Joe Cocker and many others Great Western Express Festival Lincoln May Bank holiday weekend 1972
I was 15 at the time and so excited about going to a real pop festival. My dad drove me and a couple of mates down on the Friday night, after we’d been to the local Mecca ballroom. We arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning, having missed the Friday night bands, and slept in a big crash tent for a few hours. We soon ran into a group of other lads who had also come down from Sunderland, and between us we built a cabin out of bails of hay and planks of wood which were lying around in the fields. I swear there were around 20 of us sleeping in there. We were quite close to the stage, and I pretty much stayed in that cabin all weekend. We could also stand on the roof and watch the bands. There was a massive (and very empty) press enclosure which divided the crowd from the stage, so no-one could get that close, which was bad planning. The weather was wet, with rain for most of the weekend. But I didn’t care; this was a real pop festival, and I was determined to enjoy every minute. The line-up for the remaining three days of the event was really strong. I’ll try and recall as much as I can.
Saturday. Nazareth opened the day around noon. I remember them playing Morning Dew, and thinking that they were ok. They were followed by Locomotive GT, Roxy Music who were playing their first major gig and Heads, Hands and Feet, featuring the great Albert Lee, who I remember playing “Warming up the band”. The first band I have strong memories of was Wishbone Ash. They hd just released “Argus” and their set consisted of all the classic Ash songs: Time Was, Blowin’ Free, Jailbait, The King Will Come, Phoenix etc. They were just wonderful at that time. Helen Reddy did not perform, and was replaced by Rory Gallagher, who had stayed on from the Friday to play again, as I understand his Friday set was cut short because of the weather. The Strawbs featured the classic Cousins/Hudson/Ford line-up at the time. This was before any of the hits. Pretty sure they played “The Hangman and the Papist” and “The Man who called himself Jesus”. Stone The Crows were next up. This was their first performance after Les Harvey’s death, and Steve Howe from Yes stood in on guitar. Maggie Bell’s performance was highly emotional and the crowd gave her the strongest reception of the day, sensing how real the blues was to her that night, coming only a few weeks after she had lost her boyfriend. Rod Stewart and The Faces closed Saturday night. I remember Rod wearing a silver lame jacket and that they were pretty ramshackle, but good.
Sunday. The Natural Acoustic Band started the day, followed by Focus who warmed the crowd up with Sylvia, and Brewers Droop who were a raunchy boogie band who popped up at a few festivals in those days. Spencer Davis played with his new band, which was heavy on steel guitar and country oriented, followed by The Incredible String Band. Lindisfarne were the first band to get the crowd going and were a big hit of the weekend. We were all on the roof of our cabin, singing along to Fog on the Tyne. Average White Band were followed by The Persuasions who were an a cappella soul band, and were impressive. The next big hit of the day were Slade, who just tore the place apart. They started this performance with a lot to prove to a “Hippy” crowd, who viewed slade as a pop act. By the end of the performance everyone was singing along and converted. They were just great. Monty Python’s Flying Circus, with the entire cast, did all their great sketches: Dead Parrot, Lumberjack Song, Argument; great fun. The Beach Boys closed the evening and were wonderful singing all the hits. Great end to a great day.
Monday. The morning featured some folk acts, who had been moved to the main stage because the folk tent had been damaged by the weather. I remember Jonathan Kelly performing and singing “Ballad of Cursed Anna” which is a favourite of mine to this day. Jackson Heights, featuring Lee Jackson from the Nice started the main part of the day off, followed by Atomic Rooster, Vincent Crane collapsing (as he normally did) during Gershatzer. Vinegar Joe with Elkie Brooks and Robert Palmer were next up, followed by the Sutherland Brothers. The next two bands were both up and coming at the time: Genesis and Status Quo. They were both festival favourites, Peter Gabriel with his shaved forehead, telling those great stories to introduce beautiful songs such as Musical Box, and Quo were still trying to establish themselves as a proper rock band and shake off the pop image, which they were doing very well with tracks such as Someones Learning and Is It Really Me? Don McLean sang American Pie and the rain stopped for him. Humble Pie were something else. Steve Marriott was at the top of his game and was fully into his “My skin is white but my soul is black” routine. I Don’t Need No Doctor!! Just great. Sha Na Na, still featuring in all our minds from the Woodstock movie, had us all singing along. Joe Cocker closed the festival. He came on very late as I recall. There was a long wait and he took to the stage in the early hours of the morning. I remember him singing The Letter and Cry Me a River. He was good, but I was tired and cold by that time. All my mates had gone to sleep.
