The Groundhogs Newcastle City Hall 1973 and other gigs in 1974
The Groundhogs called at Newcastle City Hall twice in 1974. The first of these two gigs featured Ellis (with Steve Ellis) and Spyda as support acts. For the second gig, the support was a band called Jonesy. Ellis featured Zoot Money, ex-Peter Bardens guitarist Andy Gee; ex-Fat Mattress bassist Jimmy Leverton (later replaced by Nick South); and drummer Dave Lutton. Jonesy featured Alan Bown on horns. The Groundhogs were at the peak of their success at this time, selling concert halls out up and down the country. They had just released the album Hogwash (1972), which was followed by Solid in 1974, and the set at the time featured the classics (Split I and II, Cherry Red, Garden, Mistreated, Groundhogs Blues, Eccentric Man) and sometimes tracks like Strange Town, Soldier and Ship on the Oceon, along with newer songs such as I Love You Miss Ogyny, 3744 James Road, and Light My Light. 
Free from all Alarm, and Sins of the Father were also sometimes featured in the set. The Groundhogs released two singles around this time: Sad Go Round and Plea Sing Plea Song. Tony was particularly busy during this period of his career, and took the time to record a solo lp, the Two Sides of Tong (TS) McPhee. He did a short tour in September 1973 to support the album, but didn’t play in the North East, so sadly I missed it. 
These gigs were the last time the Groundhogs were to play large concert hall tours, although they continued to gig constantly until the band split in 1974. The line up throughout this period was Tony, Pete Cruikshank and Clive Brooks. I saw them a few other times: twice at the Mayfair (once in 1973 and again in 1974; I recall the band Back Door being the support act on one of these occasions), once at Sunderland Locarno, and once at Spennymoor Top Hat Club. There may have been other gigs that I attended, the band certainly toured a lot at this time. Tony decided to split the band during 1974, but they were to reappear in a different form in the following year. I’ll blog on that line-up tomorrow. Many thanks to John for the scan of the great poster.
I found a setlist which is listed as being from a gig at Glasgow Greens Playhouse (later to become the Apollo) during the November 1973 tour: Ship on the Ocean; Light My Light; I Love You Misogyny; Earth Shanty; Sad Go Round; Dog Me bitch; Split 1; Joker’s Grave; Train Train; Lawdie Miss Clawdie; Soldier; Split 4; Split 2; Sad Go Round. I can’t ever remember the Groundhogs playing old tunes like Lawdie Miss Clawdie, but then my memory is not so good these days…….
Archive for the ‘Groundhogs’ Category
26 Dec
The Groundhogs 1973 and 1974
25 Dec
The Groundhogs, Stray & Gentle Giant Newcastle City Hall 1972
The Groundhogs Stray & Gentle Giant Newcastle City Hall 1972
A group of us went to this gig, and we had seats right down the front. The line-up was very strong, with support from the amazing Stray and prog-rock heroes Gentle Giant. Gentle Giant were first up. This group grew out of Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, and are now looked upon as a legendary band. At the time, however, it all seemed just a little too weird for our simple rock tastes. Stray were favourites of mine at the time and were just great, with Del wearing his mirror suit, lots of strobe lights during All In Your Mind, and the exploding dustbins to close the show. My favourite Stray song at the time was Jericho, from the Suicide album. 
This was the Groundhogs first tour with new drummer Clive Brooks, and took place between the release of Who Will Save The World and the Hogwash albums. The set would have consisted of classics from Thank Christ For the Bomb, Split, and Mistreated from Blues Obituary. I suspetc that they may also have played some songs from Hogwash. I Love Miss Ogyny and 3744 James Road were to become great live favourites of the next couple of years. The programme tells me: “The playing of the Groundhogs as a group, and of Tony McPhee as a soloist goes from strength to strength. On Who Will Save The World Mac adds mellotron and harmonium to his electrifying guitar, and because of what seems to be essentially a guitarist’s approach to these instruments he adds a new dimension to their usage. The Mighty Groundhogs, now with super-Mac on sythesiser and mellotron as well as his whining, wheeling guitar are very heavy, very heavy indeed”.
24 Dec
The Groundhogs early 70s gigs: the classic line-up
The Groundhogs early 70s gigs: the classic line-up 
This is going to be a bit of a marathon, so please indulge me on this. If there is one band that I have followed consistently over the past 40+ years, it is The Groundhogs. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen them, and hope that collecting my memories in the form of posts on my blog, will help me recall some of the great times I have had at Groundhogs gigs. I intend to blog about this great band over the Christmas period, and its going to take me quite a few days (perhaps a couple of weeks!) to cover all the different line-ups of the band that I have seen, since I first caught them in concert in the early 70s. I’ll also cover the legend that is Tony McPhee as a solo artist during my bloggings.
