Maggie Bell and Stone the Crows in concert 1971 – 1974
I saw Stone the Crows in concert three times in 1971 and 1972. The first time was in late 1971 at Sunderland Locarno. This was the original band with Maggie Bell on vocals, and her partner Les Harvey (Alex’s younger brother) on guitar, before he was sadly electrocuted and killed on stage at Swansea Top Rank, by touching a live mike. They also had James Dewar on bass, who went on to have great success with Robin Trower. Maggie was often, and not unfairly, compared to Janis Joplin at the time, and the band were a great blues rock act. Although they were a great live act, they still weren’t that well known, and I recall standing near the front in a pretty small crowd watching Maggie, dressed in a denim jacket and jeans, tearing her way through the set. There was a hard edge about Maggie and her singing, and you felt that her blues matched the tough street image that Glasgow had at the time. I next saw Stone The Crows at the Lincoln Festival, which was their first performance after Les’ death, and Steve Howe from Yes stood in on guitar. 
The Lincoln performance was highly emotional and the crowd gave Maggie 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. By September 1972, the band had a permanent new member in ex-Thunderclap Newman young guitar prodigy Jimmy McCulloch, a new album Ontinuous Performance, and a UK tour which called at the City Hall. Support at the City Hall came from Tennent and Morrison (mis-splet on the ticket), although I don’t pretend to remember much about them. Stand out gig tracks throughout those days were Penicillin Blues (I can picture Maggie now singing “You got the needle in me baby”) and a 20 minute version of Dylan’s Hollis Brown, and Niagara. They were a pretty incredible live act, and played some great blues at the time. 
By 1973, Stone The Crows had split, and Maggie had gone solo. I saw her twice in 1974. The first time was on the bill of The Who’s excellent Charlton gig, and the second was at The City Hall, with the wonderful Pretty Things as support. The Petty Things were now label mates, both appearing on Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song label. Her set featured largely new material from her Queen of the Night and Suicide Sal lps. She put on a great rock show, but some of the raw power, and blues, of Stone The Crows had been lost. She’d moved to a more traditional heavy rock format (as had label-mates The Pretty Things), and in my mind, it didn’t suit her as well as the blues that she had grown up with. Maggie went on to have a hit with “Hold Me” which she sang with B A Robertson, and she also sang the theme tunes to the TV shows Hazell and Taggart. She moved to Holland and all but disappeared from the music scene, returning to the UK a few years ago. She is now playing solo, sometimes with blues singer Dave Kelly and sometimes in the British Blues Quartet, in the UK, Germany and mainland Europe. I haven’t caught up with her yet, and really must do so; it would be great to attend a Maggie Bell gig again.
Posts Tagged ‘prog rock’
3 Feb
Burt Bacharach Edinburgh Playhouse 29 July 2002
Marie and I had tickets to see Burt Bacharach in concert in Manchester in 2000. However, Burt was not well, and the concert was cancelled. Two years later he was due back in the UK, with a show in Edinburgh. We bought tickets straight away and managed to get seats in the middle of the front row. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew all of the great songs, but was unsure how Burt would perform them. 
First up was Scottish singer, Horse, who went down well with the home crowd. Burt, who sat playing a grand piano, was accompanied by a small band and a group of male and female singers who took turns at singing the songs. He performed all of the classics, including (although not necessarily in this order): What the World Needs Now Is Love; Don’t Make Me Over; Walk On By; This Guys In Love With You; I Say A Little Prayer; Trains & Boats & Planes; Wishin’ & Hopin’; Always Something There To Remind Me; I’ll Never Fall In Love Again; Do You Know the Way To San Jose; Anyone Who Had A Heart; Magic Moments; Tower Of Strength; The Look of Love; Arthur’s Theme; What’s New Pussycat; The Man who shot Liberty Valance; Wives & Lovers, He sang the last few songs Alfie; A House Is Not A Home; Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head, himself. His singing voice is not great, but it was good to hear the man himself perform these great songs. It was a privilege to see the master perform all of those timeless classics. I managed to shake his hand as he left the stage. A night I will always remember.
