Farewell 'Father of Loud'

Sad, if inevitable news given his age, of Jim Marshall's death today.

There will be lots of obituaries on other web sites, and in papers and magazines worldwide, so I'll not repeat it here. Suffice it to say that without Marshall amps the history of rock would have been quite different.

The wide publicity that Marshall's death will get, given his fundamental place in the pantheon of rock, might also stimulate 'the powers that be' (in this case the West London Borough of Ealing) to think about erecting a plaque on the original Marshall shop on Hanwell High Street. It would be a welcome addition to one plaque that this rock heritage rich borough does have, identifying the site of the Ealing Blues Club. The history of the two sites are inextricably linked. The club was formed basically as an alternative to the more folksy Roundhouse in Soho where amplification of guitars was not allowed. Many of the Ealing club's performers (like Clapton, Townsend, Jack Bruce, Cyril Davies)later become indelibly associated with Marshall's equipment.

Incidentally, April 7th marks the 50th anniversary of Mick Jagger's performance at the club (with band Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, and the meeting with Brian Jones that would lead three months later to the first performance of the Rolling Stones at the Marquee.

Ziggy - 40 years on

The current publicity celebrating the 40th aniversary of the 'birth ' of Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, and the placing of a plaque at London birth site, brings back a few memories.

I saw 'Ziggy' on tour; July 01st 1972 at Western Super Mare's Winter Gardens. The show confirmed my already very positive opinion of Bowie musically, having discovered there was more to him than 'Space Oddity' through the wonderful 'Hunk Dory' album.

Those of a vintage to remember concert going in the those early 70s will also remember it being a time of IRA activity, and 'bomb scares' plaguing venues and events. A malicious, or more likely drunken, phone call would be the cue for lights up and an instruction to 'clear the building quickly, please'. Our VIP visitors from Mars were not to be spared this worldly experience on that July night. Someway through the set, I can't remember at which exact point, the lights went up and the Winter Garden was cleared; concert goers quickly finding themselves standing outside in the warm night air while the building was searched for suspicious packages. And not only concert goers; the Spiders were also turfed out onto to pavement and my pal and I found ourselves standing right next to the bizarrely clad band.

Now I have to say that while the costumes under a 'beer light' added to the stage spectacle, they looked pretty bloody ridiculous outside under the cold light of a Weston street lamp. In fact, Bowie and fellow Spiders came in for a bit of good-humoured banter and abuse from certain sections of the beer-fueled, denim wearing crowd. Me included.

Inevitably, no bombs were found and the concert restarted. Alas, the magic that might have been was lost. Although the band recovered their poise and played on, it was hard to take the Ziggy persona too seriously (if we ever were supposed to). He had taken it all too far, but boy could he play guitar.

The Moist Hoist gets its plaque!

There are a number of buidings that deserve recognition of their place in London's rock history, but perhaps none more do that the Ealing Blues Club, founded by the late, great Alexis Korner exactly 50-years ago today (March 17th).

Thanks to the hard work and efforts by Bob Salmons and Alistair Young the club now has its plaque.

In its early days, the club saw Jagger and Richards being introduced to Brian Jones, thus laying claim to being a birthplace of the Rolling Stones. Other notables who graced the 'stage' (the club only held a maximum of 200 fans) were The Who (as the Detours), Long John Baldry, Eric Burdon, Manfred Mann with Paul Jones, and even Rod Stewart.

There are promises that the club will rise again with the sweet sounds of the blues ozzing from its walls. This of course will be preferable to the dripping water that came from the walls in time past, giving the club its much-loved epithet!

Next week, the 23rd, see the unveling of the plaque at the Tabernacle, Nottinghill, celebrating the UFO, the 60s psychadelia club and cradle of Pink Floyd. Be there or be square!

Rock on!

Over the Rainbow - in Brazil

Amazing what you discover relevant to your own city while exploring others… well, the second hand record stores anyway! Despite rifling through old vinyl at every opportunity I’ve never come across ‘Over the Rainbow’, a live recording of the last ever concert at London’s fabled gig, March 16, 1975. Finding it in the unlikely setting of downtown Curitiba (southern Brazil)certainly adds to the romance!

The Rainbow (formerly the Astoria) was where the Beatles played for their fan club, where Hendrix burnt his first guitar, where Zappa was pulled from the stage - breaking a leg – where Floyd premiered DSOM, where Marley … well, you get the picture. Perhaps the most iconic of the larger London 60s/70s venues. There were also a shoal of live recordings (Beach Boys, Sweet, Buzzcocks, Nektar, Van Morrison and may others).

A real find, then, discovering ‘The Last Concert, Live!’, and most especially in Curitiba of all places. I’d love to know how the album ended up there; it's a promotional copy, too. The Rainbow bowed out to the sounds of Procul Harum, Kevin Coyne, John Martyn, Richard Thompson, Hatfield and the North, Frankie Miller and Sassafras. A real connoisseur’s collection. And to complete the package, The cover is a stylized drawing of the Rainbow, picked out by searchlights. Needless-to-say, a copy of the cover will be added to the our Rock Bus decoration!

