Colin Richardson's blog

Keith Jarrett - 1975 Cologne Concert

                                                       

In 1975, while I was working for Charisma Records. I happened to be in Cologne for reasons I can't recall, and heard about the  Keith Jarrett concert from Vera Brandes, the very youthful (only 18 yrs old!) promoter, who pulled off a major coup in getting Jarrett in the first place and then overcoming several serious setbacks (one regarding the grand piano he was to use) to stage the concert. It didn't start until nearly midnight and as I had only found out about it  at the last minute I didn't get a seat, but stood just inside one of the many entry doors of the Opera House. It didn't matter though, because I was so entranced by Jarrett's performance that I didn't even notice.

My main memory is of his intensity...he moaned, groaned,swayed, stood up, sat down, stood up again...segueing effortlessly from passage to passage, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings and the enraptured audience. Time just flew by and suddenly it was over... the audience, who were certainly aware that they had witnessed something really special, were applauding wildly, relishing their good fortune at having witnessed it...and I have to say, I was too.

Interestingly, the ECM double album (which I still have)has no liner notes or any information whatsoever about the concert, other than the barest details of what was played and for how long. The Wikipedia page, however, gives a very good description of the event and the background to it.

Jon's "Jazz Library" programme and some nice words from Mike & Kate Westbrook...

Jon in his studio, where he has produced many albums, including several with Mike and Kate.

Jon received this very nice message from fellow musicians Mike and Kate Westbrook, which I thought merited sharing, given their standing in the jazz world.  Here it is, with their blessing:

Date: 4 June 2011 18:59:20 GMT+01:00

To: Jon Hiseman <jh@temple-music.com>

Dear Jon,

We very much enjoyed your jazz library this afternoon - refreshingly honest and
articulate contributions from you. It is difficult to fit a whole life in music in to such
a brief programme, but you managed to give a real feeling of your range and diversity.
You are as ever touchingly generous to your fellow musicians.
Love from us both to you and to Barbara,
Kate and Mike

Mike & Kate's website is:  http://www.westbrookjazz.co.uk

Harry Nilsson - now there was a nice guy!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

A day late, I know, but in honour of what would have been his 70th birthday, I am promoting my original post back to the top of my blog, with a link to Harry's tribute site.

Harry was probably my most favourite interviewee.  Initial contact was made through one of those 'friend of a friend' situations..I think the L.A. connection was Don Reo, the TV writer and producer, (M.A.S.H., Golden Girls etc), who was a friend of Harry's.  Anyway, I called him and we set up a meet at the famous Ambassador Hotel, where I usually stayed on my visits to LA-LA Land. We met in the bar (where else!)...the one that featured in "The Graduate". I decided to wear my 'Whodunnit' T-shirt, with a knife dripping blood on it, (as Harry had recorded a song called 'Who done it?') and he picked up on it right away, so it was a great 'ice-breaker'. Drinks were ordered and the first thing he told me was that he had gotten laid on the roof of the hotel some years earlier!  So, where do you go after that, I thought!  Well, Harry didn't have a problem..., I switched on my tape recorder and just let it roll.  We talked for an hour and a half (one story he related lasted about 20 minutes!) just rapping about his career, life, marriage (to his British wife, Una, who he met at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, in London) and so on. All the while, the drinks kept flowing, with me trying hard to appear as if I was matching him drink for drink (impossible, if I wanted the interview to be coherent!). It was just a great experience with a talented guy who was a natural-born raconteur.
The sad thing is that the interview never did get published*, partly because of its length, partly because the magazine's editor didn't think there was sufficient technical interest (instruments, recording, amps etc) for his readers. I wasn't too worried...for me it had been a 'blast'!  A memory that I will long cherish.

*until now!

                       Harry's 'payola' cheque...__________

To listen to the whole interview, go to Harry's tribute site @

http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/2010/04/harry-nilsson-unpublished-interview.html

A CD of the full audio interview is now available @ £10 (plus p&p). If you are interested in owning this 'collectors item', please contact me on bristol_blue@blueyonder.co.uk

So....whatever happened to Duffy Power? UPDATE.

 

 

                                                                                                               
                                                                                            Duffy with Vince Eager, Larry Parnes, Billy Fury etc.

Responding to a 'comment' posted today, claiming that  Duffy had 'died in a car crash in 1976', I carried out some further research and this is what I found out.

Duffy is still very much alive and is even working on a new album.  He re-surfaced in the late '90s  and certainly recorded a track called "Sweet again" in 2003 for a compilation CD... "The Wildlife Album", which will also be included on his own album "True",  to be released on Market Square in the near (ish) future.

