One of my own personal favourite sounding musical instruments is that of the Hammond Organ. For me it has a wonderful rich and warming tone. Additionally, it seems to exemplify the 1960s.

And one of the foremost British exponents of this instrument is Georgie Fame. Now well into his 70s Georgie Fame still tours from time to time, clearly enjoys himself and, in his words, will continue to for as long as he can.

Just recently Georgie performed at the Warwick Arts Centre where he wowed us with his, still, fine voice and his incredible talents. He also enlightened us with his anecdotes.

Georgie made no secret of how he was influenced by the likes of Ray Charles, who he saw play live during 1962, Jimmy Smith, Booker T Jones along with many of the artists who played on the Blue Note label during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

In fact, it was during 1966, after hearing Booker T play, that convinced Georgie to buy his first Hammond. And it is that very instrument that he is playing this evening. The Hammond was even connected to the integrated amplifier / rotating speaker cabinets, rarely seen nowadays, but were famously known as Leslie cabinets. Named after the guy who invented them.

Georgie, born Clive Powell, was discovered by composer Lionel Bart who introduced him to Larry Parnes who, in turn, renamed him Georgie Fame. At the time, Larry Parnes, was one Britain’s top rock ‘n’ roll impresario’s and tended to rename all his ‘discoveries’. This led to Georgie becoming the house pianist on the ill-fated Eddie Cochran UK tour during 1960.

Georgie Fame and his band the Blue Flames found chart success with the 1964 hit ‘Yeh, Yeh’. Georgie informed us that ‘Yea Yea’ had begun life as an instrumental. Words were added later and, when released, the song shot to top. That fame led to a tour of Sweden. As their plane taxied on the runway George noticed a Beatles style reception. Lots of screaming girls had gathered at the airport. Unknown to Georgie, actor Roger Moore had been on the same flight. Back then Roger was famous for his role in the TV series The Saint and, of course, the reception was for him.

Another chart hit followed during 1966 with ‘Get Away’. Georgie explained how this tune had been written for a Benzol petrol promotion and how he had been given two weeks to produce the song. However, in his mind, he put the task to one side. After playing a gig in Bristol the tune was written overnight while travelling back to London. It was presented the very next day which happened to be the final one of his deadline.

Georgie revealed about the time he had to split up the Blue Flames. Drummer Mitch Mitchell took the news badly. By coincidence, and at the same time, Chas Chandler got in touch and invited Georgie to go see his new discovery, Jimi Hendrix, perform in a London club. Jimi was looking for a drummer. Georgie took Mitch with him.

Georgie was also full of praise for producer and label manager Denny Cordell. As Georgie set about forging his solo career Denny was a massive help. He described him as very helpful and very hip.

As we moved into the 1970s and 80s, Georgie spent much of that time in cabaret or as a guest on television shows. Georgie recalled that during the 1980s he was a guest of American singer songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. At that time Hoagy was himself in his 80s. Clearly proud of the experience, Georgie even got to play some of Hoagy’s compositions for an album using Hoagy’s own piano. He even toured the UK with a New York band.

During the 1990s Georgie joined Van Morrison both on tour and in the recording studio. Georgie also became a founder member of Bill Wyman’s rhythm kings.

Joined on stage by his son’s James Powell on drums and Tristram Powell on guitar, it wasn’t purely an evening of anecdotes. Each story touched on was accompanied musically with a selection of tunes from that period, and more. All in all, it was an enthralling evening of pure class and style.

The General Wolfe, as many will know, is a couple of miles outside the city centre and to pass the time, in between sound check and gig, Steven Wilson was keen to visit a record shop. I offered to drive the band into town. So, into my car they climbed. All except drummer Chris Maitland who had decided to go for a walk on his own. Sat directly behind me, in the rear passenger seat was Colin Edwin. Next to him was Steven. And to my left, in the front passenger seat was keyboard player Richard Barbieri. My daughter, for those following this, was sat between Colin and Steven.

Thinking back, it all sounds so surreal now. How I wished now, I had had a mobile phone back then, so I could have recorded the event by way of a selfie. Anyhow off we ventured down the Foleshill Road, happening to pass Chris Maitland who had made an earlier escape, and onward to the city centre. I dropped the trio at St Johns Church at the bottom end of Spon Street as it was a short walk to the record shop close to C+A – Spinadisc Records, I think it was called at the time. It must have been a disturbing experience for the band and one they are more than likely to have long forgotten although the gig, later on that evening, was a resounding success.

Fast forward almost quarter of a century and I find myself at a church once more. And, again, Richard Barbieri is a major part of the story. This time however, we are at St Pauls Church in Birmingham, close to the Jam House, for Richard’s solo gig as part of another ‘Seventh Wave electronic music festival’. And Richard is blissfully unaware that I am in the audience.