2 Feb
Kate Bush in concert Sunderland Empire April 12th 1979
Kate Bush Sunderland Empire April 12th 1979 
I nearly didn’t go to this gig, but I am so glad I did. Marie and I had tickets to see Thin Lizzy at Newcastle City Hall on the same night. I’d already bought the Thin Lizzy tickets before Kate’s gig was announced. I was quite a fan of Lizzy, and went to every tour; however I also quite fancied seeing what this strange lady singer was like. So we decided to forego the Lizzy concert (I can’t remember what I did with the tickets, I may have sold them or given them away….) and to go and see Kate Bush. [In fact, Lizzy were playing two nights, and in the end I managed to get a ticket for the alternate night, and saw Lizzy one night and Kate Bush the next. Result!] I queued for tickets at the Empire the day they went on sale. There was quite a queue when I arrived and by the time I reached the box office all I could get were a couple of seats to the rear of the circle. But never mind, we were in. 
The show itself was quite different to a normal rock show. It was very theatrical, with dancers and Kate herself doing a lot of dancing. The set featured songs from her first two lps, and the hits to date. The sound was impeccable and the performance faultless. She succeeded in bringing the concept to the stage, and blended pop/music, dance and theatre perfectly. I can picture myself now, looking down from the balcony at Kate and her dancers performing Wuthering Heights. Oh to go back in time and relive the experience. Will she ever perform in this way again. I doubt, but I hope so. If she does I will be there, no question. Setist: Moving; The Saxophone Song; Room for the Life; Them Heavy People; The Man with the Child in His Eyes; Egypt; L’amour Looks Something Like You; Violin; In the Warm Room; Fullhouse; Strange Phenomena; Hammer Horror; Kashka from Baghdad; Don’t Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake; Wow; Coffee Homeground; In Search of Peter Pan; Symphony in Blue; Feel It; Kite; James and the Cold Gun; Oh England My Lionheart; Encore: Wuthering Heights
1 Feb
Arthur Brown in concert 1973 – present
Arthur Brown is a total one-off. From the moment I saw the guy singing Fire on Top of the Pops in 1968, I knew he was something special. I went out and bought his first lp, which had such wonderful prog tracks as Spontaneous Apple Creation, Child of My Kingdom and Fire Poem, featuring Arthur’s manic soaring vocals and the late great Vincent Crane’s rich swirling Hammond organ. I first got to see Arthur Brown live around 1973 at a Kingdom Come gig in Sunderland Polytechnic Wearmouth Hall. That gig was spectacular, and unlike anything I’ver ever see before or since. 
Remember, this was before Alice Cooper and any other rock theatre, and it was sensational. The stage was set with a massive wooden cross as its centre. Arthur was brought on stage and tied to the cross in a simulated crucifixion, where he stayed as he sang the first song. His voice was so strong, deep, loud and operatic in texture. His hair was very long, and the rest of the band looked pretty menacing, with lots of make up. After the first song Arthur leapt from the cross and started dancing around the stage like a madman. At one point in the set they had a section called The Brain, where one of the band crawled into the audience in a massive brain costume (it worked better than it reads…) followed by another member dressed as a priest. The priest then chased the brain around the hall, eventually capturing it while Arthur sang something about religion screwing up your brain. Pretty heavy stuff, but it worked, and blew my mind as a teenager. At the end of the set all of the band departed, leaving Arthur alone on stage singing a strange rambling song which appeared to be totally improvised. After some time the band came back on stage, captured Arthur, put him in a white straitjacket and dragged him off still singing and screaming. I wish I had this on video. Arthur disappeared for a long time from the scene during the 80s, and reappeared in the UK in the late 90s. The next time I saw him live was at a free open air show in Tynemouth. His set was pretty much as it is today, often starting with Dylan’s Hard Rains Gonna Fall, with Arthur wearing a black mask, eerily tapping a long walking stick on the floor as he slowly walks up to the stage. Other regulars in his set are I Put a Spell on You, Time Captives, Spontaneous Apple Creation, and of course Fire. Sometimes he plays covers such as Green Manalishi, Kites and How Strong my Love is. I’ve seen him a few times over the past 10 or so years. Once in his home town of Whitby (see ticket), and also as support act for Robert Plant, The Pretty Things, where he signed my ticket (I will look that out and scan it in for this post) and Hawkwind. He never fails to amaze, his voice is as strong as ever, and the guy has so much energy. The true God of Hellfire!
