Development of the British Blues & Rhythm

  --- show 14 ---   9-10-2014  

Beck’s Yardbirds                     1965/66

Dave Berry                               1963/64      
Jack Bruce with M. Mann 11-29-65 thru June 66
 
While Yardbirds fans were hailing Eric Clapton as God, it took the merely mortal Jeff Beck to transform a pretty good Blues band into perhaps the most innovative and influential band of the sixties. 

 

Jeff Beck in 1973

It is only natural that the record companies made their albums representative to what the concert goers would recognize, and since the American albums were not released until after Clapton’s departure, it was Beck who appeared on the first two Yardbirds American LP covers even though Clapton had the lion’s share on the For Your Love release and the live half of the Rave-up album.  I’ve already said that Five Live Yardbirds is still the best live LP I’ve come across, so if you take half of that away to make room for a side of studio recordings by God’s replacement there must be a bigtime diminishment in the quality, right?  Well, I may be biased (no doubt, actually), but for only one half of an album Beck was already making an impact (listen to his guitar’s impersonation of a sitar on Heart Full of Soul).

I got Rave-up as soon as it came out, or as soon as I could afford it, and it was likely the most played of all my albums (both sides) until the long-awaited follow-up Over Under Sideways Down came out.  Beck’s half began with the soul-searching protest of Better Man Than I, had three dark hearted songs (including the Gregorian chant-like Still I’m Sad), and also took Clapton’s version of I’m a Man and tightened it up in the studio to make the song as much his as Eric’s or even its author, Bo Diddley.  The coup de grace was the side closing Train Kept a-Rolling, the definitive version based on the Dorsey Burnette Trio’s recording rather than the original by Tiny Bradshaw back in the 40s.

So we constructed our opening set with the two Bluesy tracks from the EP , Beck’s first recordings with the Yardbirds, followed up by five of the songs from hjis half of the Rave Up album.  It is my recollection that the Yardbirds first tour of America was cut short due to visa and work permit problems, but the band took the opportunity to record at two of the classic recording sites, Sun Studios in Memphis and Chess Studios in Chicago.  One of the band’s concerns was that the English recording crews did not know how to properly put to tape a high energy and high volume band such as the Yardbirds, but such was not the case with The Train Kept a-Rolling, both recorded in this span and concluding the first set.

Our second set came mostly from the Roger the Engineer CD, most of which was released on American vinyl as the Over Under Sideways Down LP, with the addition of Scratch My Back, Too Much Monkey Business, The Sun is Shining and Smokestack Lightning taken from the BBC sessions CD.

 All in all, if this was the direction the band was heading when Clapton departed as he stayed more of a Blues purist, he might have been better served to stay.  But that might have robbed us of Beck’s innovations.  So, for that, thank you Mr. Clapton.

It is unfortunate that Beck did not have any of his early stage performances recorded for public consumption, unlike his Yardbirds counterparts Clapton and Jimmy Page.  Even his Jeff Beck Group featuring Rod Stewart released only one live track, that being Blues Deluxe on their Truth album.  It would seem that if there is one, there must be more buried away somewhere.  The closest we can come to live performances for his duration with the Yardbirds would be the BBC sessions and we did supplement his vinyl output with three tunes from those sessions.

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2007 with bassist Tal Wilkenfeld

 
For background on the pre-Beck Yardbirds, I recommend you look at the blog for show #5, posted on April 9^th.

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What happens when you combine one of Britain’s best R&B bands, most of whom have their hearts set on playing Modern Jazz, with the strongest bass player in the British Isles who also has a penchant for his first love of Jazz, especially if you add an extra pair of horns to the mix at the same time?  I guess we’ll hear the answer to that pretty quickly, won’t we?

Manfred Mann, 1964. (L-R): Tom McGuinness, Manfred Mann, Mike Hugg, Mike Vickers and Paul Jones

We’ve already been introduced to Jack Bruce, from when he pleaded to sit in with Ginger Baker and Dick Heckstall-Smith and impressed so much that they convinced Alexis Korner to bring him into his Blues Incorporated.  From Graham Bond, unbeknownst to his rhythm section, telling Korner the three were leaving to form their own group to Baker telling him at knifepoint he was fired from the band and not to come back to any of their gigs.  To his brief time spent with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers before jumping ship to join Manfred Mann, leading to the composition of the song Double Crossing Time.  Or did we quite get that far?  No matter, that is where we are now.

When Jack came into Manfred Mann it was a time of general dissatisfaction for the band.  In almost three years, they had five singles that had made it into the top five chart spots and two more at numbers seven and eleven while their two albums climbed to numbers three and seven, but the members felt that they were not being truly represented in that the music they really wanted to put out was relegated to B-sides and album tracks.  Guitarist Mike Vickers gave his notice, initially wanting to take three months off to compose the musical score for the movie The Sandwich Man, but it eventually became permanent and his last performance was on October 25^th.  Bass player Tom McGuiness took advantage of Vickers’ departure to return to his original instrument as the new guitarist.

