Bulls Head Bob Mar 2025. Jimmy Holden RIP.

 Hi you Brummies, Brummies Abroad.   

My apologies for the absence of the February blog but with one of the Bobettes being taken into hospital at the end of Jan my focus has been on her recovery.  

JIM HOLDEN  RIP 

On the 29th of January, Jimmy Holden, ex Uglys drummer and founder of the band was laid to rest at the Lodge Hill Crematorium,  his funeral was attended by the many friends Jim had.    He had the nicest of personalities and was loved by all the Brummie Musicians of the day.  

Jim had formed The Dominettes who had then become The Uglys in 64, named after some hideous looking bouncers at a nightclub.   The name struck a chord with the public and the band took off in a big way scoring a Pye Records deal in 1965 with a self penned song "Wake up My Mind" which, although getting plenty of airplay was not a hit in the UK, amazingly however it became a Number 1 hit in Australia.  The band were being lined up to go there on The Rolling Stones tour of the same year, however the Aussie Musicians Union wouldn't permit another British band on the Bill.  The song would become famous as being the first "Socially Conscious" piece of music and its lyrics featured as part of the curriculum of Newcastle University sociology degree course.

Jim was one of the nicest guys you could meet, always interested in others peoples lives and good at lending an ear to others problems.    He was also a great group drummer, he wasn't the most technical but was the glue that held the Uglys together in the same manner that Ringo did in The Beatles, simple but effective.  Always smiling and never happier than when he was sat behind his drum kit.    He especially loved his contribution on "The Quiet Explosion" which saw him playing the Bass line with his drumsticks.   I met him in 1965 when the band had their gear stolen and we loaned them all our kit till they got sorted out.  They were brilliant.  It doesn't  seem like it was 60 years ago that I was chatting with him at The Carlton.

He could talk the hind legs off a donkey and had a million stories to regale you with and all of them hilarious.   

After his departure from The Uglys he formed his own printing business and continued playing semi pro as a member of the House Band at the Rum Runner for a number of years.

Jim far right.

2024 saw the release of The "Complete" Uglys CD and the band reunited socially for the first time since 69 at a get together to celebrate the occasion although there was no commitment or agreement to them playing live again.

I loved his company along with his many friends both in the music biz and with his social group at the Black Horse 

in Northfield. 

I shall think often of him.   RIP old friend.

There is a more comprehensive write up on the pie stand page at Brumbeat.NET. as well as a host of interesting and informative articles regarding all the Brumbeat bands during the 1960's for you to enjoy.

I'm pleased to say that my daughter is well and truly on the mend so everything should be back on track for next months blog, irreverence, mirth, the continuing saga of Mrs Bob, Brummies Abroad and a host of other stuff to get your interest.  

Thanks to you all for visiting the blog.  Why not drop me a line if you have anything interesting or otherwise to say.

Much Love 

Bob

Copyright: Bullsheadbob 

Contact: Bobsbullocks@Gmail.com 

Bulls Head Bob Supplement Jan 25. JIMMY HOLDEN. RIP

 Hello Folks,

JIMMY HOLDEN. RIP  

Some sad news filtered through after the Christmas season that Jimmy Holden, 83, ex Uglys drummer sadly passed away at home on or about 7 December.   His funeral date is 29 Jan and will be held at Lodge Hill Cemetry at 1.45 PM.  Should you wish to attend you can email his neice, Lynne Holden, at the following email address,  lynneholden@ntlworld.com or by phone WhatsApp  +44 7930 685244. Condolences can be left at Jim's Facebook page  JAMES A HOLDEN.  

Jim was a fabulous guy and it was he who formed The Uglys a real benchmark group who competed with the best bands of the day nationally and famously scored a Number 1 in Australia.

The last time they were together was for the CD release in 2004 picture below:

The Uglys (l to r).  Steve Gibbons, Jim Holden, Dave Morgan, Richard Tandy, Will Hammond.

He will be missed by his many friends.

Bob.

Bulls Head Bob Jan 2025. Dream Guitar 1954 Strat.

Happy New Year all you Brummies Abroad, brummie musicians of the 60's and fans of the 60's.  

The gift giving and the hullabaloo of the family Christmas Dinner have passed and me and Mrs Bob are taking it easy recovering from the party and home invasion by the Bobettes so accordingly this will be a shorter version than normal of the blog.