For the next hour and a half Richard, along with Lisen Rylander who added saxophone and effects, puts on a masterclass. In Richard’s words it was all unrehearsed. I took it that he was making a reference to the set itself as he had to refer to his notes once or twice. But Richard knew exactly what he was doing as each piece was musically introduced and was built upon with added layers and textures. It was all totally absorbed by an incredibly appreciative and respectful audience.

Initially it was music from Richards most recent release, ‘Planets and Persona’, that created the ambiance. But then it was the turn of the unmistakable sounds of the Japan hit, ‘Ghosts’ that filled the air as it was given an instrumental outing.

A high point came around half way though when, to my surprise at least, Richard and Lisen were joined on stage by Nick Beggs and his 10 string Chapman Stick. What made this incredibly special however, was that they performed an instrumental version of another Japan ‘Nightporter’ which felt almost baroque in style. It was truly breathtaking and spell binding few minutes.

As quickly as Nick had joined the pair, he then packed away his gear and left the scene. Presumably to another engagement. And from then on in, the music – in the main – tended to concentrate around Richard’s series of Variants albums. He finds the time, however, to finish off with another Japan track ‘The Experience of Swimming’.

Surrounded by synths, sequencers and a lap top computer, Richard mentioned that he finds his Roland system a struggle nowadays and that it is forty years old. But to these ears at least, all seemed to perform well as he glided around the variety of keyboards. A memorable evening in an incredibly unique setting.

And the daughter that I mentioned earlier in this tale, well just to put things into perspective, she is now in her 30s and has 2 children of her own. One of them, not far off the age she was, when she experienced the Porcupine Tree.

Includes related bands Profile who became Beachmantango, Saigon who became Paradise West. 

As I remember, I first crossed paths with bass player Steve Barney, around 1982 ish. He had just begun life as an apprentice at the GEC. I guess that apprenticeship curtailed his musical activities for a while. But not fully and, certainly, never diminished his ambitions as he currently turns out for The Ramrods alongside Danny Cunningham.

As soon as we met it did not take long until we discovered our shared love of music. Although he was on a slightly different level as he was, playing in a band whereas I simply listened to it.

Something I have been meaning to do for a while now is to put together a blog that, in some way, detailed Steve’s achievements. So, after a chat with him, that’s exactly what this will attempt to do.

Steve’s first band was Profile. Profile was formed around 1977 I think. But at the time Profile were the youngest bands around the city in terms of age range.

Steve mentioned ‘We were all school mates. Guy Surtees the creator, singer and guitar. Rich Elson guitar and me bass. We were all at Woodlands School together. We had various drummers Steve Russell, the late Chris Drew and Mad Steve from Squad and the Tearjerkers who guested for us in the studio. We were very young but got to do supports in town at the standard venues. This was when alternative sounds magazine was going on. The single was Guys idea. We could not afford to do it all ourselves so we came up with the idea for several bands to appear on one single and share the costs. Six bands were involved in the project and the result was the ‘Boys and Girls Come Out to Play’ EP’.

Once the cost was calculated to make the record and sleeve, each band had to contribute 1/6 of the costs. The idea was for 3 different bands to feature on each side. As the bands contained both male and female singers there became a blue side and a pink side. Profile were on the blue side and contributed with the track ‘Vince’. Profile originally wanted a different song, ‘Nuclear Future’, to feature on the EP, but had to settle for a shorter one as their preferred choice was too long and wouldn’t fit. So, the final ‘Boys and Girls Come Out to Play’ EP looked like this……….

Pink Side:

Human Cabbages – The Window’s Broken

The Clique Syndicate – Cism

L’Homme de Terre – Get a Grip

Blue Side:

Profile – Vince

Famous Five – Take Over

First Offence – Hammer and Sickle

Steve continues ‘Each band had to design their own part of the sleeve which became a big poster when it unfolded. Guy was the instigator of the idea but, as we were so young, Human Cabbages took over the running of it. When Human Cabbages releases a solo single later… the label was Boys and Girls 2’. ‘Once the EP was released I remember playing in the school assembly at Woodlands School and then selling some records there. While this was going on I think we encouraged a lot of others, the same age as us, to form bands so other local bands appeared – Sedition being one who went on to become Criminal Class. I left Profile in around 1982. They then changed their name and style and became ‘Beachmantango’ with Anthony Harty on bass. I then had a brief spell playing for Criminal Class when their ‘Fighting the System’ record was released’.

Fast forward to around 1986 and another of Steve’s bands, ‘Paradise West’, were formed.