The first time I saw The Groundhogs was at Newcastle City Hall in February 1971, when they were support act for The Rolling Stones. I’ve blogged separately on this gig from a Stones perspective, but I need to concentrate on my memories of Tony and the guys here. This was, of course, the classic power trio line-up of McPhee on guitar, Pete Cruikshank on bass, and Ken Pustelnik on drums. I didn’t know who was supporting the Stones until I got into the hall, and they introduced them as they came on stage. So it was a nice surprise to find out I was about to witness my first Groundhogs gig. 
This was just around the time that they released Split, and their (very short) set comprised a few songs from that and Thank Christ for the Bomb. The Groundhogs set was particularly short that night, as there were two performances of the Rolling Stones show, the first being from 6.30 to 8.30pm, which didn’t allow the support act to play for much more than half an hour. The Leeds University gig of the tour was recorded and released as the Live At Leeds EP, which shows the set as being: Cherry Red; Garden; Split Part One; Groundhogs Blues; and Eccentric Man. That night I became a lifelong Groundhogs fan. Their music was a unique mix of blues and rock, and they were truly at the height of their powers at the time. I saw this original classic line-up four more times over the next year or so; at Newcastle City Hall, Sunderland Bay Hotel, Newcastle Mayfair, and Sunderland Top Rank.
The City Hall gig was during 1971 and was a co-headlining show with Chicken Shack. Things didn’t go entirely to plan and for some reason The Groundhogs weren’t able to appear that night, so Chicken Shack headlined the gig, and very good they were too. The gig was promoted by local guy Geoff Docherty, who came on stage to apologise and tell us The Groundhogs would play a couple of weeks later. This was one of those gigs where you handed your tickets in at the door, so they gave them back to us as we left, so that we could use them at the rescheduled gig. One of my mates was quite enterprising and kept going in and out of the hall, and thus managed to collect a few extra tickets, which he sold on to people at school. So a couple of weeks later we returned to the City Hall, and as promised The Groundhogs did indeed play for us. I also remember that Bridget St John was support at one of those two gigs; I think it was the first night when Chicken Shack played. I remember someone threw a can, just missing her, and Geoff Docherty came on to the stage to tell the crowd to calm down. At the time The Groundhogs would start with Mistreated (from Blues Obituary), and then play a selection of tracks from their first few albums including Eccentric Man, Still a Fool (from the first album, Scratching the Surface), Split I, Garden, and Groundhog Blues. They would finish with Split II with a marathon solo by Tony and lots of use of the whammy bar, and return for an encore of Cherry Red. Tony was quite rightly rated as one of the best guitarists in the country at the time, and his guitar playing was stunning and a joy to experience.
A group of us went to see The Groundhogs play at Sunderland Bay Hotel sometime late in 1971. I decided to go at the last minute, missing a gig by Rory Gallagher at the City Hall so that I could see the Hogs with my mates. The place was packed and Tony was on top form; I remember this as one of the best times I ever saw the band.
In early 1972, I was at Newcastle Mayfair to see The Groundhogs and Chicken Shack share a bill again, at a dance for Ashington College students. Both bands did play this time, alongside a couple of other bands, as I recall. Chicken Shack were on top form with Stan walking around the dance floor playing his guitar, using an extra long lead. The Groundhogs had just released the Who Will Save the World? The Mighty Groundhogs album, and played a couple of tracks from the new lp: Earth is not Room Enough, and Music is the Food of Thought. I think this is the only time I’ve ever seen them play those tracks. Tony was also getting into some serious soloing at this point, playing a very Hendrix-ish version of Amazing Grace.
Around the same time, in early 1972, a group of us saw The Groundhogs at Sunderland Top Rank. We’d been to see Slade (who were excellent) at Sunderland Locarno earlier that night, and came into the Rink (as it was known) just as The Groundhogs took to the stage, having missed the support act Ashton, Gardner and Dyke. I managed to make my way right to the front, and stood right in front of Tony as he soloed on Amazing Grace and Split II. We also got back stage that night and chatted to Tony and Pete.
Its amazing how many times The Groundhogs played in the north east within the space of a year. In fact there were more gigs then these, including a concert at the City Hall where they were supported by Egg and Quicksand (see flyer), which I missed (and I still regret it!). Ken Pustelnik was soon to leave the band, to be replaced by Clive Brooks, and that version of the band toured extensively over the next couple of years, calling at the City Hall a few times. I’ll blog on those gigs in the coming days.
