Just testing…

Just trying out the WordPress mobile app…blogger on the go…

Dammit, dammit, dammit…

Just saw on Facebook that Dr. Feelgood founding member Wilko Johnson has pancreatic cancer, and has elected not to have treatment. Doctors give him less than a year to live, but in true Road Warrior fashion, he’s off to Japan for a tour, back to England to mix a new album, a short tour of France and then, hopefully a series of farewell gigis in the UK.

Gigs – March

Rick was off travellin’ and recordin’ last month, so there wasn’t much new.

Rick & the Krickets

March 10  – The Old Lawson House, Hagersville, ON

March 16 – The Corktown Tavern, Hamilton, ON as special guests of The Matadors

March 23 & 24 =  The Come BY Chance, Hamilton, ON

March 31-  The Nines, Burlington, ON as special guests of The  Hellbent Rockers.

Gigs – January

Rick & the Krickets
January 6  – The Wobbly Scotsmen, Hamilton, ON
January 13 & 14 – The Come BY Chance, Hamilton, ON

Gigs – December

Rick & the Krickets:

The Wobbly Scotsmen, Hamilton, ON Dec 2
The Nines Brick Bar, Burlington, ON w. The Hellbent Rockers  Dec 3
The Gladstone Tavern, Hamilton, ON – Dec. 23
The Come BY Chance, Hamilton, ON – Dec 30
The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 163, Hamilton, ON – New Year’s Eve Bash! Dec 31

Roy Wood II

 

“Have I got something on my face?”

Most of the Move’s early output was straight psyche-pop, with titles like “Night of Fear”, “Flowers in the Rain”, “Blackberry Way”, “I Can Hear the Grass Grow” and “Cherry Blossom Clinic”. “Clinic” was a special case – originally a three-minute pop song about being institutionalised for dementia, Roy “Revisited” it on the “Shazam” album, extending it over seven minutes and incorporating everything from Bach to sound effects.

While Roy was any early proponent of psychedelia (and, heaven forfend, prog rock), his fascination with 50’s rock’n’roll always bubbled just under the surface. An early Move EP, called “Something Else from the Move” was exactly that – a collection of covers, recorded live, that included Eddie Cochran’s “Somethin’ Else”. The Move also covered Eddie’s “Weekend”, and a lot of Roy’s originals had that 50’s vibe – “California Man”, “See My Baby Jive”; even his prog rock magnum opus, “Wizzard Brew“, has a Jerry Lee-style piano boogie “I Got a Crush About (sic) You” on it.

His 50’s tribute album, “Introducing Eddy and the Falcons” was all new, original material (coincidentally released around the same time as John Lennon’s “Rock’n’roll” album), and perverse as ever, included a jazzy, sitar-driven instrumental, “Marathon Man”.

I’m pretty well convinced that the thing that really sold Roy on Jeff Lynne joining the Move was that he could do a passable Jerry Lee Lewis impression.

Roy always has had a sense of humour about what he does – who else could write a military march (with lyrics) called “Jolly Cup of Tea” (Cheer up lads, don’t forget your bags / Cos we’re going for a jolly cup of tea), or a prog jazz piece called “Bend Over, Beethoven”? Oh, yeah, and somewhere along the way he managed to write a Christmas single (“I Wish it Could Be Christmas Every Day”) that’s as much as part of the holiday lexicon (in the UK, at least) as “Jingle Bells” or “Silent Night”.

Jeez, this is fun. I think we’re going to get a third installment on this subject. 😉

Happy birthday, Roy Wood!

“Who are you calling ‘eccentric’?”

Happy birthday to my favourite 24-carat rock’n’roll eccentric, Roy Wood.

From his days as guiding light of  The Move (I was hooked as soon as I heard “Do Ya” for the first time), to his founding membership in ELO, to his many various solo projects (Roy Wood’s Wizzard, Wizzo, Roy Wood’s Helicopters, The Roy Wood Big Band, Roy Wood’s Army), the man has gone to great lengths to display his mad genius.

At the beginning (1965-67), the Move were a five-or-six piece guitar pop band, cranking out one UK chart hit after another, almost all Wood originals.For their second album,they pared down to four (Rick Price on bass, Carl Wayne on vocals, Bev Bevan on drums, and Roy on guitar and anything else that wasn’t nailed down) and produced an album of, IMHO, unparalleled brilliance,”Shazam“.

It was around this time that Roy started to find his sound – DENSE. Heavily influenced by Phil Spector, Roy didn’t think there was a sound that existed that didn’t sound better double-tracked; Vocals. Guitars. French horns. Oboes. Bass. DRUMS (!).

Playing a lot of the instruments himself, Roy was increasingly becoming a studio recluse. This eventually became too much for Carl Wayne and Rick Price, who left to pursue other opportunities (Wayne eventually replaced Terry Sylvester in the Hollies). To replace them, Roy called on fellow Birminghamian (and ex-Idle Race frontman) Jeff Lynne. The Move became, at this point, one extended studio project – they released albums in 1970 and ’71, but never toured – it was just Jeff, Roy and Bev, locked in the studio, playing all the instruments.

Out of this setup grew an interest in having a legitimate rock’n’roll orchestra. As a side project, the three started “The Electric Light Orchestra“, designed to perform Jeff and Roy’s extended orchestral pieces live. In the early 70’s, the techincal obstacles to doing this were pretty much insurmountable, and Roy eventually got fed up and left. Jeff and Bev stuck with it, technology eventually caught up with them, and it made ELO one of the most successful bands of the 70’s.

This little backgrounder was intended just to whet your appetite – I’ll follow up with an outline of Roy’s solo career, and some personal highlights in a later post.

I’m baaack!!

Just a quick note to tell you that I will be updating the Deacons’ blog again, after a VERY busy summer. Look for some new posts soon!

Oh, and while I’m at it, I guess I should plug Rick and the Krickets’  Hallowe’en gig – October 28 at Faloney’s of Ancaster!

Gigs – June

Rick & the Krickets
June 3 – The Wobbly Scotsmen, Hamilton, ON
June 12 – Faloney’s of Ancaster (with Trevor Rogers on bass), Ancaster, ON
June 18 – Krickets plus special guests – 447 Club, Mount Hope, Ontario

Burnin’ Ethyl featuring rick Prinsthal:
June 10 – The Corktown, Hamilton,. ON

Gigs – May

Rick & the Krickets:
May 13  –Frankie’s Bar and Grill, Mount Hope, ON

Burnin’ Ethyl (featuring Rick Prinsthal):
May 7 –Stonewalls, Hamilton, ON with special guests Petit Fours vocalist Hot Tea and Peter MacAluay (otherwise known as the “guest singer” for Teenage Head)
May 27 –  The Cadillac Lounge, Toronto, ON as special guests of The Millwinders
May 28 – The Brass Door  London, ON as special guests of the Hi-Tones