RELEASED 28.2.2011
WHEN HE STROLLED TO THE STAGE IN THE PALATIAL SURROUNDINGS OF THE BERLIN METROPOL STEVE GIBBONS WAS CERTAINLY NO NEWCOMER. HE HAD BEEN TO GERMANY SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE, THE FIRST TIME BEING 1963 WHEN HE AND HIS FELLOW BAND MEMBERS IN THE UGLYS GAVE UP THEIR DAY JOBS AND ACCEPTED THE OFFER OF A SIX WEEK ENGAGEMENT AT THE 'KON TIKI CLUB' IN MUNSTER WESTFALIA. ALTHOUGH THEY NOW HAD THE GREAT LUXURY OF NOT HAVING TO GET UP EARLY EVERY DAY IT WAS STILL HARD WORK, STARTING AT 9PM AND PLAYING THREE OR FOUR LONG SETS TILL THE EARLY HOURS OF THE MORN. THE MUSIC WAS ESSENTIALLY ROCK N ROLL, ELVIS, JERRY LEE, CHUCK BERRY, BUDDY HOLLY, GENE VINCENT, EDDIE COCHRAN AND ALSO LONNIE DONEGAN, THE KING OF SKIFFLE, BUT STEVE WAS SOON TO HEAR SOMETHING THAT WOULD COMPLETELY CHANGE HIS MUSICAL VISION. ONE NIGHT THE AMERICAN HOUSE DISC JOCKEY PUT THE NEEDLE DOWN ON A BRAND NEW RELEASE 'THE FREEWHEELIN BOB DYLAN' AND STEVE WAS DUMBFOUNDED. THE PROFOUND INFLUENCE THAT DYLAN'S MUSIC HAS HAD ON HIM OVER THE YEARS CAN BE HEARD NOT ONLY IN HIS SINGING TECHNIQUE --- GIBBONS IS STILL TODAY REGARDED AS ONE OF THE BEST 'INTERPRETERS OF DYLAN' BY MANY CRITICS --- BUT ALSO IN THE LYRICS OF THE SONGS HE WROTE WHICH BECAME INCREASINGLY SOCIALLY AWARE AND EVEN PSYCHODELIC. STEVE WROTE THE WORDS TO THE UGLYS FIRST SINGLE 'WAKE UP MY MIND' WHICH MADE THE AUSTRALIAN TOP TEN IN 1965. THEY APPEARED ON NATIONAL TELEVISION SHOWS INCLUDING 'THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS' AND 'READY STEADY GO'. IT'S NO WONDER THAT THE GROUP BECAME A MAGNET FOR YOUNG BIRMINGHAM MUSICIANS, DAVE PEGG {FAIRPORT CONVENTION}, DAVE MORGAN {ELO}, THIS IS WHERE THEY HONED THEIR BASS PLAYING SKILLS. IN SPITE OF ALL THIS, BIG SUCCESS EVADED THE UGLYS AND IN 69 THEY WERE PERSUADED TO TAKE ON TONY SECUNDA AS THEIR MANAGER. HE HAD PREVIOUSLY MANAGED TWO OTHER BIRMINGHAM BANDS, THE MOODY BLUES AND THE MOVE AND EVEN THOUGH DENNY AND TREVOR HAD BOTH LEFT THEIR RESPECTIVE BANDS HE STILL HAD THEM UNDER CONTRACT. TONY'S RUTHLESS MANAGEMENT STYLE SOON RAISED ITS UGLY HEAD AND OVER THE FOLLOWING WEEKS SOME PAINFUL DISMISSALS TOOK PLACE, AND THEN THERE WERE THREE - STEVE GIBBONS, TREVOR BURTON AND DENNY LAINE AND THEY WERE CALLED 'BALLS'. THE NEXT TWO YEARS WERE NOT VERY PRODUCTIVE ALTHOUGH A LOT OF 'JAMMING' TOOK PLACE AND SEVERAL OTHER PROMINENT MUSICIANS MIKE KELLIE, JACKIE LOMAX, ALAN WHITE AND RICK GRECH BLEW IN AND OUT OF THE SMOKEY HAZE, WHICH WAS THE REHEARSAL ROOM A BARN AT CHRIS BLACKWELL'S FARM. FORTUNATELY STEVE HAD SEEN THE WRITNG ON THE WALL, HE LEFT BALLS AFTER THE FIRST YEAR AND SPENT THE FOLLOWING YEAR WRITING AND RECORDING A SOLO ALBUM UNDER THE DIRECTION OF JIMMY MILLER , TRAFFIC AND THE ROLLING STONES PRODUCER. THERE WERE SOME FINE MUSICIANS INVOLVED, ALBERT LEE, GERRY DONAHUE, (GUITARS) PAT DONALDSON, GREG RIDLEY, TREVOR BURTON (BASS) GARY WRIGHT (KEYBOARDS) MIKE KELLIE (DRUMS) AND MADELINE BELL AND DORIS TROY (BACKING VOCALS). IT WAS RELEASED ON TONY SECUNDA'S WIZARD LABEL BUT SUFFERED FROM LACK OF EXPOSURE DUE TO HIS