I was thinking about the Stratocaster piece I did in the November blog and specifically the part about saying that real aficionados would prefer to have an original Strat and not the Ultra models that have all the bells and whistles.    Well, slap me down with a piece of wet cod, Fender have the answer to fulfill your desires, and mine.

FENDER STRATOCASTER 1954. 70th ANNIVERSARY.

I was 8 years old when I first saw my first Strat in real life at Woodruffes guitar store in the centre of Birmingham.   I stood there for what seemed hours admiring its space age looks and the wonderment of its Sunburst paint job.   I've never forgotten that feeling, so it came as a big surprise when I clapped my eyes on the recently released 1954 Anniversary  Stratocaster that I 

felt overcome by the same experience.  This guitar is a thing of real beauty.

It is expensive, around the £2,500 pounds mark, so you know you are buying a guitar of quality build. 

The depth of colour over the wood grain is impressive, the smell is incredible, reminiscent of the old days.  The included tweed case is luxurient lined with red crushed velvet and the 70th Anniversary logo is emblazoned on the interior and full of case candy.

I would love to own this guitar, not necessarily as a stage instrument, but one to play on rare occasions at home for my sole enjoyment because I really believe that this will be a really collectible guitar and its value should increase exponentially even in the short term. 

I have seen it demoed and its sound and tone without pedals is perfect, no, it's better than that!  It's probably the closest thing I have heard to that early 50's sound that made it the most popular guitar in the world at the time.   I honestly keep thinking about buying one then just as quickly dismiss the thought, it's a dilemma so ...... Watch this space........

What a beauty!!  There is also a Custom Shop version for an extra 400 hundred quid but this one does it for me.

Way back in the day, the first Strat I saw in someones hands was white and belonged to Bob Hanson, lead guitarist of The Dextones, being played at The English Martyrs School youth club and funnily enough there is Partscaster on it's way to me that was constructed by Bob and has recently been gifted to me by its owner and my oldest musical mate, the lovely Cliff "Oggie" Ogden who unfortunately can't play it any longer.   I look forward to giving you the run down on how this baby performs once I get it out of the box and cranked up.    So Happy New Year Cliff and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for thinking of me.

FINALLY

I really hope you have a great 2025.  Above everything I wish you a life full of peace and love.  I wish Ukraine a speedy resolve in deposing the Russian Thug and getting their beautiful country back in their own hands.

Love the ones you're with,

Bob

Copyright  Bullsheadbob

Contact  Bobsbullocks@Gmail.com

Bulls Head Bob Dec 2024. Fender Stratocaster. Bev Bevan at 80. New Book, Flowers in the Rain - The Move. Mrs Bobs Xmas Gift.

Happy Christmas you Brummies, you lovely Brummies Abroad, and 60's music lovers across the world.

Its here again!  I've been dusting off my vinyl Christmas LPs, I like to play them at Christmas as it takes me back to better days of family values before the word Digital was ever used.

Bing Crosby " White Christmas" is always the first LP on the turntable as we sit down with a glass of Sherry to open our gifts, Oohing and Ahhing as Bing does his Thing.  Pure emotion.

We are again full of the Christmas spirit here in the Bob Household and have checked our Christmas decorations to see if any need replacing, made a list of all the chocolate bars that we adore then looked at YouTube to learn how to make them at home to give to friends for xmas.  

Now Mrs Bob's friend, "Bat Faced Eileen", actual photo below, is not someone I'd put

on my friends list but in the belief that it's better to give than receive, added to my respect for Mrs Bob's wishes, I've put aside my distaste for Bat Face and I've made her some Hard Nougat. She only has four teeth so that should glue her gob together for months.  Ho ho ho merry Christmas.

70TH ANNIVERSARY FENDER STRATOCASTER.

Now some of you Musos may be dreaming of getting your dream guitar and being Fenders 70th anniversary of the legendary Stratocaster, it might be top of your wish list.  To celebrate this landmark event Fender have launched the Stratocaster ULTRA II as their latest variant.  The ULTRA II replaces the ULTRA which in turn replaced the ELITE which replaced the PROFESSIONAL which replaced the PERFORMER etc ad nauseum. In fact during the 70 years of the Strat there have been more than 250 variants, which incidentally works out at 3.67 per year since 1954 and even the countries of production  USA, Japan, Korea, Mexico etc have their own values.   

