Back In The Day...Dave Harrington...another great talent

Back in the day...1963...The Beatles were it ! ...And then came The Rolling Stones...Yardbirds, Kinks, Who, Manfred Mann etc etc...It was an exciting optimistic time...and things were changing for the better !
But it was the British Blues Boom, in the mid 60s, that got to our teenage aspirations wanting to be part of something heartfelt...Eric Clapton was God...John Mayall...Peter Green...Jeff Beck...Jack Bruce...Paul Kossoff...Rory Gallagher and numerous others...It was a time when you were judged by your skills as an individual within a band...Being a pop star was the pits ! That's one of the historical reasons why Led Zep didn't want to release singles...Albums were it...not the hit parade
Us teenagers at the time bought into that outlook and took up music with creativity not success in mind...and with hope as a possibility.
As you can see (from previous posts) our musical journey went through many bands, changes  etc
Our generation was full of many talents...the live scene was great and people came out and supported live music.
But business runs the Music scene and many of us were stung by greedy managers with ego and money expectations...false promises and downright lies...Nonetheless most of my musical peers continued without regard to commercial sucess.
As an example I'd like to feature another schoolmate and beyond : Dave Harrington...great singer, guitarist, Blues harp player...and the loudest laugh around !..We had some fun !
Firstly with a band we called 'Cloudy' with 2 original songs I wrote and he sang like an angel
We were guaranteed a record contract from a music exec, after winning a talent contest ...and he did record these 2 songs in his state-of-the-art studio...we even used a Steinway grand piano he had there...but alas Punk suddenly had the headlines...and he lost interest ! As previously assured... they were never released ...and he didn't send me copies...which in the end was all I wanted...These are demos made in a local studio  ;  http://www.indiemusicpeople.com/artist.aspx?ID=123095

These have had over 13,000 individual views...so these songs have something...It's Dave's wonderful vocals !

After a while Dave moved away...and I lost contact...Years later I found this clip showing Dave still doing it and with some nice guitar chops : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvPMAqyu9rg

And if you search the net you will find him all over

Remembering Adrian Fisher (2 September 1952 - 31 March 2000)

I was thinking of the past...And Adrian Fisher (we called him Ady) came to mind...we were musical friends from school and beyond.
He played guitar and helped me to learn the ropes as a 15 year-old aspiring Clapton and we had many jams together...Later he became a bit of a Rock star...most famous for his guitar on the Sparks hit 'This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us' (a no.2 top ten single in 1974) and the album 'Kimono My House'...He had other success too...with Boxer ... see below.

I didn't see him for many years...

He turned up at a local gig The O T Band were playing...very drunk...I let him play a number but he was terrible...At the end of the set he asked 'How did you learn all of those chords ?'...I took it as a compliment...I felt sad to see him so low and lost...It was the last time I saw him. Later he seemed to find some peace far from the UK (see the BBC clip)...Sadly he passed many years ago...A Forest Hill schoolboy who made the big time ! And I'm thankful for his friendship and the good times we shared . We were both Eric Clapton/Cream fanatics and this bonded us as pals...And he strummed a good version of The Beatles 'Blackbird' that was impressive.  He was a good slide player too,,,with a love of the Blues that inspired both of us.

See here for some interesting info about Ady...

Biography : http://graphikdesigns.free.fr/adrian-fisher-guitar.html

BBC extract about his later life : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ6WTMBa_gM&feature=youtu.be

And he gets his own Wiki entry : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Fisher_(musician)

Here is the Hit with Sparks : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ztSKDbDRXc

I'll be honest...Ady (and all of us mates) thought Sparks were shit...Posers !  Ady was more himself as a member of Boxer with  fellow musicians  Chris Stainton Tim Bogert & Mike Patto - Unfortunately Punk put an end to this kind of music at the time...for a very short while...(another mostly posers fad...but with many nostalgic fanatical supporters !)
Click on comment to d/l a copy of Boxer - Absolutely (1977) featuring Adrian  


As an aside and extra info...One of my mate's bands 'Peer Gynt' were supporting the Brush Sheils band Skid Row (later 'Brush')....After the gig Brush and I got into a conversation  and he mentioned that he wanted a good slide player to add to his line-up...Ady was a good slide guitarist and I recommended him ...mentioning he had played with Andy Fraser (from Free) ...As a result he got his first break... 

Ady (left) with Toby 

Ady (centre) with Boxer

The O T Band - Old Press Clippings...from the early days

My sister found these at my mother's house...long forgotten by me ...

