Well this is an endless list and will probably only serve to make me seriously depressed. There are obviously, no matter how many great gigs you’ve been to, going to be a number of ones that you’d give your eye-teeth to see. They outweigh the others!!
These are a few of the ones I would have loved to have caught:
- Elvis and the Scotty Moore Trio – in a small venue 1956
- Howlin’ Wolf in Memphis in 1957 with the band that put together the Howlin’ in the Moonlight album
- The Beatles in the Cavern in 1962 – just before they broke big.
- Leonard Cohen in 1969 – just with his guitar and voice
- Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village in 1963 singing all his acoustic gems on civil rights, anti-war and human rights
- Bob Dylan in 1965 at Manchester Trade Hall
- Son House and Robert Johnson in Clarksdale in 1935
- Elmore James in Chicago in 1959
- Muddy Waters in Chicago in 1959
- Doors in Whiskey A Go Go on the Sunset Strip in 1967
- Stones in Richmond in 1964
- Roy Harper busking in Sweden in 1966
- Nick Drake in any small club in 1969
- Buddy Holly & the Crickets in Harlem in 1958
- Country Joe and the Fish in San Francisco 1967
- Woody Guthrie in New York at any time
- Hank Williams in 1952
- Nirvana in Seattle in 1978
- Jefferson Airplane on Fisherman’s Wharf in 1967
- Jimi Hendrix with the Experience in 1967
- Syd Barrett with Floyd in 1966 when they were starting out
- Bo Carter anywhere in Mississippi in 1934
- Sex Pistols – at the 100 Club in 1976
- Bob Marley in Zimbabwe at it’s independence day
- Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry in 1957 doing a shoot-out
- Little Richard touring with Jerry Lee Lewis and trying to blow each other off the stage in 1957
I guess I was incredibly lucky to see so many great acts at their peak. Some of these bands I caught later and they were brill. Some I never got to see.
Ian – get that time machine sorted!!!
I’ll have a word with Doc Emmett Brown.
Great idea – unfortunately it hasn’t worked yet. Have you had a word with him yet? I’m getting desperate the more I think about it!!
I’m following Douglas Adam’s hints and brewing some tea 😉
Tea’s good! I’m sure it”ll work. The answer is 49!
Funnily enough the answer IS 42. I worked it out in one of my more stoned moments, but as I didnt write it down I lost the thread of how I got there after I’d come down.
That is always the way!!
Would definitely go along with all your choices especially the Cavern-era Beatles, and I imagine seeing them playing in Hamburg would be fun too.
I would have liked to have seen ISB in their early days as a threesome with Clive Palmer playing with them as residents at the Incredible Folk Club in Glasgow.
Kate Bush with the Trio Bulgarika playing ‘The Sensual World’. OK that one never happened, but what an incredible show it would have been.
Early Rolling Stones with Brian Jones
The Fairports with Sandy and Dave Swarbrick around the release of ‘Unhalfbricking, and also her own group Fotheringay.
Neil Young solo before he joined Buffalo Springfield, itself a band that I would have liked to have seen. Also, the first incarnation of NY with Crazy Horse.
The 1st incarnation of the Pretenders
Joan Armatrading finding her feet on the ‘Stepping Out’ tour
Joni playing the New York coffee bars
Tim Buckley and his son Jeff, anywhere, any time
The Beach Boys before Brian Wilson became stage-shy
The 4 shows that Jimi played which became the ‘Band of Gypsies’ album. That first rendition of ‘Machine Gun’ must have blown some minds.
Bowie with Mick Ronson and the Spiders playing Ziggy for the first time
Hendrix jamming in London with Pete Townsend and Pink Floyd, and the Experience’s first official show
And then 3 of Peelys proteges who I never saw live
Tir na Nog in all their early glory
Principal Edwards Magic Theatre
and the early Medicine Head with Peter Hope-Evans giving it some welly on the harp
Yeah. It’s endless isn’t it. I caught ISB with Clive Palmer about six years ago? In Beverley and had a chat with Clive. He’d been living in France as a bit of a recluse. Nice guy. He signed all my albums. Still – we saw the best!! No one from the later generations can possibly come close!! They were the glory years!