The Mexico model which was the cheapest is now set to rise in cost, but not value or quality, by at least 25% thanks to Santa Tariff Trump.  

Fender say the ULTRA II is their best model and sells at around £2,500 British pounds and the ULTRA at £1,900.   

To those of you who dream of getting the ULTRA II in your Christmas stocking I wish you well and hope your dreams do come true, such is the magic of Christmas.

However, the majority of guitarists would walk over broken glass to get their hands on one of the 1950's models because it's better in all respects.  To quote Eric Clapton "In those days you knew that every Strat would sound the same as the other.....just fantastic".  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEV BEVAN..80.

When I was a sprog of 14 years I first saw Bev Bevan in action with Denny Laine and the Diplomats.  He was incredible even way back then playing with a great rock group.  It was around that time that his band played as the support band for The Beatles for the first time in Birmingham and Paul McCartney commented on how good he was playing 5/4 time to the  instrumental "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck.  

Over the next couple of years my band got popular in Birmingham and Bev was in our audience on occasion.  I got to chat with him and was always impressed by his attitude, a very likeable guy with a huge smile and personality.  

When The Move formed he was the right man for the job with his thundering drums at his best on hits like "I can hear the grass grow" and "Something Else".  A real powerhouse.

Of course ELO were his real pinnacle of achievement that made him an international rock star.   I last saw him just before I left Birmingham in 1970, still a great drummer and still a real nice guy.   Happy Birthday Bev.   I wish you many more.

CHRISTMAS GIFT BOOK.

FLOWERS IN THE RAIN.  The untold Story of The Move.

The Move were a massive band of the day.  They were a great live act, I've said all this before. 

There is a new book available from Amazon Books on sale in time for Christmas for all you Brumbeat Fans.  It is the only book that has been written about The Move and would be the ideal Christmas gift for lovers of this iconic psychedelic Brummie band.

This new book written by Jim McCarthy has been the result of interviews with Bev Bevan and Trevor Burton.  

My understanding is that Roy Wood was not interested in taking part.  Too busy awaiting his Christmas songs royalties and eating pies probably.  Ace Kefford declined to be interviewed but having personal knowledge of his time with the band I would agree wholeheartedly with his decision.    Having two of the band members accounts of the bands story, left untold, means you only get 50% of the truth or of course half truths.  Nonetheless Jim McCarthy is a talented author who knows rock music and its foibles so he has written this book with as much of the available accounts as is humanly possible.  Not necessarily the whole truth though.

The band were systematically robbed by Tony Secunda and ruined by his lust for publicity going too far.  They went from psychedelic heroes to cabaret flops.  So with that in mind I'm absolutely sure that it will be a fascinating read about a generational mis-match of 60's group members.

MRS BOBS CHRISTMAS GIFT

I know that you readers like to know what I buy Mrs Bob each Christmas and this year we agreed to give each other a gift that  that you have to organise or make yourself.  Knowing it was made by hand or organised from the person you love makes it so much better.  So my normal "go to" gifts of power tools has been scuppered which is a bit of a bugger because I had planned to get her a Pressure Washer to keep the driveway clean and had secretly got bookings from neighbours for her to do 14 other houses at £30 a time less my 25% management fee, a win-win situation I thought.  However it's her 73rd birthday in January so I can buy it then!! forward planning is my watchword. 

I have to admit that I had been worried about what I could do  whilst, at that very moment, observing Mrs Bob through the living room window struggling to remove a heavy load of builders rubble from her last job.   I felt a bit guilty seeing the way she was obviously not enjoying that strenuous work so I went down to the pub to give her time to finish. 

Later that day I was looking at her pride and joy, her Ferrari yellow wheelbarrow I had bought her only 3 or 4 years ago and it was looking rather shabby, dented and with a wobbly wheel.  She obviously hadn't looked after it too well but I have a forgiving nature and it was then that I got an idea.  I got my mate Nobber to come and steal it out of the garden during the night.  The following morning she saw it wasn't in the shed.  "Oh its gone" she said.   "You'll probably just have to use the big spade now" I said jokingly   

Just like the TV show "Overhaulin", me and Nobber set to work the following day.  Armed with sandpaper we set to work removing the rust and bashing out most of the dents and at the end of Day 1 we had resprayed the interior in lovely Aztec Gold paint.