All I can say is...WELCOME BACK, DUFFY and may you now enjoy the success and recognition you always deserved, but never got.

 

Original post:

For those of you that haven't heard of Duffy Power, he was one of Larry Parnes' 'proteges' in the early '60s along with Billy Fury, Marty Wilde etc. (Parnes 'christened' all his boys with similar 'impact' names). Duffy, however, was a little different to the other 'pop' singers, in that he had a much jazzier delivery (when allowed!), one example of this is his very competent and bluesy version of "It ain't necessarily so",which I heard on the BBC recently.  He never did have much popular success, maybe for that reason, but later worked (and recorded with) with quite a few jazz/blues heavyweights of the time..like Graham Bond (with Dick Heckstall-Smith), Alexis Korner, Bert Jansch/Danny Thompson. He also sang, on just one occasion, with the New Jazz Orchestra (as I mention in my 'Hobo' interview: ). Quite how this came about, I can't recall, but it was at a concert in Bromley, Kent in March 1964. It was only the second live appearance of the NJO...a fund-raising concert for the local branch of the "Freedom from Hunger Campaign". Duffy sang just one number..."Summertime", I seem to recall.    After that...well, nothing.  He didn't sing with them again, which is not any reflection on his ability, or suitability...more likely that he went back to trying to be a 'popstar'.

He had a great voice and was good-looking enough to make it..but, it seems he didn't get the breaks that his stable-mates did. So, after recording two albums "Innovations" for Transatlantic in 1969 and the eponymous Duffy Power in 1973, he 'retired', somewhat embittered and disillusioned, from the scene.

So....Duffy, where are you now?  Does anybody have any idea?

LINDISFARNE...a canny bunch of lads, as ever there was!

Another in the series of 'memories that have stayed with me'.  This one was prompted by a recently renewed contact with founder-member Rod Clements, bass-player and all-round nice guy. In fact, of all the bands I worked with, I found Lindisfarne to be one of the easiest to get along with, though lead singer Alan Hull could be a bit prickly on occasions .

Sometime around 1972, I was accompanying them on a tour of Scandinavia, possibly their first, I think. It was certainly my first time on the road with them, as I hadn't been with Charisma for very long at that point. Anyway, we arrived at a hotel in Sweden (something is telling me it was in Malmo, but I can't be sure about that) and after checking in, somebody discovered that the hotel had an indoor pool in the basement, so they decided to take a swim.  After a while I went down to check on them and organise where we were going to eat and found them sitting around the edge of the pool, chatting.  A couple of them thought the acoustics had an interesting echo and then, quite spontaneously, they started harmonising on "Clear white light" from their first album "Nicely out of tune". Hearing their slightly rough-edged a capella harmony in such unexpected surroundings  was simply electrifying! I can hear them now, in my head, nearly four decades later!  Another 'magic moment' in my lengthy music biz career....and there weren't many that compared to it.

 

Jon Hiseman's interview for the Mike Dolbear Drummer Forum is now published.

The full interview by fellow-drummer Bob Henrit (Argent etc) can now be read on Mike Dolbear's Drummer Forum, together with a detailed list of all the equipment Jon has used over the past five decades. Here's the link:   http://www.mikedolbear.co.uk/story.asp?StoryID=2582

Jon is also to join the illustrious ranks of the Forum's "British Drum Icons", alongside drumming legends like Ginger Baker, Keith Moon, Bill Bruford etc.

Otis Redding...gentle giant.

 

A bit like my 'meeting' with Dick Gregory (see earlier post), I had but a fleeting acquaintance with Otis Redding, but the occasion stayed with me for over four decades. It was when he appeared at the London Finsbury Park Astoria on the 22nd March 1967, headlining the Stax/Volt Review concert.  This concert has often been described as one of the 'best gigs ever' (Q magazine amongst others) and I wouldn't disagree with that...it was an awesomely high-energy performance by the best soul artistes in the world!