By Royal Appointment; Exclusive Gigs

Fifty-years ago rock was about rebellion. Older rockers might remember the fuss when the Beatles were awarded their MBE medals, and attended Buckingham Palace to collect them from Good Queen Bess. (October 1965). The joke at the time was would the Beatles obey the signs and 'keep off the grass'!

How the world has changed; and so, has rock. Revolt into style, as George Melly once shrewdly observed. We now have a collection of 'Sirs' as well as MBEs, OBEs, and sundry other recognitions (like honorary PhDs awarded by self-promoting universities). Buck House is now a well-established rock venue, and even Status Quo have 'gongs'. Mind you, Quo deserve them a darn site more then some other of the recipients.

All this came to mind last week reading about St James Palace being the latest Royal Palace to host a rock concert. Admittedly, this was a promotional, PR turn by Van Morrison on behalf of the 'come to Northern Ireland' tourist campaign, but it counts and adds to Kensington Palace (Elton and Rod Stewart being regular performers for Princess Diana) and Whitehall Palace (Eric Clapton at some corporate do or other).

Rock has yet to reverberate from the walls of Windsor Castle yet, but maybe this is the year with it being QE2's 60th. We have still to hear what delights are to be provided for the masses as part of the festivities - though McCartney is bound to feature somewhere! Be a bit ironic if Windsor did feature given that the great National Jazz and Blues Festivals at Richmond and Windsor were one of UK rock's founding events. Just check who’s at the foot of the 1963 festival, and who lines up for 1967.http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/1967-windsor-festival.html

Thinking about it; rock has yet to have its first 'Lord'. Couple of certainties; it will get one eventually but count out Bowie and Keef Richards. Neither would accept any award of this nature. So who? Well, Lord McCartney of Strawberry Fields has a certain ring to it, and he's reigned nearly as long as Liz, God Bless her (and him!).

UFO Reunion UPDATE

Planning continues apace for the UFO reunion (which is on March 23rd, not the 24th as advised in a prior blog).

'Zeitgeist 66', as the event has been christened, is being held at Nottinhgill's Tabernacle. It is somewhat ironic that the event is actually being 'planned' as spontaneity was the norm at the original UFO! 'We're all getting older, admitted Mouse O'Brien, one of the original UFO regulars, 'and at our age planning becomes a bit more prudent'.

One element that particularly requires forward thinking is the siting of a commemorative plaque. A formal unveiling will be one of the day's key events if this element comes to fruition. The hardest part of getting a plaque up is getting the agreement of the building owners. In this case it is the All Saints church authorities; the ideal position would be on a church wall adjacent to the original church hall, the initial UFO venue. Hopes are high that the church will welcome the initiative of a permanent memorial given the building's significance in local social history.

Watch this space for more news and contact Mouse directly if you want tickets, or have any memorabilia from the original UFO that can be included in the planned display. Tickets will be in high demand and numbers are strictly limited; mike@townhouse-gardens.co.uk

Where have all the Bootlegs gone?

News of the surfacing of an early recording of the Stones’ ‘As Tears Go By’ secreteed from London’s Regent Sound Studio, evokes nostalgia for the old-fashioned vinyl or cassette bootleg where such illicit material often surfaced in the past. ‘Bootlegs’, by way of explanation for the younger rock fan, were unofficial releases; concert recordings or demos that, like this new Stones gem, somehow escaped the studio, were pirated, and found their way into twilight distribution channels where a lucky soul might chance upon them before the police did.

‘Lucky’ is a term to be used loosely here. In truth, the recording quality of a bootleg was often rubbish; most were taken from hand-held cassettes smuggled in past security. But some came off the mixing desk, or the artists own personal tape machines, and these became legendary and much sought-after. Certain acts were more prone to the bootlegger than others; usually those whose official output was a trifle sporadic, or whose canon failed to include ‘live’ performances when the band had a reputation for playing great live shows. The holy grails were those ‘legendary’ gigs or super-jams that were rumoured to have taken place with a tape machine left running - like the early Hendrix jams in London basement clubs with the likes of Traffic, Eric Burdon and Alexis Korner.

I remember the thrill of first discovering ‘Led Zep at the Royal Albert Hall 1970’ and ‘Hendrix at the Winterland Ballroom’. A particular prize in my collection is an anonymously-packaged, orange vinyl of Rod Stewart and the Faces. There were no liner notes, not even a track listing, so where and when this gem was recorded remains a mystery. A couple of other prized items include a range of tapes taken from the mixing desk at London’s ‘Half Moon’ pub venue. Discretion (and the fear of retribution!) prohibits a fuller explanation but suffice it say that I treasure performances from the likes of Guy Clarke and John Stewart. A similar mixing desk-sourced performance is of Julian Cope in Leicester.

Naturally, some artists fought back. The Grateful Dead allowed everyone to take in their recorders with the result that you’d see a forest of raised arms or cassettes atop of posts stretching before you. Frank Zappa took another route to ‘beat the boots’ and simply issued a zillion live albums. The quality was always excellent as you’d expect from the great man. And Dylan of course did the same by releasing the famed ‘Basement Tapes’.

It’s all too easy now. A quick trawl through the internet and you can download almost anything, and free. Pearls are truly being cast before the swine.