When Vickers informed the group of his intentions, lead singer Paul Jones voiced a similar decision.  “Mike Vickers made it easy for me because he handed in his notice in September 1965, and I said, ‘Actually, while Mike’s about it, I also want to go.’  And they said, ‘Well, you can’t -- there’s a legal responsibility.’  I said, ‘All I’ll do is stay until you find somebody else.’  I didn’t know they would take eleven months to find somebody else! My main reason for leaving was that, here I was having all these hit records, and one by one they were gradually being notched up to someone called Manfred Mann, and I was not Manfred Mann!” 

It was the recommendation of old friend Graham Bond that the Manfreds choose Jack as their bass player and, feeling he could make a better living for his family, Bruce informed John Mayall but had to serve out a month’s notice.  According to McGuiness, “We all said, ‘We want to get Jack Bruce.  He’s the best bass player around”, and Manfred said, ‘I can’t ask him.  John’s my neighbor.  I can’t!’  We kept badgering Manfred and saying, ‘He’s the one – we gotta get him!’”

Between November 18^th and December 6^th, Mann and the Yardbirds co-headlined a 16-date multi-artist cinema tour called The Marquee Show.  For the tour, they decided to go with a larger ensemble and brought in trumpeter Henry Lowther (he was also highly capable on violin) who recommended Lyn Dobson to play tenor sax and flute, filling out the expanded horn section.  All of Manfred Mann were happy with the additions, but the fact that too many venues had either space or sound system limitations hindering the performances was what likely led to the expansion’s duration being shortened to merely four months.

Mann had to use temporary bass players until Jack’s time was served and he joined the band on November 29^th.  “I came in at the last minute and I learned the whole set.  I mean, I played the whole set without rehearsal and I think that impressed them.”  Three nights into the tour the interim bass player had quit, so the Mark Leeman 5 allowed David Hyde to pull double duty as bassist for both bands until Bruce’s arrival.  I have heard good things about the Leeman band but their recordings are hard to come by and very expensive when they do show up.  In January 1965, they put out Portland Town, an album produced by Manfred Mann, but in June that year the lead singer / guitarist Leeman died in a car crash.

Although the Mann ensemble favored Jazz, it often turned out that Jack was too far ahead of them.  As McGuiness put it, “He was, in fact, quite impossible to play with at times, and we often could not literally follow him.”  Not only did Jack sometimes add his vocals to Paul’s, but on December 28^th, 1965 the audience at the Marquee was treated to a surprise guest visit by Eric Burdon sharing the microphone.  Jones was involved in an automobile accident on January 13^th which took a long time to fully recover from, causing recording session, television and stage performance cancellations and, on their Marquee gig on the 25^th, Eric Burdon fronted the band.  Mike Vickers and Eric Clapton also joined on stage for part of that evening.

On March 9^th 1966, Bruce and Jones from Manfred Mann got together with Stevie Winwood and drummer Peter York from the Spencer Davis Group and pianist Ben Palmer to record three songs (I Want to Know, Crossroads and Steppin’ Out) as Eric Clapton and the Powerhouse, released on Elektra’s What’s Shakin’ multi-artist LP.  Shortly afterward, Jack took advantage of a lull in the Mann stage schedule to rejoin Mayall, Clapton and drummer Hughie Flint for two weeks between recording sessions.  Much of the March 17^th show at the Flamingo would show up on Mayall’s Primal Solos LP with another track appearing on Looking Back.

When Jack left the Manfreds to help form Cream, he was replaced by Klaus Voorman and, almost concurrently, Jones was replaced by Mike D’Abo in a brand new iteration of the band.

Jack Bruce playing a Gibson EB-3, just like the one I used to have.  Some people thought he played it better!

Our second set of the show, and our first of Manfred Mann, chronicles the six months or so that Jack Bruce spent with the band, including an EP that included their instrumental takes on popular songs of the day: Sonny and Cher’s I Got You Babe, the Who’s My Generation and the Rolling Stones Satisfaction.  We save the fourth song for a small closing set with both the original version by the Yardbirds and the Manfreds’ interpretation of Still I’m Sad.   Chronologically, our second Mann set predates the Jack Bruce material, including a couple of their earliest recordings, as these have recently become available to me.   

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Dave Berry seems a far cry from the R&B we are seeking out, but the liner notes from the 2-disc set This Strange Effect: The Decca Years 1963-1966, which are his earliest sessions, claim them as his beginnings.  He would not have even come to mind for this series were he not included in the 1994 tribute to Alexis Korner.