My Otis 'moment' actually took place after the concert, when some of the artists were invited down to the Bag o' Nails club in Soho, which was one of the clubs run by the Gunnell Brothers (Rik and John) for whom I worked at the time. I had just arrived at the club, when Otis appeared in the foyer... took off his overcoat and handed it to our cloakroom girl, turned to me and asked what was the usual amount to tip.  I replied that it was up to the customer, but a 10 shilling note (approx £5-6) was certainly enough to put a smile on her face!  He grinned and pulling out a handful of notes, thrust a £5 note  into her hand (worth around £65 today). The astonished girl tried to tell him it was way too much, but he just smiled and went on into the club.  I left the club soon after and never saw him again...but I never forgot the experience.  He was the personification of friendliness, courtesy and kindness, totally unaffected by his fame and popularity. A genuine 'star',  in every sense of the word!  Of course, no-one knew at that time that his amazing career would be cut short just nine months later, when he, along with his manager and four of the Bar-Kays, died when their light aircraft crashed into a lake near Madison, Wisconsin on the 10th December 1967.  

 

Monty Python's first ever 'Live on stage' performance took place 40 years ago at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry. This is the story behind that momentous occasion!

 

"Live Python found at Belgrade Theatre, Coventry!

By Colin Richardson

The 1971 Lanchester Arts Festival bill included many well-known artistes on the 10 day programme of events, including Elton John, Ralph McTell, Caravan, blues legend Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup, Leon Russell and Andre Previn (conducting the London Symphony Orchestra) and jazz legend Ronnie Scott but the high point of the student-run mixed media festival that year was, without doubt, the first 'Live on Stage' performance of Monty Python's Flying Circus. 

How did a modest little Polytechnic in Coventry come to be favoured with such a prime coup?  Here's how it happened:

I had been the Festival's booking consultant in 1970, working closely with Ted Little, the student organiser. We made a good team, as he was always open to my ideas and suggestions, though quite firm of mind when it came to making final decisions as to which acts were selected. I guess he must have been pleased with my efforts, as he retained my services for the following year.

At some point during the planning of the 1971 programme, he asked if it would be possible to book one or two of the Monty Python team to perform a couple of sketches from the cult TV show, as they were immensely popular with the student fraternity.  I was pretty doubtful, as none of them, as far as I knew, had ever made any live appearances as Python characters hitherto and I was fairly sure that they only produced their unique humour for the TV show.  However, I said I would try and find out any of them might be interested in doing something. I had no idea who their agent was, but, as luck would have it, there fell into my lap a circuitous conduit to one Python ear. It went like this: I had a little band going at the time...a quintet playing jazz and dance music around the club/college circuit and we had an American singer by the name of Jean Hart, who happened to be the girlfriend (and later,wife) of  the comedian Bill Oddie. Bill had, in fact, on one occasion 'sat in' with the band, singing (if memory serves) a credible version of "Summertime". He knew most, if not all, of the Python team, so I asked him (through Jean) if he knew how I could go about contacting their representative.  To my astonishment, he offered to introduce me to Eric Idle (it's possible that he was sharing a flat with him at the time, though I'm not certain about that) and eventually I was invited to meet Eric at his apartment.   Being something of a fan myself, it was with considerable trepidation, awe and downright nerves that I presented myself, but Eric very quickly put me at my ease with his relaxed and friendly attitude. He asked a few questions about what dates we had in mind, the Festival organisation, its history etc. I threw as many 'names' of artistes that had already been booked, or who had appeared in the previous 2 years and described how well-run it was. I was expecting him at that point to indicate who, if anyone, might be up for taking part, when he said something that had me almost breathless with excitement.  It was along the lines of: "Well, your timing couldn't be more fortuitous (he might even have used the word 'serendipitous') as we've been discussing the possibility of doing something live on stage and, if we did, we it would definitely be away fro m London,  in case it didn't work for us. Now, if you can find out whether the Belgrade Theatre is available for, say, a 3 night run, that would certainly increase the odds of us agreeing to do it, as we've all worked there before and know that it would be an ideal venue for us".

Where it happened.

In something of a daze, I promised to get back to him a.s.a.p. and left to find a phone to call Ted Little and give him the astounding news.  He didn't seem to take it in at first and kept asking which of the Pythons was I talking about. I said "All of them...the 'tout ensemble'.. the whole damn Circus!"  After they brought him round, he checked the Belgrade's availablity and phoned me back to say that we could have Sunday 31st January, Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd of February, just a few days into the Festival. I passed this on to Eric and, soon enough, the dates and the deal were agreed. For the life of me, I can't remember the fee or any other contractual details, except that the shows would start at 12 midnight and that the fee was extraordinarily reasonable. In a cloud of euphoria, I passed the good news to Ted.  Tickets went on sale a few days later...and all three nights sold out in about 20 minutes!

Needless to say, every show was a fantastic success, as the student audience was a proven fan base which already knew most of the sketches, sometimes word-perfect... not that this in any way diminished their noisy enjoyment of them. I recall that,on the first night, the entire front row was wearing 'Gumby' style knotted handkerchiefs...to the astonishment of the first Pythons onstage.