Steve recalls ‘I had just bought a drum machine that connected to my spectrum computer and used that to help write songs at the time. The band at that time consisted of just myself and Gez Moran. We were then joined by guitarist Mark Quinn quickly followed by Craig Grant on drums. Our first proper gig was at New Star in Tile Hill. It was absolutely packed. We then went into the recording studio and did three tracks – Guy Surtees from ‘Profile’ came in to help and did some keyboards and harmonica. We played some great gigs. With Gdańsk at ‘the Venue’ was a particularly good one. And this is how I got to know Danny Cunningham. For whatever reasons, after that gig, Gez decided to change out the drummer and guitarist. They were replaced by Dave Vallely on drums (who had originally been in Fridays Angels) and Colin Hankinson on guitar. I remember lots of enjoyable gigs with that line up. We supported ‘Havana’ at the Lanch (The Clash’s Paul Simonon’s band). We also did several gigs at the Dive (Lady Godiva). We even did one for the Coventry Carnival in a float. Another that comes to mind was a great one at the General Wolfe which was supposed to be for a ‘battle of the bands’ competition. But as we had so many people down there to see us they let us do our whole set. I left Paradise West, along with Dave and Colin, around 1992/93 I think. I then did a one-off gig playing for ‘Squad’ at Busters as Gus Chambers was visiting from America and wanted to do a reunion gig. Absolutely loved that one’.

Paradise West did change their name for a while. They became known as Saigon who also played many times around the city. The core of Saigon was still Gez, Dave, Colin and Steve but, additionally harmonica player Bryan Lea Bradford would add his talents. Legendary local guitarist, Roy Butterfield, would also join Paradise West / Saigon on stage at many gigs. Steve particularly remembers his amazing guitar solos and slide guitar playing.

More recently, the Profile track ‘Nuclear Future’, which happens to be Steve’s favourite Profile track, has cropped up on a compilation album called ‘A Tale of Two Cities’. Originally, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, was supposed to be an album, like the ‘Sent to Coventry’ album. The two cities featured were Birmingham and Coventry. But it failed to materialise at the time. However, the digital age has seen a CD version of that album recently surface. The profile track ‘Vince’ also surfaced. That appeared on a CD compilation called ‘Messthetics’.

Steve finished off with ‘And now I’m currently playing in Ramrods with Danny and Barney Cunningham who have both been good friends since those early days’. ‘I keep hassling Guy about doing a 40-year reunion gig, but he has so far, failed to take the bait’.

As I have said many times – Who knows what the future holds.

 Profile (See Solid Grease) John Hewitt’s band – later drummer with King.

Profile – Vince

Mott the Hoople originated from a Herefordshire based group called Silence. They comprised of Overend Watts on bass, Dale ‘Buffin’ Griffin on drums, Verden Allen on keyboards and Mick Ralphs on guitar. After arriving in London, Silence added Ian Hunter as vocalist and thus, Mott the Hoople were born. Mott the Hoople were a very hard working and hard gigging group. This early version of the band made some memorable music such as ‘Thunderbuck Ram’, ‘Second Love’ and ‘Walkin With a Mountain’. And during this period Mott the Hoople called into Coventry, and Warwick University, several times.

After four, very good, but not particularly successful albums released between 1969 and 1971 the group famously split up on 26 March 1972 (as documented on the tune ‘Ballad of Mott’ released 1973). But they were encouraged to reform by long-time admirer David Bowie.

David Bowie gave Mott the Hoople a new image and a stronger belief in their abilities. David also produced their fifth studio album ‘All the young Dudes’. In fact, the title track was given to the band by David Bowie and it gave the band much needed success in the singles charts during 1972. Mott the Hoople also embarked on yet another UK tour that, again, called into Coventry.

Davie Bowie then stepped aside encouraging Ian Hunter to assume leadership of the band. This new-found success didn’t stop there as Mott the Hoople went from strength to strength. However, this move of Ian Hunter becoming more the front man of the band, possibly cost the Mott the services of Verden Allen and then Mick Ralphs. The later leaving to join Paul Rogers, Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell in the newly formed Bad Company. Mick Ralphs did, however, stay around long enough to help Mott the Hoople complete the excellent ‘Mott’ album released in 1973.

Mick Ralphs was replaced by former Spooky Tooth guitarist Luther Grosvenor who was working under the pseudonym of Ariel Bender. Morgan Fisher took over keyboards from Verden Allen. This line up cut ‘The Hoople’ album and a ‘Live’ album both released 1974.

Ariel Bender’s association with Mott the Hoople wasn’t a great success and he also became a casualty of the band as he was very briefly replaced by ex-David Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson. By late 1974 both Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson had left Mott the Hoople to embark on a partnership of their own.

