Coventry Music 1978

Coventry Music 1978

by Pete Clemons

On the face of it, 40 years ago seems an awfully long time ago. And of course, it was. But looking back over that particular passage of time, and at some of the moments that took place, it seems like only yesterday. Apart from those directly involved - although even they may not have even realised – we certainly didn’t know it at the time, but history has proved that 1978 was one of the most significant years the Coventry music scene has ever known. It preceded and gave rise to one of the most important musical movements which, even today, continues to create ripples.

The celebrations that heralded in 1978 had hardly died down when almost immediately The Automatics, very soon to be known as The Coventry Automatics and namely Jerry Dammers, Horace Panter, Terry Hall, Silverton Hutchinson, Roddy Radiation and Lynval Golding, began a residency at Mr Georges Club.

These regular Monday night sessions lasted for several months. Almost, in fact, until the club finally closed its doors for the last time. It was a period of great change for the band. Those first few months of the year would see also the band’s name change to The Jaywalkers for a short while.

By the middle of 1978 things would change again. The following extract was written by Gary Bushell and was published in the 5th July 1978 edition of Sounds magazine. It is part of a review he wrote for a gig by The Clash at Aylesbury Friars the previous week on June 28th.

‘SURPRISE number one last Thursday were support group The Specials (as they'd been known for four whole hours. were formerly the Automatics which was very confusing far the other Automatics, you know, the tanks rolled over Poland ones). The Specials are a five piece multi-racial punk reggae group from Coventry, and the two cultures don't so much clash as entertainingly intermingle. Whereas Clash play punk songs and reggae songs, The Specials' ditties combine elements of the two’.

That tour with The Clash was also significant for other reasons. As bass player Horace Panter remembers – ‘We started the tour as a 6-piece but ended it as a 7-piece’ (Neville Staples had graduated from Roadie to full-time performer).

The final piece of the jigsaw of the classic recording line up of The Specials would drop into place toward the end of 1978 when Transposed Men drummer John Bradbury replaced Silverton Hutchinson. Word has it that Silverton, a reggae drummer, had become disillusioned with the direction the band was taking. Brad’s unique drumming style would become integral as firstly, The Special A.K.A, and then The Specials developed their distinctive sound.

But, as important as it was, the birth of The Specials was not the only thing that happened in Coventry during 1978.

Bands such as Ian Dury and the Blockheads, The Jam and The Buzzcocks who, less than a year or so earlier had been playing the nightclubs had found that their fan base had grown significantly. As such they were now returning to the city and appearing at the far larger Coventry Theatre.

Also appearing at the theatre were the more established rock acts like Be Bop Deluxe, Wishbone Ash, AC/DC and Rory Gallagher alongside the more soulful sounds of Johnny Mathis, The Stylistics and George Benson.

There were also some notable support bands playing the Theatre as UFO and Van Halen each supported Judas Priest and Black Sabbath respectively.

On the outskirts of the city, at the Warwick University, other memorable gigs were taking place. Those by The Ramones, Third World and a Stiff Records tour that included Stiff recording artists Wreckless Eric, Jona Lewie and Lena Lovich certainly spring to mind. Looking back in hindsight, time has told us that it was an incredible year for Coventry, although I think in this case we all realised it. But it was also one that continues to provide many a talking point.

The Manfreds

The Manfreds

By Pete Clemons

They say that great music lasts a lifetime. And, any band that can sell out 1000 seated venues, with regularity and with ease, must have had something going for it at some point. What is even more remarkable is that the band in question have been in existence for more than 55 years and each of its core band member are now in their 70s. But I am talking about the music of Manfred Mann.

One of the earliest memories I have is one of receiving a 45-rpm record by Manfred Mann back in 1964. I know that as I still have it and I wrote on the sleeve the date I received it. I was captivated by it. More so the B side of the record, as I remember it though.

Little did I know back then but all these years later and I would still be getting to at least one Manfred’s gig per year. Honestly, it is one of the highlights on my gig going calendar. And I am clearly not alone as the loyalty of those who follow The Manfred’s is really, quite staggering.

The band itself began as The Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers, playing The Wine Lodge (aka Tally Ho, Tudor Rose and now Philip Larkin) during 1963. An ever-evolving group, The Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers has an interesting history all its own. And it was during mid 1963 that the band became known as Manfred Mann and gained a recording deal with the HMV record label.

Below is a reproduction of a revealing article from early 1964, that contains an interview with Manfred, and touches on the bond that developed between the band and our city………….

"Manfred Mann is to appear at Coventry’s Matrix Hall soon and what a crowd will be there to see him, or rather them, because Manfred Mann is more than one person.

In the bleak wintery days of early 1963, the five members of Manfred Mann, the rhythm and blues group who have established a large following in Coventry were so hard up that they all slept in one room.

This was the only room in their South London flat they could afford to heat, drummer Mike Hugg mentioned.

Existence depended on pooling resources and, from the bond which developed among the group, has grown a strong co-operative alliance. Although it takes its name from pianist Manfred Mann it acknowledges no leader. This alliance is paying off now the groups growing popularity is bringing regular well-paid work.

They are contracted to Southern Television for a new series and their recording ‘5-4-3-2-1’ was written at the request of producers of Associated Television’s ‘Ready Steady Go’ who were looking for a new signature tune.

Manfred Mann work with the future in mind and after a job, draw only £3 each, the bare minimum to cover everyday expenses. The rest goes into the bank with the result that the latest recruit, bass player Tom McGuiness joined, he was immediately equipped with a new £155 instrument.

During the last year the group estimate they have spent £1600 on such items as a van, equipment and uniforms. And they still claim to have £900 in the bank.

The group was formed in 1962 by Manfred and Mike Hugg who played drums and vibes after a summer season at Butlin’s Clacton where they had been playing in the same dance band. It was at this time that the two founder members began to be noticed by Coventry youth as there was a party of local lads and lassies at the camp at that time.

The boys formed a modern jazz combo which provided rewards neither financial nor artistic, shrugged Manfred. We became steadily more disenchanted with the scene. It wasn’t just that there was little money to be made, but wherever the band played it was always in competition with audience conversation.

‘They didn’t participate. But gradually we drifted into rhythm and blues where we found that the audience were participating in something-alive. In a way rhythm and blues is the music of today – it is modern folk music, inasmuch as modern folk dig it’. At this point Manfred broke off to stroke his long hair away from his eyes.

