Eeeelectriciteeee.........

May 2nd – Now, before I get slayed alive (great title for an album that…) for the admission, I'd like to say, in my defence, that it wasn't Show-Waddy-Waddy (y’know, I really can’t even write that without hearing that bloody Jimmy Savile in my head) it wasn't Show-Waddy-Waddy that I went to see at Birmingham Town Hall back in 1971. Nope, not at all. They were top of the bill; it was the support band I went to see. However, I’m not the sort who walks out of a gig, or a play or a film for that matter, part way. I always believe that, if I'm going to earn the right to comment on someone's performance, I should sit them out, then I know what I'm talking about when I slag them off so, yes, I did stay to see Show-Waddy-Waddy (they were absolutely average) but the support, Stone the Crows, with the magical Maggie Bell as their vocalist, were knockout…knockout. I Need Your Love is probably psychedelic rock at its best and Danger Zone is one that shows her vocals off to the greatest degree. I thought that Ms. Bell’s voice had a sweet edge to it that I always thought Ms. Joplin lacked, and her guttural, forty-a-day quality that, IMHO, ranks well alongside Ms. Joplins’, came partly from her Glaswegian background.

The guitarist on that night was Les Harvey, Alex Harvey’s brother, and my goodness did he know his way round a guitar neck. A real talent that could stand alongside Messer’s Green, Page, Clapton, you name ‘em. A lovely quality to his playing and a guy who wasn't afraid to hold a note, not afraid to make folk aware that fast doesn't necessarily equate with quality when it comes to playing blues. They sported Orange amp heads and speakers that night, and the band I was playing in was one of the first in Brum to use them, so it was good to see Stone the Crows, too, were interested in something other than Marshall. Not that there’s anything wrong with Marshall stuff, just that, like when Laney amps first came out bands would try it out, measure this new kit up against the old guard.
Stone the Crows were epic on that gig, blew SWW off'f the stage and, from memory, impressed everyone in the audience that night. So, what happened on stage at Swansea’s Top Rank Suite on this day in 1972 took me (and Mr. Harvey too, I guess) completely by surprise.

He was on stage explaining to the crowd that the band was late starting because of a technical hitch. He held the mic, put his hand on the guitar strings and woke up dead.
As fast as that, by all accounts. 28 years young. It’s one of the things that runs through my mind whenever I’m involved in a fit-up for a rock show; not all the time, just every now and then. That not getting it right could mean the difference between sleeping nights and not sleeping nights. Bugger me, that was maudlin chat…sorry, will try to do better next time…