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Home LIVE GUIDE Andover Ashurst Basingstoke Blackfield Botley Bournemouth Burley Chandlers Ford Eastleigh Fareham Hythe I.O.W - Newport I.O.W - Ventnor Lee on Solent Lymington Lyndhurst New Milton Plaitford Petersfield Portsmouth & Southsea Ringwood Romsey Salisbury Southampton Winchester Festivals News Reviews Articles contact POL Links	REVIEWS "Stories". John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. Eagle Records - Cat. no. EAGCD223. ANYONE who packed the old Concorde Club in Southampton back in the early 60s will have fond memories of John and his band. As far as I can remember, I first saw The Bluesbreakers in 1964 when both Jack Bruce and Eric Clapton were in the band and the single "Crawling Up A Hill" had just been released on Decca. Now, John is celebrating his 51st album, "Stories". It sounds smooth in comparison to John's raw early stuff, but his voice is in better shape than ever. He also plays harmonica, Hammond organ, guitar and piano, and his helped by a bunch of musicians including Buddy Whittington and drummer Joe Yuele who has clocked up 27 years with the band. Stand-out tracks include "Dirty Water", "Oh, Leadbelly" and a driving version of Eric Bibb's "Kokomo." "The Sensational Alex Harvey" by John Neil Munro. Fire Fly Publishing - ISBN 0 946719 47 0 - Price £20. AN unfussy well-researched account of the life of the outstanding blues and rock singer Alex Harvey who eventually hit the top with The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, only to die prematurely in 1982. John has interviewed ex-band members, Harvey's widow and others to put together his book, which suffers only because the author never saw Alex play live, discovering his work comparatively recently. It's stronger on the so-called "successful" period of Alex's career when SAHB were tearing up the charts with "Delilah" and selling out theatres. Only problem was Alex never made any money out of the band and actually died owing money! The early career slogging away as a solo singer and then with the Alex Harvey Soul Band is covered reasonably well but can't capture the sheer exhileration of hearing Alex sing and play live. Still, an intriguing book for anyone who, like myself, reckons Alex was the best thing to have come out of Scotland since whisky, which was one of the products which helped bring about his early demise. The author has illustrated the book with some hitherto unseen photos to round off a fascinating account of a very contradictory character - wild and aggressive on stage, quiet and introspective off it. They Live By Night. The Hamsters. Hamster CD 20. Over 70 minutes of robust rock recorded live over a series of gigs last summer. Slim and company can always be relied upon to do the business, whether interpreting the work of other artists or performing their own stuff. Fifteen tracks on this excellent and atmospheric CD combine both elements. Opening with the rocker "Show Me", the CD gets decidedly bluesier with “Lonesome Blues”, "Crossroads" and "Blues For The Blues" with Slim’s guitar work and rasping voice backed up well by Zsa Zsa and Otis. Other delights include "Rocket In My Pocket", "Boogie Man", and the final track, "The Walk", a swinging version of the old dance track. Humorously presented in a garish 50s B-movie Hollywood style "They Live By Night" is available from music shops or via www.thehamsters.co.uk More reviews coming soon... We welcome you to submit your own cd, gig or venue reviews here at P.O.L. Simply click on the link below and type away! Please include relevant details such as your name, date of gig etc. Click here to send in your own review

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