This now left Dale ‘Buffin’ Griffin, Overend Watts and Morgan Fisher to regroup as the truncated, but short lived, ‘Mott’.

Fast forward to 16 January 2009 and an announcement was made that Mott the Hoople line up of Hunter, Griffin, Watts, Allen and Ralphs would be reforming for two concerts at the Hammersmith Apollo. Those two gigs soon, due to the phenomenal demand, became five nights. You would never have guessed that these guys had not performed together for 35 years. It was truly memorable.

Due to poor health, however, drummer Dale Griffin was replaced by Martin Chambers of The Pretenders. As I remember Griffin accompanied the band on the encores.

A further reunion took place in 2013 and this time included other cities away from London. This including Birmingham’s Symphony Hall. Sadly, since those reunions both Dale ‘Buffin’ Griffin and Verden Allen have passed away.

2019 sees a third reunion of sorts. This time it is the 1974 version of the band and in addition to Ian Hunter will include Ariel Bender and Morgan Fisher as well as full supporting musicians. As well as several gigs up and down the country, this tour will also include The Assembly, Leamington Spa.

Forty years ago, or at least just over, saw the release of that most iconic of albums ‘All Mod Cons’ by The Jam.

Garry Bushell, in his review, commented on the perceived fact, that, during the run up to the release of ‘All Mod Cons’, the ‘David Watts’ single had apparently relegated The Jam to a spent force. He later pointed out how that comment had been a trifle premature. He continued to mention how the next single ‘Down in the Tube Station’ was a whacking great poke in the ribs pointer to the possible strengths of this, their third and most satisfyingly rounded album.

At its release, and for the normal run of the mill listening public ‘All Mod Cons’ seemed to perfectly capture snapshots of aspects of everyday life, as seen through the eyes of Paul Weller. Wonderful lyrics coupled with great tunes instantly had the making of this, now, classic album. Not only that but ‘All Mod Cons’ also looked back musically and spiritually to the 1960s. Although the record itself was totally grounded in the 1970s.

And judging by the recent crowds at both The Empire in Coventry and The Assembly in Leamington Spa, The Jam are still fondly remembered in these parts. Incidentally, the Leamington Spa gig came 40 years to the day after The Jam played at Coventry Theatre on the ‘Apocalypse Tour’ in support of the ‘All Mods Cons’ album.

At both the Empire and Assembly gigs it was ‘From the Jam’, a hybrid of Paul Wellers super group that contains bass player Bruce Foxton from The Jam’s original line up. They performed the ‘All Mod Cons’ album in its entirety and almost in track order as it appeared on the album. For practicalities, however, ‘English Rose’ was tucked into a quieter seated, more acoustic section, during the middle of the gig. After the main course the set list included hits such as ‘News of the World’, ‘Strange Town’, ‘Eton Rifles’, ‘Private Hell’, ‘Town Called Malice’, ‘In the City’ and ‘When your Young’ which did make me smile due to the fact it was sung by many ‘in reflection’.

As with this kind of gig, by bands from this era, very few words came from the stage. Without any heirs and graces 20 or so songs were delivered in blistering fashion. There was little or no tuning of guitars and certainly no sermons delivered.

At the time of the release of ‘All Mod Cons’ The Jam were still in their ascendancy. Such was the sudden growth of their following at that time meant that, for the Apocalypse Tour, the band were suddenly moved up from playing smaller venues such as The Locarno/Tiffany’s to the larger, grander seated theatres such as the Coventry Theatre.

And what happened to The Jam at the end of their time was totally unprecedented. The trio of Bruce Foxton, Rick Buckler and Paul Weller had steered the band to incredible heights. At the time, they were arguably the most popular group in the UK and then, seemingly out of the blue, Paul pulled the plug on it all.

For a short while the country reeled as news of the break up hit the headlines of a lot of national newspapers let alone the music press.

However, for the last 10 years or so, ‘From the Jam’ who have always comprised of ex The Jam band members, have resurrected interest in The Jam and their music once again. They have consistently toured in tribute to all that The Jam created. And the resulting audiences have remained as faithful to the band, just as they had been, 40 years ago.

Born in New York, the producer and bass player has long become a legend in the field of popular music production.

Tony Visconti first came to London during 1968 after a chance meeting with fellow producer Denny Cordell. After moving to the UK, one of the first albums he had a hand in producing was ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ by The Ivey’s, later to become known as Badfinger.

There then began a partnership, for Tony, with Marc Bolan which lasted right from the outset of Tyrannosaurus Rex for seven albums including the classic ‘Electric Warrior’ when the band were now known by the truncated T. Rex.