31 Jan
Argent in concert 1972 – 1974
Argent in concert 1972 – 1974
I first saw Argent in concert at Sunderland Top Rank on a double bill with Beggars Opera. I have a feeling it was a 12 midnight to 4am show that they put on now and then, sometimes on bank holiday weekends. Both bands were heavily organ-based; I had already seen Beggars Opera before, but Argent were new to me. Hold Your Head had just been realised, which places the concert sometime in 1972. I remember everyone standing on the tables in the Rink, singing to Hold Your Head Up; think they played in twice, once in the set and once as an encore. (Update note: I’ve just seen someone selling a poster for the gig on ebay. It was on Sunday 28th/ Monday 29th May 1972, from midnight to 4am. The gig was promoted by Fillmore North ie Geof Docherty. Support for Argent came from local bands Brass Alley and Beckett, and Beggars Opera. Tickets were all of 60p). I was impressed enough to go and see Argent again at Newcastle City Hall in 1973. 
Their lp at that time was “In Deep” which features the track God Gave Rock and Roll to You, later to be covered by Kiss. Argent were back at the City Hall in 1974, boasting a quadrophonic/stereo show, which featured speakers around the hall; I remember I was sitting right next to one on the balcony. The ticket advertised the concert as quadrophonic downstairs and stereo in the balcony! Interesting concept. 
The lp for this tour was Nexus, which was pretty heavy prog rock stuff, with tracks such as The Coming Of Kohoutek (great title) and the mega opus Music From The Spheres, which clocks in at over 8 minutes on the lp and was probably longer live. Alongside these new songs, The Zombies’ Time of the Season also got an outing in concert in those days. By 1974 Russ Ballard had left the band to be replaced by John Verity and guitarist John Grimaldi. Argent was a class act. Some great songs, and some top keyboard form Rod Argent. I remember being jealous of Rod Argent’s (very) long hair, and being fascinated by Russ Ballard’s guitar which had holes drilled through the body. 
A few years after Argent had split, I saw Rod Argent at a free keyboard demonstration concert at Middlesbrough Town Hall. I notice the ticket for the 1974 tour shows that Clancy, who were part of the pub rock scene of the early 70s, were the support act. Argent have reformed recently, and have been playing a few concerts in the past week. I would like to see them again, but haven’t caught up with them yet. (Update note: I found a flyer for the Quadrophonic gig at the City Hall so have added it here). I have since seen Rod a couple of times with Colin Blunstone and with The Zombies, who he tours with now. 
Update on 26/12/12. I’ve added a scan of the poster from the gig at Sunderland Top Rank, which John bought on ebay. This shows that it was a midnight to 4am show, on May 28/29 1972 (late May bank holiday). The Line-up was Argent, Beggars Opera, Beckett and Brass Alley.
30 Jan
Budgie: a much under-rated rock band. Memories of gigs 1972 – 2005
Budgie: a much under-rated band. Memories of gigs 1973 – 2005
My first memories of Budgie were seeing their name on the bill at the 1972 Lincoln festival. I was at the festival and noticed in the programme that they were playing in the Giants of Tomorrow tent. I remember thinking that Budgie was a strange name for a band. I can’t remember if I actually went to see them; I suspect not, as I spend most of the time in front of the main stage. The next time that Budgie came onto my radar was an appearance on The Old Grey Whistle Test. 
They played Breadfan and the riff just blew me away. My friend had the album Never Turn Your Back on a Friend, and I spent hours practising and learning the riff. Not long after that I went to see them at the local Locarno ballroom in Sunderland. Seem to remember they started with Breadfan, and played it again as an encore. But they had other great rock songs: Parents, Zoom Club, In the grip of the tyre-fitters hand. 
The album Never Turn your Back on a Friend is a classic, which I played again and again at the time. Burke Shelley has a unique vocal style. By 1977 Budgie were a regular on the concert hall circuit and often played at Newcastle City Hall. By 1978 guitarist Tony Bourge had left the band, and original drummer Ray Philips had also departed some time ago. Burke Shelley kept the band going, and signed up new guitarist Robert Kendrick. I went to see Budgie twice at the City Hall in 1978. They were still drawing a respectable crowd, but not filling the place, and I was beginning to feel that their time had passed. However, the dawn of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal gave a kick start to their career and a spot at the 1980 Reading Festival, where I saw them play on the Sunday afternoon, kept them in the minds of heavy rock fans.
