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.
Posts Tagged ‘blues’
18 Aug
Nick Cave The Sage Gateshead 2005
Nick Cave Sage Gateshead 2005
Tickets for this gig sold quickly; Nick Cave has a very committed hard core following. This is the only time I’ve seen him in concert. I have vague memories of The Birthday Party supporting Bauhaus at Newcastle University in the early 80s, but can’t be certain I attended that gig. David and I went to the Sage gig, David being more familiar with Cave’s material than I was. This was a solo concert, with Nick on piano, and Bad Seeds Warren Ellis (violin), Martyn Casey (bass) and Jim Sclavunos (drums). It was one of the first gigs I attended at the Sage Gateshead, which had only been open for a couple of months. Nick’s songs are dark and intense, and the set drew songs from throughout his career, and a selection from the Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus album, which had been released around that time. Nick is a pretty cool guy (great moustache) and had some interesting banter with the crowd between songs. An excellent gig by a unique guy. Laura is pretty jealous and has Nick Cave high on her lists of concert must-sees. I bought her a signed copy of his book “The Death of Bunny Munro” which takes pride of place in her flat, and I have promised to take her to see him next time he comes to the North of England. Setlist: West Country Girl; Abattoir Blues; Red Right Hand; Hallelujah; Cannibals Hymn; God Is In the House; The Ship Song; Babe You Turn Me On; Christina The Astonishing; Henry Lee; The Mercy Seat; Hiding All Away; Messiah Ward; Rock Of Gibralter; Jack The Ripper. Encore 1: The Lyre Of Orpheus; Lucy; Stagger Lee. Encore 2: The Singer
16 Aug
Alice Cooper Newcastle Arena 2005
Alice Cooper Newcastle Arena 2005
Dirty Diamonds tour
Support from Twisted Sister
It was 17 years until I saw Alice Cooper again, some 7 years ago at Newcastle Arena. Support came from mad glam rockers Twisted Sister, led by crazy maniac Dee Snider. I’d seen Twisted Sister in the early 80s at Newcastle Mayfair; they are always good for a laugh, and play some nifty metal. This gig used around a third of the arena, which allows for a (slightly) larger crowd than the City Hall, but also guarantees a much more stale and cold atmosphere. Alice’s set included all the favourites and a few tracks from his new album ‘Dirty Diamonds’. The usual stage theatrics featured large, with our hero pulling the usual tricks out of the bag, wriggling his way out of a straitjacket, losing his head at the guillotine and then emerging alive again from a coffin. The show now features his beautiful daughter Cailco Cooper, who kills her dad as part of the fun. Setlist: Department of Youth; No More Mr. Nice Guy; Dirty Diamonds; Billion Dollar Babies; Be My Lover; Lost in America; I Never Cry; Woman of Mass Distraction; I’m Eighteen; Between High School & Old School; Sunset Babies (All Got Rabies); Is It My Body; Go to Hell; Black Widow; Gimme; Feed My Frankenstein; Welcome to My Nightmare; The Awakening; Steven; Only Women Bleed; Ballad of Dwight Fry; Killer; I Love the Dead; School’s Out. Encore: Poison; Wish I Were Born in Beverly Hills; Under My Wheels
14 Aug
Alice Cooper Liverpool Empire 1975
Alice Cooper Liverpool Empire 1975
Welcome to my Nightmare tour
Support Heavy Metal Kids
This was the first time that I saw Alice Cooper. A group of us went to the gig in a couple of cars, all of us exciting at the prospect of seeing the king of shock rock. We’ll heard the singles, seen him perform “School’s Out” on Top of the Pops and read about the outlandish stage shows in the NME and Sounds. This was our chance to see Alice in the flesh in his ghoulish horror show which featured snakes, an execution and babies being sliced up. It was Alice’s first concert in the north of England; he had previously only played in London and Glasgow. Support came from Heavy Metal Kids, with Gary Holton on top form, giving his usual super cocky cockney act. We had seats right down at the front and all thought the gig was tremendous. There had been some luke warm reviews of the “Welcome to my Nightmare” album, largely because Alice had lost all of the original band members, and was now, in effect, a solo artist, rather than Alice Cooper the band. However, we needn’t have worried, as this was Alice Cooper at his theatrical best, fronting a stage show that was at times just astounding, and, for its time, unbelievable in places. The show started with the taped voice of Vincent Price booming over the PA system, followed by wonderfully choreographed dancers, who seemed to appear out of nowhere from a giant projection screen, which was the size of the stage. Next Alice suddenly appeared singing the opening lines of the title track. 