The O T Band feat Earl Green & Eddie Floyd - 14 Feb 2008 Photos

Excellent!. Excellent! Went to see OT Earl Green on Valentine's night. Always enjoy their 'guest' singers/musicians. What a treat when the great Eddie Floyd joined in and sang 4/5 numbers, including 'knock on wood'. Best night we've had for a long time. The band rose to the occasion. Great evening. Never been in pub before, good decor, friendly staff. Shame it's not nearer where we live.... More please.... 

squashplayer - 16 Feb 2008 10:30

Found this yesterday going through my files...The O T Band live at The Greyhound on 30 Jan 1987...playing what we called The Medley and a band intro to finish...I couldn't believe the energy ! It's raw gritty chaotic...but it has balls ! Hear or download it here :

http://www42.zippyshare.com/v/qUJk6oA1/file.html

The O T Band feat. Earl Green - Live At The Blue Note 1994

The audio (click on comment ...below) is from the soundboard recording of this gig - The O T Band featuring some prime vocals from Earl...live at the Blue Note, Watford, 1994.

With... Earl Green vcls Andy Dummet sax, Alan Hawkins dms, Gwyn Hood bs, Gus gtr, with guests Dave Lazio keys and Roger 'Mad Dog' Cohen gtr.

01 - Everyday (I Have The Blues) 02 - Early In The Morning 03 - Rock Me Baby 04 - Sugar Sweet 05 - Night Train 06 - Tougher Than Tough 07 - Barefootin' 08 - Moondance 09 - What's Going On 10 634-5789 11 - Hoochie Coochie Man
   

Baby Grand - The next chapter... Mid-70's...

Bassman Gwyn left to attend Uni.... (he would be back with me, Alan and Earl in The O T Band in later years)                      

A change of drummer, Alan Hawkins, plus new bass/keyboards Paul and percussionist/drummer Ian
A new name 'Baby Grand' with a funkier edge to mostly original compositions ...Some great guitar from Ray (he's the louder one !) and what a sublime vocal by Earl on the version of 'Bluesette' here - And some powerhouse drumming from the fabulous Alan...(he's the one that went for an audition...got a call later to join the band...but refused,,,twice!...It was for what would become T Rex !!!)...Click here to listen : https://soundcloud.com/user-81292978/sets/baby-grand-wish-i-could-be-there-with-you

ARDON - 1972...Early Days !!!

Hear here for some early 70's live recordings and a 4 track demo of original compositions that was taken around to record companies by our then manager. Freddie Mack aka Mr Superbad (American ex-boxer - Check him on Wikipedia) and received 3 offers to record - Not realised due to arguments over production etc - We were never  privy to these discussions. That's life !

https://soundcloud.com/user-81292978/sets/ardon-1972-73-those-were-the-days

From our first gig : Track 1 - 'Ardon Woman' was an attempt by Gywn & me to imitate our heroes 'Cream'  and the instrumental section (totally improvised)  is  quite unique - How many other bands (at the time) had this togetherism ? After this first gig we became a 5 piece with the addition of Ray Hawkins , my closest friend and  ace guitarist ( my mentor)  and we became a real band with potential...

We continued to support other name bands at the time, ChickenShack...Snafu..Man..Stackridge...Stray and many others ..I can't remember..and we were always encored ! That's unusual for a support band ( in those days! ) We were the first band booked to play at 'Upstairs At Ronnie's'  on the opening night...Another time we attended an audition in a large hall with a dozen other groups setting up in limited space...we played after a couple of the others...2 tracks...We got a standing ovation from all the other guys present...and yes we got an offer ! Great days of youth. 

The great laughs you see in the last pic above - We had a puff...and Ray had just called the photographer the 'C'  word ... in jest...!  LOL! LOL!

And BTW the Gibson Firebird that I hold in my hands ...came from Eric Clapton...in his junkie days...via a friend ( it was Ray's) and sounded great with a lovely action ! Where is it now?...I sold my  Gibson SG too...and bought a Les Paul Standard ... see later pics ...It played itself ! In later days I became a committed Fender Strat  man !

Hear ARDON here : https://soundcloud.com/user-81292978/sets/ardon-1972-73-those-were-the-days

I've not expected any comments at this blog ! But ...if you wish...feel free to say something.

Ardon with friends

Gwyn & Gus

The O T Band feat. Kaiya - Demos & Live

Here are some demos that we made in 1992 for the purpose of getting more live work (tracks 1 - 9) and a few live tracks (10 - 13) all featuring Kaiya on vocals  - Click on Comment

She's great and really is one of the guys ! 
Often we had Earl and Kaiya together  for many gigs and it was dynamite !
BTW Why the Eddie Floyd picture ?..He is a friend of the band and told Steve Cropper ...'We are the English Blues Brothers' ...can you believe it !?! Cheers EF a mega-hero of soul  and a lovely, humble guy. 

