Robin Trower - crossing the Bridge of Sighs

The rock trio format produced many great bands in the 1960s and 70s, from Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience through Rory Gallagher’s bands, the early Thin Lizzy with Eric Bell and - one of my personal favourites - the Robin Trower Band.

Trower had been a member of Procol Harum, demonstrating a versatile blues guitar style on albums including Home and Broken Barricades.  

His first post-Procol band, Jude evolved into the three-piece Robin Trower Band. Their first album Twice Removed from Yesterday established the blues rock blueprint they refined through the 1970s.

Early days of the RT band, with Reg Isidore (right)

Trower's guitar playing drew instant attention because of the similarities in tone and intensity with Jimi Hendrix. The early comparisons with Jimi were valid to some extent.

The RT sound did borrow from the master. Perhaps the most obvious early example was the Procol Harum track Song For A Dreamer, which carries much of the same feel and atmosphere as Jimi's songs like 1983... and Are You Experienced. But Trower was soon able to demonstrate that he had his own individual style. He was genuinely trying to forge a new direction for the rock trio and, as Charles Shaar Murray’s review of their second album Bridge of Sighs indicates, Trower was able to win people over with the sheer force of his playing.

CSM's review states: "Trower and his sidemen seem to give the evoking of an atmosphere very high priority, which means that unless you’re prepared to sit down and listen hard, you’re going to miss the point completely. By pursuing a direction totally unlike that of any other three-piece guitar-led band, Trower may well be cutting himself off from a large number of potential listeners who are only interested in guitar pyrotechnics of the kind he is quite capable of playing if he so desires. However, what he is doing here is ultimately far more valuable."

The NME review of  'Bridge of Sighs' from 1973

"It's just a bit of a yawn," said Robin at the time, with regard to the Hendrix comparisons: "I guess it gives people something to talk about. People like to put you in a pigeonhole if they're uncertain. Maybe it makes it easier for people to accept what I'm doing, the Hendrix thing gives them something to hold on to."

Of course, the Trower sound had another key ingredient – the smooth soulful voice of bass player Jimmy Dewar who, along with drummer Reg Isidore provided the dynamic backing on the first two RT band albums. Dewar was undoubtedly one of the great British vocalists and his contribution was crucial in making their albums and live shows so memorable.

This video clip shows what a silky smooth voice can really add in a rock context. It's an early version of Day Of The Eagle (from Bridge of Sighs) filmed in France and with different lyrics.

Isidore was muscular and frenetic - a key part of the band in the early days. But he was maybe a little too loose for Trower’s liking. Robin said at the time of the third album For Earth Below, when Bill Lordan joined, “'Reggie just started to drift a bit. I run a very tight ship”. And so in came the tall blond American Lordon, who had previously played with Sly Stone and had jammed with Hendrix.

Trower said they all knew when they got together that he was the right choice: “It was classic! He knew he was right for us before we did. He'd been into us from the time the first album came out and he's been trying to get hold of me ever since, cause he knew he was The Drummer. He phoned me up and said, 'I'm the guy you want. Don't listen to anybody else.' And he was right. He was absolutely perfect.”

My vantage point for Robin Trower at the Reading Festival in August 1975

The RTB were one of the best live bands I ever saw. And that run of albums, from Twice Removed… through Bridge of Sighs, For Earth Below and Long Misty Days were constants on my record deck at the time. I saw them live a few times, notably at the Reading Festival in 1975, when they provided the high point of the Sunday afternoon.

I have this memory of the crowd getting in such a frenzy – it was a sunny afternoon at the end of what had been a typically sodden weekend (it poured down during the headline set by Yes on the Saturday night) and a kind of delirium came over the crowd during Trower’s set. At the climax of one of the songs, a great wave of cheering could be heard as a (good-natured) rubbish fight broke out across a no-man’s land puddle of mud in the middle of the crowd. I just remember this cloud of paper and empty bottles suspended in the air, the crowd seemingly spurred on by the excitement of the music.

