number of killer singles including one of the great non-album A-sides of the time with 'John I'm Only Dancing'. But to me one of the great B-sides of the time is 'As Long As You Tell Him' which is hidden away on the flipside of the last Faces single 'You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything'- unavailable for years it was finally re-issued on the excellent 'Five Guys Walk Into A Bar' box set and features all the elements that made The Faces such a great band. Ok, it's not quite as good as 'Stay With Me', but it's not far off it, and anyway, very few things are as good as 'Stay With Me'...
Unbeknownst to me (and indeed quite a few others) punk rock was now approaching, and your humble narrator had by now realised that pretty much all the artists that he liked were the type that released singles, rather than the bands who concentrated on albums, maybe putting out an occasional perfunctory single with the appropriate 'we don't like it but the record company do' quotes in the music press. There were a few exceptions- I've already confessed to liking Deep Purple, and I'd also heard and enjoyed Led Zeppelin and Rory Gallagher as well as quite a few of the older blues artists, none of whom were even remotely interested in single chart success. The 'serious' bands like Yes and Genesis just sounded boring and not a little ridiculous to me, especially compared to something as exciting as the live-in-the-studio (it says so on the label!) version of 'Route 66' by Dr. Feelgood, which could be found on the B-side of their wondrous 'Roxette' single. (Click here for a live-in-a-T.V.-studio version...) I remember reading in the music press about a new label called Stiff Records that were releasing singles by bands that I didn't know but that sounded great- sadly lack of funds meant that I couldn't just send off for records without hearing them first, especially not to a bunch as dodgy sounding as this lot... I eventually heard 'New Rose' by The Damned on John Peel's radio show, I'd never heard anything like it before and thought it was absolutely astonishing- rather significantly I realised that I didn't know anybody that agreed with me, although quite a few people changed their minds over the next year or so...
Suddenly everyone was talking about punk rock and there were singles everywhere. People were even putting them out themselves; incredible as this concept was it was even more incredible to find them in high street record shops. The times they were a-changing, and changing for the better as far as people like me were concerned; many that it wouldn't last and that 'real' music would win in the end, but in the meantime it felt as though there were a million and one great punk singles to get hold of. Although many of the bands released great albums it's the singles that they're often best remembered for, and rightly so- 2-and-a-bit minutes of out-and-out energy seemed to be just right for most people's central nervous system. For many people the first 4 Sex Pistols singles (and indeed their one and only studio album) stand as the definitive punk statement, and that's an idea that I'm certainly not about to argue with, although I think that the B-sides are often overlooked. If ever a band proved the 'great bands made great B-sides' adage it's The Pistols- their astounding cover version of The Stooges' 'No Fun' (originally set to appear as the B-side to their debut single 'Anarchy In The U.K.', eventually coming out on the flipside of their third single 'Pretty Vacant') was one of the most radical recordings that I'd heard up to that point in time. Come to think of it, it still is! 'Anarchy' originally came out on E.M.I. Records with 'I Wanna Be Me' on the B-side; the single was withdrawn after the Bill Grundy incident although it was still available as a French import which is how most of us got it, and 'I Wanna Be Me' was also on the infamous 'Spunk' bootleg album. 'God Save The Queen' and 'Holidays In The Sun' featured 'Did You No Wrong' and 'Satellite'- taken together they're 4 of the best singles that I own.
Meanwhile The Clash were releasing classic after classic in quick succession, many of which weren't on any album- indeed they collected many of them together as 'Black Market Clash'. Picking a favourite Clash single isn't easy (for the same reason as it's hard for me to pick a favourite Beatles single) but I remember buying '(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais' without hearing it (getting braver!) and initially preferring it's B-side 'The Prisoner'; after playing it God-knows-how-many times I came to the conclusion that it was one of the greatest records of all time... mind you I played 'London Calling' 5 or 6 times in succession in jaw-dropped amazement before flipping it over and doing the same thing with 'Armagideon Time'. And then there's The Jam- analysis is almost futile here, so I'll just say that I couldn't believe how good 'Going Underground' was, until I turned it over and played 'The Dreams Of Children'. Things like this happened a lot in those days- yes I was young, but there was just so much great music about it was hard to take it all in. I haven't mentioned The Buzzcocks yet- suffice to say that their 'Singles Going Steady' compilation album is one of the great punk albums- or The Ruts ('Staring At The Rude Boys' / 'Love In Vain' anybody?) or XTC (another band to release compilation albums of both A and B sides) among many others. And then there's Elvis Costello, who released so many great singles around this time (and indeed a compilation cassette of single-only tracks) that I could almost write a whole article on them- maybe I will someday but in the meantime I'll just say that the chilling 'Tiny Steps' (the B-side of 'Radio Radio') features one of what for me is one of his most extraordinary vocal moments; listen to the disgust in his voice on the lines 'she's your baby now, you can keep her' and see if you don't squirm. (Incidentally Costello also features on a version of 'Tomorrow's Just Another Day' by Madness for which the word 'venomous' might have been invented; click here for a live version that's nearly as good.) But a real flipside fave of mine from this time is 'I'm Alright Jack' by The Tom Robinson Band- on the other side of 'Up Against The Wall' it heavily features the amazing talents of Danny Kustow on lead guitar, as do most of the T.R.B. recordings of the time.