The O T Band - At The Fox

This one file (tracks not separated) is an mp3 audio version taken from the video - It's relatively low-rate (160) but seeing as the whole thing came from a domestic video recorder it's probably no less in quality than the original - Anyhow it is what it is and it's all I got ! It sounds OK to me warts an' all and can't be repeated.

The O T Band - Live At The Fox...video

The O T Band feat Earl Green - Live at The Fox  now to view at YouTube - Here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x14OohXvb3s&feature=youtu.be

2 full sets from the OT's with Earl singing his heart out ! This was an informal gig at our home ground - Years before we played here every Sunday for ages then every other Sunday for a while...This among other gigs was the making of The O T Band...Earl Gwyn and I had played music together for nearly 40 years !.. We were really jamming here...that's why I enjoy it ! You can't rehearse those moments...we got the dynamics right...Glen on Drums is just in the moment...and outstanding...and the Bassman Gwyn is a joy with his busy melodic inventions...from school we were a team...Salt and Pepper !...Andy on tenor sax really made this an R&B band that was a band of brothers...And we laughed ! ...A one-off return gig...Yeah there's some dodgy moments..LOL ! But these guys are just great...I just kept calm and shook my head ! The original songs are the opening instrumental 'O T Blues' , the last track of the first set 'She's So Sweet (Bluesette)' and song 2 of the second set 'Borderline'.

And Eddie 'Knock On Wood' Floyd said ...'...make sure you keep that drummer !' ...and luckily we did !

The O T BAND - O T SCRAPBOOK 1

The O T Band : Earl Andy Gus Gwyn & Alan 

The good old days...1984-1996 

Unreleased alternatives - Live - Rehearsal - Demos

Contains 7 original compositions by the band







                                                         

The diary of a band... 

Download link - See Comments 

Excellent!. Excellent! Went to see OT Earl Green on Valentine's night. Always enjoy their 'guest' singers/musicians. What a treat when the great Eddie Floyd joined in and sang 4/5 numbers, including 'knock on wood'. Best night we've had for a long time. The band rose to the occasion. Great evening. Never been in pub before, good decor, friendly staff. Shame it's not nearer where we live.... More please.... 

squashplayer - 16 Feb 2008 10:30  

EARL GREEN - FEEL THE FIRE (1996) MP3 320 CBR w/scans

Well...here is one of my best pals and fellow musical conspirator, vocalist Earl Green.
After recording and touring with Otis Grand, he put together his own touring group and proceeded to start recordings for his first solo album, 'Feel The Fire'. At the same time he continued to be part of The O T Band and we contributed 3 of the cuts included herein. 
He received some great reviews at the time and won 'Blues Vocalist Of The Year' in the British Blues Awards of 1996. 
The album has some of the UKs finest Blues players including 6 guitarists and some great horns. USA blues legend/guitarist Joe Louis Walker appears as guest on 2 tracks. Other guests include Todd Sharpville, Roger 'Mad Dog' Cohen and Pete Boss - Guitars, Lee Sankey - Harmonica, Steve Washington - Drums, Andy Cooper - Organ, Alex Garnett - Tenor Sax, Noel Norris - Trumpet and others. A full list is included in the scans for each track. 

As Earl is now suffering with serious health issues and is unlikely to be touring or recording in the future it prompted me to post this album so you guys can hear his unique and soulful voice.
He can be heard on other recordings with Otis Grand, Paul Lamb & The King Snakes, John T-Bone Taylor's Bop Brothers, Sonny Black. The Right Time, the album 'From Clarkesdale To Heaven - Remembering John Lee Hooker' (with Jeff Beck providing the guitar !), 2 further solo albums and as guest on many others.

Tracks - 01 Leaving This Town 02 You'll Never Change Her 03 Turn My World Around 04 Just Got Some 05 Borderline 06 Take My Advice 07 She's Sweet To Me (Bluesette) 08 Down Home Girl 09 Laughing To Keep From Crying 10 Feel The Fire 11 Living My Life Without Her 12 Sick And Tired 13 Beauty Of The Night 14 Turn My World Around Version 2 15 Nothing But Heartaches 16 Dark Days 

It's a guitar fest ! I had some input here re : What came next in the song selection etc and insisted Version 2 of 'Turn My World Around' be included as Pete plays like a demon and I just love his emotive playing - Judge for yourselves. And enjoy  

Get it here :  https://mega.nz/#!uUkl0QaL!xg2h_Rp0ZSDIowJr2_SsrR2mJgcKsYUa1iPcCYh6-Mo