The BBC recorded the band for an In Concert show in early 1975, but then ruined the recording by releasing it on CD in the mid-1990s with fake crowd noise. I have the original, recorded off the radio in 1975, and Trower is incredible.

It’s an old-fashioned ‘wireless’ recording, from the radio onto a Phillips portable cassette recorder, complete with Pete Drummond’s between song announcements. I've never heard a better version of Daydream. It’s a must for any fans of the classic era Trower band. The band are at the top of their game, Trower's tone and fluid soloing have rarely been captured so consistently in one show.

Apart from the version of Daydream, highlights for me are the new song Gonna Be More Suspicious which really jumps out of the speakers on the BBC version. Lady Love crackles with intensity. Too Rolling Stoned was an instant classic. Below is my recording of Daydream, and here is a version of the In Concert program from a more recent CD release of Trower's BBC sessions. The January '75 show starts at 1hr:25mins.

I saw the RTB again at the Hammersmith Odeon on the tour promoting Long Misty Days. Trower provided a jaw-dropping volume on the title track with its wall-of-guitar intro. Although he has continued to make records to this day, his reputation rests on that golden period in the mid 70s and the trio format with Jimmy Dewar on vocals.

Dewar sadly died in 2002, but Robin Trower can still be seen on the gig circuit playing the classic material. In 2005, when I saw him playing at the Mean Fiddler in London, the volume knob was still way up at 11. He began the set with a terrific rendition of Too Rolling Stoned. What amazes me about this clip is that my camera was able to process the sound so well. It really was very loud.   

 
Robin Trower Band - Reading Festival, 23rd August 1975
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAoVe9CvCHM

BBC In Concert Program, January 1975
Day of The Eagle, Bridge of Sighs, Gonna Be More Suspicious
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnGbbd_nU-Q&list=PL-R4Z6A4NVglr89GKkAf-Smwb-SStIlMZ

Fine Day, Lady Love, Daydream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAlQN66vOQo&list=PL-R4Z6A4NVglr89GKkAf-Smwb-SStIlMZ

Too Rolling Stoned, I Can't Wait Much Longer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPg6b8im6sw&list=PL22xMk52Uk_QUi0CbEMmbUPTJzHJSSboT

Alethea, Little Bit of Sympathy, Rock Me Baby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtVtICWvcXE&list=PLA4AD3535D7E692A6

Also on this blog:

Memories of the Reading Festival, 1975

Jimi Hendrix - The Last Interview, September 1970 

From Pinner to LA - Elton's big breakthrough, 1970

As a depiction of how you can go from being a pop fan to a pop idol in the blink of an eye, the story of how Elton John and Bernie Taupin went from sitting in the crowd at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival watching Bob Dylan, to being ushered into Dylan’s presence at an LA club a few months later, is hard to beat.

In 1970, Elton was living at his mother’s house in Pinner, a suburb west of London. with his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. He was frustrated at their lack of success and had considered giving it all up and becoming a session pianist.

His recent album Elton John, had failed to capture the British public’s imagination, but it had gained a measure of recognition in America, where Elton was considered a new talent to match the singer songwriters of LA’s Laurel Canyon.

Russ Regan, an LA-based A&R man, picked up on the airplay the Elton John album was getting and wanted to bring Elton, drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray out to LA. Troubadour club owner Doug Weston agreed to give them a six night residency.

Having never been to America, but having worshipped its music from afar, Elton and Bernie went from the obscurity of a suburban living room in Pinner to the very centre of the music business in one move.

Elton and Bernie Taupin in 1970

Their opening night at the Troubadour, with Quincy Jones, Mike Love and Henry Mancini in the crowd, was the moment that changed Elton and Bernie’s lives forever.

The audience had come to hear the new British balladeer. Before the show Neil Diamond took the stage and introduced Elton: “Folks, I’ve never done this before, so please be kind to me. I’m like the rest of you; I’m here because of having listened to Elton John’s album. So I’m going to take my seat with you now and enjoy the show.”