‘Our idea is to play rhythm and blues, but not as most people think it should be played, as an imitation of an American sound. We want to create some sounds which are different and original to us. Our interest is not short term and we feel that turning out our own material will pay us in the long run’.

Originally known as the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers the group change their name just before their first disc ‘Why Should We Not’ was released.

Explained Manfred ‘when we started recording it was impressed upon us that we were using a name that was not commercial. I agreed to the new one on the understanding that it refers to us all. We work as a team and I don’t want to be singled out for special attention’.

The full line up of this interesting group with the interesting sound that is soon to rebound from the ceilings of the Matrix Hall, Coventry is Mike Hugg drums and vibes, Manfred Mann piano and organ, Paul Jones singer, Tom McGuiness bass and Mike Vickers alto sax, guitar and flute. "

Incredibly today’s Manfred’s still contain at their core, three members of the band from those early days, namely Hugg, Jones and McGuinness. In fact, when the band reconvened for Tom’s 50th birthday during 1991, Mike Vickers was also a part of it all. The current band also features vocalist Mike d’abo who was successor to Paul Jones when Paul left the band during 1966 to begin a solo career. And together The Manfred’s set is generally made up of songs from the entire Manfred Mann spectrum along with a few surprises.

Porcupine Tree – Live, where it began

Porcupine Tree – Live, where it began

By Pete Clemons

I couldn’t just let this pass. But the 4 December 2018 marked exactly 25 years since the first ever Porcupine Tree gig at the Nags Head, High Wycombe in 1993.

And what a journey it has been for Steven Wilson ever since. To get to the position of being a musician, simply creating music from his bedroom, to an internationally acclaimed artist has not been easy. The fact is that it has been far from an easy ride. There has been an incredible amount of hard work, commitment and an awful lot of self-sacrifice along the way.

Additionally, Steven is at the forefront of giving the listener as complete an aural experience as possible. From the artwork of an album right down to its final production and mastering. Steven oversees the whole thing. He is also seen as a leading light in the field of state of the art recording techniques. Which is where Steven’s real passion lies.

As far as Porcupine Tree, being a live band were concerned, questions were being asked a couple of years prior to that first gig as to whether Steven’s ‘bedroom’ project would ever be heard by a wider audience. It wasn’t as though Steven had not already had experience on the road. He had, through his ‘other band’ No-Man. But by the time of those first gigs, Porcupine Tree had already had a couple of albums released. Those had been through their independent label, Delerium Records who, it must be said, deserve a lot of credit for getting the band heard during those early days.

Even in a news update from mid-1993, when asked about playing Porcupine Tree music live, Steven mentioned that he was no nearer having a live band than he had been at the previous update. He continued that, he had hoped to do a few gigs to promote the release of ‘Up the Downstair’ but the whole project just didn’t justify the expense of touring yet.

Suddenly, during October 1993, a news update was released that was a lot more up-beat about the whole live thing. It read ‘To promote the imminent re-release of Voyage 34 (Nov 29), I’m doing some gigs. This is a bit of an experiment and we are only doing three to start with, just in case it’s a total disaster’. These will be at High Wycombe, Nags Head on Dec 4, London Borderline on Dec 7, Coventry Tic Toc on Dec 11 (although by the time of the gig the venue had been renamed Antics).

The news update also mentioned that Porcupine Tree were doing a radio one session on December 6 for the Marc Radcliffe show. The band, who would be accompanying Steven, was also announced. Steven Wilson on vocals and guitar, Colin Edwin on bass, Richard Barbieri on keyboards (who both played on ‘Up the Downstair’) and Chris Maitland (from NO-MAN’s live band) on drums.

Surprisingly that first gig, held in an upstairs period styled room that I remember contained a lot of old timber, sold out as it drew in people from far and wide. From memory it was, understandably, a slightly nervy but very competent debut. I cannot think of very much interaction between band and audience. A couple of the musicians were laughing and joking before the gig but as soon as the first notes of V34 were released they all came across as highly committed to the task in hand. For what it’s worth, I did come away feeling hugely impressed. For me, that live debut at The Nags Head came across as a complete success. The gig in Coventry on the following Saturday was an altogether different affair. But what did the band think about it all?

An update received during the early part of 1994 mentioned that Steven had been happy with the way that the PT shows had gone. Changes had been made of a consequence of finding that certain pieces had not worked in a live context (‘Fadeaway’ for example) and others had been introduced to replace them. At present Porcupine Tree are doing several shows in Europe, where a lot of interest had been shown.

Toward the end of 1994 things were gathering momentum as half a dozen UK gigs were announced. One being at the Old Trout in Windsor on November 9 which I managed to get to. News of these events came with a couple of cautionary lines. One being how it had been difficult getting decent gigs in the UK. The other was whether or not the ‘professionals’ would recognise the quality and appeal of the music.

Remember, all this was happening at a time when Britpop was taking the country by storm. And the kind of music which Steven was creating, was very much a part of the underground. Plus, the internet was very much in its infancy. So, getting the word out there was still very much hand to mouth. How times have changed over the last quarter of a century.

After more than 700 gigs, culminating with a gig at the Royal Albert Hall, 10 studio albums and several live releases Steven pressed the pause button on Porcupine Tree as he concentrated on his solo career where he went on to become the biggest selling artist for the K.Scope label. And still, to many, the music of Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson is still to be discovered.

Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock

Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock

by Pete Clemons

The Woodstock festival held during August 1969 is remembered for so many things. Not least of all for the fact that it produced so many memorable performances. And this, in turn, gave greater rise to so many of the bands and artists who featured in it.

Of course , over here in the UK, the vast majority of music listeners only had the film and the triple LP record set to judge it all by. But some of the most talked about tracks from the album were those by Jimi Hendrix. Of course, what you hear on vinyl, or on celluloid, was only part of a greater performance and of an even stranger and remarkable story.

Earlier, during 1969, Jimi had seemingly wanted to expand the band and explore new options. And this led to Noel Redding leaving the successful Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Several accounts exist over the exact circumstances of Noel Redding’s departure during June 69. Noel Redding, according to an interview, claimed that he had heard, via a third party, on the morning of a festival in Denver that Jimi had wanted to expand the band. Noel also mentioned that after the gig in Denver tear gas was used on the crowd, who were trying to get onto the stage. But, he explained, the wind was blowing into the direction of the stage. After the gig the band were hustled into a van. Suddenly, crowds were all over the van, even on the roof of it, and it began to buckle. Noel simply couldn’t handle it anymore and quit. Witnesses at that same gig claimed that Jimi also announced on stage that this was to be the last ever gig by the Experience. Either way, the original Jimi Hendrix Experience was finished.

