Bulls Head Bob - Feb 2023. David Crosby, Jeff Beck. Birth of Motown - Barrett Strong

 Hello you guys n' gals and musical pals,

February is a month I enjoy because it's nearly Spring and my old bones will start warming up and most importantly it's my and Mrs Bob's 49th wedding anniversary which means an outing somewhere, a nice hotel and a slap-up meal. 

I said last month that the friends and faces of our youth are now all disappearing to the great dance hall in the skies and January  was a real downer saying farewell to 60's icons Jeff Beck, David Crosby and the first Motown star Barrett Strong.  So although there is some sadness at their loss it is also a time to celebrate  their lives and achievements.

JEFF BECK

Jeff was THE best guitarist in the UK bar none, pure class.  In

the 60's I had followed and been amazed by his guitar antics with the Yardbirds and learned some of the sounds he had conjured up on hits like Heart Full of Soul and Over, Under, Sideways, Down, he was a real technician and got sounds from his guitar that none else could.  I was lucky enough to be on the same bill as the Jeff Beck Group at some university or other whilst Rod Stewart was the vocalist and Hi Ho Silver Lining was in the charts and that band were fantastic, hard and loud with Jeff ripping through some amazing solos.   

Some years on and his work with Stevie Wonder on "Talking Book" left me breathless at the maturity of his playing and note selection, his solo and fills particularly on the track "Looking for Another Love" are sublime, just a handful of notes chosen and played impeccably.  It is still one of my favourite solos that I go back to all the time.  Stevie Wonder wrote "Supersticious" for Jeff specifically to record but liked it so much that he recorded it himself although Jeff did record it with Beck, Bogert and Appice.

There is a YouTube Clip of Jeff playing at Ronnie Scott's and he managed to get Eric Clapton on stage and do a couple of songs with him, the first being "Little Brown Bird" and it was the first time I saw Clapton showing signs of nerves as he and Beck traded solos and for me Jeff came out on top because of his ability to play in so many styles.  Jimmy Page was in the audience and had to sit squirming through Eric and Jeff playing the next song, Willie Dixons "You Need Love" that Led Zep had stolen and renamed it as Whole Lotta Love.  

Funnily, I was never a fan of his instrumental covers, just a personal choice because his best work was being let loose to amaze us lesser mortals.

Anyway, sad to say, he's gone but has left a massive legacy behind. God Bless. 

DAVID CROSBY

So as I was going through the throes of sadness at Jeffs passing, David Crosby upped and died too!

"Hey Mr Tambourine Man" was the song that introduced The Byrds to the British public and its members.   I recall learning it at a practice session with my first group and for the first time we sang 3 part Harmonies.  We had sung the Everly Brothers stuff which was 2 part and this additional voice opened my eyes.   The Byrds did one tour of the UK which didn't impress the public at all, however it did result in Roger McGuinn writing "Eight Miles High" about their British experience.

David Crosbys voice was his greatest asset.  He was the coolest of the cool and had an individual sense of fashion.  This Baby faced musician soon became the girls favourite and he hung out with The Beatles, elevating his status even more.   When you're young and fame flies into your face and you find yourself with a load of cash it changes your life, Crosby, already self opinionated, became a horror to work with and The Byrds sacked him, the press said he was sacked for musical differences but he said he was sacked for being an asshole!  

The Byrds were yesterdays news anyway and he looked for

another fresh avenue of creativity which came along from his friend Stephen Stills.    It didn't take long for the duo to realise they sounded great together.   Then Graham Nash showed up on the scene and WHAM! the vocal triad came to be the biggest act around for a long time.    The delicate, almost imperceptible, intricacies of Crosby's harmonies would lodge themselves in between the melody line of Stills and the high harmony of Graham Nash adding a thickness to the sound and one could almost be forgiven for thinking there were only two voices singing.

He wrote some wonderful songs too, the hauntingly beautiful "Guinevere"  to the mundane "Almost cut my Hair" which, despite the subject matter being inconsequential became his song of revolution, his hair being his "freak flag".

The whole story of CSN was one of volatility mainly between Stephen Stills and Crosby and there were many fights between them all too.  His Drug addiction ruined his life and those of his friends, Graham Nash stood by him though, even when Crosby was thrown into jail.  He had spent every cent he earned, his hair was falling out and had incurred the wrath of the whole music community of LA.  On his release Crosby and Nash went out on tour and recorded some good stuff along the way, in particular the song "Out of the Darkness" a song whose melody had been written by the bands keyboard player Craig Doerge.   He gave them a recording of the melody line and Crosby and Nash wrote the lyrics in 20 minutes in the back of a car on the way to a gig.  It's a song I still listen to and one I recommend  to you, fabulous soulful slide guitar too courtesy of David Lindley.

Anyway, his own arrogance was his own undoing, even Nash fell

out with him for good after he had made disparaging remarks about Neil Youngs relationship with Darrel Hannah.   He had reverted to that baby faced member of the Byrds who had become an unforgivable asshole.   So love him or hate him, it was still a shame that the end of his extremely talented musical life should have been tainted by his ambivalence towards the people he had partnered along the way.

I read his 1988 book Long time Gone in which he details his own rise to fame and also his ultimate failings.  He could never seem to escape his demons.  Some people are wired that way.   Read it if you get a chance.

BARRETT STRONG.  THE BIRTH OF MOTOWN.

There are many great artists who we think of as the stars of  Motown and, generally speaking, the name of Barrett Strong doesn't feature at all but he influenced and wrote some of the classic songs of Motown and had the first hit record released on the label in 1959 called "Money".

You are never too old to learn and until I read of his recent demise I had never heard of him as an artist and the first time I heard "Money" The Beatles were singing it with it's great intro, quite heavy for it's time.    Actually, I think I heard Denny Laine and The Diplomats singing it live in Birmingham prior to The Beatles?

Barrett had a couple more hits but his real talent was that of a songwriter/lyricist and he provided some of the very, very best songs to the biggest Motown stars of the day like Marvin Gaye - "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" and "Wherever I lay my Hat" which unbelievably was a B side track!!  He then wrote "War" for Edwin Starr and practically every song by The Temptations including the brilliant "Papa was a Rolling Stone" and the psychedelic"Ball of Confusion".

He left Motown and tried his luck again as a performer releasing 2 albums but not achieving great success in that area.

"Do what you do do well" is the lesson there but I doubt he had too many regrets in his life.  He was 81 when he died.  A remarkable talent.

FINALLY

Although this blog may be a tad depressing, talking of the deaths of these people of our youth it is also a record of the quality of the acts that we 60' teens grew up with and saw at the many venues in Birmingham for the price of a pint or two of beer!!   We really had the best of times. 

Take Care of each other,

Bob

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Contact: Bobsbullocks@Gmail.com