Elton himself recalled: “It was very hot and smoky and a great vibe. We came on; I was in flying boots and hotpants and did (a heavy version of) Sixty Years On. They weren’t expecting it. They thought it was going to be a low-key thing, because the music on the Elton John album was very orchestral. But with a three-piece band, we went out and did the songs completely differently and just blew everyone away. We knew halfway through the show that we were on fire.”

I have discovered some rare footage from 1971 of the trio playing Sixty Years On, which shows perfectly how they beefed-up the songs; Elton pounding the piano, Nigel using mallets with gusto on the drums while Dee uses his bass like a lead guitar. It's had 260 thousand views so far.

On the second night at the Troubadour, Elton had looked up to see another hero, Leon Russell staring straight at him: “I nearly shat myself”. Then, one night at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, Elton and Bernie were led to a booth for an audience with Bob Dylan himself.

Elton told Mojo magazine: "Dylan said he loved the song My Father’s Gun, from Tumbleweed Connection. Bernie and I were petrified. Dylan has an aura about him. It’s not frightening, it’s just - foo, blimey."

Melody Maker Sept 5th 1970 notes Elton's success in LA

Having seen the Troubadour show, Robert Hilburn, music critic for the Los Angeles Times, wrote: “Tuesday night at the Troubadour was just the beginning. He’s going to be one of rock’s biggest and most important stars.”

But much like the Stax artists who toured Britain in the 60s as major stars, only to return to the US as nobodies, back in London, Elton's career moved slowly forward.

Record sales remained sluggish, but that all changed in February 1971, when his label DJM released Your Song from Elton John as a single. A whole different phenomenon was about to begin – the era of Elton as a pop star in the UK.

With a run of hit singles in 1971 and '72 - Honky Cat, Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, Daniel etc, Elton found himself increasingly part of the developing Glam Rock scene, along with T. Rex, David Bowie and Roxy Music. This played well with his natural flamboyance on stage, and the costumes became more outrageous.

Front page of Melody Maker 1973

In contrast, his reputation in the US grew on the strength of his albums, particularly the ersatz Americana of Tumbleweed Connection and the Laurel Canyon songwriter vibe of Madman Across The Water.

In the UK, his albums from 1972’s Don’t’ Shoot Me, I’m Only The Piano Player onwards sold well, but his earlier albums such as Tumbleweed and Madman, both full of great songs, did not get the attention they deserved at the time, nor probably even today from record buyers in the UK.

The elaborate lyric books that came with Elton's early 70s LPs

For more insight into how good those early shows were, the album 17-11-70 captures a live radio broadcast in New York that year. Also worth checking out, for the sheer power of their performance, is the Cleveland Music Hall show on 26th November 1970, available at the Concert Vault website - http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/elton-john/concerts/music-hall-cleveland-november-26-1970.html

It's easy to see why he created such a buzz in America. He demanded your attention and rightly so - these are powerful performances.

With his mother and stepfather in Pinner, 1971

Pinner happens to be my hometown too, though Elton is significantly older than me and our paths have never crossed. When he was making the journey to LA for his big breakthrough, I was about to enter my second year of high school. One of the first singles I bought was Rocket Man.

To conclude this piece, here's another example of how Elton's life changed so dramatically in 1970. Every year, Pinner has its May Fair. In his diary for May 1969, Elton wrote, “Went to Pinner Fair with Mick and Pat. I won a coconut and two goldfish!" He called them John and Yoko.

Wind forward five years and Elton played a key role in reuniting the real John and Yoko after their brief separation. During this period, Elton collaborated with Lennon on the song Whatever Gets You Through The Night.

“My life has been incredible,” he says now.

Here are a few additional links:
An early performance of 'Amoreena' from the US tour in 1970
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnzuL-xCX0U

Elton talks about songwriting with Bernie and the breakthrough gigs at The Troubadour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=javNC9znQQA

Elton rehearsing with Nigel and Dee, 1970
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-bnX1d1s7Y

Full performance of Sixty Years On in 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEgE0ojgRi4

Elton in the throes of writing 'Tiny Dancer', 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbZmPdu8Vko

Performance of 'Levon' for BBC TV, 1971
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mire1WJKdR8

Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters, 1972
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrOu0oc9aB4

See also on this blog, Elton John and Rod Stewart at Watford FC, 1974
https://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2012/10/elton-and-rod-at-watford-fc-1974.html

1974 - Sparks are the next big thing

For the average teenage record buyer in 1974, turning on the radio to hear Ron Mael's electric keyboard ushering in the falsetto tones of brother Russell singing "Zoo time is she and you time, the lions are your favourite kind and you want her tonight....."  - was a moment of pure delight.

