Jazzy Jeff
Preview by Peter Ashton

JEFF BECK who winds up his UK tour at Portsmouth Guildhall on Monday June 28 is best remembered for that perennial singalong “Hi-Ho Silver Lining” which must be one of the most played and performed songs of all time. But many people would be surprised to learn that it actually only reached No 14 on the Top Twenty back in 1967.
One of the reasons may be that the original version of the song by a band
called The Attack siphoned off some of the sales. Jeff Beck somehow got his version out before The Attack’s which featured vocalist Richard Shirman, still very much on the music scene with his band Hershey & The 12 Bars. Just how Jeff stole the march on The Attack is a matter for conjecture to this day, but the former Yardbirds man went on to become one of the most popular guitarists of all time, releasing fourteen albums to date.
Jeff’s 18-month stint with The Yardbirds produced some seminal work on the band’s classic hits "Heart Full of Soul" and "Shapes of Things" which were the blueprints for the psychedelic sound of the '60s. Beck left the group at the height of the Yardbirds' popularity in 1967 to embark on a long career which has embraced hard rock, jazz-fusion and many other styles.
Jeff celebrates his 60th birthday just 4 days before the Portsmouth gig.
Born on 24th June 1944 Beck grew up in Wallington, where his mother's piano playing and the family's radio tuned to everything from dance to classical made sure Beck was surrounded by music from a young age. Says Jeff: "For my parents, who lived through the war, music was a source of comfort to them. Life was tense and music helped them forget about their troubles. I'm sure that made an impression on me." "I was really small when jazz broke through in England and I can still remember sneaking off to the living room to listen to it on the radio-much to my parent's disapproval."
Inspired by the music he heard, it wasn't long before Beck picked up a
guitar and began playing around London. He briefly attended Wimbledon's Art College before leaving to devote all of his time to music. Beck worked as a session player, with the late Screaming Lord Sutch and the Tridents before he replaced Eric Clapton as the Yardbirds' lead guitarist in 1965.
Beck left the band in 1967 and formed The Jeff Beck Group, which
featured Rod Stewart on vocals and Ronnie Wood on bass, releasing two albums before Rod and Ronnie left to join The Faces and Beck disbanded the group until 1971 when he formed a new version of the band to record two more albums.
Veering away from hard rock, Beck then created two landmark two jazz-fusion albums and collaborated with Jan Hammer before laying low for much of the 1980s apart from producing three new albums. Three more albums followed in the 1990s.
The current tour is Jeff’s first UK jaunt since 1990; he went back on the
road in the USA last summer with BB King to promote his latest album “Jeff.” For ticket details on the Portsmouth gig ring 02392 804355.

Legendary American 60s rock band Iron Butterfly are the latest giants of rock to appear at The Brook on Saturday June 19. A massive coup for the Southampton venue to present a band of heavy rockers who originated in San Diego, California back in 1967. They have toured with stars like The Doors, The Grateful Dean and Cream and produced one of the best selling albums in the history of
rock, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” which has sold over 25 million copies.
Iron Butterfly released their first album in the spring of 1967 titled “Heavy” which stayed on Billboard's album charts for almost a year. In July of 1968 they released the monumental “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” featuring a 17:05 minute side-long track that shook the entire music industry. “Vida” outsold every record in the history of recorded music within the first year of its release and stayed on the US charts for 140 weeks, with 81 weeks in the Top Ten.
Within a year of this album Iron Butterfly had charted a third album, ”Ball”  which hit No. 1 and remained on the charts for 44 weeks, followed by two more album releases in 1970, “Live” and “Metamorphosis” each charting in the Top 20.
The band went on to tour extensively, appearing throughout the US, Canada and Europe, where they appeared at London's Royal Albert Hall. The band also appeared on stage with Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, Chicago, Janis Joplin, Steppenwolf, Canned Heat, Three Dog Night, Quicksilver, Yes, Creedence Clearwater, Rush, The Turtles, Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills and Nash, and The Byrds. Iron Butterfly's music has been featured in movies like ”Savage Seven,” Manhunter” and the infamous “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
The current line-up features Ron Bushy on drums, Lee Dorman, bass guitar & vocals, Eric Barnett, lead guitar & vocals and Larry Rust, keyboards & vocals.
For ticket details ring The Brook on 02380 555366; tickets are £14.50