With the Woodstock festival looming it was clear that Jimi’s new band had to be put together hastily. Bass player Billy Cox was an old friend for example. Guitarist Larry Lee, another old friend of Jimi’s, then got a call from Billy Cox. Jimi had given Billy the job of tracking down Larry.

Larry Lee hadn’t heard from Billy, who happened to be sat next to Jimi, in years. All this was just a couple of weeks before the gig. They encouraged Larry to join them where they were jamming. This was now ten days before the Woodstock gig itself. The rest of the line-up featured Mitch Mitchell drums, Juma Sultan percussion and congas, Jerry Velez congas.

There then began, apparently, a battle between those who only had commercial interests at heart and who wanted Jimi to continue with money making music of the Experience, and Jimi himself with his artistic ambitions and visions. But for artists, money is not always the prime motivator. Sometimes they need to grow.

For Woodstock, Jimi was down as the headline act. Well actually that’s not strictly true. Festival organiser Michael Lang had actually wanted his childhood hero, western movie star Roy Rogers, to close the show. He wanted Rogers to play a song called Happy Trails which had been used for the TV cowboy programme ‘The Roy Rogers Show’. But Rogers turned down the offer.

The Woodstock festival, notoriously, ran incredibly late. Rain on the Sunday being one of the issues. So late in fact that Jimi didn’t get on stage until 8:30/9am on the Monday morning of the 18 August. Knowing that the whole festival weekend was suffering with timing issues, organiser Michael Land did actually give Hendrix the opportunity of performing earlier at a time where he could take maximum exposure. But Hendrix refused and stuck with the original schedule. However, despite a dwindling crowd there was still a substantial audience to play for.

Having followed Sha-Na-Na on stage Jimi’s band were introduced onto the stage as The Experience although when you check anywhere they seem to be credited as ‘Gypsy Suns and Rainbows’. However, during Voodoo Chile where Jimi introduces the band, he is clearly heard explaining that is their first gig and to call them the ‘Southern Rainbows, but you can call us the Band of Gypsies’. They played uninterrupted for almost 2 hours. You would never have known that this new line up had hardly performed together.

Jimi was a prolific jammer and spent many hours in the studio. This was true particularly after the break-up of the Experience. The core of the Woodstock band was with him through this period as well as drummer Buddy Miles. A lot of Jimi’s gigs were also recorded. And this is why there was so much material, of varying quality, being made available over the years since Jimi’s death. And, of course this brought with it, all the usual questioning of motives behind each release.

Two Whole Quails

Two Whole Quails

by Pete Clemons

A Coventry band that has fascinated me for a while now is ‘Two Whole Quails’. Put very simply, ‘Two Whole Quails - namely Lee and Chris - produce original soundtracks that overlay, to me at least, obscure films. On the occasions I have witnessed ‘Two Whole Quails’ I have found the combined package of film and music score to be incredibly exciting and rather absorbing. Additionally, this whole project is beginning to get noticed as performances are springing up away from the city.

Wanting to know a bit more about the band history and ambitions, I contacted Lee and he kindly replied with the following fascinating overview:

‘We've been playing together, on and off, for nearly 25 years. This has been in several different bands and we've regularly recorded stuff together - for our own amusement- over the years. We became ‘The Quails’ in 2009 & recorded ‘Floyd On Quails’, a CDR that we gave away a few copies of too friends. We made some more recordings in 2010 but these were shelved as ‘The Quails’ were put on ice to make way for our next band, ‘Auntie Greville's Perforated Anvil’ (AGPA). ‘The Quails’ didn't use film, but we were keen on using spoken word, making musical / soundscape backdrops. One track, ‘A Quail’, uses excerpts from an interview with David Hockney; whilst ‘Who Is 'They'?’ features highlights from a Q&A with Hunter S. Thompson. (We have performed an entire set backing Hunter S. Thompson!).

AGPA was where the film thing was born really. We had the idea of making videos to go with each of the numbers in the set & projecting these (along with a couple of screens for oils). We were into grainy, lo-fi, low- res mobile phone footage and made our own films to accompany each of the numbers in the set. For one number, we used a section from a 1924 silent film called ‘Greed’ which, I guess, was our first foray into scoring silent films. In AGPA, the music came first, and the films were made afterwards.

AGPA dissolved & in 2013 we returned to ‘The Quails’, becoming ‘Two Whole Quails’ as we found that 4 other bands called The Quails! We decided to write a score for a silent film. Although not strictly 'silent', Jan Svankmajer's ‘Alice’ was chosen. I'd seen it a year or two before and my wife suggested it when we began to search for films. It took about 12 months to write. We split the film into sections and wrote the music independently of one another. We would meet up each week and play one another the sections we'd worked on until we had the whole thing recorded. We then went back and spent 6 months learning how to play the whole thing together and turn it into a piece suitable for live performance. We were keen for people to watch the film, not the 'band' - the idea being that we fade into the background, there to supplement the images on screen.

We've performed ‘Alice’ in its entirety several times but it weighs in at >80mins so we quickly realised that we needed a more versatile 'set'. We looked at reviving ‘Greed’ and this eventually led to our finding our way to lesser known early 20th century surrealist cinema.

With Maya Deren's ‘Meshes of the Afternoon’, we wrote the whole score together. It's one of our most improvised soundtracks and was written to the film. This is by far our most popular film / score - we're about to hit 100,000 watches on You Tube!

We tend to work on the music together, taking cues from the film as our starting point - what the visual image 'sounds' like. It will usually be that one of us gets a particular idea - either at the time or in-between rehearsals - and we take that on then go from there. As the process goes on, the soundtrack becomes more tightly locked into the film. Sometimes we work on pieces individually, but we tend to refine them together. There is a lot of improvisation in our performances. These improvisations are structured by responding to the film. These eventually form the basis of the soundtrack & we end up with a series of pieces, each of which is triggered by certain visual cues.