An interesting coda to this story is that, a couple of weeks before the premiere, I received a phone call from the plummy-voiced P.A. of an illustrious music biz heavyweight (no names, no pack-drill!) who, after ascertaining that I was, indeed, the person responsible for this 'showbiz' coup, informed me that Mr. ******** would 'like a box, for the first night' !  After a deep breath and summoning my most innocent of tones, I asked: "What kind of box would he like? Orange do?".  Well, that went down like the proverbial lead balloon.  A few moments of silence, then: "You do realise that it's Mr ******** we're talking about?" To which I politely replied: "Even if it was the Queen Mother, I still couldn't get you a seat, let alone a box. It's completely sold out."  A gasp of incredulity and frustration, followed by the crash of the phone going down at his end.   I have to admit that I got a degree of quiet satisfaction from the exchange, which just added to my feeling of pride at helping to facilitate the very first 'Live on Stage' appearance of Monty Python's Flying Circussss!   

1971 Lanchester Arts Festival Programme

 

Another great review...this one from Ian Mann. http://www.thejazzmann.com

If you're a fan of any phase of Hiseman's career this book has much to offer and for its comprehensiveness alone is highly recommended.

BOOK REVIEW

Playing The Band-The Musical Life of Jon Hiseman

by Martyn Hanson

Drummer, composer, band leader, producer, studio owner and label boss-Jon Hiseman has been all these during a lengthy musical career that began in the 1960’s and which has encompassed jazz, blues, rock and more. It has been a remarkably wide ranging career that has seen Hiseman working in a variety of musical contexts but the one constant in his life has been his forty three year (and counting) marriage to saxophonist Barbara Thompson. It’s remarkable for a “show biz” marriage to last so long, especially given the highly independent and creative natures of both parties and Hiseman rightly regards his relationship with Thompson, both personally and professionally, to be one of his greatest achievements.

The book offers a comprehensive and exhaustive account of Hiseman’s life and career from early childhood to the present day. However the main focus is inevitably Colosseum, the ground-breaking group led by Hiseman in the late 60’s and early 70’s which fused jazz, blues and rock in a unique fashion at the height of the “progressive” era. The group subsequently reformed in the 1990’s and has worked intermittently ever since with Hiseman and Thompson fitting the band in around their numerous other commitments.

Author Martyn Hanson has published previous books on ELP, The Nice and Tony McPhee and The Groundhogs. Essentially he’s a fan, and much of “Playing The Band” reads like it, indeed at times the book risks descending into mere hagiography. However what this work lacks in literary style it more makes up for in it’s depth of detail (Hanson has certainly done his research), anecdotal evidence and sheer “page turnability”. I consider myself to be something of a Hiseman fan but there are large chunks of his career that I’m totally unfamiliar with and Hanson’s brisk no nonsense style certainly kept me turning the pages, eager to see what Hiseman was going to do next.

Hiseman himself has had considerable input into the finished tome as has the book’s editor, one time Colosseum manager Colin Richardson. No stone is left unturned as the book follows Hiseman’s career from early semi pro gigs through his sideman work with Graham Bond’s ORGANisation, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and others to the formation of Colosseum. Following the demise of the original Colosseum Hiseman subsequently formed Tempest before moving on to lead Colosseum II, a completely different band featuring sometime Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore.

When Colosseum II’s work largely failed to reach an audience now enamoured with punk Hiseman retrenched, becoming a vital member of his wife’s innovative jazz group Paraphernalia. In jazz terms Thompson’s group was also a great commercial success enabling Hiseman and Thompson to set up Temple Music, their own recording studio and publishing arm. The couple were thus early exponents of the art of music as a “cottage industry”. Already a formidable organiser Hiseman quickly added technical and production strengths to his arsenal. In addition to its other qualities “Playing The Band” is also a fascinating insight into just how the music business works.

No aspect of Hiseman’s lengthy career is left uncovered. There’s an insight into his work with the Anglo-European super-group the nine piece United Jazz And Rock Ensemble, a line up I was fortunate enough to see on their only UK tour way back in 1984! Sadly many of that band are no longer with us -Volker Kriegel, Albert Mangelsdorff, Charlie Mariano and Ian Carr have all passed away and master bassist Eberhard Weber is no longer able to play following a massive stroke.