Get down to the Talking Heads in Southampton on Saturday June 20 if you want to hear quality original acoustic music performed with passion. Ezio is the name of the band, bringing together the guitar talents of Ezio Lunedei and Mark “Booga” Fowell. Ezio Lunedei provides the emotive vocals and his considerable guitar skills are complemented by Mark’s fluid, empathetic guitar style.
The pair got together in 1990 in Cambridge and have since forged a
reputation all over Europe with their spellbinding live act. Averaging 200 gigs a year since their formation, they produced their debut album "Black Boots on Latin Feet" in 1994, which resulted in support tours with some of the biggest names in the music business: Paul Young, Les Negresses Vertes, Joan Armatrading, Big Country and many more.
Their early tours of the UK were soon followed by gigs in South Africa ,
Germany and The Netherlands. Their secret is the sincerity and emotional power of their live act which combines skilfully written melodies with evocative lyrics - the uplifting atmosphere of an Ezio show is a memorable experience, which is probably why they get booked back in at every venue they play. Like all poets, their gift is putting feelings into words and expressing them in song.
Their second album "Diesel Vanilla" was produced by massively talented
Zombie man Rod Argent, and Peter Van Hooke who has worked with Van Morrison and Mike & The Mechanics. They provided a more band-orientated environment for the duo to work with, leading them to new directions by allowing two to become four, introducing drums and base in to their live performances. Working with such legendary musicians and producers, and appealing to a growing fan base Ezio then expanded into a band rather than a duo on the road.
In 1998 Peter Van Hooke joined Ezio on drums with Lidia Cascarino coming in on bass and the fun they had on stage was reproduced when they got back into the studio to record their third album "Higher". Recorded using the same arrangements they used on tour it bridged the gap between live performance and studio, managing to catch the atmosphere of a live gig in the studio.
"Higher" was released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in April 2000, supported by a 28 show tour of Germany: the UK and Netherlands followed in early summer 2000.
Last year Ezio continued their musical development with the excellent
album "The Making of Mr Spoons." Enriched by a lot of grooves and subtle effects without losing their unique directness, it takes the music of Ezio one step further. For more details on the Talking Heads gig ring 02380 678446.

The longest-running band in the history of pop will be performing at the
Decades of Pop presentation at Royal Victoria Country Park at Netley Abbey near Southampton on Sunday June 27. They may not have any original members in their line-up, but the current line-up produce all the hits with the same energy and style of their forebears.
Peter Lamarr, Patrick Alan, Rohan Turney and Victor Bynoe are the current Drifters and they have a massive back catalogue of hits to dip into. The original Drifters were founded in 1953 by Clyde McPhatter who died in 1972. Later members included Ben E King and Johnny Moore. The Drifters line-up evolved constantly during their long chart history which began in the UK with “Dance With Me” in January 1960. Altogether the group in all their different incarnations have spent 176 weeks on the charts according to the Guinness Book of Records, making them one of the biggest selling vocal groups of all time.
Their biggest hits still get plenty of air play and make sure they will
never be forgotten: “Save The Last Dance For Me,” “When My Little Girl is Smiling,’ “Under The Boardwalk,” “Kissin’ In The Back Row,” “Saturday Night at the Movies,” “There Goes My First Love,” - the list goes on and on. Their last big hit in the UK was with “You’re More Than a Number In My Little Red Book” which reached No 5 way back in December 1976. You can hear all these hits and more when The Drifters perform on June 27.
The Decades of Pop show also features some top British 60s hitmakers
including the Swinging Blue Jeans, Marmalade, The Fortunes and The Sweet.
Ticket prices are £26.50 advance and £29 on the day. To book online have a look at www.showsonthesolent.com or ring the ticket hotline on 02380 711833.