12'' singles had first appeared in dance music circles in the mid-70's as a way of allowing longer tracks to be cut at a higher volume, often emphasising bass response which sounded good in the clubs and discos of the time. The first one I remember buying was 'Marquee Moon' by Television, which had the 9+ minute track in stereo on one side and in mono on the other. (I bought the album soon after which had the track on it so I could have saved my money!) Pretty soon they were everywhere, often with otherwise unavailable extra tracks- I bought a few, notably 'She's A Windup' and 'Baby Jane' by Dr. Feelgood as both had exclusive live tracks, but it all got a bit daft after a while, what with 7'' versions, 12'' versions, coloured vinyl, limited editions, extra tracks... it was too commercial, too cynical, and besides, I only had so much money! Of course I still bought them...
There wasn't much in the '80's for your humble narrator to get too excited about. That said the classic 'How Soon Is Now?' by The Smiths was originally a B-side so maybe there was? Then again there were The Prisoners, whose awesome single 'Hurricane' had 'Tomorrow (she said)' on it's B-side; they also released the 'Electric Fit' EP (short for extended play, these generally featured 4 or more tracks) which included the magnificent 'Melanie', one of my favourite records (and you can find a clip of them playing it on French T.V. here) of all time. The Godfathers collected their early singles on 'Hit By Hit' and in doing so made one of the great albums of the decade but by the time the likes of The Senseless Things, Mega City Four and Carter U.S.M. came along things had changed- CD singles were now appearing, often featuring 4 or more tracks making the old 'A-side/B-side' format all but redundant. With this in mind the last great B-side band might well be Oasis, with many of their best 'lost' songs being collected on 'The Masterplan' compilation album- the likes of 'Acquiesce', 'Half A World Away' and 'Rockin' Chair' are every bit as good as anything else in their catalogue, although how they managed to leave a song as good as 'Round Are Way' off it is a bit beyond me.
Thinking about it now maybe the golden age for the 7'' single was actually a bit before my time- sales in the 1970's were lower than on the 1960's reflecting the shift towards albums and away from singles; that said my personal golden age is probably the punk rock / new wave explosion in the late '70's, which no doubt goes a long way towards explaining my continued enjoyment of the music from that time. In these days of downloads singles seem to me to be a thing of the past, and not even of the recent past judging by the comments I get from people who don't even buy CD's anymore as it can all magically appear on their computer at 79 pence a track. I think that's a shame- I remember buying records when I was young and reading every word on the cover, lyric sheet, even the label, such was my excitement at hearing and indeed owning the music; a few clicks of your mouse and a flash of a credit card doesn't seem to hold the same alure for me I'm afraid.
So- I started off this piece by listening to a Deep Purple song and end it by sounding as though I'm bemoaning the death of popular music. Maybe I am! Oh well- at least I can always console myself by playing the rest of the 'Electric Fit EP... or how about 'Out Of Style' and 'Tilt' by Joe Jackson, both on the B-side of his cover version of 'The Harder They Come'? And then there's the great version of 'Pills' by The Lurkers from the B-side of 'I Don't Need To Tell Her'... actually now that I think about it, that came with a flexi disc of the extraordinary 'We Are The Chaos Brothers'... flexi discs! Remember them?!?
Hmm... EP's... flexi discs...that gives me an idea for a posting or two...
Why am I telling you all of this? Well, leaving aside the fact that it's my blog and I'll write whatever I want to write (it's been a bad day ok?!?) it took me back to those days when music came on flat circular pieces of vinyl either 7 or 12 inches in diameter, specifically the smaller of the 2 options which, for the benefit of any younger readers still wading their way through this madness hoping for a punchline, used to be referred to by us disciples of sound as singles. These for cash-strapped schoolboys such as myself were among the greatest things ever created, as they enabled us to own music by the gods that we'd made without having to save up for an album which, lets face it, normally went on a bit and therefore wasn't as magnificent as the breathless bloodrush of mayhem mysteriously contained within the grooves of a single. You bought the single because you'd heard the A-side but you also got the B-side- and that's how I first heard 'When A Blind Man Cries' as it was the B-side of the 'Never Before' single. B-sides were often songs that were recorded during sessions for the A-side and/or accompanying album- they might have been rejected as not good being enough to be on the album, or they didn't fit in with the rest of the tracks. Not all artists that took singles seriously (more about them later) but those that did would often specifically record material for single release. In my opinion great bands made great B-sides, and given the fact that some of my favourite songs by my favourite artists were often on non-album singles or hidden away on the flip side I thought it would be interesting to explore this subject further here- so let's start as we mean to go on, with arguably the very best singles band of them all...