With 'This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us', Sparks provided one of those wonderful eureka moments, when a record gets you off your feet and down to the record shop, because you have to own that record right now.

It was new and exciting in a pop world of second-rate groups jumping on the glam rock gravy train. "This Town...' harked back to the excitement we felt when we first saw and heard David Bowie and Roxy Music in 1972. It was exotic and dramatic and not only that, it rocked.

In the new documentary, called The Sparks Brothers, the Mael brothers made it very clear that without Todd Rundgren they may not have had a career at all. They had already made two albums in the US for Bearsville Records, produced by Rundgren. He was the only one who saw their potential, said the Maels.

It was a move to London for their third album 'Kimono My House' and a new band where the whole thing came together, built around Ron's intriguing lyrics and Russell's camp falsetto.

Their quirkiness was probably better suited to the UK pop charts anyway. The first single from Kimono My House made an immediate impact and the following week they were on Top of the Pops.

Their appearance on TV showed they had a visual quirkiness to match the oddball lyrics and quasi-operatic delivery. Ron Mael with his Hitler moustache and mild smirk; curly-haired flamboyant Russell taunting his brother for a reaction. These guys knew how to put on a show.

Kimono My House kickstarted a career that has seen them rediscovered every 10 years by a new generation of pop fans. They have enjoyed three or four distinct periods of success, right up to the present time, surprising everyone with the enduring quality of their music. The Mael's unique take on pop music has remained consistent over their entire career. Above all, there's a distinctively dark humour at the heart of their songs. 

As Sparks have proved over their entire career, they have a knack for unusual song themes, or at least songs it would be hard to imagine other bands coming up with. 

On Kimono My House, their dark humour was evident on tracks such as 'Here in Heaven', about a suicide pact where the girlfriend didn't honour the agreement. And 'Amateur Hour' which delves into the subject of how to please a woman sexually - "when you turn pro, you'll know, she'll tell you so". 

Another of the showpiece songs on the album is 'Thank God It's Not Christmas' - performed here by the original band on French TV in 1974.

The NME's Ian MacDonald was full of praise for this new pop phenomenon in his review (see below) of Kimono My House - "this exhilarating and unnerving record" - in May 1974.

"Ron Mael has set the whole lop-sided wobbly man of technique and 'tradition' spinning again. Melody lines spiral up and down through intervals and over chords that seem to echo from somewhere in the classics..."

The Sparks Brothers film has several key moments that convey why Sparks are so revered by fans and musicians alike. Mike Myers says his favourite line comes from the early song Girl From Germany, about a guy who takes his German girlfriend home to meet his parents, who "can't forget that war".

"My word, she's from Germany
Well, it's the same old country
But the people have changed."

The author Neil Gaiman and Portlandia's Fred Armisen were both inspired by Sparks' skewed view of life. Jonathan Ross is another who zoned in on their oddball humour. Even Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones got something out of their music. He is just one of the very funny contributors to the film.

Earl Mankey and other members of the original band Halfnelson show no bitterness at missing out on the big time. Bass player Ian Hampton (who was drafted in after Kimono bassist Martin Gordon was rather cruelly fired just as they were hitting the big time) is only slightly disgruntled at how his moment of stardom was cut short. Drummer Dinky Diamond and guitarist Adrian Fisher have both passed away, which just leaves Ron and Russell to relate how Kimono My House changed the band’s fortunes. It boils down to those essential ingredients - great compositions and that uniquely Sparks humour.

A Celebration of Led Zeppelin

'Celebration Day' - The film of Led Zeppelin's show at London's O2 Arena in 2007, is a real treat and worth catching on the big screen if you get the chance.