Where we make our own films, the process is different again. With ‘Radio New World’, we started with the narrative. This is our friend's story about broadcasting his own pirate radio station from his parents' garden shed in the 1960s. We got him into the studio to tell his tell his tale then put the story to music. The film came last & illustrates the narrative. With our new work in progress, ‘The Chancellor's Dinner’, the music came first. We had to come up with something very quickly for an event that Coventry University had booked us for at the Herbert Art Gallery - the Chancellor's 175th Annual Dinner! This 20-minute piece came out of nowhere and is completely improvised. We have performed it twice without film & we are currently working on a film comprised largely of footage of meals / food that people have sent us.

We are also putting the finishing touches to a soundtrack we were commissioned to write by German author / director, Daniel Hadrovic. The film is called ‘Tote Mich Noch Einmal’ (‘Kill Me Again’). It's scheduled for release Autumn 2019 and will be screened at film festivals in Germany and hopefully in the UK. There may be a small DVD release too. We've yet to see any part of the film and the score has been written to Daniel's extremely brief brief! It will be interesting to see how this turns out and how he edits the music to the film. We have another early 20th century surrealist film that we've 'mapped out' ready to start work on before Christmas and we are looking forward to performing ‘The Chancellor's Dinner’ - with film - early in 2019’.

Huge thanks to Lee for his concise reply. This project is no doubt a labour of love. But it certainly has legs. What ‘Two Whole Quails’ are creating right now is, I think, unique and particularly exciting. I would certainly recommend the ‘TWQ experience to anyone who is remotely interested in vintage footage and musical soundtracks.

Quadrophenia

Quadrophenia

by Pete Clemons

45 years ago saw, in my opinion, the release of one of the finest concept albums ever. It was titled ‘Quadrophenia’ and it was by rock band The Who. Thinking back to when the album was released I remember it was a lavish affair across two LP records with the gatefold sleeve that came complete with a black and white booklet set within it.

At the time of Quadrophenia’s release the UK was in turmoil. We had gas and electricity shortages and everyone seemed to be on a 3 day week. The Who was amongst a plethora of bands that managed to make things, for the youth at least, that little bit more enjoyable. And maybe the dank and grey artwork, used on the albums sleeve, was deliberate to reflect those times.

After the release of the Tommy album, things went relatively quiet for The Who. And this trend continued during the first few years of the 1970s. The individual musicians within the band began to release solo albums or feature in films. Admittedly, The Who did release one of their finest albums ‘Who’s Next’ during this period. But ‘Who’s Next’ had been made up of songs mainly created for a science fiction fantasy project called ‘Lifehouse’ that, disappointingly, hit the buffers and was aborted.

Quadrophenia is the story based around a disillusioned ‘Mod’ called Jimmy. Jimmy is a working class youth who struggles with life. But Jimmy has never moved on with the times and he lived in the past. He created a standard of living for himself as influenced by what he enjoys to hear but has difficulties with those who do not see life in the way he does.

But the character of Jimmy is way deeper than the one portrayed on the record. Jimmy was formed on how guitarist and writer, Pete Townshend, saw the four very different personalities within The Who at that time. Drummer Keith Moon was wild and unpredictable. Bass player John Entwistle was himself, a song writer and was unhappy at his own overall contribution to the band. Roger Daltrey wanted something where he uses his powerful vocal and was able to shake his, then, long hair on the stage.

And, combined, these four individuals came together in Pete’s mind to create Jimmy. To add to Jimmy’s problems he was also bipolar or schizophrenic. But for the purposes of the album, and with the four personalities in mind, Jimmy was quadrophenic. Meanwhile, during the writing of Quadrophenia, Pete Townshend was having his own issues with his perceived failure to deliver on his failed ‘Lifehouse’ project.

During this period of self-doubt, after ‘Lifehouse’, Pete Townshend would have a flashback during 1972, to when he was 19, and a particular gig in Brighton where, afterwards, the band had missed their train back to London and spent the night under Brighton Pier. During this flashback Pete reached for his notebook and scribbled out the story. Pete’s notes were reprinted and are what you can see in the front inside cover of the booklet that came with the original double LP.

1972 was also a turbulent time for The Who, who themselves, had many issues to contend with. It is not unfair to say that The Who was close to splitting up. Things were not helped by the fact that Pete Townshend had to take over production duties at a critical time in the recording process. And one infamous incident, for example, came about during a rehearsal for the album.

The whole album was initially presented as a demo presented by Pete Townshend to the rest of the band. And during its recording Roger would become impatient. He just wanted to get on with it while the rest were larking about. Roger was fairly grounded kind of guy, while Pete was a complicated character and this all came to a head in the studio. This had been going on for years and just seemed to come to the boil. Pete swung his guitar in the direction of Roger, giving him a glancing blow to his shoulder. In retaliation Roger waded in and thumped Pete. Many bands would have folded but it was possibly this creative dynamic that saved them.

A taster track for what was to come, 5:15, was released as a single a month before the album was released. The song captures Jimmy going back to Brighton to try to find what he had lost within himself. On 5:15 a train’s whistle can be heard and throughout the album sounds can be heard such as those of rolling waves. Strings were also used to enhance the songs.

The opening track on the album ‘The Real Me’, is the essence of the story where each of the four personalities of The Who are featured and sets the scene for the rest of the album. Jimmy goes in search of help for his issues.

The distance of what The Who was, back in 1964, and what they had become is captured in the album. Jimmy happens to pass The Who as they were leaving Hammersmith Odeon following a gig. They went straight into a flash car and Jimmy was devastated. This was not The Who he remembered. Another example of the change over time is when Jimmy meets up again with the ‘Ace Face’ from his scootering days. The ‘ace’ has now settled down and is now working as a bell boy in a hotel. 

The Who, by 1973, was the complete antithesis of what they had been ten years previously, and Pete Townshend wanted to demonstrate this within the album. Drowned, has Jimmy beginning to realise this and to start to get a grip on himself - ‘let me get back to the beginning’.

The end of the record concludes with the magnificent ‘Love Reign Over Me’ where eventually Jimmy finally finds himself –. According to Pete Townshend ‘Love Reign’ is a spiritual prayer to nothing and everything. The end of Jimmy’s story is ambiguous however. Whatever happens is in the hands of, you, the listener.

As a whole I think that Quadrophenia, is not so much a huge social statement as such, but instead, captures a series of observations and how serious we interact when we hear our favourite artists.