During their time together as a band The Beatles released 22 U.K. singles; well over half of them contained material not on any of their albums. (The 'Past Masters' albums neatly collect together these 'missing' tracks.) This was a common situation in the 1960's as we shall see, but The Beatles took it further than most, and as such are often seen as the definitive pop group. There aren't any bad Beatles singles in my not-so-humble opinion and picking a favourite is practically impossible (it changes on a day-to-day basis, as does my favourite Beatles album) but I've always thought that 'Paperback Writer' is a brilliant band performance on every level. Recorded during the sessions for the 'Revolver' album the single also features a track often held up as the best Beatles B-side- 'Rain'. It's a state-of-the-art recording for the time, with both vari-speeding and backward vocals (click here for further technical details, and here for the promotional films for both songs- imagine looking that cool! And do people really still think that the first pop video was made for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'? Silly people...) heavily featured, and Ringo's tremendous drumming shows up his detractors to be little more than the jealous no-hopers that they so often are. A magnificent single in every way. Other famously brilliant Beatles B-sides include 'Yes It Is', (extraordinary vocal harmonies) 'I'm Down', (out rock 'n' rolls their rock 'n' roll heroes) and the wonderfully mad 'You Know My Name (look up my number)' which is allegedly Paul McCartney's favourite Beatles track. And then there are the double A-side singles, where both songs were so strong that they were both hits in their own right- 'Strawberry Fields Forever' / 'Penny Lane' is probably the most lauded of these 'though 'We Can Work It Out' / 'Day Tripper' isn't exactly hopeless in the 'perfect pop music' stakes. It's no accident that millions of words have been written about The Beatles and that they continue to be a huge influence on today's pop culture- even the best part of 50 years after their first recordings were released, one listen to any of their music tells you why.
Running parallel to The Beatles many of the greatest bands and artists of the 1960's released non-album material on singles. The Rolling Stones released many classic 7-incher's (oo-er missus) but were never great B-siders for me- then again with the likes of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', 'The Last Time' and 'Paint It Black' among their A-sides it hardly seems to matter. The first 3 Jimi Hendrix singles stand up as fine psychedelic pop with his first recorded composition 'Stone Free' on the B-side of 'Hey Joe', 'Purple Haze' giving us our first hearing of 'the Hendrix chord' (and '51st Anniversary' on it's flipside) and 'Highway Chile' (the B-side of 'The Wind Cries Mary') featuring a great 'live-in-the-studio' performance from the band. Unsurprisingly from my point of view I have to say that The Who win the race (with The Kinks and The Small Faces not too far behind, and The Beatles somewhere else entirely if you know what I mean) for the definitive '60's singles band. Most of their early singles can be found on the 'Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy' compilation album; I'll rave about the A-sides another time (all of which were written by Pete Townshend) and concentrate on the b-sides here, many of which were written by The Ox himself, John Entwistle. Among his classic flipsides are 'Doctor Doctor', 'Heaven and Hell' and 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', all of which feature his trademark black humour 'though my personal favourite is probably 'When I Was A Boy' which reveals an oft-overlooked philosophical side. Keith Moon wrote 'Waspman' and 'Dogs part 2', both of which have to be heard to be believed; Roger Daltrey came up with the country-ish 'Here For More' and there was a blistering live take of 'Baby Don't You Do It' on the B-side of 'Join Together'. As the singles were all deleted shortly after initial sales subsided (a common practice for the time) most if not all of these tracks were unavailable for many years until the 'Who's Missing' and 'Two's Missing' compilation albums appeared in the mid 1980's- it's a testimony to the strength of the songs and the performances that they were both fine albums in their own right, and with the advent of a comprehensive CD re-issue programme, many of which featured the B-sides as extra tracks, younger listeners (like me!) were finally able to hear the 'lost' songs in the context of the better known material. They rarely sounded disappointing.
As a schoolboy in the 1970's glam rock loomed large in my embryonic singles collection, and the king of it all for me was the mighty Marc Bolan. Many of the T.Rex singles featured 2 songs on the B-side, giving a value-for-pocket-money feeling every time you bought one. The first record that I bought with my own money (earned on a milk round no less) was 'Metal Guru' which featured 'Lady' and 'Thunderwing' on it's flipside- unsurprisingly these are among my very favourite Bolan numbers. (Click here for a classic T.O.T.P. clip that I remember seeing at the time.) Whilst the B-sides can't quite compete with the A-sides they still sound pretty good in their own right- the double CD re-issue of 'Great Hits' featured one CD of A-sides and one of B-sides and both can be played through without skipping too many tracks- which considering how many pop classics bear the Bolan name is quite an achievement. The Sweet were an interesting B-side band as their A-sides were mostly written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman whereas the B-sides were self-penned and showed a much heavier side to the band, although their later Chinn/Chapman material also moved in this direction and they ended up writing their own hit material after splitting with the Chinnichap team. Mud were another very successful band of the time who's Chinnichap A-sides were backed by their own material- if you ever thought them to be little more than a novelty band then check out 'Mr. Bagatelle', the other side of 'Tiger Feet' which is a great song in anybody's book. Slade were another classic singles band although their A-sides beat their B-sides by no little distance in my book, and David Bowie released any number of killer singles including one of the great non-album A-sides of the time with 'John I'm Only Dancing'. But to me one of the great B-sides of the time is 'As Long As You Tell Him' which is hidden away on the flipside of the last Faces single 'You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything'- unavailable for years it was finally re-issued on the excellent 'Five Guys Walk Into A Bar' box set and features all the elements that made The Faces such a great band. Ok, it's not quite as good as 'Stay With Me', but it's not far off it, and anyway, very few things are as good as 'Stay With Me'...