It captures the band at their majestic best, turning in a performance that defies the fact they hadn't played a full live show for almost 30 years.

There was plenty of clapping and whooping in our movie theatre, which for once was quite appropriate.

The film takes you into the crowd and onto the stage, giving a sense of what it was like for both audience and band on the night. And it really does capture the spirit of classic Led Zeppelin.

At one point, Robert Plant says, "It still feels pretty good up here" and there are several moments where you see them look at each other, as if to say "we've still got it". I was at the Knebworth show back in the day and I think the 02 performance stands shoulder to shoulder with that 1979 vintage.

We're gonna groove - backstage before the show

I was also at Earl’s Court in 1975 and while that was really the band at their peak, for anyone coming to 'Celebration Day' without knowing more than a couple of the classic albums, this film gives you a good representation of what Led Zeppelin were about.

Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones are both on fine form here and Robert Plant manoeuvres his way round the difficult registers without losing the spirit of the original songs.

There’s so much to enjoy. The material is nicely varied and really blows away any notion that they were just ‘Hey hey mama and squeeze my lemon’ big haired posers. The best musical moments are the ones where they show their roots but also their sophistication: In My Time of Dying, No Quarter, Kashmir. And if you have ever liked Stairway to Heaven, you will love this version.

Jason Bonham did a great job of driving the band, especially on things like Kashmir. As his father did at the Knebworth shows, Jason allows the band to ride on top of his monumental groove. Similarly, In My Time of Dying stays true to the spirit of the original recording. Jason really channels the spirit of Bonzo at times. It’s true what Jimmy Page says; they couldn’t have done this with any other drummer. At no time do you feel like he’s throwing them off – his appreciation of the music is total. What a proud moment for him.
Another great thing about the film is how it shows the many warm exchanges between all of them, when they know they’ve nailed a tune. Like on Black Dog, you can sense their elation at having not just got through it, but really rocked it.

JPJ talked about the over-riding feeling being one of relief, that they got to the end of the show without any train-wrecks, and as long-time fans we share in that relief. But what makes this show special is they reminded themselves, and us, in the best way possible that they were an incredible and quite unique band.

You don’t see musicians playing with this level of respect for their music and their legacy – not rock bands anyway.

 I'm glad they didn't take it out on the road though. This was a one-off.

I was curious to see how the film would look on my phone, so towards the end I took a clip of Kashmir. It came out pretty well. The original file size was 290mb! For less than 3 mins.
But there's a much better clip that someone else has posted from the screening at Hammersmith Apollo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QoGnVrybqDc

I was in Tokyo not long after the O2 concert and, as I always did, went to visit the bootleg CD and DVD shops in the Nishi-Shinjuku area of the city.

Jimmy Page had been there a few days previously and the shop owner, who was selling an unofficial film of the O2 show, gave everyone who bought a copy a photo of JP he'd taken when Jimmy came in to get a copy for himself. 

Also On This Blog: What is Led Zeppelin's best acoustic song?
https://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2021/07/what-is-led-zeppelins-best-acoustic-song.html

1970 - Led Zeppelin promise not to go soft
https://bangnzdrum.blogspot.com/2019/12/december-1969-led-zeppelin-promise-not.html

Elton John and Rod Stewart at Watford FC, 1974

May 1974. Elton John was already an international star and had recently been appointed as a director of Watford Football Club, my home team.

These were the days before Watford were even close to getting into the top division (Division 1 as it was then) of the football league. They were in need of a boost financially, so Elton agreed to put on a benefit concert. Tickets were £1 and it was billed as Elton John and guests. 

Nazareth opened the concert. My mates and I were fans of their album 'Loud 'N Proud' which included the hit single version of Joni Mitchell's 'This Flight Tonight' as well as a  cover of the Little Feat song 'Teenage Nervous Breakdown'. 

We held back during Nazareth's set but then a couple of us moved right to the front of the stage for Elton's show. 

This was the classic EJ band, with Dee Murray, Nigel Ollson and Davey Johnstone, plus Ray Cooper on percussion.  