They returned to headline Reading in 1982, a gig I sadly missed. It was to be over 20 years before I saw Budgie again. In fact the band all but disbanded in the late 80s, concentrating on studio work, and not gigging at all. They returned in the late 90s and started touring the UK again around 10 years ago. Will and I took the chance to see them when they last came to Newcastle in 2005 to play at Trillians Rock Bar, which used to be The Man on the Moon pub in the 70s. 
The set consisted of some new tracks but the old favourites: Parents, Zoom Club, and of course Breadfan all featured. They were loud, in fact very loud, and the guitarist Simon Lees was excellent. Burke Shelley’s screeching vocals were as strong as ever and he played and looked great. It was really good to see them again. Will and I had tickets to see them again at Trillians a few years later, but the gig was sadly cancelled. The last I heard was that Burke Shelley had taken ill while on tour in Poland. The rest of the tour was cancelled and Burke returned home to recover. Hope he’s OK. 
Budgie are often forgotten, and are never given the credit they deserve. They were a pretty good solid rock band, who I remember with some fondness. Hope I get to see them again one day. I’ve just found a very old (and very small) programme from the Never Turn Your Back on a Friend tour. 
I must have got this (probably free) at Sunderland Locarno or Newcastle Mayfair in the early 70s. I didn’t know I had it. I’ve scanned it and added it to the post (see right).
27 Jan
John Lees Barclay James Harvest Newcastle Tyne Theatre 2006
John Lees Barclay James Harvest Newcastle Tyne Theatre 2006
It had been more than 20 years since I had last seen Barclay James Harvest. I’d grown disillusioned with the band in the early 1980s; however when I saw that John Lees’ version of the band was coming to the Tyne Theatre, I decided to go along. The Tyne Theatre is a nice little venue, and for this gig a respectable crowd turned out to see the band. The line up for this gig was :John Lees, Woolly Wolstenholme, Craig Fletcher (b), Kevin Whitehead (dr), Mike Bramwell (kb), and the setlist was: For No One; Child Of The Universe; Harbour; If Love Is King; The Iron Maiden; The Great 1974 Mining Disaster; She Said; Cheap The Bullet; Poor Man’s Moody Blues; Galadriel; Suicide?; Medicine Man; In Search Of England; Poor Wages; Mocking Bird; The Poet/After The Day; Hymn. I was surprised how many songs I recognised: For No One; Child Of The Universe; The Great 1974 Mining Disaster; She Said; Poor Man’s Moody Blues; Galadriel; Suicide?; The Poet/After The Day; and Hymn brought back memories of those City Hall concerts all those years ago. Mocking Bird was as beautiful as ever; I went home and dug out my (very scratched) copy of the Harvest single and played it again and again as I had in the 70s. I was hooked again.
26 Jan
Barclay James Harvest gigs 1980 – 1981 Newcastle City Hall
The 1980 Barclay James Harvest tour (ticket left and programme below) was the first chance for UK fans to see the band after the departure of Wooly. We all wondered how the band would shape up with the new line-up which was built around the three remaining members, but actually it was OK. For the tour the set included: Love On The Line; Capricorn; Rock ‘N’ Roll Lady; Nova Lepidoptera; Play To The World; Alright Down Get Boogie; The Song (They Love To Sing); Sperratus; Jonathan; Sip Of Wine; Loving Is Easy; Hymn.
During the 70s many bands would play their “new album” on tour, and this was the norm for Barclay James in this period. A new lp; a new set; and a new tour. That was OK, but it was disappointing to see old favourites like Mockingbird being dropped from the set. One good thing about seeing classic bands now is that they play all of the old favourites, and are happy to return to their heritage. Looking at the setlist for the 1980 tour, the only song I recognise is Hymn.
Later in 1980 the band played a massive free concert at the Reichstag in West Berlin, in front of an audience of 250,000 people. In many ways Barclay James were at the peak of their success in the early 80s, however, their golden creative period had passed, and their material was not as strong as it had been in the 70s, and to be honest I was becoming tired of seeing them.
The set for the 1981 tour (ticket above, programme right) consisted of: Rock ‘N’ Roll Lady; Capricorn; The Song (They Love To Sing); Death Of A City; Berlin; How Do You Feel Now; Back To The Wall; Nova Lepidoptera; Crazy City; Suicide?; Echoes And Shadows; Sperratus; Love On The Line; In Memory Of The Martyrs; Life Is For Living; Poor Man’s Moody Blues; Highway For Fools; Play To The World; Hymn. Again, this was mostly new stuff to me, although it was good to see them play Poor Man’s Moody Blues and Hymn again. But for me, a Barclay James Harvest concert without Mockingbird will always disappoint a little. I missed the next few tours, and didn’t go to see them again until over twenty years later. I’ll write something on that experience tomorrow.