Unbeknownst to me (and indeed quite a few others) punk rock was now approaching, and your humble narrator had by now realised that pretty much all the artists that he liked were the type that released singles, rather than the bands who concentrated on albums, maybe putting out an occasional perfunctory single with the appropriate 'we don't like it but the record company do' quotes in the music press. There were a few exceptions- I've already confessed to liking Deep Purple, and I'd also heard and enjoyed Led Zeppelin and Rory Gallagher as well as quite a few of the older blues artists, none of whom were even remotely interested in single chart success. The 'serious' bands like Yes and Genesis just sounded boring and not a little ridiculous to me, especially compared to something as exciting as the live-in-the-studio (it says so on the label!) version of 'Route 66' by Dr. Feelgood, which could be found on the B-side of their wondrous 'Roxette' single. (Click here for a live-in-a-T.V.-studio version...) I remember reading in the music press about a new label called Stiff Records that were releasing singles by bands that I didn't know but that sounded great- sadly lack of funds meant that I couldn't just send off for records without hearing them first, especially not to a bunch as dodgy sounding as this lot... I eventually heard 'New Rose' by The Damned on John Peel's radio show, I'd never heard anything like it before and thought it was absolutely astonishing- rather significantly I realised that I didn't know anybody that agreed with me, although quite a few people changed their minds over the next year or so...
Suddenly everyone was talking about punk rock and there were singles everywhere. People were even putting them out themselves; incredible as this concept was it was even more incredible to find them in high street record shops. The times they were a-changing, and changing for the better as far as people like me were concerned; many that it wouldn't last and that 'real' music would win in the end, but in the meantime it felt as though there were a million and one great punk singles to get hold of. Although many of the bands released great albums it's the singles that they're often best remembered for, and rightly so- 2-and-a-bit minutes of out-and-out energy seemed to be just right for most people's central nervous system. For many people the first 4 Sex Pistols singles (and indeed their one and only studio album) stand as the definitive punk statement, and that's an idea that I'm certainly not about to argue with, although I think that the B-sides are often overlooked. If ever a band proved the 'great bands made great B-sides' adage it's The Pistols- their astounding cover version of The Stooges' 'No Fun' (originally set to appear as the B-side to their debut single 'Anarchy In The U.K.', eventually coming out on the flipside of their third single 'Pretty Vacant') was one of the most radical recordings that I'd heard up to that point in time. Come to think of it, it still is! 'Anarchy' originally came out on E.M.I. Records with 'I Wanna Be Me' on the B-side; the single was withdrawn after the Bill Grundy incident although it was still available as a French import which is how most of us got it, and 'I Wanna Be Me' was also on the infamous 'Spunk' bootleg album. 'God Save The Queen' and 'Holidays In The Sun' featured 'Did You No Wrong' and 'Satellite'- taken together they're 4 of the best singles that I own.
Meanwhile The Clash were releasing classic after classic in quick succession, many of which weren't on any album- indeed they collected many of them together as 'Black Market Clash'. Picking a favourite Clash single isn't easy (for the same reason as it's hard for me to pick a favourite Beatles single) but I remember buying '(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais' without hearing it (getting braver!) and initially preferring it's B-side 'The Prisoner'; after playing it God-knows-how-many times I came to the conclusion that it was one of the greatest records of all time... mind you I played 'London Calling' 5 or 6 times in succession in jaw-dropped amazement before flipping it over and doing the same thing with 'Armagideon Time'. And then there's The Jam- analysis is almost futile here, so I'll just say that I couldn't believe how good 'Going Underground' was, until I turned it over and played 'The Dreams Of Children'. Things like this happened a lot in those days- yes I was young, but there was just so much great music about it was hard to take it all in. I haven't mentioned The Buzzcocks yet- suffice to say that their 'Singles Going Steady' compilation album is one of the great punk albums- or The Ruts ('Staring At The Rude Boys' / 'Love In Vain' anybody?) or XTC (another band to release compilation albums of both A and B sides) among many others. And then there's Elvis Costello, who released so many great singles around this time (and indeed a compilation cassette of single-only tracks) that I could almost write a whole article on them- maybe I will someday but in the meantime I'll just say that the chilling 'Tiny Steps' (the B-side of 'Radio Radio') features one of what for me is one of his most extraordinary vocal moments; listen to the disgust in his voice on the lines 'she's your baby now, you can keep her' and see if you don't squirm. (Incidentally Costello also features on a version of 'Tomorrow's Just Another Day' by Madness for which the word 'venomous' might have been invented; click here for a live version that's nearly as good.) But a real flipside fave of mine from this time is 'I'm Alright Jack' by The Tom Robinson Band- on the other side of 'Up Against The Wall' it heavily features the amazing talents of Danny Kustow on lead guitar, as do most of the T.R.B. recordings of the time.
12'' singles had first appeared in dance music circles in the mid-70's as a way of allowing longer tracks to be cut at a higher volume, often emphasising bass response which sounded good in the clubs and discos of the time. The first one I remember buying was 'Marquee Moon' by Television, which had the 9+ minute track in stereo on one side and in mono on the other. (I bought the album soon after which had the track on it so I could have saved my money!) Pretty soon they were everywhere, often with otherwise unavailable extra tracks- I bought a few, notably 'She's A Windup' and 'Baby Jane' by Dr. Feelgood as both had exclusive live tracks, but it all got a bit daft after a while, what with 7'' versions, 12'' versions, coloured vinyl, limited editions, extra tracks... it was too commercial, too cynical, and besides, I only had so much money! Of course I still bought them...