9 Jun
The Groundhogs York Fibbers 8 June 2012
The Groundhogs York Fibbers 8 June 2012
Laura and I decided at the last minute to go and see The Groundhogs in York last night. We arrived in time to catch support act Dan Hudson who was delivering a good solid set of blues. We also found time to pop over the road to the Black Swan where the York fold weekend was in full swing in a marquee in the carpark. The Groundhogs took the stage at 9.30 starting with “No more dogging”. As those of us who follow the band know, Tony had a stroke a couple of years ago which affected his speech, and as a result his wife and singing partner Joanna Deacon had joined the band and taken on the vocal duties. Having said that Tony sang two songs himself last night, the first being “Eccentric man”, with Tony making sterling efforts on the verses, with Joanna coming in the help out with the chorus. A pretty good version. Next the volume and pace were lowered for the beautiful “Garden” from the “Thank Christ for the Bomb” album. Tony started the song which some lovely understated guitar, and Joanna handled the vocals admirably. Tony sang old blues favourite “Still a fool” from “Scratching the Surface” next, including a great guitar solo. Joanna explained how the “cool kids’ at school would walk around with the “Split” lp under their arm, and admitted that she was a Slade fan at the time. This introduced “Split Part 1” which is always one of my favourites, followed by “Split Part 2”, during which Tony made extensive use of the whammy bar, to the extent that his guitar was quite out of tune by the end of the song. Joanna’s dancing became particularly manic and bizarre at this point! Side 1 of the album was (almost) completed by “Split Part 4”. Then it was back to the blues with “Natchez burning”. Next came “Strange town” which was a great surprise; I don’t recall seeing the band play this in recent times. Then, moving towards the end of the set, “Mistreated” from “Blues Obituary” brought back memories of early 70s gigs, where it was often the set opener. The set finished with “Cherry Red”. Encore was “Down in the bottom”. Fibbers club was pretty full, and the crowd gave the band a very warm and friendly reception. Its always good to see the Groundhogs, and everyone last night clearly holds a lot of affection for Tony in particular. Joanna fits well in the band, and whereas a couple of years ago I found the idea of her taking on vocal duties a little surprising, I know think it feels natural. Its great that she has been able to do this and thus help keep the band on the road. Joanna explained that regular bass player Dave Anderson was not well. His place was taken by Steve Cook, who had stepped in at short notice and did a great job. Drummer Carl Stokes sported a massive gong which he used to close the set. A great night, which Laura and I both enjoyed. The Groundhogs, finished at 11pm, and we were home by 12.30am. When we got back David told me that I needed to be up early to take him to Middlesbrough for 9am, as he was picking up a lift there to a school friends wedding in Penrith. So not much sleep for me last night! Oh well, it was worth it to see Tony again.
8 Jan
The Rolling Stones Newcastle City Hall 4th March 1971
The Rolling Stones Newcastle City Hall 4th March 1971
Memories from a long long time ago
I was 14 years old when the Rolling Stones 1971 UK tour took place. I’d read about the tour in the music press and SO wanted to see them. Incredible as it seems now, this was billed as the “Farewell to England” tour, and anticipation was high for these shows, all of which had sold out immediately. I was determined that somehow I would get to see them when the tour opened on March 4th at Newcastle City Hall. There were two shows at the City Hall, an early evening show at 6.30pm and a later show at 9pm. I persuaded my parents that I would go along on the night to the early show, and see if I could pick up a ticket outside.
So the day of the show arrived. I rushed home after school, quickly had something to eat, and set off on the bus to Sunderland, and then on the train to Newcastle. I arrived at the City Hall with a little time to spare, and approached a few shady looking guys who were loitering around outside the venue. Some of them did have tickets to sell, but they wanted way above face value, which was between 75p (or 15 shillings) to £1. I only had a couple of pounds, which I had managed to scrape together from my pocket money, and their prices were way above what I could afford.