There was no stopping us now.  I got some 3 in 1 oil to sort out the squeaky wheel and put some grease on the wheel bearing which gave it a kind of 'Stealth' capability.  

She could work with it in silence without me even knowing she was hard at it.

The plan was all coming together fine and then I got the best idea of all.  To introduce envy into the equation, wheelbarrow envy!  

I'd seen blokes walking past  the house when she was barrowing in 3 tons of manure for the back garden and they were smirking at her, obviously thinking I should have bought her a Barrow with a bigger carrying capacity so she didn't have to make all those trips back and forth.    But, an overweight Barrow isn't the answer, she's a woman, she wants the best things in life, it's style that's important to her and I want her to have the best things and still have the enjoyment of a good days barrowing.  So in the dead of night I made the transformation that will make her the envy of the street.   

Christmas morning will be a blast for her when she sees this:

Tiger stripes on the frame and a go faster flame paint job that Chip Fookes would be proud of.    I cant wait to see her face on Christmas morning, I'll put a big red ribbon on it and put it the back garden so she sees it when she goes out to bring some coal in for the fire.  The real bonus is that it cost me less than £10 to do it.   She has told me that she doesn't know what to do for me so I suggested that she pays for me to record my new CD, that works out at around £600 which might seem a bit unbalanced financially but of course she will get the eternal joy of hearing me play, genius! She gets the best of both worlds, lucky girl!!

FINALLY.

I really want to say Happy Christmas to John Woodhouse, the Brumbeat.Net editor who allows me to nest my blog in his webpage.

I want to say Happy Christmas to my lifelong pal Oggie.  Still poorly I'm afraid.  He hasn't had the best year and I wish for him everything he wishes himself. 

Also a Happy Christmas to The Skiffle King in his Welsh valley hideaway for being the first of the few that started British Rock and Roll and his participation in bringing Birmingham musicians to the fore during the 60s.   An inspiration for the nation.

It's my birthday tomorrow so I shall be remembering all my mates from the Brumbeat days for their great and continued friendship and to all you Christmas season birthday celebrants out there too.  Have a hug!

Love the ones your with

Bob

Copyright: Bullsheadbob 

Contact:   Bobsbullocks@Gmail.com 

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Bulls head bob Nov 2024. Christmas Gifts for The Digital Age. Tascam Pocket 6 track Recorder. Yamaha TransAcoustic Guitar. Starter Digital Drum Kit. Bobs Free Gifts!!

Hello Mates across the world and especially you Brummies and Brumbeat Musicians of the 60's. 

In the early 60's we didn't know what the word digital meant, we weren't stupid, it was simply a case of technology yet to arrive on the planet.  For prospective musicians everything was harder to achieve, there weren't even practical instruction books, we had to be inventive to master our instruments.  How things have changed in this Digital Age with miniaturisation of electrical components, computers and fabulous access to instruction via YouTube where you can learn and copy everything.

So for you musicians I have some prospective musical gifts you might want tucked under the tree.  So here we go.

Are you a frustrated song writer without the space to have a studio where you can have your recorder ready for action, microphone on the stand, just needing to be switched on for you to get your classic song laid down before you forget the lyrics or guitar/ keyboard parts?  

You might have an audio interface connected to a computer but you still need to wait for your computer to warm up and then get the interface connected to your pro tools or whatever recording software you use.   It all takes valuable time while your inspiration is rapidly evacuating from your brain.  In my case, a couple of minutes is all it takes and my brain is as empty as a Scotsmans wallet.

Well my friends, Bull Head Bob to the rescue with a fabulous piece of kit, that I have recently purchased, the wonderful.

TASCAM DPOO6

This 6 track Pocket Studio digital recorder is just marvellous for capturing those moments of inspiration.   It can be powered by batteries or mains so you can have it by your side anywhere, even in the bath and we all know what great natural reverb there is in bathrooms.  Just for some people who might take everything literally, this recorder doesn't float!!  

You don't even have to plug in a microphone either because it has 2 built-in condenser microphones.  

.

The microphones can be seen on the right and left of the device to give a stereo signal, 2 part Harmonies or a stereo acoustic guitar backing can be performed in this manner using just one recording track.  All tracks have a pan control to help build the soundscape and tracks can be bounced. There are 2 Jack plug inputs which can be switched from vocals with a stand alone mic to direct input with a guitar.   All recordings are stored onto a digital memory card and there is also a USB port.   On the underside of the recorder is a screw connector which screws onto a normal camera tripod so you can tilt the screen to monitor your recording levels if in a seated position.