There wasn't much in the '80's for your humble narrator to get too excited about. That said the classic 'How Soon Is Now?' by The Smiths was originally a B-side so maybe there was? Then again there were The Prisoners, whose awesome single 'Hurricane' had 'Tomorrow (she said)' on it's B-side; they also released the 'Electric Fit' EP (short for extended play, these generally featured 4 or more tracks) which included the magnificent 'Melanie', one of my favourite records (and you can find a clip of them playing it on French T.V. here) of all time. The Godfathers collected their early singles on 'Hit By Hit' and in doing so made one of the great albums of the decade but by the time the likes of The Senseless Things, Mega City Four and Carter U.S.M. came along things had changed- CD singles were now appearing, often featuring 4 or more tracks making the old 'A-side/B-side' format all but redundant. With this in mind the last great B-side band might well be Oasis, with many of their best 'lost' songs being collected on 'The Masterplan' compilation album- the likes of 'Acquiesce', 'Half A World Away' and 'Rockin' Chair' are every bit as good as anything else in their catalogue, although how they managed to leave a song as good as 'Round Are Way' off it is a bit beyond me.
Thinking about it now maybe the golden age for the 7'' single was actually a bit before my time- sales in the 1970's were lower than on the 1960's reflecting the shift towards albums and away from singles; that said my personal golden age is probably the punk rock / new wave explosion in the late '70's, which no doubt goes a long way towards explaining my continued enjoyment of the music from that time. In these days of downloads singles seem to me to be a thing of the past, and not even of the recent past judging by the comments I get from people who don't even buy CD's anymore as it can all magically appear on their computer at 79 pence a track. I think that's a shame- I remember buying records when I was young and reading every word on the cover, lyric sheet, even the label, such was my excitement at hearing and indeed owning the music; a few clicks of your mouse and a flash of a credit card doesn't seem to hold the same alure for me I'm afraid.
So- I started off this piece by listening to a Deep Purple song and end it by sounding as though I'm bemoaning the death of popular music. Maybe I am! Oh well- at least I can always console myself by playing the rest of the 'Electric Fit EP... or how about 'Out Of Style' and 'Tilt' by Joe Jackson, both on the B-side of his cover version of 'The Harder They Come'? And then there's the great version of 'Pills' by The Lurkers from the B-side of 'I Don't Need To Tell Her'... actually now that I think about it, that came with a flexi disc of the extraordinary 'We Are The Chaos Brothers'... flexi discs! Remember them?!?
Hmm... EP's... flexi discs...that gives me an idea for a posting or two...
Friday, June 19, 2009
Time on my hands?
I got in at 1.23 a.m. today.
I'd been to the Load of Hay with East- I had some posters to put up for this Sunday's Acts Less Ordinary gig (Rob Power and Mr. Kite, 2 excellent local acts- come on down!) and we had things to discuss (merchandise for possible upcoming Price gigs taking up much of our evening) and drinks to drink... as I was walking back through Uxbridge I saw a chap that I recognised from... somewhere, the shop I think although I'm not too sure really... anyway, I waved across at him and as he waved back I couldn't help noticing that he had another chap sprawled out on the ground in front of him. After deciding that they hadn't been fighting I walked over to them- the chap on the floor was really drunk. 'He's having a bad time at the moment' said the chap that I recognised from somewhere, 'you couldn't help me could you? I only live around the corner, if we can get him to my place he can sleep it off'. 'Arrghhgroowwurgh' said the chap sprawled out on the ground, which I took to mean 'oh go on, please, I'll be here for ever otherwise'. So, with the words 'I'll give you a hand, 'though I'll have to watch me back' I helped the chap that I recognised from somewhere help the chap sprawled out on the ground to his feet. it then took us about an hour to travel a couple of hundred yards; I never did find their names but by the time I left them I felt as though I'd known them for years. I also wasn't sure which one of them was more drunk... still you have to help people don't you? And it wasn't as though I had a lot to do this morning, or indeed this evening- there are no gigs until next month and I'm not due back working in the shop until Monday week. I've told myself that this is a good thing as I can do all those jobs that I've neglected over the last few months- do my accounts, fill in my tax return, learn the songs for a gig I'm doing in the summer with a Madness tribute band, tidy up- you know, that sort of thing.
Let's hope I'm right- it's exactly 12 hours since I got in and I haven't got much done. At least I'm still working at the theatre with Stuart the guitar repair man...
I'd been to the Load of Hay with East- I had some posters to put up for this Sunday's Acts Less Ordinary gig (Rob Power and Mr. Kite, 2 excellent local acts- come on down!) and we had things to discuss (merchandise for possible upcoming Price gigs taking up much of our evening) and drinks to drink... as I was walking back through Uxbridge I saw a chap that I recognised from... somewhere, the shop I think although I'm not too sure really... anyway, I waved across at him and as he waved back I couldn't help noticing that he had another chap sprawled out on the ground in front of him. After deciding that they hadn't been fighting I walked over to them- the chap on the floor was really drunk. 'He's having a bad time at the moment' said the chap that I recognised from somewhere, 'you couldn't help me could you? I only live around the corner, if we can get him to my place he can sleep it off'. 'Arrghhgroowwurgh' said the chap sprawled out on the ground, which I took to mean 'oh go on, please, I'll be here for ever otherwise'. So, with the words 'I'll give you a hand, 'though I'll have to watch me back' I helped the chap that I recognised from somewhere help the chap sprawled out on the ground to his feet. it then took us about an hour to travel a couple of hundred yards; I never did find their names but by the time I left them I felt as though I'd known them for years. I also wasn't sure which one of them was more drunk... still you have to help people don't you? And it wasn't as though I had a lot to do this morning, or indeed this evening- there are no gigs until next month and I'm not due back working in the shop until Monday week. I've told myself that this is a good thing as I can do all those jobs that I've neglected over the last few months- do my accounts, fill in my tax return, learn the songs for a gig I'm doing in the summer with a Madness tribute band, tidy up- you know, that sort of thing.