Toward the end of the 1970s Quadrophenia was given a whole new lease of life when it was turned into a film that starred Phil Daniels. It was an enjoyable film but, for me, the drama of it changed the whole emphasis of the original plot as it concentrated more on the social aspect of life in the mid-1960s. Additionally the film’s release kicked off a whole new ‘Mod’ scene. Even today you don’t have to wait too long before finding a Quadrophenia themed night being advertised. 

Jeff Beck by Pete Clemons

Jeff Beck

by Pete Clemons

Like most youngsters born before the 1960s Jeff Beck grew up with the radio. It was one of the few forms of entertainment and music was all important. Jeff was attracted to the guitar from an early age and he would love to analyse the sound. He has also cited the film ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’ and the sounds of Les Paul and Mary Ford as being early influences.

At around the age of 14 Jeff’s sister gave him the phone number of someone whom she thought was a like-minded individual, as they had both built their own homemade guitars. That phone call led to Jeff meeting Jimmy Page at Jimmy’s parents’ house. The pair clicked instantly listening intently to guitar solos on the music of the 1950s. This was the beginning for Jeff as he began searching for that innovative sound.

After leaving school Jeff became an art student at Wimbledon College. At the same time he was gigging in various bands. Jeff loved art school but the music took over.

The Yardbirds had been searching for a new guitarist. It wasn’t that their current guitarist, Eric Clapton, was not good enough. It was that they were after a new direction and looking for a hit record. And it was through Jimmy Page, who had been approached first, that Jeff hooked up with The Yardbirds during early 1965. In fact Eric Clapton went to check Jeff out, who was then playing with his band The Tridents, to ensure they were getting the right man.

At around the same time Jeff and Jimmy had become inspired by Indian music. They were listening intently to a lot of the Ragas of Ravi Shankar. Jeff was convinced he could interpret a version of the sound on his guitar.

Beck’s ‘sitar’ like sound that he got out of his guitar helped transform The Yardbirds and achieve the chart success they desired. Within a month of joining the band Jeff was touring America.

With the money that he earned Jeff invested in a 1963 Corvette. You see, Jeff Beck’s other interest was cars.

After less than two years however Jeff Beck was fired by The Yardbirds. The way Jeff explains it is that the band had been added to a package tour called the ‘Caravan of Stars’. It was an odd tour as it meant a lot of travel and The Yardbirds had a 15 minute slot where they got to play 2 or 3 songs. This was not what Jeff wanted and simply walked away and returned home after 2 gigs.

Jeff Beck was now, in his own words ‘free to dream again’ and back in the U.K. Jeff set about forming his own band.

To begin his quest Jeff visited the Cromwellian Club in London. It was a meeting place for musicians. This particular night it was unusually quiet. In fact the only other person in there was an out of work singer called Rod Stewart. They got chatting and during the conversation Rod mentioned Ronnie Wood. Jeff knew of Ronnie as they had met in Sheffield when Ronnie was touring with his own band The Birds and Jeff with The Yardbirds.

The first year or so saw a succession of musicians joining and leaving the core trio of the new Jeff Beck Group. They also found themselves under the guidance of producer Mickie Most. It was a real miss-match as Mickie was trying to steer the band in the direction of chart success. Jeff loved Rod Stewarts voice and specifically asked for Rod to sing on the hit single ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’. But Mickie didn’t care for it and this was evident during the singles recording. Jeff likened the ‘Hi Ho’ period to wearing a pink frock in Oxford Street. It had all been too uncomfortable for him.

Eventually though the Jeff Beck Group settled with Nick Hopkins on piano and Micky Waller on drums. A gruelling tour of America followed and they were getting rave reviews. It was reported heavily, for example after a gig at Fillmore West, that the band had blown away headline bands such as the Grateful Dead.

Back in the U.K. the band recorded the ground breaking ‘Truth’ album which was released during 1968. Needless to say that ‘Hi Ho’ never made though its B side, the magnificent ‘Becks Bolero’ - actually recorded in 1966 - did. Rock music had not heard anything like this before. Several more U.S. tours followed along with a second album ‘Beck-Ola’ released in 1969. But it was also being reported that a rift had developed within the band. Days before the band were due to fly out for a scheduled slot at the Woodstock Festival, Jeff disappeared and the band disintegrated. During a recent documentary Jeff was still convinced it was the right thing to do. And reluctantly Rod Stewart agreed.

By the end of 1969 Jeff Beck was back at his Mother’s house. Another film that had inspired him as a youngster was called ‘Hot Rod Gang’. Jeff still has a vivid memory of a particular scene showing 2 hot rods, one on either side of the road, with their wheels up on the kerb stones. While Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood were joining up with rock band, The Faces, Jeff lost himself in his cars.

That was until early 1971 when Jeff resurfaced with an all new Jeff Beck Group featuring Max Middleton on piano, Cozy Powell on drums, bass player Clive Chaman and vocalist Alex Ligertwood. By the time this new band recorded the ‘Rough and Ready’ album Ligertwood had been replaced by Bobby Tench. A second album, affectionately known as the Orange album, kind of kicked off from where the previous ones had finished. Although, the albums final track called ‘Definitely Maybe’ kind of set the scene for future and more instrumental, Jeff Beck albums.

Before that though, Jeff had met up with Stevie Wonder when he had been offered some studio work. A collaboration between the pair led to the single ‘Superstition’ written by Stevie but Jeff played on. Jeff then formed the short lived Beck, Bogert and Appice with bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice. And this power trio included a heavy version of ‘Superstition’ on their only album release. A writing block apparently prevented this trio developing further.

After this venture Jeff retreated to his workshop once more. He remembers that on one occasion while working on a car he had the radio on and heard this instrumental. It was Miles Davis and John McLaughlin performing on the Jack Johnson tribute album. Immediately a door opened within his mind to a host of new ideas that would lead to the million selling ‘Blow by Blow’ album. The album contained tracks from his association with Stevie Wonder along with collaborations with Max Middleton who Jeff had once again teamed up with and between them came up with tunes like ‘Scatterbrain’. Produced by George Martin the instrumental ‘Blow by Blow’ was an altogether, more jazzier album, and it was clear to hear that new avenues were opening up.