Watford are known as The Hornets and so Elton naturally arrived on stage in a hornet (well, more like a bee) costume. You can see from the footage of the concert here that Elton's colourful outfit was a contrast with the long hair and denim of most of us in the crowd (I'm down there at front centre). It was a good-natured crowd and I remember at least one streaker. There were a few glammed-up Rod-alikes and by the sound of the screaming, quite a few girls. 

Elton's set included recent classics like Candle In The Wind and Daniel. They also debuted a new single, a cover version of The Beatles' Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.  

Rod Stewart’s appearance certainly added an extra element of star quality. 

He strode on stage wearing a white silk suit and matching scarf and his trademark haircut - every inch the rock star. This was pre-Atlantic Crossing, the point at which he focussed on making it big in America. He sang a mix of Elton material that he had covered on his early solo albums. 

Melody Maker's front page about the Watford gig and rock's football fans

The second video clip shows Rod's entrance and the run-through of Country Comforts. It's just a shame the sound balance has his vocals way down. There are no official release clips from this concert, so this is all we have to go on. 

I remember the Elton John Band being really professional and excellent musicians. It was a treat to see them up-close. I remember thinking I had never seen a drummer wearing headphones on stage, the way Nigel Ollson did. 

The photo here, taken from the front page of the following week's Melody Maker, is pretty much the view I had down at the front. 

The article in the MM - 'How rock gets its kicks' was about how people like Elton, Rod, Ian Hunter, Rick Wakeman, Dave Gilmour and Roger Waters were "confirmed soccer freaks". 

This was 10 years before Watford had their period of success in the old first division under the management of Graham Taylor. At this point, they had made it up from the third to the second division and were holding their own without ever really looking like being promoted to the first division. They had a brief glory period in the 1969-70 season, beating Liverpool 1-0 in the FA cup quarter finals before being trounced 5-1 by Chelsea in the semis.

The Liverpool manager Bill Shankly said bitterly they had never lost to a worse team, but to judge from the clip below, Watford could have won three or four - nil. Anyway, Chelsea went on to win the cup that year, beating Leeds United in a replay at Old Trafford. Watford continued in lower league mediocrity for several years until Taylor was appointed and took them right up to the First Division.

My son and I at a recent game

Having stood on the terraces as a 12 year-old through my mid-teens, I drifted away in adulthood. And now I live overseas I don't get to the football much, but I keep track of the team's fortunes. 

The ground is looking much better now, enclosed on all sides. And for the past few seasons, despite a revolving door of managers, the team have held their own in the Premier League. (Edit: the current owners have lost the plot with this firing managers business and Watford now sit mid-table in the Championship (2nd division)).

Rod Stewart joins Elton on stage at Watford FC, May 1974

And to bring it all up to date (almost), here is Elton playing Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding at Watford FC in his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour in 2022. The tickets cost a bit more than £1!!

See also on this blog:
From Pinner To L.A. - Elton's Big Breakthrough

Elton John playing '60 Years On' live in 1971 - rare clip

Elton John - Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding - Live at Watford FC, 2022

It's Frank Zappa Day

September 19th is officially designated as Frank Zappa Day in Baltimore, the city where Frank grew up, before his family moved to the west coast of the US and he eventually settled in Los Angeles.  Two years ago, I happened to be in Baltimore on business and as usual I checked to see what was on while I was there. The announcement of a statue unveiling grabbed my attention straight away:

"FREE Outdoor Festival and Tribute Concert Featuring DWEEZIL ZAPPA AND ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA.
On September 19th, the city of Baltimore will dedicate a monument to the memory and cultural impact of the legendary Frank Zappa". 

To me, Frank Zappa is a complete one-off; a man whose unique musical vision was formed by early exposure to obscure and, to most ears, impenetrable sounds at the extremes of classical and jazz - with a garnish of doo-wop.  

I'm pretty sure that from an early age he would have been seen, and seen himself, as an outsider. His family lived in a series of small towns and this sense of cultural isolation contributed to his singular vision. He remained a maverick throughout his life, which is why I think he deserves greater recognition for the enormous catalogue of music he created, even if I don't care for all of it. 