At the same time Tony was still playing bass and had teamed up with David Bowie. After a short spell in David’s band The Hype, Tony continued work with David by appearing on his ‘Space Oddity’ album then playing bass on and producing his ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ album. Tony would team up with Bowie again around the time of ‘Diamond Dogs’ in 1974. This continued with production work for the ‘David Live’ album and subsequent albums up until and including ‘Scary Monsters’.

Again, and in parallel to his work with David Bowie, Tony Visconti was working with artists and bands such as Osibisa, The Strawbs, Sparks, Ralph McTell, Thin Lizzy and Mary Hopkin.

The 1980s saw Tony’s services were still in high demand, and equally as demanding, as he was now working with Hazel O’Connor, The Boomtown Rats, The Moody Blues and a host of others.

The 1990s were relatively quiet in terms of production but the 2000s saw an upturn for Tony’s services. David Bowie and Tony would join forces again during the early 2000s for David’s four final studio albums.

And now at almost 75 years old Tony has teamed up once more with Woody Woodmansey, drummer on ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ in Holy Holy. Named after a failed single from the very early 1970s Holy Holy have been creating the authentic sounds of David Bowie’s early songs since 2014.

‘We’re not a tribute band; we are the real deal’, they claim as they are performing songs from the 1969 to 1973 period. Opening this tour with ‘The Width of a Circle’ the seven-piece band go on to perform ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ album, which was never done at its time of release. They then follow that up with the ‘Ziggy Stardust’ album in full.

After recording a live album from Shepherd’s Bush Empire, during 2015, Tony played it to David Bowie. And apparently the man himself was ‘just grinning from ear to ear’ in acknowledgment.

Admittedly vocalist Glenn Gregory does not ooze the sensuality of the creator of those songs. I don’t think for a minute that is what the audience expects. Woody Woodmansey’s hand speed is, at times, electric. And the twin guitars capture Mick Ronson’s licks perfectly. Between them Holy Holy give truly faithful renditions of David Bowie’s music and are well worth catching if, at all possible.

There is no denying that, at the age of 60, Gary Numan is riding the kind of high that, arguably, he has not experienced since he burst into the music scene with his ‘Replicas’ album over 40 years ago.

I recently witnessed evidence of this where, together with the Skaparis Orchestra, he performed a two hour set to a capacity house at the Symphony Hall Birmingham.

This particular extravaganza was one of just 6 exclusive gigs that also took place in Cardiff, Newcastle, Manchester, London and Glasgow.

As to be expected the set list was heavily weighted towards Gary’s more recent and highly successful albums ‘Savage’ and ‘Splinter’. However, the past was not forgotten as he delved into his back catalogue pulling out a song from each of ‘Replicas’, ‘The Pleasure Principle’ and ‘Telekon’ albums. And this was my own live date with Gary since those days.

Additionally, Gary brought with him his biggest and most extravagant light show that he had taken on the road for over three decades. And this had been designed specifically for these special orchestral performances.

Arriving at the venue Gary tweeted ‘Birmingham Symphony Hall. I’ve not been here before but it’s really quite impressive. This show is nearly two hours long so we’re bringing the stage time forward a little tonight’.

Gary’s obvious excitement over the prospect of this tour had clearly spilled over into his huge and loyal following. Chants of ‘Numan, Numan’ rang around auditorium as soon as he hit the stage. And this continued in between tracks until it hit fever pitch with the onset of ‘Are Friends Electric’.

Still sporting his jet-black hair and eye liner, the one obvious difference from 40 years ago was that Gary now frequently moves. Whereas once, he had this deadpan, almost robotic like, demeanour when delivering his songs, he now has a repertoire of several shapes into which he contorts his body in heavy rotation while, at the same time, stalking around the stage like a caged creature. And this loop of expression continued throughout the entire gig with very little spoken interaction between himself and his audience.

In addition to the orchestra Gary was surrounded by his regular band. This comprised of a drummer, a keyboard player, a guitarist and a bass player. And between them the sound was dense and heavy. But at the same time the sound became distinctly different when an old tune was approaching.

Another delving into the past came by way of support act, keyboard and viola player Chris Payne, a name you may recognise from the hey days of the touring principle and living ornaments tours. Chris delivered a spectacular and very enjoyable aural, if not visual set, from a pair of keyboards and lap tops.

Gary mentioned that he had often felt that his music has had, at times, a filmic quality. And, that with The Skaparis Orchestra joining them for these six shows, that mix of hard electronic and soaring cinematic atmosphere would finally come fully to life. And so it did, to great effect.