Let's hope I'm right- it's exactly 12 hours since I got in and I haven't got much done. At least I'm still working at the theatre with Stuart the guitar repair man...
Saturday, June 13, 2009
300 not out!
This is my 300th blog posting!In the year or so since the 200th one I've played my guitar anywhere and everywhere that would let me; I've been nice about some things, not-so-nice about others, and have thoroughly enjoyed writing it all down in these hallowed pages. As I think I've mentioned before, it's the nearest I get to having a hobby outside of music, and even though I'm never sure if anybody's actually reading it or not, it's always fun to think that they are.
The next 100 postings should feature more of the same- stay tuned for further details...
Happy birthday Shirley! Lots of love to you!
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Gotcha!
Last night saw the only Chicago Blues Brothers gig for this month (June is normally a quiet time for us, 'though I'm not sure that it's always this quiet?) and it was a good one- The Summer Wishes Ball is part-organised by trumpet maestro Dave Land and took place this year in the Barford Suite at The Barnham Broom Hotel near Norwich. It's an annual show for us which helps to raise funds for the local Quidenham Children's Hospice (the table had balloons in aid of E.A.C.H.) and Great Ormond Street Hospital. Tracy's away and with Richard off gigging in the West End Ian's on saxophone but aside from that it's the A-Team all the way, 'though it's got more than a slight air of relief about it- Ian Gibbons was taken ill on tour in Germany with Roger Chapman a couple of weeks ago with appendicitis and it's the first time we've all seen him since his emergency operation. Pete and Mike are running the charity auction, and we're playing a half-Blues Brothers/half-party music set; as has happened a few times lately there's subterfuge in the air, and for once it's close to home as it's the long-suffering Shirley's birthday next week...
With the band all set up (there's no stage but they've put one of those temporary dancefloors down so we set up next to that) and soundchecked everyone gets changed- it's a black tie event 'though after my misadventures with a bow tie last year I decided to opt out and wear a standard tie instead; I don't think I looked too untidy (others may disagree!) and I wasn't the only non-conformist so didn't feel too bad. There's maybe 100 people in and with Mike's iPod providing background music and Pete on M.C. duties the meal begins uneventfully enough. Just as the auction is about to start Pete mentions a bit about the band and how there's something of a family atmosphere at most gigs as wives and partners often help out in various capacities, he mentions his wife Jayne, Ian's wife Nadia... Shirley rather bravely says something like 'what about me?' and in doing so plays right into Pete's hands, he gets her up and with everyone singing 'Happy Birthday' he presents her with a bag of presents and cards. She comes back to the table smiling and a little shell-shocked, says that she can't believe that she didn't suspect anything, Pete looks pleased with himself and I'm thinking that it's my birthday next month and we've got a gig that night... hmm...
Talking of gigs our one goes very well indeed- Matt and Mike deliver the Blues Brothers songs to a full dancefloor with Mike introducing Pete as 'our very own queen of soul' (he sang the 'Think'/'Respect' medley normally performed by Tracy) and Matt's scary splits manoeuvre somehow seeming even scarier when performed on the same level as the audience as opposed to on a stage. The 'party music' set included 'Mustang Sally' (we hardly ever play it!) along with other dimly-remembered pieces from our Commitments days and with plenty of money raised for the charities the evening's a success on pretty much every level.
So- no more gigs for 3 weeks. I'm telling myself that it'll be nice to have a bit of a rest- let's hope I'm right...
With the band all set up (there's no stage but they've put one of those temporary dancefloors down so we set up next to that) and soundchecked everyone gets changed- it's a black tie event 'though after my misadventures with a bow tie last year I decided to opt out and wear a standard tie instead; I don't think I looked too untidy (others may disagree!) and I wasn't the only non-conformist so didn't feel too bad. There's maybe 100 people in and with Mike's iPod providing background music and Pete on M.C. duties the meal begins uneventfully enough. Just as the auction is about to start Pete mentions a bit about the band and how there's something of a family atmosphere at most gigs as wives and partners often help out in various capacities, he mentions his wife Jayne, Ian's wife Nadia... Shirley rather bravely says something like 'what about me?' and in doing so plays right into Pete's hands, he gets her up and with everyone singing 'Happy Birthday' he presents her with a bag of presents and cards. She comes back to the table smiling and a little shell-shocked, says that she can't believe that she didn't suspect anything, Pete looks pleased with himself and I'm thinking that it's my birthday next month and we've got a gig that night... hmm...