Alice had a giant toy box, and from that jumped devils, bats, and a bunch of skeletons who delivered a nifty dance routine complete with top hats and canes. There was a massive graveyard scene with Alice creeping through the gravestones, dancing demons, giant spiders for “Black Widow” and a cyclops during “Department Of Youth”. And he played School’s Out! Just Wonderful! Setlist: Welcome To My Nightmare, Years Ago, No More Mr Nice Guy, Years Ago, Billion Dollar Babies, Years Ago, I’m Eighteen, Some Folks, Cold Ethyl, Only Women Bleed, Devil’s Food, The Black Widow, Steven, Welcome To My Nightmare (reprise), The Awakening, Escape, School’s Out, Department of Youth
13 Aug
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Wembley Stadium 1974
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Wembley Stadium 1974
Special guests: Joni Mitchell, The Band, Jesse Colin Young
Looking back this was a very strong line-up and a truly historic gig, although I’m not sure I realised it at the time. A group of us went down to London by train, primarily to see CSN&Y. To be honest ( and to my shame) I had little interest in seeing the other acts on the bill. This gig was very much a coming together of the long hairs; everyone there to see a cluster of west coast superstars who rarely appeared in the UK. The weather was good, a hot late summer day, and the vibe friendly and laid back. I remember running into loads of people from the North East. We had tickets for the stands, and couldn’t get down on the pitch which was frustrating. My mates and I spent some time next to the back stage area, star spotting. We saw (I think; from a bad….memory) members of the Moody Blues, The Faces, Led Zeppelin and Marc Bolan. My mate Don and I ran into Robert Plant in the gents, and we chatted to him; Don offered Plant a drink from his bottle of beer, Plant took a swig to Don’s delight (he swore he would keep the bottle for ever!). We arrived early and saw all the bands; I wish I’d taken more notice of their sets than I did. Jesse Colin Young’s “Darkness, Darkness” is now one of my favourite songs, but I remember nothing of what he played that day. I remember that the Band played a solid set including “The Weight”, “Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and “Cripple Creek”. Joni Mitchell’s set was part solo on acoustic guitar or piano, and part accompanied by Tom Scott’s L.A. Express. Her album at the time was Court and Spark, and she played tracks from that lp plus favourites such as “Woodstock”, “Big Yellow Taxi” and “This Flight Tonight”. She is another artist who I really appreciate now; much more so than I did back then in the day. 
CSN&Y played a long set of around four (!) hours. They were just amazing; incredible harmonies, great musicianship. There were times when it dragged a little for me, as the set included a lot of songs which were unfamiliar to me. However, before too long another classic would come along, the harmonies would be spot on, and the guitar duels would spark off again. My enduring memories are of the start and end of their set. They started with an extended version of “Love the one you’re with” and the place went crazy. My last memory is of standing on a wooden bench, such as the seats were in the Wembley stands in those days, singing the chorus of “Ohio”, with 72,000 other people. Days don’t come any better. Where did the years go?
CSNY setlist: Love the One You’re With; Wooden Ships; Immigration Man; Helpless; Military Madness; Johnny’s Garden; Traces; Almost Cut My Hair; Teach Your Children; Only Love Can Break Your Heart; The Lee Shore; Time After Time; It’s All Right; Another Sleep Song; Our House; Hawaiian Sunrise; Star of Bethlehem; Love Art Blues; Old Man; Change Partners; Blackbird; Myth of Sisyphus; Word Game; Suite: Judy Blue Eyes; Déjà Vu; First Things First; Don’t Be Denied; Black Queen; Pushed It Over the End; Pre-Road Downs; Carry On; Ohio
10 Aug
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band Newcastle City Hall 1974
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
Newcastle City Hall 4th June 1974
Support from Henry Cow
The Captain completed a hat trick of visits to Newcastle City Hall with this 1974 concert. The line-up for The Magic Band had changed completely since their last UK visit; it seems there had been a fall out between the band and their captain. Beefheart quickly put together a new band to honour existing tour dates.The new Magic Band comprised Fuzzy Fuscaldo on guitar; Ty Grimes on drums; Del Simmons on saxophone; Dean Smith on guitar; Michael Smotherman on keyboards and Paul Uhrig on bass. Unfortunately they weren’t at all familiar with the intricacies and complexity of their predecessors’ material, and it showed. They were described by reviewers of the day as a “bar band”, or “The Tragic Band”, a moniker which stuck and is often used to describe Beefheart’s band of that period. The show consisted of a selection of Beefheart classics delivered more as twelve bar blues, than in their original format. Imagine Beefheart growling over the same soft rock boogie shuffle backing for each song, and you’ve just about got it. It was still an enjoyable show, but far removed from the magnificence of the 1972 tour. Support came from Henry Cow, who were very experimental and avant garde, as I recall. Unlike previous Beefheart gigs at the City Hall, I don’t think this show was very well attended. I saw Beefheart once more, at the 1975 Knebworth festival, on a bill headlined by Pink Floyd. The 1973 Magic Band regrouped as Mallard along with a new singer and toured the UK; I caught their show at Newcastle Mayfair in 1976. Beefheart was a truly unique artist, who is much missed, and I’m please I was lucky enough to see him a few times. A typical set list from the 1974 UK tour was: Mirror Man; Upon the My-Oh-My (which he performed on The Old Great Whistle Test during this visit); Full Moon Hot Sun; Sugar Bowl; Crazy Little Thing; Mighty Crazy; Sweet Georgia Brown; This is the Day; New Electric Ride; Abba Zaba; Peaches.