Throughout the gig, I genuinely couldn’t help but feel pleased that for Gary Numan, after all this time, and throughout his highs and particularly his lows, things once again appear to have come together for this one-time pioneer.

Thinking back to the late 1960s when I was becoming a teenager, apart from the normal chart music, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Moody Blues and Beatles albums and such like, I distinctly remember being totally captivated by 3 LP records of less familiar bands. These were Music in a Dolls House by Family, It’s All About by Spooky Tooth and the first record release by The Strawbs. Although, as I was not aware of at that time, technically, it wasn’t the band’s first album release. That had been an album recorded with Sandy Denny which was abandoned to the vaults. It would, however, see light of day some years later.

Family and Spooky Tooth have both long since split although the charismatic lead vocalist of Family, Roger Chapman, still performs the occasional gig. As does ex Family drummer, Rob Townsend, who turns out for The Manfreds. Remarkably however, The Strawbs are still going strong, and still lead by the bands founder and primary song writer Dave Cousins who continues to produce wonderful music.

The other band members at the time of the first LP, guitarist and vocalist Tony Hooper and double bass player Ron Chesterman had both left the band by 1973. Having said that, Tony Hooper did return for a while from the late 80s through to the early 90s. Ron Chesterman sadly passed away during 2007.

April 2019 will see the band celebrate their 50th anniversary in the United States. But consistently year after year The Strawbs have gigged almost continuously throughout that time either with a full band or acoustically. And it is equally impressive that, for the last 45 years or so, Dave has had guitarist Dave Lambert at his side.

At this point I am not even going to attempt to give a potted history of The Strawbs. It is far too complicated a tale to tell and, besides, it is all out there on the internet to see. Some wonderful work has clearly been done cataloguing the bands history.

However, I would just like to acknowledge this fine debut record because, for me personally, it has been like a life-long friend and has never been far from the record player / CD player. Even today the songs within it have never dated and retained the beauty I first discovered soon after it was released during May/June 1969. On its release Melody Maker called it ‘thoughtful arrangements offset the songs, which are reminiscent of the Moody Blues style’.

The opening track, ‘The Man Who Called Himself Jesus’, even for someone like myself who has never really understood the notion of religion, is immediately compelled to listen. The lyric is so sympathetic to the situation in many ways.

‘That Which Once Was Mine’ – and it’s opening line of ‘If in some capricious moment’ – I wouldn’t have even known what the word capricious meant back then. ‘Pieces of 79 and 15’. Again, there is no way I would have known what that song was all about. Even today, I am still not totally sure. The closest I came to a greater understanding was when I came across an interview with Dave Cousins where he explained that ‘it centred around Tony Hooper’s bizarre experiences in his several, extremely seedy, London flats’. The mind can only wonder.

So, it clearly wasn’t the lyrics that drew me to this record. Maybe it was the music then. As with Nick Drake albums, this album had arrangements added to it, to greatly enhance the songs. Great credit therefore must go to producer Tony Visconti and Gus Dudgeon who recorded it.

‘Oh, how she changed’ / ‘Or am I dreaming’ / ‘Where am I’ / ‘Tell me what you see in me’ – are just totally intoxicating songs for someone of such a tender age. They were written with pure love, passion and whimsy. Or at least that’s how they come across to me at least. And, they capture perfectly, the vocal talents of both Dave Cousins and Tony Hooper. The Preserves Uncanned set, that featured many early recordings from the band known as the Strawberry Hill Boys, and who went on to become The Strawbs, also contained several stripped backed versions of songs that would crop up on The Strawbs debut record. The difference in them is stark and revealing.

As for The Strawbs developing into an electric band, which of course they did during the 1970s, Dave Cousins was clearly looking toward the future as early as January 1969 when, in an interview, he mentions this ambition for the band as well as introducing a drummer.

Do I have any criticisms of the record? No nothing major, only that, as good as the song is – and it really is, I always felt that ‘The Battle’ felt slightly out of context with the rest of the album. The song, as I understand, is about a game of chess. But maybe it was intended to be included as a way of adding some shade dark to all the light.

During their 50 years together, The Strawbs have produced many fine and varied albums. So powerful are some of the lyrics I have seen them reduce people to tears. But the stories and messages within that debut record certainly left a huge impression on me. Maybe it was a simple case that it happened to snare me at such a vulnerable and innocent time in my life, who knows. Whatever the reason though, I am just so thankful that it did happen. It remains today, when called upon, something that’s guaranteed to make me feel a whole lot better about things.

Performing in a band that plays the music of Pink Floyd must be a daunting challenge. After all the fans of Floyd are no mugs and they wouldn’t forgive you if you did the band a disservice. But, to great credit, that’s exactly what Andy Nixon and Pete Riley did together for over ten years. They were both members of tribute band Dark Side of the Wall. In fact, Pete still is.