Talking of gigs our one goes very well indeed- Matt and Mike deliver the Blues Brothers songs to a full dancefloor with Mike introducing Pete as 'our very own queen of soul' (he sang the 'Think'/'Respect' medley normally performed by Tracy) and Matt's scary splits manoeuvre somehow seeming even scarier when performed on the same level as the audience as opposed to on a stage. The 'party music' set included 'Mustang Sally' (we hardly ever play it!) along with other dimly-remembered pieces from our Commitments days and with plenty of money raised for the charities the evening's a success on pretty much every level.
So- no more gigs for 3 weeks. I'm telling myself that it'll be nice to have a bit of a rest- let's hope I'm right...
Monday, June 01, 2009
It's a small world- but you wouldn't like to paint it.
In case you're wondering what else I got up to on Thursday (ok, I know that you weren't, but I've been sitting here for ages trying to work out how to start this posting in a way that would allow me to introduce the fact that I was on a tube train and therefore received a voicemail message on my mobile phone when I got off it, and this is the best way that I can come up with; it's not easy writing this stuff sometimes!) it was business as usual at the theatre where Stuart the guitar repair man and myself bought the 'We Will Rock You' guitars back up to fighting spec. before wending our merry way back home on the Metropolitan line. (I bet you can't guess what happened next..?) When I got off the train my phone rang with a voicemail message (Oh! You guessed!) from Tony James, lead singer with The F.B.I. Band, asking me if I was free for a gig with them on Saturday night... so it was then that while the rest of you were watching The Cup Final or listening to Andy and Jen's show on Hayes FM, your humble narrator was still attempting to unravel the intricacies of a setlist that included songs from artists as diverse as Elvis Presley and James Brown. There's nothing like leaving things until the last minute is there?
6 oclock in the evening and I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be; we're playing at Clive's 50th birthday party at Harpenden Rugby Club which is less than an hour from us but we're due there at 7 so I load the car up and, as is the way of things in these (relatively) techno-friendly times, go to get the sat. nav. out of the glove compartment to programme in the venue details. It's not there- no problem, it must be in the draw in the hallway... no, not there either... Shirl thought it was in the glove compartment as well, perhaps we bought it in the other night after the T.V. Smith gig? No I don't think that we did- which can only mean one thing...
It's a strange feeling when you realise that something's been stolen from you isn't it? I think I remember reading somewhere that it's very similar to being bereaved and that there are various stages that we all go through- after realising what had happened we both got stuck into the 'anger' stage straight away, trying to work out where and when the theft might have happened with oaths and curses a-plenty, although in the end it's all in vain, it's gone and that's about all there is to it and no amount of swearing will change that. It doesn't half make you feel better 'though! Fortunately we still own a map which equally fortunately was still in the car (not much of a black market for them I guess!) so we were still able to find Harpenden (M1 junction 9) and arrive at the venue in good time. We sit in the car park for a minute or two, still angry but more resigned, defeated even, not a good feeling to have but there's a gig to do and the evening can only get better. I go inside the main building to look for where we're playing, the first thing I encounter is the changing room so it must be upstairs and indeed it is, with the walls adorned with pictures of the birthday boy in various stages of undress and embarrassment (this is a rugby club after all!) and Ian the saxman (often seen depping in the CBB band) setting up his P.A. system. I go back down the stairs and out into the car park to start loading my gear in- and a familiar face greets me with the words 'hello- what are you doing here- you're not in the band are you?' Yes Dave I am... 'you're joking, so am I!' The evening just got better...
The band set up on the floor in the bar; I'm on the far right as you look as us (ULC if you're taking notes) with the mixing desk to my left and Tony's laptop (to be used to provide background music) is on a table next to that. Tony's setting up, I'm setting up- suddenly a drink gets knocked over and it's the first time in ages that I've worn my stage trousers to a gig (I thought it might have been a good idea to look reasonably smart for once! Remind me not to do it again...) and my left leg gets most of it, the rest goes on my guitar leads and effect pedal which Carl the bass player had just been asking me about. Bugger! Still after our stress-fest earlier I decide that it's not worth getting upset about, after all it all works fine and that's the main thing. We're on at 9.30 so there's plenty of time to check the keys and talk through the arrangements of the songs with Carl, it's a lovely evening and we sit out overlooking the rugby pitches wondering just how mad the audience are going to be.
Our first set is mostly Blues Brothers/soul songs which I'm reasonably familiar with- Carl and Dave work together a lot at the moment which certainly helped things rock along 'though I had a bit of a strange moment when the lights were turned off during the first guitar solo which meant that I made some rather, shall we say, interesting note choices... the second set was a bit more diverse, meaning that I got to play songs like 'It's Not Unusual' and 'Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You' with the man who drummed on 'Babylon's Burning'. Strange but true, 'though not as strange as the birthday boy being encouraged to perform The Full Monty by his Dad; he did it (of course- it is a rugby club after all!) which had Shirley running for cover and me making bad gags about recognising him from the photos.