Tascam have thought of everything to make the recording process as easy as pie.   All this for the Tiny price of around £140.00.     The only thing it doesn't have is an effects card but does have an effects send output to connect to any effects pedal or rack.   As a solo performer it is perfect for recording and playing backing tracks to accompany you for your next performance.  Check out the Tascam website for more comprehensive information.  Highly recommended.

YAMAHA TAG3

Yamaha guitars are musicians favourites world wide and their TransAcoustic guitars are absolutely perfect for solo performers because not only do you get to play a magnificent hand built acoustic but one that is fully loaded with a comprehensive in-built effects package of reverb and delay etc adding a beautiful soundscape for your audiences to enjoy.  Like the Tascam, this guitar gives you all those sounds without having to hump around a ton of gear.  It also has a touch control Looper

There are effect controls on the side of the body and, as shown

next to the sound hole, a ring that is the touch control.  There are some nice YouTube clips of the guitar being demo'd where you can see and hear this guitar being played with all its possibilities.

Warning! This guitar is expensive retailing at £1,600.00 so it is not in everyone's price range as a Christmas gift but I'm sure that some of my readers hold down well paid jobs and I like to appeal to  broad spectrum of readers world wide.   I'm a poor muso so it's out of my price range however if any of the blog readers wants to get me one? Lol.

MILLENIUM DIGITAL DRUM KIT

Got a kid/ husband/wife who wants to be a drummer but you don't have a sound proofed shed to lock him/her in to protect your sanity and peace and quiet.    For the sum of £160 -ish you can buy from Thomann, a digital drum kit.

And for a few quid more get a pair of headphones to plug into
the control panel for the next Dave Grohl to practice with.  The panel has timing rythmn pre-sets to follow and USB inputs to upload music to play along with.

It's a starter model but good enough for someone to discover if they've got what it takes to play drums or not.  It doesn't take up too much bedroom space and can be packed away.  

Pretty good Christmas Gift.

BOBS FREE GIFT TO MY READERS

TUNING UP TO NATURE

Now then my friends, here's something for musos that is free.  I Can almost see your ears pricking up at the mention of "Free".

My Christmas gifts to you guys are Two free natural events to help you tune your guitar to, one for daytime and the other for the nights.

Gift 1.  Daytime tuning.   If like me you live in a countryside environment.  All you need to do is step outside and wait till you hear a cuckoo with its familiar song.  The cuckoo sings its call in the Key of "D".

Gift 2.  Night time tuning.    Cuckoos are fast asleep after the sun has gone down so, what can you do to get in tune?   Easy, open your ears and wait for the hoot of an owl because Owls hoot in the key of B flat.

FINALLY  

Wishing Hank Marvin a wonderful 83rd Birthday.

Mrs Bob told me that Ken Dodd would have been outraged to discover that one of his Diddy Men has found himself in court on outrageous charges! 

So that's your lot for today, enjoy November choosing gifts for your loved ones but most importantly.  Love the one you're with.

Hoping for some world peace.

Bob

Copyright: Bullsheadbob 

Contact: Bobsbullocks@Gmail.com 

Bulls Head Bob October 2024. The Missing Blog. Bobs Rapier Wit.

Hello My friends,  

SEPTEMBER  BLOG.

I apologise for the absence of the September Blog and give thanks to those who emailed to see if I was OK, it means a lot to me, thanks muchly. 

Sometimes lifes priorities preclude my enjoyment and time writing the blog for, I hope, your reading enjoyment.  Suffice to say that I had to help a family member and that took me away from my normal monthly activities.   It is the last day of September and I'm ensconced in the Bloggery typing away drinking lots of coffee to keep me awake.   

Mrs Bob is busy making an ornamental fish pond and I can hear her mixing up some cement outside in the new mixer I got her for our wedding anniversary, it's a deluxe model with a reverse rotation ability (RRA) which comes with a remote control, I've heard her saying "I'm sending it back" several times so the remote must be in use a lot.   I'm glad I made the right choice once again but I just wish she could be quieter.  