SpyderFox
Preview by Peter Ashton

Strangely enough the “Swamp Fox” Tony Joe White has never set the British charts alight in his own right. The American singer-songwriter who tops the bill at Spyderfest 2004 in Portland, Dorset later this month has only one hit to his name in the UK, “Groupie Girl” which crept to No 22 in 1970 - not exactly representative of his talent!
Fortunately other artists have recorded his songs with more success, notably Brook Benton who covered the classic “Rainy Night in Georgia,” Elvis
Presley with “Polk Salad Annie” and Tina Turner with “Steamy Windows.” Tony Joe himself enjoyed a hit with “Polk Salad Annie” in the USA in 1969, reaching the Top 10. The man from the swamplands of Louisiana then enjoyed seeing the royalties roll in when Brook Benton took “Rainy Night in Georgia” to the top and countless other artists have recorded it since.
Throughout the ‘70s & '80s Tony Joe White toured with some of the biggest artists of the decade including Credence Clearwater Revival and James Taylor.
The 1990s began with an explosion of activity for White as superstar Tina Turner recorded four of his songs for her multi-platinum selling “Foreign Affairs” album including the world-wide hit, "Steamy Windows".
In 1991 Tony Joe signed with Remark and released “Closer To The Truth” and spent the next two years touring Europe with Eric Clapton and Joe Cocker, among others. cut Two more albums followed, 1993s “Path Of A Decent Groove” and '95s “Lake Placid Blues,” the latter garnering the first of two nominations for "Best R & B Album" from the Nashville Music Awards. In 1999, White went back to his roots and recorded “One Hot July” in the swamps of Louisiana.
He then toured Australia and Europe in support of the critically acclaimed album. In 2001 “The Beginning” was released - a stripped down acoustic masterpiece that received worldwide recognition and five star ratings in virtually every country.
Throughout the years, White has had songs recorded by dozens of major artists including Elvis, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, Etta James, John Mayall and Waylon Jennings. He has written and performed jingles for McDonalds and Levi’s 501 Blues and been featured on movie soundtracks for “Millennium,” “Selena” and “Hotspot.” His most recent CD release is entitled ”Snakey,” the first new product recorded on his own label, Swamp Records which he created with his son Jody White so that he could continue to produce music the way he always has - his way. Tony Joe White’s fans in the South of England, which included me, had a treat 18 months ago when he played The Brook in Southampton. Anyone who was there that night will surely be there to see him at Portland - it was one of the best gigs ever at The Brook.
Spydafest 2004 takes place at Southwell, Portland over the weekend of June 25 - 27, and Tony Joe tops the bill on Saturday night at 10pm. Also appearing over the 3 days: Gordon Haskell, The Long Ryders, The Sadies, Hot Club of Cowtown, the Peter Bruntnell Band, Barrelhouse Blues Orchestra and many more top acts. For ticket details and more info see www.spydafest.com, Box Office: 01305 783225.

It seems a long time since I first saw blues-roots artist Eric Bibb in concert. It was at The Brook in Southampton, and Eric was just beginning to get the
recognition he deserved. It must have been about six years ago, and since then this compelling performer’s career has spiralled onwards and upwards. He tops the bill at this year’s Blues on the Farm Festival at Pumpbottom Farm near Chichester on Sunday June 27.
Born in New York in1951, Eric is the son 1960’s folk and musical theatre singer, Leon Bibb. His uncle was the world-renowned jazz pianist, John Lewis, of The Modern Jazz Quartet, and his godfather was singer/actor/activist Paul Robeson. A career in the entertainment business must have been inevitable.
Eric has toured throughout the world wearing his trademark hat. He has
built up a huge following in Britain, USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, France, Sweden & Germany, appearing on major TV and radio shows in all these countries.
A big draw on the festival scene Eric has appeared at Glastonbury twice, the Cambridge Folk Festival adn Trowbridge Festival in the UK; Byron Bay & Port Fairy in Australia; Vancover, Calgary & Edmonton Folk Festivals in Canada; Poconos & Bull Durham Blues Festivals in the USA; Midfyns Festival in Denmark, Womex in Sweden, and the Cognac Blues Festival in France.
Eric has released 5 albums over the past 6 years, each album providing a
different flavour of Eric’s wide-ranging musical influences. The first, “Spirit and the Blues”, recorded without overdubs, demonstrated Eric’s spiritual leanings. The album “Roadworks” was recorded on tour representing Eric in his natural environment – live on stage. The album “Painting Signs” was produced by Eric’s bass player Dave Bronze, and showcased Eric’s songwriting abilities and his ability to cover classic songs by other artists and make them his own..
Eric’s performing and songwriting talents have been recognised with a
Grammy Nomination and four WC Handy nominations. His latest album “Natural Light” demonstrates his versatility in variety of genres including folk, blues, country and jazz. Produced by Dave Bronze, it’s message is one of personal experience, awareness and appreciation of life. Eric’s rendition of the Jackie Wilson hit “Higher and Higher” is a full-sounding, joyful experience and yet just as impressive is the contrast of despair conveyed on his intimate interpretation of the country song “Circles” and his heartfelt apology on the self-penned “So Sorry”. Not without humour, the disc includes the familiar lighter side of Bibb on his “Guru Man Blues” and his admission to an all-too common dilemma on “Too Much Stuff”. As anyone has seen Eric will know the effect of this inspired and sincere man is both moving and uplifting. The last time I saw him at The Brook the guy next to me unashamedly cryed his eyes out all the way through “Healing Time.”
Also appearing at Blues on the Farm are a host of other talented blues
artists including Connie Lush & Blueshouter, Trafficker, The Hamsters, Guy Davis and much more.
See www.bluesonthefarm.com for full details.

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