No doubting then, both Pete and Andy’s credentials as musicians. But more than that, between them, Pete and Andy have forged an even greater alliance. They formed a partnership known as Freedom to Glide and this enterprising pair are now on the verge of releasing the final album of what has grown into a trilogy.

Freedom to Glide took off during 2010. While waiting for the start of a Dark Side of the Wall gig both Pete and Andy chatted about the possibility of recording. And it kind of grew from there. Pete had a tune along with an idea for writing something based on World War 1. These embryonic ideas were formed around the concept of ‘Soldiers falling like rain on the battle field’. This instantly had Andy hooked and so sessions began immediately. Within a week or so acoustic guitar, drums and vocals had been added to Pete’s original musical theme. Not only that but Andy had further contributed with complete lyrics inspired by the ‘soldiers falling like rain’ quote from Pete. Further content was produced, and an album titled ‘Rain’ followed. Rain pt1 began as Pete’s instrumental demo. Andy then molded the arrangement into the song that it became. And that’s pretty much how the songs, that Freedom to Glide do collaborate on, are formed. They also write individually, for Andy more so as time has gone on, but still very much a team in terms of the final product.

Rain, released during 2013, was almost 3 years in the making. The album references World War 1 as well as showcasing a lot of their own talents and, given that the pair were performing in a Pink Floyd tribute, that influence is very evident.

The sessions for ‘Rain’ proved to be very bountiful with more than enough tunes written for its release. So, some of the tracks were shelved. It wasn’t as though the pair disliked any of the music produced. It just felt that some of the tunes were better placed than others to take their place on the first album.

Four songs that became surplus were used and developed for a second album release. And it was around this time when the idea developed that, in fact, this project could become a trilogy. So, rather than being planned, the whole concept evolved. A second album, ‘Fall’, was released during 2016. The reference point, this time, was a full century of war from 1914 to present day. The album itself is more song based and the pair felt freer to progress and to show more of themselves.

As far as distribution of the music was concerned, independent on-line record label ‘Burning Shed’ have been incredibly supportive. Fellow band member Ted Duggan, from Andy’s other band Badfinger, had also been drummer for Banco de Gaia. Banco leader Toby Marks knew Tim Bowness at Burning Shed. Impressed with Freedom to Glide results, Tim was more than happy to help. Both albums have sold very successfully around the world, helped immensely by the internet.

As mentioned, both Pete and Andy contribute with music and lyrics although I think it is fair to say that Andy, since leaving Dark Side of the Wall, has had more time on his hands and as such has more time to prepare the third album.

The final track on ‘Fall’ is titled ‘October’ and its lyric contains the phrase ‘Seeds are Sown’ several times. By coincidence, the third album in the trilogy is due to be called ‘Seed’. Were these albums beginning to contain codes and messages throughout, that reference back to other albums within the series?

‘Seed’ is due for release early 2019. And several themes are present within the album. The whole album is focused on the last year of World War 1. It concentrates on one man and his life between January and November 1918. During that time, he is granted leave to return home. While there it occurs to him that, after returning to the battle, this may be the last time he is seeing his home and his family. The futility of war begins to become clearer to him. There is also a little bit of Andy’s grandfather within the album. And Pete’s grandad is not forgotten either. During the war, he was carried into British lines and back to the safety of the British trenches by a German doctor. The German doctor saying that ‘I am here to save lives not to take them’.

Andy mentioned that the outbreak of World War 1 was remembered greatly during 2014 but the ending of it, which for him was particularly more poignant, did not get a similar response. Which is kind of strange as, if you take a minute, it suggests that war is remembered more than the peace.

As far as Andy was concerned, ‘Seed’ was a complete joy for him to write and record – and, when talking about it all, it shows. A taster track from ‘Seed’, titled ‘Broken Road’, is already out there on the internet to whet the appetite, along with a video shot by the band themselves in The Yorkshire Dales. (Pete is a pro designer with high level videography/photography skills) The soldier in the video is the drummer Andy Mapp (Katrina & The Waves) with whom Andy has worked in the past.

With three albums now in the bag I asked Andy what future held for Freedom to Glide. Essentially, decisions are to be made. Do they remain a studio-based band or do they take the band on the more ambitious route of gigging? Gigging, of course, would involve more musicians and many hours of practice. Andy mentioned that he would love to do some gigs but realises that with an audience spread around the world, it would be very difficult to get them all into one venue. And then there are the logistics between the pair, Andy is based in Coventry and Pete in Derby.