I've been really busy too. I've been growing my beard whilst listening to mostly, love songs which really are the most emotionally charged musical memory vehicles, quite simply, the greatest songs, the songs we remember the most.   This summer, me and Mrs Bob have been enjoying each others company and kind of falling in love again after 50 years together and the magic is still there.  That's why songwriters continue writing love songs, it's the greatest thing and we all have our favourites that are designated as "our song".   

Our personal songs are  "God Only Knows", "I'm not in Love" and "In My Life" to name our top three.  We were parted for 3 months just after we married in 1974 when I was sent to foreign parts to do my duty for Queen and Country, the song then was "When will I see you Again" by the 3 Degrees, it's not a favourite at all but was relevant at the uncertainty of the situation we were in at the time.   

Today we are all living in uncertain times with hundreds of thousands soldiers, sailors and airmen and their sweethearts  listening to their own shared songs all hoping for an end to the Russian brutality and one man's greed for power.

Let's hope this world turmoil comes to an end soon for our children's sakes.

WATKINS RAPIER RE-ISSUE.

In 1959 when it was almost impossible to buy a Fender Stratocaster because of trade restrictions with the USA or the expense of buying a class guitar, practically all British guitarists were looking for a solid body electric guitar that didn't cost a fortune and linked them to the best known guitarist and band,  of the day, The Shadows, featuring Hank B Marvin and Hank had a Red Stratocaster.   

The market forces were ready for a cheap lookalike and Charlie Watkins answered the call by manufacturing the Watkins Rapier which was red and had a similar body shape as a Strat.  It came in a couple of configurations and the 3 pick up model retailed at 29 Guineas which worked out at 11 pounds per pick up.  

Although it had the same body shape, the body itself was stick thin and lightweight.  In those days no consideration was given to resonance or wood type.  Practically every group in Birmingham at that time equipped themselves with Rapiers to put through their 11 watt Watkins Westminster amps and Watkins Copycat echo machines playing all the Shadows hits.  

It was cheap and cheerful and sold by the gazillions in the UK.  It was nothing more than a starter guitar though and as soon as money became available they were quickly replaced by a "proper" instrument and the pawn shops were full of Rapiers.

RE-BIRTH.  When guitar companies re-issue guitars it is normally based on the qualities of the original model which either had great electronics, a distinct sound or body shape.   Burns have re-issued several of its models which had the original potent sonic pick ups that had latterly been installed into Brian May's home built Red guitar thus elevating the electronics to a 'must have' for todays guitar fans.

I was therefore puzzled that the Rapier which was purpose built with economy in mind, didn't sound good and was made from cheap materials was re-issued and is in the shops with the Rapier 33 selling for £389.00!  

The manufacturers are saying that it's a 're-imagined' Rapier, a completely different guitar with good pick ups and a thicker body, essentially a whole new package which makes me wonder at the marketing logic of issuing it again based on cheap starter guitar nostalgia alone.  If you have bought a new one, I hope you're happy, it's a personal choice at the end of the day but really it wasn't a classic guitar with a demand for a reissue at all in my humble opinion.

FINALLY

Normal service will be resumed next month with Bob's Shopping tips for Christmas......time to raid your piggy bank.   

Take care my friends and as usual love the one you're with.

Bob

Copyright: Bullsheadbob 

Contact: Bobsbullocks@Gmail.com 

 

Bulls Head Bob Aug 2024. Ringo at 84! Buddy Guy...88!. John Mayall RIP.

Hello Brummies and lovers of 60's bands from Birmingham.

Well it's been Sun and Fun here in the Bob household during the sunny days.  I went out and bought an inflatable garden swimming pool for us all to splash around in, The Bobettes and their offspring enjoyed themselves whilst I got the BBQ going.

RINGO STARR 84th Birthday.    

Happy Birthday Ringo!!  There have been some great drummers, in a technical sense, dishing out their multiple Flim-Flams and Paradiddles in abundance, indeed there were a few of them about in Birmingham who were the masters of technical wizardry, Carl Palmer and Keith Smart to name just two who I have immense respect for.  They were both equally at home with Rock music too.    

Ringo Starr took a lot of stick from the public, they said he was ugly, they said he couldn't play the drums but he wasn't one of those technicians and he made up for that with his brilliant rock solid backbeat that drove a band along like no other.  An inate sense of timing that could put a metronome to shame, allied to his own self taught economic drum fills, gave him his individualism and many more drummers copied those fills rather than indulging in Paradiddle madness because firstly, they were easy to replicate and furthermore recognised that the "less is more" approach had its own place in modern rock music.   