Time was moving close to 6.30pm and I was beginning to lose all hope of seeing my heroes. I then heard a couple of guys talking as they crosssed the road to the venue, and one of them said to the other that he had a spare ticket. I went straight up to them and asked them if I could buy it, and offered him £1 for the 75p ticket. To my joy he agreed to sell it to me, the deal was done, and I headed straight into the City Hall. My seat in Row AA was towards the back downstairs, but was still a pretty good view. A few moments later, the support band took to the stage, which to my surprise and delight,  was The Groundhogs, who had just released the Split album.  The Groundhogs set was short, probably around 30 minutes, and consisted of tracks from Split, including Cherry Red, Groundhog and Split Part 2, as well as earlier songs Garden and Eccentric Man. This show started a lifelong obsession with The Groundhogs, as well as the Stones, for me.Â
After a short interval, a guy took to the stage and introduced “The greatest rock n roll band in the world: The Rolling Stones” and we were off and into Jumping Jack Flash! I’m not exaggerating to say in that moment my life changed for ever. This was the concert that finally and totally hooked me on rock music and rock concerts; and there was no going back for me from that point on. Mick Jagger was wearing the same pink satin suit and cap that he wore onstage for a recent Top of the Pops performance of Brown Sugar. Keith looked great,  as cool as ever, playing a perspex see through Zemaitas guitar. New guy Mick Taylor looked too young and pretty to be a Stone. Bill and Charlie looked like a rhythm section should. The band were accompanied by Bobby Keys on saxophone, Jim Price on trumpet and Nicky Hopkins on piano. The crowd seemed surprisingly reserved to me, with everyone remaining in their seats throughout the show. The Stones were great, and it was a dream come true for me to actually see them. Jagger was amazing. I can still remember the menace of Midnight Rambler as he whipped the stage with this belt. I travelled home on the train still buzzing about the concert, part of me not quite believing that it had actually happened, that I had really seen the Rolling Stones. I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my parents , who had doubted that I would mange to get into the concert. And I also couldn’t wait to get to school the next morning so that I could tell all my friends, and brag about the whole thing! Setlist (something like): Jumping Jack Flash; Live With Me; Dead Flowers; Stray Cat Blues; Love In Vain; Midnight Rambler; Bitch; Honky Tonk Women; Satisfaction; Little Queenie; Brown Sugar Encore: Street Fighting Man. I’ll continue to reflect upon my Stones concert experiences over the coming weeks. I really do hope that they do tour, as rumoured in this their 50th year.
29 May
The Groundhogs Barnard Castle R&B Festival 29 May 2011
The Groundhogs Barnard Castle Blues Festival 29 May 2011
Festival Line up: TCR Band; Andy Yeadon; Tantrum; Sugar Kane; Groundhogs
David and I went along to see The Groundhogs at the Barnard Castle Blues festival, which is a free event held as part of the Barnard Castle Meet over the May bank holiday weekend. We arrived in time to catch the last couple of songs from Sugar Kane, who are a blues band fronted by John O’Leary on vocals and mouth harp. John comes from a strong blues pedigree, having been a member of Savoy Brown and the John Dummer blues Band in their early days, and he plays some nifty blues harp; the guitarist in the band is good too.
Its been a year since I last saw Tony McPhee and the band, and I was interested to see how Tony was getting on. He had a stroke a couple of years ago; his speech has been affected and his wife Joanna has joined the band on vocals. Last time I saw them at the Cluny, Tony sang one song (Still a Fool). Tonight he managed two songs: Eccentric Man and Still a Fool again. Joanna’s dancing is as manic as ever, she’s backward and forward across the stage like a dervish. She was sporting a nifty hat for the first song. Tony looked well, and his playing was pretty good, although his guitar was seriously out of tune in Split 2 (too much use of the tremelo arm methinks). Good to see them again, and to hear a set of old favourites.
Groundhogs Setlist: No More Doggin’; Eccentric Man (Tony vocals); Garden; Still a Fool (Tony vocals); Split 1; Split 2; Split 4; Natchez Burning; Mistreated; Cherry Red
Encore: Down in the Bottom
The current line-up of The Groundhogs is: Tony McPhee (guitar), Dave Anderson (bass), Carl Stokes(Drums) and Joanna Deacon (vocals).
The Groundhogs website: www.thegroundhogs.co.uk
Sugar Kane website: www.johnolearyb.com
The Groundhogs at Barnard Castle Blues
Tony McPhee
7 Feb
The Groundhogs and Stray The Cluny Newcastle 3 Feb 2010
The Groundhogs and Stray The Cluny Newcastle 3 Feb 2010
Will and I went to see our old hero Tony McPhee with the Groundhogs on Wednesday at the Cluny. This was a true classic rock double header, with the Groundhogs sharing the billing with old favourites Stray. Tony suffered a stroke last year and hasn’t been so well; we were pleased that he was now well enough to play again and were looking forward to seeing him. He hasn’t yet made a full recovery in that his speech is still affected, and as a result his wife Joanna had become an honorary Hog and is deputising on vocals.