Other memories of the weekend. A large black and white screen above the stage, which worked some of the time. They showed movies on it throughout the night. I watched Marlon Brando in The Wild One, which was banned in the UK (!) at the time. Lots of chants of Wally. People openly selling dope with price lists on their tents. Hari Krishna’s giving out free food. A straw fight during (I think) Lindisfarne’s set. Everyone around me had also been to the Bickershaw festival a couple of weeks before, and were taking about how great The Grateful Dead and Captain Beefheart were. I was dead jealous.
I caught the train back on Tuesday. My mates variously hitched and scored lifts. I arrived home tired, unwashed, and determined to go to as many festivals as I could in the future, which I sort of stuck to for the remainder of the 70s.
Archive for the ‘Wishbone Ash’ Category
22 Oct
Wishbone Ash Newcastle Academy 22 Oct 2011
Wishbone Ash Newcastle Academy 22 Oct 2011
Will and I had a good 70s rock night last night seeing Wishbone Ash at Newcastle Academy. Saturday gigs at the Academy are early affairs, as Saturday night is club night and as a result gigs have to be be finished by around 10pm so that the place can be cleared for the clubbers. So we got to the venue quite early, just before 8pm, which was well-timed as the band came on shortly after. Andy Powell seemed in a particularly good mood, and treated us to some great twin guitar with new guitarist Muddy. Andy thanked us all for coming out to see the band, and recalled the great nights that we all had at the City Hall in the 70s. Judging by the cheer this got, and the age of some of the crowd, quite a few people could remember those days. The set was a mix of old and new, and the old favourites were played as well as I heard them for a long time. Stand outs were The King will come, The Pilgrim, a great version of Phoenix and Jailbait. The curfew meant that that the encore was limited to one song, Blowin’ Free as expected.
Setlist (something like): Real guitars have wings; You see red; Open road; Cant go it alone; Invisible thread; The king will come; Sometime world; Persephone; Front page news; Faith hope and love; The pilgrim; Reason to believe; Jailbait; Phoenix
Encore: Blowin free
ticket
1 Nov
Classic Legends of Rock Tyne Theatre Oct 28th 2009
Classic Legends of Rock Newcastle Tyne Theatre October 28th 2009
Featuring Focus, Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash, The Strawbs
Went along with Will and Norm on Wednesday night for our second dose of Classic Legends Rock. We saw the tour last year in Harrogate; this year it came closer to home at the Newcastle Tyne Theatre. The only change from last year was that the Groundhogs have been replaced by Strawbs. This is sadly because Tony McPhee has recently suffered a stroke, and although reports are that he is recovering well, he is not yet well enough to join the tour.
First up was the Strawbs who delivered a short set of classic folk-rock. Dace Cousins is, as always, the showman of the band delivering the songs with his own very characteristic vocals. After a short break Martin Turner’s Wishbone Ash take to the stage. Tonight they deliver the enitre classic Argus album, followed by a great version of Jailbait. Focus keyboard and all-round character Thys Van Leer joins them on organ for one song. I find it hard to decide which of the current versions of Wishbone Ash is truer to the original. In my view they both deliver and are well worth seeing. If anything Martin Turner’s band are closer to the original albums; tonight they could have done with a being a little louder for me. Coincidentally Andy Powell’s Wishbone Ash were playing the night before at Newcastle Academy. I decided to give them a miss this time, but have promised myself that I will catch up with them next time they come to the North East.
Closing the show was Focus. Last time I thought their set was a little too long and some of the solos a little too drawn out. Tonight I felt it was just the right length. Thys is as eccentric as ever and plays his Hammond organ wonderfully. The guitarist is spot-on; musically this band can’t be faulted. We get great versions of House of the King, Hocus Pocus and Sylvia.
Verdict: Three great bands; all playing well and playing the songs we wanted to hear. A good night.
i hate ticketfast printed tickets
flyer
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!
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