25 Jan
Barclay James Harvest gigs 1972 – 1977
I guess, although I might not have fully realised it at the time, I was pretty into Barclay James Harvest in the 70s. They were one of the bands who I would go along and see with my mates, and we always enjoyed the show. We sort of took them for granted; they toured a lot, you could always go along and see them; you could rely on them to play well (and they would always play Mockingbird).
I first saw them at gigs in Sunderland Top Rank and The Locarno. The first time was around 1972, at the Top Rank with the great Del Bromham and Stray support. Stray used to have dustbins on stage with explosives in. These were ignited during All In Your Mind, and nearly blew the roof off; I’m sure Health and Safety rules would outlaw such things these days. Barclay James set around this time consisted of early songs such as She Said; Mocking Bird; Medicine Man; Moonwater; Summer Soldier; The Poet; After The Day; Galadriel; Dark Now My Sky. I also saw them when they appeared at the Reading festival in 1974. By the mid to late 70s they were headlining, and selling out concert halls across the UK. I went to see them at Newcastle City Hall in 1977 (ticket above).
That was the Gone To Earth tour (programme to left) and the setlist at the time was: Child Of the Universe; Rock ‘N’ Roll Star; Poor Man’s Moody Blues; Mockingbird; Hard Hearted Woman; Medicine Man; Taking Me Higher; Suicide?; Crazy City; Jonathan; Polk Street Rag; Hymn. There show were always 100% professional, if smewhat predictable. At the time I saw them as an alternative to The Moody Blues, who were on a sabbatical throughout the mid 70s. Mockingbird was (and still is) a favourite song of mine and I would look forward to seeing them play it. 
Barclay James were back at the City Hall in 1978 (ticket right and programme below). This was the XII tour and the setlist was something like: Nova Lepidoptera; Hard Hearted Woman; Poor Man’s Moody Blues; Berlin; Medicine Man; Sip Of Wine; Suicide?; Rock ‘N’ Roll Star; In Search Of England; Jonathan; Child Of The Universe; Mockingbird; Loving Is Easy; Hymn 
Throughout this period the classic line up was: John Lees – vocals and guitar; Les Holroyd – bass and vocals; Mel Pritchard – drums, percussion; the late Stuart “Woolly” Wolstenholme – vocals, mellotron, keyboards. After this tour Wooly left the band, which was a big shock. I remember a lot if talk at the time as to whether the band should, or could, continue without him, which they did. They were back at the City Hall a couple of years later. I’ll write about that gig tomorrow.
24 Jan
Kevin Ayers Newcastle 1974 and 2003
Kevin Ayers and Long John Baldry Newcastle City Hall November 1974
Kevin Ayers Newcastle Tyne Theatre 2003
Kevin Ayers’ legend looms large in English rock history. In 1974 he’d released The Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories album on the Island record label, and headlined the now legendary 1 June 1974 concert at the Rainbow Theatre, London, where his band consisted of John Cale, Nico, Brian Eno and Mike Oldfield. For this Autumn 1974 concert tour (see ticket, and programme below), his band consisted of the late great Ollie Halsall, who I’d seen at the City Hall a few years earlier in Patto. Support came from Long John Baldry who by the early 70s had grown his hair, and was looking seriously hippieish. Long gone were the suited blues man days of the 60s and Let the Heartaches Begin (which he didn’t, of course, sing). But the set was still blues-based and Long John’s voice was as deep and impressive as he was tall.
The set consisted of songs from Bananamour, Joy of a Toy and The Confessions of Dr Dream, and was a somewhat shambolic, but enjoyable mixture of English whimsy, reggae and jazz-rock. Ayers did a version Falling in Love Again in the style of Noel Coward and Halsall performed Elvis’ Don’t be Cruel. There were problems with the electricity in the hall, with the power going over several times, and Ayers and Long John Baldry singing to us without any amplication at all at one point. If I remember right, the power failed completely in the end and the show was abandoned. I next saw Kevin Ayers almost 30 years later in the bar of the Tyne Theatre. The approach was similarly eccentric and enigmatic, but just as enjoyable.
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