He did what he did and some of it was successful, artistically and commercially. Some of it was only successful artistically and, yes, some of it was un-PC and of questionable taste. But musically, the proof of his worth as a composer and his skills as a band leader are the sheer number of virtuoso musicians who have come through his ranks. Only Miles Davis could beat him in that regard.

Percussionist Ruth Underwood said of Frank, "there was always more music.." He never stopped working and writing out manuscripts for the band to work on. If you are a musician and you want a fuller appreciation of Frank's oeuvre, read 'The Real Frank Zappa Book', his autobiography. In it, he details the unusual inspiration he found in the music of modern classical composers such as Varese and Stravinsky and of the primitive early recordings he made with The Mothers.

Frank also writes about how the Mothers evolved their act, via a 6-month residency at the Garrick Club in New York's Greenwich Village. The book provides the context and a greater understanding of how Frank came to create those early Mothers records - the arrangements, the little filligree passages, the tape looping, the orchestral interludes. There is so much in there.

Here is Ruth explaining the richness of her relationship with Frank:

So anyway, on that sunny Sunday afternoon in Baltimore, I grabbed a cab out to the Highlandtown suburb. My driver was a lovely Nigerian guy who played Fela Kuti and explained the stories behind each of the songs.  

Highlandtown is an ordinary featureless suburb, but for this day at least it got a spruce-up. The sidewalk bushes had been fitted with larger than life dental floss containers. Pictures of FZ were hanging from all the lamp-posts, and best of all, the main street running through the town had been renamed 'Frank Zappa Way'. 

The official bit was mercifully short. Gail Zappa, Frank's wife, made a speech reminding everyone that Frank had stated ‘if you want to get laid, go to college, but if you want an education, go to the library’. So it was fitting that his bust would be unveiled outside the community library in the place of his birth.

Gail, Ahmet, Dweezil, Diva - and Frank

Baltimore's Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake made the official proclamation, then invited Gail to unveil the statue topped by a bust of FZ. Curiously, the bronze bust was donated by artists from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, where apparently Zappa was a beacon of freedom of expression during the Soviet occupation.

Over by the denil floss bush

The other members of the Zappa clan included daughter Diva and son Ahmet. All were openly moved by the honour and respect being shown to Frank. Then Dweezil and the band paid their own respects with a two hour set of Frank's music that ran as follows:

Stinkfoot / Florentine Pogen / Broken Hearts Are For Assholes / Easy Meat / Keep It Greasy / City Of Tiny Lights / Echidna's Arf For You / Don't Eat The Yellow Snow / Blessed Relief / Big Swifty / Apostrophe / RDNZL / I'm The Slime / Dinah Moe Humm

You want some more? Well here's some more.....The following clip starts with the unveiling of the statue and continues with highlights from the set by Zappa Plays Zappa

See also on this blog:

There's a lot to like in the 'Zappa' movie

Zappa's album One Size Fits All reviewed in 1975

Unveiling a Frank Zappa statue in Baltimore - Dweezil plays live, 2010

Frank Zappa and Lowell George together, 1969

Spooky - Frank's ghost appears front centre

 

 

If you want to see more from Zappa's early days, there is this Day In The Life clip available on Youtube

Steve Vai talks about the Zappa movie

Audio - The Mothers at The Garrick Theatre, New York, 1967

Mothers - Live at the Fillmore, San Francisco, 1970 

Frank Zappa & The Mothers - Montana, Live at the Roxy, LA, 1973

 

The Tubes - how they conquered London, 1977

Without doubt, the most spell-binding rock show I have ever seen was staged by The Tubes at the Hammersmith Odeon in November 1977.  The group were not all that well known in the UK, having never played there before. But they caused a sensation by booking a run of shows over a week at the famous London theatre and putting on an outrageous, hilarious and sexually explicit show that blew everyone’s mind. 