I may have been a long term fan of the UJRE but I was totally unfamiliar with (or maybe I’d just forgotten about it) the depth of Hiseman and Thompson’s involvement with the much maligned Andrew Lloyd Webber. The pair play on soundtrack albums such as “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Tell Me On A Sunday” and were to be heard every Sunday night on ITV playing on the theme tune to the South Bank Show (Lloyd Webber’s “Variations” featuring his brother Julian on cello).

“Playing The Band” features an extensive cast of musicians and others industry figures with whom Hiseman and Thompson have been associated over the years. Some of the great characters of British music are here, among them Graham Bond, John Mayall, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce and Colosseum’s original saxophonist the great Dick Heckstall-Smith. Inevitably there are some great stories, some of them highly amusing, but at other times the book can be surprisingly moving. Wayward geniuses Graham Bond and pianist Mike Taylor both met tragic, untimely ends. The accounts of Heckstall Smith’s battles against illness and alcoholism make for harrowing reading but Barbara Thomson’s indomitable struggle against Parkinson’s Disease is more heart warming, a triumph of the human and musical spirit against the odds. In any case this book is Thompson’s story as much as Hiseman’s, their paths are inextricably linked.

If you’re a fan of any phase of Hiseman’s (or Thompson’s) career this book has much to offer and for its comprehensiveness alone is highly recommended. I veer towards Colosseum II, Paraphernalia and the UJRE- reviewing this book has caused me to dig out my old vinyl featuring these bands and most of the music, including the most obviously “fusion” stuff still stands up well. Others will prefer Hiseman’s earlier career, particularly the original Colosseum and there’s certainly plenty about them. Parts of the book also represent a tantalising snapshot of one of the most adventurous eras of British music, the late 60’s and early 70’s.

Hiseman acknowledges that the book is likely to have limited general appeal and it’s unlikely to be available in most bookshops. Your best bet is to order directly from its publishers Temple Music at http://www.temple-music.com   

Another good review...this one from Dick Heath for the Progarchives Forum.

"I was very impressed by this entertaining and informative biography of one the greats of British jazz and jazz fusion, Jon Hiseman. While not quite 'warts and all', we do get a clear sense of the author standing back to analyse the various periods and changes in Hiseman’s musical life, helped in no small way by his having the opportunity to talk and tease out all the background details with many of the key players in his musical history. While this book is relatively long, there no sense of overdoing things to a point of tedium – space is made to describe and discuss events and developments. For these reasons, you will find more clarity and understanding of what makes Jon Hiseman and his long-term colleagues tick, than found in most published musical biographies. If there were any major regrets by any of the former members of Hiseman’s bands, they aren't obvious, but rather more hinted at by a sense of omission. Indeed, the honesty of the text makes quite clear which players were hired and fired, but who then invariably speak of their time with Hiseman as being formative and/or educational. Later reunions clearly show that any bitterness was short-lived or even non-existent. Indeed, the most critical of his role here is Jon Hiseman himself, but nevertheless Jon comes across as a comparatively nice guy – albeit somewhat hard-nosed and self-critical, but certainly as a survivor in the tough business of fusing jazz, rock and blues.

I did start to think at one point, that author Hanson was going to over-do Colosseum’s original 3 year period, but with 400 plus pages of text in total, there is no shortage of detail about all the other bands forming Hiseman's musical family tree, with plenty to mull over with respect to the post-1972 years . There are individual, but interconnected histories of Colosseum, Tempest, Colosseum 2, Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia as well as the Hiseman family business. This is not just the story of Jon Hiseman alone. In one sense, the neat, continual use of thumb-nail biogs of the key players reinforces the importance of each and every one of Hiseman’s bands, both to the author and Hiseman himself. In one particular area of importance we get to understand why Jon & Co. turned to Europe, achieving far more accolades and a large fan base here than in North America: Europe’s gain is America big, big loss.

So, I am pleased to report that this is one of the most comprehensive jazz rock/blues biographies I’ve read in respect of its completeness and balance, due in no small part, I'm sure, to the access Martyn Hanson had to the main players and, more importantly, their enthusiastic willingness to talk honestly and openly to him. Thus you are getting the real deal, from the collective horses’ mouths, so to speak. All-in-all, this biography has a freshness, which clearly comes from the author’s enthusiasm for Hiseman and his music, but without any fawning or gratuitous flattery. I have to add the book is extremely readable – I can’t recall at any time flicking through any dull pages attempting to seek something more readable. Finally, I also have a sense of being brought right up to 2010 in the company of musicians who are still working hard and making music that is still very much alive and relevant today."