DISAGREEMENT WITH EMI PARENT COMPANY. BALLS EVENTUALLY GROUND TO A HALT AND STEVE WENT BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD. AN OFFER FROM JEFF LYNN'S OLD BAND CAME OUT OF THE BLUE AND JUST AT THE RIGHT TIME, 'THE IDLE RACE' NEEDED A NEW FRONTMAN. STEVE GRADUALLY RECONSTRUCTED THE BAND AND AFTER A FEW MONTHS THE 'STEVE GIBBONS BAND' CAME INTO BEING. BOB WILSON AND DAVE CARROLL (GUITARS CAME FROM 'TEA AND SYMPHONY' BOB LAMB (DRUMS) CAME FROM 'THE DOG THAT BIT PEOPLE' AND GREG MASTERS (BASS) WAS THE SOLE SURVIVOR FROM 'THE IDLE RACE' BUT HE LEFT SIX MONTHS LATER AND HIS PLACE WAS TAKEN BY BOB GRIFFIN (EX CHRIS JAGGER BAND). GRIFFIN STAYED UNTIL EARLY 75 AND THEN TREVOR BURTON TOOK HIS PLACE. THAT YEAR THE BAND TOOK OFF IN A BIG WAY. THEY WERE SPOTTED BY PETE MEADON THE MAN WHO HAD DISCOVERED AND FOR A BRIEF PERIOD ALSO MANAGED 'THE WHO'. HE SWIFTLY BROUGHT 'S.G.B TO PETE TOWNSHEND'S ATTENTION, PETE WENT TO CHECK THEM AND WAS EQUALLY IMPRESSED. WITHIN A MATTER OF WEEKS THEY WERE IN 'THE WHO'S' STUDIO WITH JOHN ENTWHISTLE AS PRODUCER RECORDING THEIR FIRST ALBUM 'ANY ROAD UP'. LATER THAT SAME YEAR THEY HIT THE ROAD SUPPORTING THE WHO THROUGHOUT EUROPE AND THE USA. THE FOLLOWING YEAR (BICENTENNIAL) THEY RETURNED TO THE STATES FOR ANOTHER EXTENSIVE TOUR. IN BETWEEN THEN AND 1978 THREE MORE ALBUMS WERE RECORDED, ROLLIN ON - FROM WHICH TULANE THEIR FIRST HIT SINGLE WAS TAKEN, CAUGHT IN THE ACT AND DOWN IN THE BUNKER PRODUCED IN 1978 BY TONY VISCONTI AND CONSIDERED BY MANY TO BE THEIR BEST. ------ AS A GREAT MAN ONCE SAID 'ALL THINGS MUST PASS' . AND SO IT WAS THAT IN 1979 THE S.G.B. SPLIT, IT WAS A JAGGED BREAK, THIS TIME THE SOLE SURVIVOR WAS TREVOR BURTON. HE AND STEVE COMBINED FORCES WITH HARRY RIX (DRUMS) AND ROBBIE BLUNT (GUITAR) AND THEY WENT INTO RONNIE LANE'S MOBILE STUDIO AND CAME OUT WITH AN ALBUM CALLED STREET PARADE. IT WAS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS ALBUMS AND REFLECTED STEVE'S TASTE FOR MUSICAL VARIETY. A STANDOUT PERIOD PIECE WAS BRITISH ROCK N ROLL. THERE WAS MUCH CIVIL UNREST AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN BRITAIN IN 1981, DRUMMER HARRY RIX DECIDED TO FOLLOW HIS FAITH AND TOOK OFF FOR BURMA, STEVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW HIS INSTINCT AND WENT BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD. THE SKETCH HE DREW WAS CALLED SAINTS N SINNERS AND THE PLAYERS HE CHOSE WERE TREVOR BURTON (GUITAR), PJ WRIGHT(GUITAR), DEREK WOOD(BASS) AND STICKY WICKETT (DRUMS). AFTER A FEW REHEARSALS AND GETTING TO KNOW YOU JAMS THEY WENT INTO RAMPORT STUDIOS AND RECORDED SAINTS 'N' SINNERS. IT WAS A MIXED BAG OF TRICKS, TWO SONGS IN PARTICULAR BECAME CROWD PLEASERS 'BIGGLES FLIES UNDONE' AND 'B.S.A.' HERE ON THE METROPOLE STAGE NOV '81 STEVE WAS LOOKING SHARP IN A BLUE SUIT, FIFTIES TIE WITH A WINDSOR KNOT AND THE WHITE SILK SCARF (CAN'T SAY THE GUY DOESN'T TRY), ALTHOUGH THE ROCKPALAST PROMOTER REMARKED THAT THE GUYS LOOKED A BIT ' HARD WORKED AND WEARY', THEY PROBABLY WERE THEY'D JUST SPENT THE LAST SIX WEEKS ZIG ZAGGING ACROSS EUROPE BEFORE