The review of the show written by the NME’s Paul Rambali said, “If you saw them, you will probably feel conned next time you hand over the notes to watch some other group merely stand there and play.  The Tubes are a spectacle unlike any other. They present a relentless onslaught of humour, outrage, parody, idiocy, music and costume – a feast for the senses.”

How does a band that has never played in the UK, and doesn’t have a hit record, create enough of a buzz to sell out in London?  They had also made plans to record a live album. They must have been damn sure of themselves.  The pre-show hype was a testament to the power of the NME in the 1970s, because without any other publicity, save for a few plays by Capital Radio's Nicky Horne, there was no other way for them to spread the word in those days. The NME was still the bible for rock fans and their coverage of the US scene had always been first-rate.

Don’t Touch Me There

Here was a good example - the NME writer Mick Farren spent time with The Tubes at their rehearsal studios in Los Angeles. He described their act as “satiric mania choreographed with split-second timing".

"The Tubes may play for laughs but the laughs are delivered according to a spot-on orchestration. They don’t amble into a rehearsal studio, down a few beers, blow a joint and then put down an hour and half of lackluster boogie and call it a day. Both musicians and dancers work out under the uncompromising direction of choreographer Kenny Ortega.”

On the Columbia Studios soundstage, the show was going though its full dress run-through and Farren observed:  “It’s nothing short of magnificent. The only words you can use are ones like sensory overkill. The act doesn’t leave you alone. One moment it’s the band in white intern coats playing straight techno-rock. Then it’s a dance troupe on the lam from Star Wars, and then there’s the punk pastiche. Except, pastiche or not, The Tubes can cut harder and deeper than 90%s of the new wave.”

The band’s first two albums in the mid-70s established the template for satirical pieces about show business, consumerism and sex, with titles like White Punks On Dope, What Do You Want From Life, Don’t Touch Me There and Mondo Bondage. 

Good as those records were, the songs really came alive on the stage, where The Tubes could put their creativity and art skills to work.  Not only that, they could really go to town on the outrage, with bondage, simulated sex, exploding TVs, live chainsaws and a cascade of semi-nude dancers.  Naturally, they were banned from several of the more conservative states of America.

And with a group that contained eight musicians and several dancers, this was never going to be a commercially viable operation unless they could take the show to the big venues.  So there was a lot riding on the European tour.

Lead singer Fee Waybill acknowledged that The Tubes needed to make it as a headline rock act, to cover the cost of their large touring group: “I think we’re primarily a rock and roll band. We have to establish ourselves as that. We have to convince these promoters that we are not just a visual act – that we can kick ass.”

Fee Waybill as Quay Lewd

Well they did that alright. In common with everyone who saw it, the NME’s Paul Rambali was blown away by the London show: “The stage exists in a continual chorus of activity that veers from anarchic chaos to precision orchestration with virtually no breathing space. The band continually assail the senses with extremes of spectacle. After doing their duet Don’t Touch Me There from a motorbike, Fee Waybill strapped backing singer Re Styles between two video monitors for Mondo Bondage."              

The finale was the appearance of Quay Lewd, Waybill’s obnoxious glammed-up rock star with ludicrously high platform shoes.

Rambali wrote: “Quay sang a song, fell over, insulted at least half the audience, fell over, did ‘Stand Up And Shout’, fell over, then told us, “this is the audience participation bit. When I say ‘stand up and shout’ you lot all shout…erh…’go down on me you bitch!

“Eventually he settled for having the whole audience shout 'you bleedin' wankers' on cue, fell over and finally was buried beneath a toppling 50-foot speaker column.”

Rambali concluded his review thus: “I have never witnessed anything remotely like The Tubes. Neither, to judge from the rapturous response and conversations afterwards, had anyone else. Amazing”

It really was, musically and visually remarkable. I saw them again in 1978, at the Knebworth Festival on the bill with Frank Zappa and Peter Gabriel. And again in 1979 at Hammersmith, on the ‘Remote Control’ tour, where they were supported by Squeeze (that’s another story…). But that first time in 1977 was shockingly good.

'White Punks On Dope' performed by The Tubes on the BBC 1977

The NME's review of the Tubes, published on 19th November 1977

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