9 Aug
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band Newcastle City Hall 1973
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band
Newcastle City Hall 28th April 1973
I couldn’t wait to see Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band again after witnessing their magnificent 1972 performance at Newcastle City Hall. And it wasn’t long until they were back in the UK for another tour. The Magic Band line-up had changed slightly since their last visit in that Alex (pyjama) St Claire had replaced (the wonderfully named) Winged Eel Fingerling on slide guitar. This time the show was not as theatrical as the previous year, however the music was as mesmerising as ever, the setlist expanded slightly to include a good selection of tracks from throughout the Captain’s career including one of my favourites, “Electricity”, alongside tracks from the current album “Clear Spot”. 
The set was also considerably much more delta / werewolf growl blues than last time. However, this gig doesn’t stick in my mind as much as the 1972 concert. Fraid I can’t recall at all who the support act was (or if there was a support), and I don’t have a programme to help me. The setlist for the Nottingham show from the 19873 tour is listed as follows, I would assume that the Newcastle show was a similar set: Hair Pie Bake III; Suction Prints; Sue Egypt; Mirror Man; Low Yo Yo Stuff; Crazy Little Thing; Sifter Solo; Sugar ‘n’ Spikes; I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby; Electricity; Peon; I’m a King Bee; Click Clack; Alice in Blunderland; Nowadays a Womans Gotta Hit a Man. Encore: Big Eyed Beans From Venus; Golden Birdies
8 Aug
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band Newcastle City Hall 5th April 1972
Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band 5th April 1972 Newcastle City Hall
Support from Foghat
The Magic Band: Rockette Morton; Winged Eel Fingerling; Ed Marimba; Zoot Horn Rollo; Orejon
It was very cool to be into Captain Beefheart in the early 70s. Me, I got into him through Frank Zappa, and his vocals on “Willie the Pimip”, on the “Hot Rats” album. I then heard “Safe as Milk” and “Trout Mask Replica”. I was fascinated by the very strange sounds they made, so when he came to play at Newcastle City Hall, I bought a ticket straight away. It was one of the oddest, and best gigs, I have attended. I was sitting pretty close to the front, and I was surrounded by some of the wierdest looking hippy types that I’d seen at any gig. A guy sitting a few seats away from me had white hair down to his waste and spent the entire set rocking back and forth in his seat, swinging his long hair about. There was a strong smell of dope in the air. 
Beefheart’s show started with a performance from a ballerina and then a belly dancer. Rockette Morton took to the stage and played a manic extended bass solo. Soon he was joined by the rest of the Magic Band, and the Captain wearing a massive cloak, and singing in the deepest voice I had ever heard. The whole show was one of the most amazing things I have seen to this day. The band were all dressed outrageously, the music was amazing, and it was totally unlike anything I had heard before. And the Captain was just unbelievable. The set was pretty unfamiliar to me; it was by no means a greatest hits set. However, that didn’t matter. The whole show was just incredible: I was blown away by it all, and became a committed Beefheart fan that night. I was to see Beefheart on three further occasions, and he was great each time, but none of those gigs matched this first encounter with the Captain. Setlist: Bass Solo; When It Blows Its Stacks; Grow Fins; Click Clack; Hobo Chang Ba; I’m Gonna Booglarize You Baby; Black Snake; Peon; Abba Zaba; Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop; Alice in Blunderland; Spitball Scalped a Baby. Encore: More. Support came from Foghat, who grew out of Savoy Brown and played some nice blues/rock/boogie. Although they were a UK band, they found success in the USA, and toured extensively in the States throughout the 70s, coming home only occasionally.
5 Aug
Stan Webb and Chicken Shack
Stan Webb and Chicken Shack
Stan Webb is massively under-rated as a guitarist. In my view, he stands up there with Clapton and Peter Green as one the great British blues guitarists. He’s also a great showman, and a great character on stage. I’ve spent many happy nights in the company of Stan and various line-ups of Chicken Shack over the years. My first encounters were a couple of spots as support act for The Groundhogs, probably in 1971 or 1972. One gig was at the City Hall, and the Groundhogs didn’t appear for some reason, so Chicken Shack took on the headline spot. This was no mean feat, as the City Hall was sold out, and we were all waiting to see Tony McPhee and the guys, who were in the charts with Split at the time. However, we were assured that The Groundhogs would play in a couple of weeks, and that if we all held on to our tickets we would see the return gig for free (which we did!). 