During this time Jeff would see the Mahavishnu Orchestra play live and get to meet up with them. He immediately bonded with the bands keyboard player Jan Hammer. With George Martin unavailable, Jan agreed to help complete Jeff’s next album ‘Wired’. In fact they paired up for one of the albums highlights ‘Blue Wind’. The amazing relationship between Jeff and Jan would continue until the beginning of the 1980s.

The 1980s were was a time that felt alien to Jeff. He has mentioned that it was a push button time, uninspiring and no place for him. So for the majority of that time he was either building cars or guesting on other artist’s album. That said, during the middle of that decade he released an album title ‘Flash’ that seemed to draw on all his previous experiences. And it saw a reunion with Rod Stewart. ‘Flash’ also earned Jeff his first Grammy award.

Another relative period of quiet followed. That was until, out of the blue, he received a picture that would adorn his next album. Jeff took one look at it and thought ‘they hit the bull’s eye - that is me’. Inspired by the painting Jeff set about forming another power trio. This time however, there would be no bass. Its replacement would be keyboards. Together with Tony Hymas, who had worked on ‘Flash’ and Terry Bozzio they created the classic powerhouse album ‘Guitar Shop’ that was chock full of aggression, melody and attack. Released in 1989, ‘Guitar Shop’ earned Jeff his second Grammy award.

Despite gossip to the contrary, whenever I have seen Jeff live or giving interviews on TV, he always seems to come across as a humble kind of guy who simply wants to follow his own path. He has been described as a maverick, a risk taker, he is exciting, and he is out there. And he will say no if he is not happy. Also, and I think most importantly, he doesn’t appear to give a monkeys about the trappings of success.

Yes he has had his moments. George Martin, for example, recalled a time when he witnessed Jeff throw his guitar across the studio in total rage. But don’t we all have our moments? A recent interview showed him totally grateful that he has had been given the chance to have appeared at places as revered and diverse as The Hollywood Bowl and Ronnie Scott’s club.

Nowadays Jeff is, in the main, reflective. He has gone out with band’s that includes singers such as Imelda May, Joss Stone and Beth Hart. The occasional new album is released, Jeff even went right back to his early influences recently, and still finds great success with them. And he even seems to be at peace with ‘Hi Ho Silver Lining’ – well, the fact that it has given so many people a lot of pleasure. As for Rod Stewart, well he has stated that he has not given up hope of ever performing with Jeff again.

Folk Fights Back - Coventry's CVfolk Inaugural Live Event in bid for City of Culture Status.

Folk Fights Back - Coventry's CVfolk Inaugural Live Event in bid for City of Culture Status.

At a time when young Teesside folk acts like Megson, Cattle and Cane, The Younguns are reinventing what folk music can be, filling venues around the country, and getting write ups in the Guardian and Independent, the Coventry folkscene is fighting back and celebrating its own historic and dynamic folk culture that has attracted the likes of Joe O'Donnell, Dave Swarbrick and many others to the City and boasts a range of singer songwriters giggling around the country. With Selecter star Pauline Black as patron, Pete Willow is working hard to put Coventry folk on the map!

Pete Clemons reports from CVfolks inaugural Live event..

Coventry singer Songwriter Kristy Gallacher

Folk music does seem to get a raw deal in the CV area. It has been all but forgotten about by most of the local media outlets. Despite several attempts to get coverage revived, they simply just don’t seem to want to know. It does all smack of being a bit un-cultural like, in my opinion.

So rather than sit around and dwell about it, and in true tradition of the genre, it has taken things into its own hands and began to fight back. A group of big hitters within the scene have set up an organisation called CVFolk with the aim of ‘Promoting Folk Music and Dance in Coventry, the 2021 UK City of Culture’.

Taken from their website ‘CVFolk is a campaign to provide resources and co-ordinated events for folk music and dance in and around the CV postcode area. It encompasses two strands: Legacy and vision’.

And those aims were fully realised at CVFolk’s inaugural live event set in the foyer of the Albany Theatre on Sunday 14th October.

The message I took away from this particular session was that the format will combine the traditional folk scene with the more modern singer songwriters. Enforcing that point, the line-up for the event was The Willow and Tool Band, Poachers Pocket, Kristy Gallacher and Rob Halligan. Shoehorned in between the first and second halves we were even treated to a few minutes of clog dancing.

Rob Halligan and Kristy Gallacher are no strangers. They once recorded a song together for the 2004 Tsunami disaster in Asia that cracked the top 20 indie charts which raised in excess of 13k for the fund. For this evenings session they shared the top billing by alternating with each other. Each tune they played was accompanied by some background information about how the song was arrived at. Kristy’s set included the heartfelt Spinning Plates, Plan B and Fending off the Frost while Rob powerfully performed Hold You Tonight and Wild Horses.

‘Music has the power to tell stories in a way that connects with people’ says Rob on his website. And that is so very true. Rob, for example, mentioned the fact he is originally from Worthing. And a couple of the songs he played were based on his experiences of his time there.

One of those songs was called Dancing with Seagulls. And the lyrics were so vivid. They recalled how, as a youngster, he would visit the beach and terrorise the flocks of snoozing seagulls by running straight through them scattering them into the air. This immediately took me back a few weeks to the balmy summer and when we took our grandson to the seaside. I was like a Cheshire cat as I recalled how he had found it great fun doing the very same thing. Not so sure the seagulls appreciated it though. Similarly, when Kristy sang the incredibly touching and sensitive Beautiful Bouquet, this also found resonance with me. I actually found myself misting up as it transported me back to a whole different time and place. Trust me, not only are these songs so very very good, they are also very powerful.

Despite one or two technical issues with guitar leads, the whole event flowed fairly seamlessly. And given that the event was staged in the in the Albany’s new Studio Theatre, and not the main theatre, the sound inside the venue was surprisingly impressive too. 

In a closing statement, patron of this campaign Pauline Black, summed things up perfectly when she reminded us of her own humble roots as a folk singer at the Dyers Arms, some 100 yards from this venue, and how that played an important and vital role in the development of her craft. 

Click to read about Pauline Black's background with Coventry folk clubs. https://coventryfolkclubs.blogspot.com/2013/04/pauline-black-on-coventry-folk-scene.html

Further installments of this venture will take place once a month, with the next live event scheduled for November 11th when Rosie Hood will headline. More details can be found on the link below……….. 

NB Apologies to Loz of the Albany, Pete originally said the event was in the Foyer but was actually in the Albany’s new Studio Theatre, mistake corrected now in the text. Trev (Admin).

