John Mayall Chicken Shack Mick Taylor Newcastle City Hall 2004
The next time I saw John Mayall was on a strong triple bill of Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Stan Webb and Chicken Shack ,and Mick Taylor. I am a big fan of Stan and Chicken Shack. I’ve always thought that he is a greatly under-rated guitarist, easily on a par with Clapton and Page. The surprise for me on the night was just how great Mick Taylor was. I saw him with the Stones in the early 70s, where his playing really shone on the bluesier tracks like Stray Cat Blues and Midnight Rambler. I then saw him perform a quite shambolic concert in a marquee somewhere behind Gateshead stadium one night, some time in the 1980s. 
On this tour in 2004, Mick Taylor was back on form and gave the other guitarists Stan Webb and Buddy Whittington a run for their money. Stan and Chicken Shack were first up followed by an interval, during which I surprised to be greeted by John Mayall at the merchandise stall, so I bought his latest CD and got it signed. After the break, Mayall and his band took to the stage, with Mick Taylor guesting for part of the set. On this tour Mayall and the Bluesbreakers drew heavily from his back catalogue, probably more so than on other recent tours including a note perfect version of “All your Love” from the Beano album. When Mick Taylor joined, they also played songs from the Crusade album which debuted the guitarist at the yoin age of 18. Songs played included: Can’t You Hear Me Knocking, Walking On Sunset, Oh, Pretty Woman (from Crusade, an Albert King song and not the Roy Orbison track), and of course my own favourite Room To Move.
Archive for the ‘Mick Taylor’ Category
21 Oct
John Mayall Chicken Shack Mick Taylor Newcastle City Hall 2004
26 Nov
The Rolling Stones O2 Arena London 25 November 2012
The Rolling Stones O2 Arena London 25 November 2012
I am sitting on the 06.15 train out of London, returning home after an amazing concert.
Well they pulled it off. Last night the Rolling Stones gave me and 20,000 other fans a night that we will remember for the rest of our lives. I should never have doubted how incredible they would be.
I travelled down to London on Sunday afternoon, arriving in time to meet my son David for a chat and a pizza. I travelled across London and arrived at the O2 around 7pm, to make sure I was there on time, as we had all been told that The Stones would be on stage at 8pm sharp. I bought a programme, and took my cheap (£250 ouch!) seat in the upper tier. A lot has been said and written about the expensive prices of ticket for these 50th anniversary gigs, with most floor and lower tier seats costing £400 and upwards, and I wondered if there would be a lot of empty seats, but on the night the O2 arena was packed. The stage was modelled on the Stones’ trademark lips and tongue, with a standing area in the centre of the tongue where lucky fans could get close up to our heroes. Actually, I had a pretty good view up there; I was seated in the fourth row of the balcony, directly opposite the stage and could see everything that was happening.
The proceedings started slightly later than advertised, at approx. 8.20pm with a video of stars giving their views on The Stones in their 50th year, including Elton John, Iggy Pop, Johnny Depp, Pete Townshend, The Black Keys and Angus Young. Iggy told us “hearing Keith Richards’ guitar is like being hit in the face by a wet mackerel”! Next a troop of 100 or so drummers in Grrr Gorilla suits paraded around the floor area, filling the arena with sound and rhythm. Then the lights went down and Jagger and co took to the stage. 
First song was “I Wanna Be Your Man”, with Mick wearing a black and white jacket and matching trilby. We were back in the 60s, and the sound and playing was superb. From where I sat I could hear every word clearly, and it was crisp and quite loud. A screen at either side of the stage and at the back, in the heart of the mouth, showed images of the band in their youth. Next was “Get Off My Cloud”, followed by “All Over Now”. Mick was in a playful mood asking “How is it up in the cheap seats?” and adding “Oh they aren’t really cheap are they?”, and joking about how the band missed out on the Queen’s jubilee and the Olympics ceremonies, but just made it “under the wire” for these gigs. He took off his jacket, all dressed in black for an amazing version of “Paint It Black” and the whole arena sang along; Ronnie and Keith sharing guitar parts, with Ronnie on an electric sitar. Ronnie Wood really shone in those first few numbers, taking on most of the lead parts. However, Keith came more to the fore as the show went on. “Gimme Shelter” saw the band welcome their first guest of the night, who was Mary J Blige, taking the vocals alongside Mick Jagger: “It’s Just a Shot Away”; great. The tone and the pace were then lowered a little for a beautiful version of “Wild Horses”. “All Down the Line” was accompanied by a video of the Stones’ influences and heroes: John Lee Hooker, James Brown, Howling Wolf, Elvis, Chuck Berry, Johnny Cash, and a host of others appeared on the screen. The next guest to appear was “one of our contempories” Jeff Beck who led the band through “Going Down”, playing some amazing guitar; very flashy, loud, and for a few minutes outshining the band who were clearly loving it. The next song was “Out of Control” from Bridges to Babylon, which was less familiar to me. 
Mick then introduced the two new songs “One More Shot” and “Doom and Gloom”. I must say that these two new tracks are not my favourite Stones’ songs, but they sounded pretty good last night.
Original bass guitarist Bill Wyman joined the guys for the next two songs: spot on versions of “It’s Only Rock n Roll” and “Honky Tonk Women”. The band, and the crowd seemed genuinely pleased to see Bill, who looked well, and had a smile right across his face, obviously enjoying being back with his old mates. Jagger introduced the band members before the next song, including Bobby Keyes on brass, who has been with the band since I first saw them in 1971.