Stan and the guys truly rose to the occasion that night and delivered a great set. This was around the time of the Imagination lady album, and Chicken Shack were a three piece at the time, featuring Stan on lead and vocals, John Glascock (soon to leave to join Jethro Tull) on bass guitar, and Paul Hancox on drums. I remember them playing “Crying Won’t Help You” and great versions of B B King’s “The Thrill is Gone” and Tim Hardin’s “If I were a Carpenter”, all of which sometimes feature in the set to this day. 
The other vivid memory I have is of Stan walking to the back of the City Hall through a crowd of people filling the aisles, still playing his guitar all the time. This was well before the days of radio connections, and it was all done with a massively long guitar lead. I saw Stan do the same thing many times over the years, including one night in a ram packed Newcastle Mayfair, where he had to work his way across a packed dancefloor (he was always accompanied by a roadie) and then stood in front of the bar playing a solo to the delight of all of us around him. I recall a couple of gigs in the Mayfair, one with The Groundhogs at the time of the “Who Will Save the World” album, and another supporting Vinegar Joe. 
I’ve always tried to catch Stan and Chicken Shack when they come to the North East, and have seen him in Whitley Bay Dome, Middlesbrough Ladle, Sunderland Kazbah, Newcastle Dingwalls, Newcastle Jewish Mother restaurant (over a pizza meal), Newcastle Tyne Theatre, Hexham Royal Hotel (Stan was very chatty on stage that night, and had probably had a few drinks), The Sage Gateshead with John Mayall, Newcastle City Hall (again with Mayall), Sunderland Ropery, and probably several other gigs that I’ve forgotten over the years. My mate Will has been with me at several of these gigs, and also agrees that Stan is a great guitar player. 
Every time Stan’s guitar playing has been superb; he never lets you down. If you want to check him out, go to Youtube and look for “Poor Boy” and “Daughter of the Hillside” and you’ll soon see what I mean. 
Chicken Shack are, of course, best remembered by many for their hit Single “I’d Rather Go Blind”, which they recored when Christine Perfect was in the band. Christine went on to mega-stardom with Fleetwood Mac, and is now retired. By the time I picked up on Chicken Shack in the early 70s, Christine had long left the band. Its been a few years since I last saw Chicken Shack, as Stan doesn’t seem to tour quite as extensively as he once did. However, I see that he is headlining a blues festival in York in September, which I may go along to if I can make it. Stan’s current line-up features Gary Davis on second guitar, Jim Rudge on bass and Chris Williams on drums (according to Wiki).
2 Aug
Crawler, Boxer & Moon Newcastle 1977
Crawler, Boxer & Moon Newcastle 1977
At first glance this may not seem a particularly strong line-up. However, if you dig a little deeper it was actually a pretty interesting collection of bands. Crawler had morphed out of Back Street Crawler, who were Paul Kossoff’s post-Free band. After Kossoff’s sad passing, the remainder of the band continued as Crawler, recruiting Geoff Whitehorn (who had just left jazz-rock band If, and is now in Procol Harum) on guitar. The rest of the line-up was Terry Wilson-Slesser (local Newcastle hero and ex-Beckett) on vocals, Terry Wilson on bass, Tony Braunagel on drums, and John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick (ex-Free, and, until recently, of The Who) on keyboards. Boxer were a later version of Patto, fronted by Mike Patto, and originally had the late great Ollie Halsall on guitar. However, by the time of this package tour the Ollie had left and the line-up was Mike Patto vocals, Eddie Tuduri drums, Chris Stainton (Joe Cocker’s band) on keyboards, Tim Bogert (Vanilla Fudge and Beck, Bogert and Appice) on bass, and the late Adrian Fisher (ex Andy Fraser’s Toby and Sparks) on lead guitar. So between these two bands there were some very respectable musicians. Moon were a seven piece funk-rock band who opened the show. I remember going to the gig with Marie, and that the City Hall was about half full. I don’t recall anything about Moon, but do remember watching Boxer (I thought Mike Patto was a great singer) and Crawler. Crawler delivered a solid blues-rock set, with Slesser doing the business vocally and as a front man. Good values for £1! Actually looking back at this lineup in retrospect some 40+ years later, there were some amazing musicians on stage together that night: the excellent local singer Terry Slesser, Rabbit, the wonderful and very underrated Mike Patto (ex Time Box and Patto), Chris Stainton and Tim Bogert! Boxer were on paper sensational! I wish I could go back and relive this one!
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