So maybe a good starting point, should the band take that route, would be to do some support slots for an established band. The internet is a double-edged sword. It is incredibly powerful for connecting people and getting the word out there. But if those people are in different countries and territories then there is an added challenge when it comes to playing live. Despite these challenges, however, Freedom to Glide fully intend to take the project out live, even with the difficulties mentioned and that, as well as support slots, they will, definitely, present their own shows, albeit a small number initially.

Finally, I asked Andy how the name ‘Freedom to Glide’ came about. He said: ‘From what I remember the FTG name came from a texting conversation between Pete & me. We liked the idea of “free” or “freedom” being in the name and it just popped up. What really nailed it was when we realised it could be abbreviated to f2g. In this world of abbreviations and text language it just seemed perfect. Ironic really, I’m a stickler for spelling, punctuation and grammar.’

An interesting spin off to this whole f2g project is told by Andy: ‘We were contacted by an English teacher around 2014 after ‘Rain’ had been released who was teaching English in The Netherlands at the time. She was a fan of our music and very keen on the war poets like Wilfred Owen, Seigfried Sassoon, Laurence Binyon, Edmund Blunden etc… (I refer to all those war poets for inspiration in my lyric writing by the way). Well, I was knocked out when she asked if she could use 4 of our songs’ lyrics, (Rain pts 1,2,3 & 4) to introduce WW1 themed poetry to her class. She asked her students to annotate each “poem” (the song lyrics) and the feedback was just incredible! She didn’t tell them who’d written these four ‘poems’ until they’d presented their annotations. They all presumed they were written by some ‘mystery’ war poet. What a huge honour that was and an amazing compliment for an English teacher and her students to hold my lyrics in such high regard. We take great care to respect the subject matter and it’s all very heart-warming to hear you’ve done it justice in some way’.

Fine words indeed and, I for one, am looking forward to whatever the future brings for f2g. 

Robert Fripp has said that King Crimson is, not so much a band, more of a way of doing things. And January 2019 saw the anniversary of the 50th year since King Crimson came into being and began to do things.

During its 50 years in existence, King Crimson has experienced various phases of change. When it comes to trying to define the music of King Crimson, such is the bands complicated history that includes leaving the past behind and reinventing the way they sound, then I don’t even try to bother.

Each phase on the bands journey has come some incredibly challenging and yet strangely stimulating music, more so to the musicians (of which there has been in excess of 20) I am guessing, but also to the listener.

To get the best out of the listening experience of a King Crimson album, and other bands of this ilk, I find that for me personally, I need to switch off and take myself away from this fast-paced world for an hour or so, and totally commit your complete aural senses. The rewards can be just incredible.

By 2012 Robert Fripp, the bands leader and the one remaining constant throughout the bands 50-year history, appeared to be as detached from making music as he had been at any point in his life. While his contemporaries revisit their past on the reunion circuit, Robert Fripp appeared to be ignoring it all and not getting caught up in the nostalgia.

However, by September 2013 it was all change when, seemingly, out of the blue a message emerged announcing the resurrection of King Crimson. Further, the band would be revisiting the past. But things were not as straight forward as simply putting a band together and going through the motions. Any touching of early King Crimson music was going to be on Robert Fripps terms and conditions.

And so, it was, that for the first time since 1974 the world got to hear, albeit, reconstructed versions of songs from albums such as ‘In the court of the Crimson King’, ‘Red’ and ‘Larks Tongue in Aspic’. Except of course, if you were lucky enough to have seen a gig by the short lived 21st Century Schizoid Band. The 21st CSB had essentially been a large part of the musicians who made up the original King Crimson, less the main man himself, but with his full blessing.

Along with guitarist Fripp, the lineup for this new incarnation of the band included Tony Levin (bass and vocals), Mel Collins (Sax, flute), Jakko Jakszyk (guitar, vocals), Gavin Harrison (drums), Bill Rieflin (drums) and Pat Mastelotto (drums). Yes, three drummers. It was a sight and sound to behold.

Previous comments I have read about it all cover the event well. But it was just one of those gigs where you could read all the words in the world about it and yet it still wouldn’t be able to capture the whole of the magic.

But just being sat there in the hall, being subjected to a set that revolved around such classic music was just stunning. Watching the 3 drummers was at times hypnotic. In fact, there were countless musical moments that had us mere menials simply scratching our heads in wonderment at the genius being displayed.

The lighting was limited as it virtually remained the same throughout until they played ‘Starless’ when it changed to a red hue that filled the stage. All very dramatic.

King Crimson are several life time’s away from the band that evolved and revolved around the lyrical mysticism of Pete Sinfield but are still able capable to hold the attention of an audience for several hours. The whole thing was simply spell binding.