THEY GOT TO BERLIN THAT AFTERNOON. IN FACT THEY WERE REALLY EXCITED AT FIRST BECAUSE THEIR INTRODUCTORY ACT WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST IDOLS OF THE NEW SECOND GUITARIST, P.J. NO LESS A PERFORMER THAN SLIDE-GUITAR-GOD DAVID LINDLEY PUT THE BERLIN PUBLIC IN THE RIGHT MOOD. P.J. WAS TO BECOME THE LONGEST-SERVING MEMBER OF THE SGB, HE STAYED TILL THE MIDDLE OF THE 90S AND STILL TODAY SUPPORTS GIBBONS IN HIS DYLAN PROJECT WITH VARIOUS STRING INSTRUMENTS (GUITAR, MANDOLIN AND STEEL GUITAR). ANOTHER NEW DISCOVERY, ALAN "STICKY" WICKETT, GAVE HIS DRUMS DEBUT ON "SAINTS & SINNERS" AND THE SUBSEQUENT TOUR. HE WAS SO VERSATILE AND COMPETENT THAT, AFTER HIS TIME WITH SGB, A MOVE TO THE JAZZ SCENE WAS THE ONLY POSSIBILITY: HE SERVED WITH NO LESS THAN CHRIS BARBER - WITH SHORT BREAKS - UNTIL 1998 AND SET THE BEAT FOR HIS JAZZ AND BLUES BAND. TREVOR BURTON, STEVE GIBBONS' MOST FAMED PARTNER OVER TIME, EXCELLED ON THE GUITAR, AFTER MANY YEARS ON THE BASS GUITAR IN THE SGB. NOT ONLY ON THAT EVENING WERE THE MANY FANS REMINDED OF THE ORIGINAL SOUND OF HITS LIKE "FLOWERS IN THE RAIN", "FIREBRIGADE" AND "LEMON TREE", BUT THEY ALSO HEARD THE YOUNG TREVOR IN THE FIRST LEAGUE OF BRITISH PSYCHODELIC POP WITH THE MOVE. IN ADDITION TO HIS OWN TITLES, GIBBONS TOOK MUCH TIME TO PAY TRIBUTE TO HIS OWN HEROES:"PARALYZED" BY ELVIS, "GIT IT" BY GENE VINCENT, "BYE BYE JOHNNY" BY CHUCK BERRY AND, OF COURSE, BOB DYLAN WITH TWO NUMBERS: "TO BE ALONE WITH YOU" AND "LIKE A ROLLING STONE", STEVE'S ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE OF THE "ZIM". FOLLOWING ON THE ROCKPALAST CONCERT, THERE WERE NEW BOUNDARIES FOR THE STEVE GIBBONS BAND TO CROSS: THEY WERE THE FIRST ENGLISH-SPEAKING ROCK BAND ALLOWED TO TOUR THE GDR. THE SAME SCENARIO WAS REPEATED IN BERLIN, ROSTOCK, WEIMAR, ERFURT, COTTBUS, HALLE AND OTHER PLACES: THE PUBLIC DID NOT ONLY POUR INTO THE CONCERTS, BUT WERE ALSO FASCINATED BY THE SGB 'S EQUIPMENT WHICH ACCOMPANIED THEM EVERYWHERE ON ITS OWN TRUCK. ANYTHING LIKE THE LIGHT AND SOUND SYSTEMS HAD NEVER BEEN SEEN IN THE GDR AT THAT TIME. THE GDR TOUR WAS A "REVELATION ON BOTH SIDES"FOR STEVE GIBBONS, WHICH HE WAS ALLOWED TO REPEAT THE FOLLOWING YEAR. WHAT MADE STEVE GIBBONS, PARTICULARLY, THE FIRST WEST ROCK LEGEND IN THE GDR? PERHAPS IT WAS HIS UNPRETENTIOUS AND SOMETIMES HUMOROUS SHORT STORIES IN ROCK FORM, WHICH KEPT CLOSE TO SOCIAL REALITY, AN EXCITING MIXTURE OF BOB DYLAN AND DASHIELL HAMMETT. ALTHOUGH IT IS 30 YEARS SINCE THE ROCKPALAST CONCERT, STEVE GIBBONS IS STILL ON THE ROAD WITH HIS BAND AND THE FORMER COLLEAGUES P.J. WRIGHT, DAVE PEGG, GERRY CONWAY AND PHIL BOND IN THE DYLAN PROJECT. AT 70, STEVE GIBBONS IS CERTAINLY NO NEWCOMER, AND THAT IS HIS STRENGTH. MICHAEL VONAU (WITH MANY THANKS TO SG) (c) 2011
TRACKLISTING: 01. SOCIAL DANCE 02. A TO Z 03. LOVING ME, LOVING YOU 04. NO SPITTING ON THE BUS 05. THE RUGGED ROCK 06. BIGGEL'S FLY'S UNDONE 07. TO BE ALONE WITH YOU 08. PARALYZED 09. B.S.A. 10. GAVE HIS LIFE FOR R'N'R 11. GIT IT 12. DOWN IN THE BUNKER
Bonustracks: 13. BYE BYE JOHNNY 14. LIKE A ROLLING STONE