Keith took front of stage for the next couple of numbers: “Before They Make Me Run” and “Happy”, singing and playing well, and giving Mick a well-deserved breather. Jagger returned with Mick Taylor for an unbelievable version of “Midnight Rambler” which took me back to shows in the 70s, and seemed just as dark and moody as it did in those days. Many say that Taylor was the best guitarist The Stones ever had, and last night his bluesy playing was exactly what was needed. We were on the home stretch now, and next up were “Start Me Up”, “Tumbling Dice”, and “Brown Sugar”, all crowd pleasers, keeping up the pace. The last song was a classic version of “Sympathy for the Devil”, Mick looking the part in a long black furry cloak. Jagger, Wood, and Richards were running around the edge of the tongue, playing to the crowd. Mick in particular has so much and energy and seems so fit, he really was performing just as he did in the 70s. 
The band left the stage to a tremendous reception; they had delivered 100%, the last two hours had just flown over, and everyone in the arena cheered for more. They were quickly back, accompanied by a choir for a sweet version of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, followed by closer “Jumping Jack Flash”, with the voices of the crowd almost drowning the band. They left the stage for the last time at 11pm, the crowd clapping and shouting for more; then the tongue logo appeared with the words “Thanks for coming; have a safe journey home” and we knew that it was finally over. Apparently the set list had also included “Satisfaction” as the last song, but the strict curfew prevented them from playing it. So that was it. You have to give it to them; they showed all their critics that they could still deliver, and at a level that I haven’t seen for a long, long time. This was one of the best times I have seen The Rolling Stones; much, much better than the last time I saw them at the O2 in 2007. I can honestly say that I can’t think of any band to match last night in terms of performance, energy and the rich back catalogue that they have to draw from. And yes Mick’s voice held out, Keith can still play (and well too), Ronnie was great, and I mustn’t forget to mention Charlie, who sits quietly at the back, keeping the beat. And you could tell that they were all enjoying it. The self-styled Greatest Rock n Roll Band in the World retains its crown for a while yet.
I caught a packed tube back to my Travelodge, which I reached at around midnight, and was up at 05.15 to catch this train. Wish I was going again on Thursday. Those of you who are, enjoy it. You won’t be disappointed.
31 Mar
Jack Bruce Band with Mick Taylor and Carla Bley Newcastle City Hall 1975
Jack Bruce band with Mick Taylor and Carla Bley Newcastle City Hall
A strange grouping this one. Take an ex Rolling Stone guitarist, an ex Cream bassist and a jazz keyboard player and what do you get? Actually what you did get was quite an intriguing concert experience, which as I recall promised a little more than it actually delivered on the night. I knew, of course, of Jack Bruce and Mick Taylor, but I had not heard of Carla Bley, or her recent Escalator On The Hill album, before going to this gig. The trio were short lived and never made it into the studio to record an lp, although a live album of the band does exist. 
The press of the time said: “The Bruce Band will play a smooth synthesis of diverse styles, forging ahead with a firm grasp of ‘60’s rock and ‘70’s space jazz. The personnel is all-star, but the band belongs to Jack, whose music cements the band’s foundations.” Based on a live album and reviews of the time the set will probably have consisted of something like: Can You Follow?; Morning Story; Politician; Keep It Down; Pieces Of Mind; Tickets To Waterfalls/Weird Of Hermiston/Post War; Spirit; Sunshine Of Your Love. I’m off to see Jack Bruce at the Tyne Theatre tonight; I’ll post a review tomorrow.
10 Mar
Mick Taylor Buck Hotel Reeth 9 March 2012
Mick Taylor Buck Hotel Reeth 9 March 2012
Reeth is a lovely village situated deep in the Yorkshire dales. It took Marie and I just over an hour to drive there, down the A1M to Scotch Corner and across through Richmond. The Buck Hotel stands tall at one end of the village green. Last night there was a Sold Out sign at the door, and the small room to the side was packed with rock fans of the older variety, who had all come to see a legend play some blues. The venue is a lovely old village inn, and the concert room holds around 100 people; this was like seeing Mick Taylor play to you in a friends house. Mick and band took to the stage just before 9pm, and started with Secret Affair. It was obvious from the word go that Mick has put together one hell of a tight band, with the great Zoot Money on keyboards, Ronnie Johnson on second guitar, Michael Bailey on bass, and Jeff Allen drums. The pace was set for the evening, with some rocking, shuffling blues and Mick singing and taking the lead with lots of use of slide. Mick’s playing was at times exceptional, very reminiscent of Peter Green at his best, very fluid with great use of tone; and yet sometimes he didn’t quite make it. His vocals were pretty strong, much better than I expected. It was great to see him, and his playing was much better than I expected, and he was generally on better form than previous times I’ve seen him. Mick looked well last night, and seemed in good spirits. But this was a band show as much as Mick’s. Second guitarist Ronnie Johnson took a couple of solos and gave Mick a run for his money. Ronnie seemed familiar to me; I see he has played with Manfred Mann and Van Morrison among others, so I guess I must have seen him somewhere before. Zoot Money took the vocals for a few songs, notably It never rains but it pours, which he wrote for Jimmy Witherspoon, and Will the Circle be Unbroken, which he dedicated to those no longer with us, including the names of sadly departed friends: Tony Ashton, Robert Palmer and others. Zoot’s singing was pretty incredible and he almost stole the show with his jazzy R&B. There was a short break half way through the set, during which everyone took advantage of the fine real ales on offer. Dylan’s Blind Willie McTell moved into All Along The Watchtower, with a Hendrix style solo. The band finished with an excellent version of the Stones’ song No Expectations, which was a fitting end to a great gig. The drive around the winding Yorkshire roads was fine and we were back home by 12.30. Set included: Secret Affair; Twisted Sister; Fed Up With The Blues; It never rains but it pours (Zoot vocal); Tore Down; Will the Circle be Unrboken (Zoot vocal); Blind Willie McTell / All Along The Watchtower; No Expectations. I’ve listed the songs I recognised and have definitely missed quite a few.
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