Visit CVfolk's website
http://www.cvfolk.com/

Coventry Singer Songwriter Rob Halligan

CV Folk Patron Pauline Black

Pete Willow and Pete Tool

Joe O'donnell's Shkayla 

Lady Baby Gypsy Queen - Rod Felton from Rod Felton - Singer Songwriter on Vimeo.

The Sorrows 1965

The Sorrows 1965

by Pete Clemons

The recent loss of bass player, and founder member of Coventry band The Sorrows, Phil Packham, has had me delving into the bands fascinating past. Phil himself was incredibly proud of his achievements. And rightly so as The Sorrows hold the distinction of having had the first LP release by a Coventry band. The album, titled ‘Take a Heart’, contained the hit single of the same name along with earlier singles along with other original tunes and was released toward the end of 1965. Make no mistake, this was seen as a big deal at that time.

It had been a complete turnaround in fortunes for The Sorrows. Weeks before the album’s release it looked all over for the band due to legal rifts being dragged out. Their debut 45 ‘I Don’t Wanna be Free’ had been reported as lacking originality. It really was touch and go for the band. ‘We were fed up and began to doubt if we would ever make it’ said the bands lead singer Don Maughn (later Fardon) at the time.

But then, after the low key release of the single ‘Baby’, ‘Take a Heart’ was released. In the UK, advance sales of 15,000 copies made it a chart certainty. And so it happened as the record almost cracked the top 20.

The follow up to the ‘Take a Heart’ 45, ‘You’ve Got What I Want’, totaled 10,000 plus in advanced sales. This was sufficient for it to get a top 50 placing. The Sorrows were convinced that it would be more successful than ‘Take a Heart’ which was, later on in 1965, released in the U.S. and thirteen other countries.

During the week of the L.P. release lead singer, Don Maughan, gave a frank an honest interview about each track on the record, giving some surprising and forthright comments. As a point of interest, that same week the ‘Take a Heart’ LP was released the single of the same name reached number 2 in Japan and number 4 in Poland.

Here are some of the comments from Don’s interview:

Baby: Don said ‘I still like this one a lot. People say to me that Baby is better than Take a Heart. You see what the right plugs can do. Baby was equally ambitious but the plugs weren’t there and it failed to get off the ground’.

No No No No: Don said ‘Pip Whitcher our lead guitarist and I wrote this one. We've now got our own music publishing firm you know. It’s called PipDon’.

Take A Heart: Don groaned ‘Take it off, this bores me now. But don’t get me wrong. This has enabled us to put down the deposits on nice houses of our own. I'm bored of it now, but very grateful’.

She’s Got the Action: Don laughs ‘Miki Dallon, who wrote our hits, penned this one. But it’s known as a filler, just thrown in to fill the L.P. up. Honestly, it is really shocking. Sounds as if we made it up as we went along’.

How Love Used to Be: ‘This is an unusual quieter side to The Sorrows’ says Don. ‘It’s different to our usual belters. Restrained, even gentle. At first I had my doubts but now I feel very pleased with this. That odd guitar sound is Pip and Wes (Price) playing in very close combination. At first I wanted to have strings and things behind us on this but John Schroeder, our recording boss, said no’.

Teenage Letter: Strangely there were no comments against this.

Side two begins with I Don’t Wanna be Free – The Sorrows first disc: ‘This sounds dated now and lacks originality. Too like The Kinks’ says Don. At first I liked it but now I don’t blame people for not buying it’.

Don’t Sing Me No Sad Songs: ‘This is very unusual for The Sorrows, the most surprising track on the album. It is on the controversial Bob Dylan kick with folksy half sung, half spoken vocalising’.

Caralin: ‘This drum dominated track is the cover of an American hit by The Strangeloves. I am pleased with this one too. Nice recording quality on the drums. Without being big headed I think it is as good, if not better, than the American original’.

We Should Get Along Fine: ‘Pip and I wrote this. Okay at first, it drags now’.

Come With Me: ‘Another we wrote ourselves. That imitation of Donald Duck is by bass player Phil Packham. It is the best part of the track. It was the ‘B’ side of our first single and really sounds like a ‘B’ side too’.

Let Me In: ‘There is a row over this one’ says Don. ‘It is the best number on the L.P. but we all reckon John Schroeder has wrecked it by over recording. It sounds like a hundred guitars all playing at once. We were going to make this a single until we heard the recording quality. A great pity because the number itself is very strong’.

Don and Phil both left The Sorrows during 1966 and a whole new chapter began for the band that in itself was fruitful. Thanks for the memories guys.

More articles on The Sorrows by Pete Clemons on this blog - 

The Sorrows Reform (including a history of the band)

Don Fardon - From the Sorrows to Indian Reservation

The story of Coventry's only Grammy winning musician and record producer - Roger Lomas. 

Dissolution - The Pineapple Thief

Dissolution - The Pineapple Thief 

by Pete Clemons

‘Writing is in full swing for the new The Pineapple Thief record here at Soord Studios. Today I’m using this lovely (and pretty rare!) baritone Telecaster. And no I didn’t buy it. Thank you Godsticks for letting me steal it.’

‘I'm back from my 6 months of self-imposed exile while writing and recording the new The Pineapple Thief album. It's been an absolute mammoth undertaking for all of us and I for one can't wait for you all to hear it. In the meantime, I've just a few teeny tiny tweaks to make before handing over the concoction to Steve (Kitch) for mastering.’

These were just some of the messages that were appearing on social media, earlier this year, from the writing and recording process for what became The Pineapple Thief’s latest album ‘Dissolution’.

When he began to surface I took the opportunity of asking Bruce how recording was going and if there had been any major changes in approach from the last album. He replied: ‘no nothing different to ‘Your Wilderness’. Although this time we were sharing ideas and developing songs. So Gavin would try things on drums, then I would take what he did and try things in my studio. And we'd all keep sharing ideas and chatting online as the album progressed. It got quite intense at times, but in a good way!’

‘The band recorded Dissolution across the UK, sharing ideas via instant messaging’ was another message I picked up on via the web site belonging to The Pineapple Thief’s record label ‘K.Scope’.

And here is where the irony begins as guitarist and primary songwriter, Bruce Soord, freely admits. The album was created with modern technology and the heavy use of social media yet the overriding theme of ‘Dissolution’ stands as a warning as to how we use it.