Talking of evenings that got better, last night's Kris Dollimore gig at The Load of Hay was everything that I'd hoped it would be i.e. absolutely and totally brilliant. I got there around 7 o'clock to set the P.A. up- Kris (who once worked with Dave in Adam Ant's band) was due there for 8 but the phone call came through not long after that to say that he was stuck on the M25. I chewed what was left of my nails for 15 minutes or so (putting gigs on is much more difficult that playing them!) until he arrived; after loading in he set up in a matter of minutes and got on with the job in hand. The opening number 'Soul Of A Man' had bearly finished before one of the pub regulars came up to me with the words 'you said he was good but I didn't realise he was going to be that good'. There followed 2 sets of some of the best guitar playing that I think I'll ever see- yes, it was that good. There's a new album due in the Autumn (sadly it won't include his instrumental version of 'Jolene' as he's hoping to release an all-instumental collection one day) which should be a contender for album of the year- and this was another contender for gig of the year, very different from the New York Dolls gig a couple of weeks ago but no less captivating, no less inspirational, no less magnificent. All in all a fabulous performance from a master musician at the top of his game- if you were there you'll know what I mean and if you weren't then please don't miss him next time. Yes- it was that good.
Thanks to Andy C. and Mario for the title of this posting- click here to find out why!
6 oclock in the evening and I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be; we're playing at Clive's 50th birthday party at Harpenden Rugby Club which is less than an hour from us but we're due there at 7 so I load the car up and, as is the way of things in these (relatively) techno-friendly times, go to get the sat. nav. out of the glove compartment to programme in the venue details. It's not there- no problem, it must be in the draw in the hallway... no, not there either... Shirl thought it was in the glove compartment as well, perhaps we bought it in the other night after the T.V. Smith gig? No I don't think that we did- which can only mean one thing...
It's a strange feeling when you realise that something's been stolen from you isn't it? I think I remember reading somewhere that it's very similar to being bereaved and that there are various stages that we all go through- after realising what had happened we both got stuck into the 'anger' stage straight away, trying to work out where and when the theft might have happened with oaths and curses a-plenty, although in the end it's all in vain, it's gone and that's about all there is to it and no amount of swearing will change that. It doesn't half make you feel better 'though! Fortunately we still own a map which equally fortunately was still in the car (not much of a black market for them I guess!) so we were still able to find Harpenden (M1 junction 9) and arrive at the venue in good time. We sit in the car park for a minute or two, still angry but more resigned, defeated even, not a good feeling to have but there's a gig to do and the evening can only get better. I go inside the main building to look for where we're playing, the first thing I encounter is the changing room so it must be upstairs and indeed it is, with the walls adorned with pictures of the birthday boy in various stages of undress and embarrassment (this is a rugby club after all!) and Ian the saxman (often seen depping in the CBB band) setting up his P.A. system. I go back down the stairs and out into the car park to start loading my gear in- and a familiar face greets me with the words 'hello- what are you doing here- you're not in the band are you?' Yes Dave I am... 'you're joking, so am I!' The evening just got better...
The band set up on the floor in the bar; I'm on the far right as you look as us (ULC if you're taking notes) with the mixing desk to my left and Tony's laptop (to be used to provide background music) is on a table next to that. Tony's setting up, I'm setting up- suddenly a drink gets knocked over and it's the first time in ages that I've worn my stage trousers to a gig (I thought it might have been a good idea to look reasonably smart for once! Remind me not to do it again...) and my left leg gets most of it, the rest goes on my guitar leads and effect pedal which Carl the bass player had just been asking me about. Bugger! Still after our stress-fest earlier I decide that it's not worth getting upset about, after all it all works fine and that's the main thing. We're on at 9.30 so there's plenty of time to check the keys and talk through the arrangements of the songs with Carl, it's a lovely evening and we sit out overlooking the rugby pitches wondering just how mad the audience are going to be.
Our first set is mostly Blues Brothers/soul songs which I'm reasonably familiar with- Carl and Dave work together a lot at the moment which certainly helped things rock along 'though I had a bit of a strange moment when the lights were turned off during the first guitar solo which meant that I made some rather, shall we say, interesting note choices... the second set was a bit more diverse, meaning that I got to play songs like 'It's Not Unusual' and 'Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You' with the man who drummed on 'Babylon's Burning'. Strange but true, 'though not as strange as the birthday boy being encouraged to perform The Full Monty by his Dad; he did it (of course- it is a rugby club after all!) which had Shirley running for cover and me making bad gags about recognising him from the photos.
Talking of evenings that got better, last night's Kris Dollimore gig at The Load of Hay was everything that I'd hoped it would be i.e. absolutely and totally brilliant. I got there around 7 o'clock to set the P.A. up- Kris (who once worked with Dave in Adam Ant's band) was due there for 8 but the phone call came through not long after that to say that he was stuck on the M25. I chewed what was left of my nails for 15 minutes or so (putting gigs on is much more difficult that playing them!) until he arrived; after loading in he set up in a matter of minutes and got on with the job in hand. The opening number 'Soul Of A Man' had bearly finished before one of the pub regulars came up to me with the words 'you said he was good but I didn't realise he was going to be that good'. There followed 2 sets of some of the best guitar playing that I think I'll ever see- yes, it was that good. There's a new album due in the Autumn (sadly it won't include his instrumental version of 'Jolene' as he's hoping to release an all-instumental collection one day) which should be a contender for album of the year- and this was another contender for gig of the year, very different from the New York Dolls gig a couple of weeks ago but no less captivating, no less inspirational, no less magnificent. All in all a fabulous performance from a master musician at the top of his game- if you were there you'll know what I mean and if you weren't then please don't miss him next time. Yes- it was that good.
Thanks to Andy C. and Mario for the title of this posting- click here to find out why!
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