The Groundhogs are first up. This is the first time we have had a chance to see the new four piece line-up which includes Joanna on vocals, Tony (of course) on guitar, Dave Anderson on bass and Mick Jones on drums. Its at first strange to see Joanna fronting the band and singing. She really gets into the spirit of it, dancing all over the stage, and making a good fist of the vocal duties. Tony seems to be playing better than the last couple of times we’ve seen the Hogs. He takes over the vocal duties for Still a Fool. Last song is, as always, Cherry Red; the higher notes suit Joanna’s voice well.
After a short break, Stray take the stage. I’d forgotten what a great front man and guitarist Del Bromham is, and how loud a three piece band can be. He obviously loves being on stage, and is still an excellent and very under-rated guitarist. The old Stray tracks stand the test of time, and those from the new album sound just as good. Last up is old favourite All in the Mind, with Del, ever the showman, hanging his Strat from the Cluny ceiling and whipping it with the guitar lead. No strobes, or dustbins with flames and flares like the old days, but just as good all the same.
We have a chat with Del on the way out, and get a poster signed. We ask him if he remembers playing Spennymoor Top Hat in the early 70s (he does) and to pass our regards to our old friend Tony Rolfe who now lives near Del and sometimes plays guitar with him.
A great night. The old ones are still the best.
Groundhogs Setlist: (from memory; I might have missed some) No More Dogging, Eccentric Man, Garden, Still a Fool (Tony singing), Split 1, Split 2, Split 4, Mistreated, Natchez Burning, Cherry Red.
Stray Setlist: Included quite a few (great!) songs from the new album and old favourites Time Machine, After the Storm, Jericho, I believe it, All in your Mind.
Groundhogs website: http://www.thegroundhogs.co.uk/
Stray website: http://www.stray-the-band.co.uk/
ticket
26 Oct
Classic Legends of Rock Harrogate
Classic Legends of Rock Harrogate Royal Hall October 24 2008
This triple bill of classic rock bands (Groundhogs, Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash and Focus) has been playing halls around the country for the past few weeks. The nearest date to us was Harrogate so went along with my friends Norm and Will to see three bands who we all had fond memories of.
The drive to Harrogate was straightforward and we quickly found the Royal Hall which lies in the centre of town. We went straight into the venue as we wanted to be sure to catch the Groundhogs who were first up. The Royal Hall has been recently refurbished and is a lovely old theatre, where greats such as the Beatles have played over the years. After a drink in the (quite expensive) bar we took our seats for the show. I bought a poster (a bargain at £2) and we had a chat with Joanna, who admired my Split t-shirt.
First up was the Groundhogs. We are all long standing fans of Tony McPhee and the band and have seen them many many times over the years. The set was (from memory) : Eccentric Man, Garden, Split 1, Split 2, Split 4, Natchez Burning and Cherry Red. Tony’s guitar playing was pretty on form tonight, but his singing wasn’t so hot to be honest. The drummer looks new, and is adding some backing vocals. It was nice to see them again, and a good start to the show. We then went over the road to the local Wetherspoons for a quick drink between the sets. Norm and Will had a word with Tony; shook his hand and congratulated him on a good gig.
Next up was Martin Turner’s version of Wishbone Ash. This was the first time that we had seen this band, although Will and I had seen Andy Powell’s Wishbone Ash a couple of times lately and we all three had fond memories of seeing the original band in their 70s heyday. The band played a set of classic Ash songs; and did them spot on. Martin looked great; it made us all think how great it would be if the original band were to regroup (probably not likely). The set was : The King Will Come, Warrior, Throw Down the Sword, Phoenix, Living Proof, Blowing Free, Jailbait. Back to Wetherspoons.
Focus closed the show. We all knew less Focus tracks than the other bands, but we were looking forward to hearing Hocus Pocus, Sylvia etc. Thijs Van Leer is a great showman, and a pretty crazy guy; the young guitarist is great and played Jan Akkerman’s guitar part perfectly.
A pretty good set which sent everyone home happy.
After some chips at the local chippy we made the drive up the A1 which was pretty clear all the way. A good gig; all enjoyed it.
Websites
Groundhogs : http://www.thegroundhogs.co.uk/
Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash : http://www.wishboneash.co.uk/
Focus : http://www.focustheband.com/english.html
my ticket
17 Aug
Classic Legends of Rock
Going to see Classic Legends of Rock show in October with two of my friends. This show features Focus, Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash and the Groundhogs; three great bands on one bill!
Vintagerock's Weblog. 