On early listens ‘Dissolution’, I think, comes across as not as ‘edgy’ an album than more recent releases by The Pineapple Thief have been. However after multiple plays of it you discover that the beauty and the edginess is in its detail. ‘Dissolution’ is very subtle and far more dynamic than anything I have heard from The Pineapple Thief before. The music may not be as incisive but the messages contained within it are, for me, incredibly powerful and thought provoking. Gavin Harrison is very evident on the record. He is credited as having contributed on almost every song. One of the rare times when, I think I am correct in saying, where Bruce Soord has not been referenced as the sole writer.

The Pineapple Thief’s music is a journey of evolution as they continue to explore new territory. And they have certainly traveled some distance from their early records. As mentioned, the subject matter this time around is the internet, social media and our use of it. I have shamelessly cut and pasted the following paragraph from an interview Bruce Soord gave recently. It gives great insight as to what motivated him to write the album and where the ideas came from……….

Thematically, Pineapple Thief albums have been quite similar in that I’m always writing about the human psyche in the context of this society that I’ve grown up in, and in the changing society that I’m growing up in. And it’s really, really changed so much over the last five years, maybe even the last two years, the sort of technological revolution that we’ve lived through. And I think that when history looks back on this time and reassesses what we were doing, what we’re doing right and what we were doing wrong, I think that they will admit that a lot has gone wrong. It’s a bit like an addiction, you know, it’s a bit like a drug, like alcohol, or heroin or cocaine. Nobody really knows when it’s a problem because it’s so new. And it’s only now that big tech companies are talking about addiction, smartphone addictions and the mental health problems that children are growing up with. I mean, it certainly affected my mental health…I’m not saying that I’ve gone crazy or anything, but being connected to so many people, to so many things, to having access to so much information, so many opinions is just unnatural and exhausting. And as a musician, it goes one step further, because you are connected to all of your listeners. You get an insight into what they think about you, and some of these things are just horrible as well. Some of the lyrics on the record, the very first track, ‘Not Naming any Names’ is specifically about those people, the people that just want to weaponise social media and these connections and cause people harm. So as a musician growing up in these times, you’ve got to have a thick skin and if people want to do what we do and get your music out there, you’ve got to be prepared to take it. To understand that it’s a battleground out there in many ways. But yes, that’s what it is, that’s the theme that connects the entire record.

The band has just returned home after a successful tour of Europe. A few UK dates are to follow along with a return to Europe in 2019. I have also read America as being a possible destination. It has taken 20 years to get to this point, and, right now, and in among them all a little man is standing so very very tall.

From the Sun / Bitter Suite

From the Sun / Bitter Suite

by Pete Clemons

The reason for putting together these few words was to recognise and remember a couple of Coventry bands from the mid to late 1960s. In fact October 2nd marks 50 years from when one of them recorded. Information on these bands is understandably difficult come across given the passage of time. But there is one cutting from the archives of Colin Williams featuring ‘From the Sun’ and which I have faithfully reproduced.

‘After exiling itself for the past year a Coventry group – restyled with a new sound – is bouncing back into the city scene.

The five man group ‘From the Sun’ was formed toward the end of 1966 with a ‘soul’ base to its material. But Coventry has seen little of the group, which found itself a ready market for its talents in clubs and pubs all over the North.

About the nearest the five got to their Coventry homes was a fortnightly spot, since last Easter, at Chesford Grange. But that stay away plan is changing. On Saturday night the group appeared at the Walsgrave Inn, where the five are booked to appear again, with the Ray King Soul Band next Thursday.

Present line-up is singer Mick O’Rourke: organ Tony Warner: drums Rick Sparke: bass guitar Reg Sparke and lead guitar Colin Williams. And the three pictured above – at the Walsgrave – are Reg, Mick and Colin.

The group, which writes some of its own material, is switching to a new sound. Colin, who handles music arrangement, said: ‘We used to be a soul group. But now we’re trying out new material with a very free-form basis. It’s a sort of cross between blues and American west coast’.

Bitter Suite was a short lived Coventry band.


As lead guitarist Colin Williams recalls ‘I think we probably got together during the summer of '68, but never, as far as I can remember, did any gigs’.


But here is some information on "Bitter Suite" that I have managed to gather and put together.


The band recorded four tracks at Hollick & Taylor studios in Birmingham on 2nd October 1968. These were titled:


Wild Waters

The Cat

Evergreen Wood

Bride Of The Winds



Personnel on these recordings were:

Alan Payne on keyboards

Mick Keel on Bass Guitar

Kevin Connolly Drums

Colin Williams Guitar

--------------? Vocals



Afraid that the singers name remains a mystery. Nobody seems to remember his name only that he was from Birmingham, and sang with another lad previously, as a duo.


As for the other member of Bitter Suite, Mick Keel played bass in a number of Coventry bands, The Soul Express being one of them. Kevin Connoly played drums for The Chicanes and Alan Payne played for The Flamingoes. Colin Williams would go on to pay for Indian Summer.

....................

Additional material

From the Sun

Psychedelic group or rather blues and free form.

Line up: Mick O'Rourke (vocals), Colin Williams (guitar), Tony Warner (organ), Reg Sparke (bass), Rick Sparke (drums). (The original singer Pete ? was replaced by Mick O'Rourke from The Gazelles.)

Formed towards the end of 1966 as a soul band, but quickly switched to their own material. Colin Williams, who was the arranger described the group as '..trying out new material with a very free-form basis. It's a sort of cross between blues and American West-Coast'.

Mick O'Rourke was also in The Gazelles and The Image.

Colin Williams later in Indian Summer.

From Pete Clemons http://coventrygigs.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/colin-williams-indian-summer.html

"Began following on from Soul sect with R & B and soul, playing in clubs and pubs all over the North East of England. British blues was in its infancy but Colin became more influenced by Eric Clapton and John Mayall (with Peter Green) and Ainsley Dunbar. From the Sun restyled themselves with new vocalist Mick O'Rourke (after original vocalist Pete, had moved on). They went on to forge a new sound. They played local venues like the General Wolf, Walsgrave and Plough with the sound of blues and a more free-form sound. They began playing some of the things that Colin had written and were also influenced by some of the things coming from the west coast of America. They gained a reputation for being one of the hottest and most creative bands in the city.

This photo of Tony Warner is from his daughter Haley Warner.

Photos from Sharron Flanagan