autobiography

Over the years I’ve taken all my kids to various gigs with mixed success. From Roy Harper in Hull to Irma Thomas in New Orleans, White Stripes in Bridlington to Stiff Little Fingers and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry in York, I’ve dragged them along. We’ve bopped to The Magic Band, Who and Ian Dury, sat enthralled through Roy Harper and Nick Harper and marveled at Nick Mason.

I want to pass on my love.

Of all my kids it is Henry who is most receptive. He is open to listening whether it’s Roy, Nick, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis or Little Richard.

Here’s an excerpt from my Rock Memoir – In Search Of Captain Beefheart:

I then took Henry to see Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. He was full of good old stories – ‘They don’t call me Ramblin’ cos I travel a lot,’ he said. Jack was another living legend. He’d lived with and travelled round with Woody back in the 1950s. It was capturing a bit of history.

I good a few things signed and had a chat with John Renbourn who was in the audience and had brought an album along for Jack to sign.

I persuaded Henry to go and see Bo Diddley in London. He was well impressed. Henry loved his humour. He was telling me that someone in the audience kept yelling out ‘Fucking Great!!’ Bo told him to watch his language cos he had a picture of his grandmother in his wallet – he brought it out to show everyone. I was going down to London to see Bo Diddley with Henry but the gig was called off because Bo had a stroke. He never played again.

The next venture was to take Henry to see Lazy Lester. Lazy Lester was a Swamp Blues guy from the early 1960s. He’d done this great track ‘I’m a lover not a fighter’ that the Kinks had copied. The gig was great. I actually gate-crashed a photo-session and took some shots while the official photographer was doing a photo session for a Blues magazine. I took some good ones! Back in the 60s I’d bought this great LP of Swamp Blues with Lazy Lester, Slim Harpo, Lonesome Sundown, Lightnin’ Slim and all those great Excello stars from Louisiana produced by J D Miller and all based on the old Jimmy Reed riff. They were fabulous. It was the first time I’d got to see any of them (apart from Slim Harpo’s grave!).

I told Henry to get along to see the Buzzcocks. They were touring again and I’d caught them at the Beverley Folk Festival of all places and thought they were great. There were a number of my old students, now getting middle-aged, who were pogoing and throwing themselves around with abandon. I subsequently saw them in York a couple of times and had a long chat with Pete Shelley who was a really nice quiet guy. Henry went to a gig with the Buzzcocks, Fall and John Cooper Clark. He loved John Cooper Clark and adored the Fall but didn’t take to the Buzzcocks as he found Steve Diggles daft antics a bit disconcerting and the songs a bit cheesy. You can’t win all of them! We all have different likes and dislikes. It wouldn’t do for us all to be the same.

Henry went out to see Hester in Shanghais. He had a birthday coming up and unbeknown to him the Stones were playing on the day he arrived. Hester whisked him straight out of the airport and off to the arena. That must have bee a bit of a surprise! They all said it was a good one!

I did try to get Henry along to see Hubert Sumlin in Leeds but he never made that one. That was a shame because Hubert Sumlin, who had been Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist, was in top form. Henry would have loved it.

I hope at some distant time in the future He’ll think back to those gigs and remember bopping about at the front with his old man.

I’m sure he will.

I certainly enjoyed it.