Ringo at 84 years old is still touring with his great All Stars Band, still playing "With a Little Help from my Friends" and still playing in his own inimitable style that gave license to generations of would be drummers to imitate.   Best Ringo quote to Jeff Lynne when Lynne asked him to play to a Click Track... 

"Click Track?  I am the fuckin' click track!".  Sir Richard Starkey.

BUDDY GUY ....  Happy Birthday 88

I have three favourite American blues guitarist, BB King, Freddie King and Buddy Guy.   Two of them are dead, the two Kings that is.   Buddy was born in 1936,  his family struggled to make ends meet.  His first guitar had 2 strings and he struggled to learn through sheer determination and learn he did.    At the age of 21 he moved to Chicago and won a blues guitar competition under the influence of Muddy Waters and the prize was a recording contract.   He then signed for Chess records but the  label didn't like his on stage raucous sound and wouldn't record him playing like that because it was " just a noise".   

Buddy was relegated to playing as a session man on everyone elses records for years.

It was many years later, 1967, that Eric Clapton insisted he be

included into a blues guitar extravaganza at the Albert Hall which brought him to the fore and into the public eye of the British who were hungry to learn more.   It was acknowledged by BB King that if it weren't for the Brits they would still be playing in shanty town bars.   However it wasnt till the rebirth of Blues music in 1988 that he finally got the recognition he deserved and his light has shone bright since then.

As for his "on stage noise".   His early 1957 stage shows included a lot of style and guitar trickery that had impressed one young, pre fame, Jimi Hendrix who was totally impressed and copied everything he did.  When Hendrix came to the UK it wasn't too long before he was considered a guitar God and he sure was, no doubt, but he and those other guitar Gods had all prayed at the feet of Buddy Guy whose wild style had been so suppressed by the music biz for so many years.

The Rock and Blues world is based on that feedback, guitar behind the head antics wrongly attributed to Hendrix....he was a copy of the man considered too extreme for the record buying public way back when.

Happy Birthday Buddy!!

JOHN MAYALL. RIP

There can be no other British person who championed the world of blues music more than John Mayall some might say Alexis Corner was but his was a toned down affair as opposed to the man who built his bands around class British guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor.  I saw many of his shows at The Carlton, later renamed as Mothers in Erdington, Birmingham with all of the above guitarists.  No large mixing desks, no effects, just pure music played loud.  An experience like no other at that time.   

The best of all those concerts was with Clapton in 1964 just prior to the Beano LP.   I had never heard music quite like it, the power of Eric's solos biting and screaming through the Mayall/Clapton composition "Have you Heard" was nothing short of a wonderment.  Me at 15, mouth wide open, totally engrossed at the musician standing in front of me wringing out that solo that seemed to go on forever.  Mayall's vocal was so right as a counter to that guitar violence, sung in high register floating over the sound of his Hammond organ.    I had never heard of Buddy Guy or Freddie King at that time but when I did I could see where Eric got his style from.  He said that John Mayall was largely responsible for his fame after coaching and encouraging Eric to listen to his large record collection of blues artists that he had never heard of before.

Eric was a hard act to follow and although Peter Green was a brilliant soulful player it just wasn't as good.   He later redeemed himself with his incredible Fleetwood Mac compositions.

Mick Taylor, although good didn't seem to fit in.  On the night I saw him with Mayall they were supported by Birmingham band Bakerloo with guitarist Clem Clempson,  Mayall was stood watching him play.   I overheard Mayalls drummer Keef Hartley say to Taylor "Watch out for your job Mick".  John Mayall was a band leader in the true sense and would hire and fire when he saw someone else who could do a better job.  On that night it was Keefs last gig with the band and he was awarded a gold watch on stage, a bit like retiring from a factory job.  

Mayall moved to the USA where he continued to be successful as a result of the British Invasion. He was awarded the MBE for his work promoting blues music and rightly so.  He toured right up until his death at the age of 90.  A true legend, an innovator and solid professional.

Thanks for everything professor, a man who championed and changed the face of music.

FINALLY

It's back into the garden for me to enjoy the precious time I have left to bask in the sun.

Take care everybody.  Love the ones who are close to you and ignore those who would do you harm for their own sake.

Bob

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Contact Bobsbullocks@Gmail.com.