Born David Holgate Grundy February 6, 1941 in the coal mining village of Woodhouse just southeast of Sheffield, Berry recalls, “My most vivid memories of childhood were hating every minute of it until I was about 15!”  Dave was influenced by his father, a Jazz drummer.  “Band members would come by after their gigs on Friday and Saturday night….  He would take me to Sheffield City Hall to see Woody Herman, Stan Kenton and Dave Brubeck….  It seemed natural I should play drums.  I must have been about 14.  My dad taught me, just the basic style.”

Like so many others, Dave was influenced by the mid-50s emergence of American Rock ‘n’ Roll and R&B.  “Before I’d go to work, I’d listen to the American Forces Network out of Frankfurt, an R&B / Blues show at six in the morning.  I heard Smiley Lewis, Louis Jordan and all these 50s guys.”  Dave gave up his welding job and formed a duo with guitarist Malcolm Green.  “We actually won the regional finals of a prestigious singing and harmony competition … and went to Manchester….  We were runners up, I think.”  The two were together for two years, and Dave also occasionally sat in with a local four piece combo until their lead vocalist signed himself into the Royal Air Force in 1960.  At the band members’ request, Dave became the new front man.  Now needing a catchier name, Dave took on the moniker of his idol Chuck Berry and the band changed its name as well, going as Dave Berry and the Cruisers.

As the Frantic Four, the band had been handling material in the indeed frantic style of Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.  Dave guided them more toward the Blues, picking songs by John Lee Hooker, Billy Boy Arnold and the Chess musicians like Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters.  Initially keeping busy in Sheffield, they soon began to acquire gigs farther from home.  They appeared so often at their manager’s Manchester nightclub that Dave surmised, “They also had acts like Wayne Fontana, the Hollies, Freddie and the Dreamers.  Many people thought we were a Manchester band because we did so much work there”.

Dave signed with Decca in 1963, but even though the Cruisers backed him on the successful single Memphis, Tennessee and its flip Tossin’ and Turnin’, it was decided that they used up too much valuable recording time and that it was wiser to wait until the studio musician pairing of guitarist Jimmy Page and drummer Bobby Graham (also occasionally including guitarist Big Jim Sullivan and / or bassist John Paul Jones, among others) became available.  “The original Cruisers were a first class live act but, for some reason, we didn’t really adapt as a unit in the studio.”  Even though Dave would very soon make his name as a crooner, we were still able to dig out a dozen tunes that harken back to his R&B roots from the 57 tracks on the two disc CD set.

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Credits for this week’s edition include the CD liner notes for the entire Dave Berry portion while the Jeff Beck write-up was off the top of my head.  The Jack Bruce segment was partly from memory but refreshed (and quotes provided) by Greg Russo’s Mannerisms: The Five Phases of Manfred Mann.  It is his book on the Yardbirds that I must locate within my apartment to do Jeff Beck justice by the time we get to the Jeff Beck Group, the one with Rod Stewart.  The photos came from Wikipedia’s notes and if this first attempt turns out as hoped, you can expect to see more.  And thanks to Jim McKee for his heads up about the JJ’s links, which follows today’s playlist.

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I Ain’t Done Wrong
I’m Not Talking
Mister You’re a Better Man Than I
Evil Hearted You
Heart Full of Soul
I’m a Man
The Train Kept a-Rolling
Shapes of Things
   The Yardbirds

That’s All I Ever Wanted from You Baby

Spirit Free
Tengo Tango
She Needs Company
When Will I Be Loved
I Got You Babe
My Generation
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
You’re Standing By
Machines
Driva Man
It’s Getting Late
Come Home Baby
Pretty Flamingo
   Jack Bruce with Manfred Mann

Don’t Gimme No Lip

Ella Speed
Diddley Daddy
Not Fade Away
St. James Infirmary
My Baby Left Me
Just a Little Bit
Go On Home
You’re Gonna Need Somebody
Alright Baby
Tossin’ and Turnin’
If You Need Me

   Dave Berry

Lost Woman
Over Under Sideways Down
The Nazz Are Blue
Jeff’s Boogie
He’s Always There
Turn into Earth
Scratch My Back
Too Much Monkey Business
The Sun is Shining
Smokestack Lightning
Happenings Ten Years Time Ago
What Do You Want
Hot House of Omagarashid
Farewell
Ever Since the World Began
   The Yardbirds

Why Should We Not

Brother Jack (Frere Jacque)
Mr. Anello
Bare Hugg
L. S. D.
The Abominable Snowman
   Manfred Mann

Still I’m Sad

   The Yardbirds
Still I’m Sad
   Jack Bruce with Manfred Mann

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Fitting right into today’s show, here is W.H.a.T.’ s extended version of Jeff Beck’s Yardbirds instrumental “Jeff’s Boogie” (20 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3iexwhUQ6c&index=5&list=UUk-b91B34mWWgOHmJucD3RQ

W.H.a.T. is comprised of guitarist John Wedemeyer, drummer Randy Hayes and bassist Endre Tarczy.  To my knowledge they put out only one album locally in the 90s but it didn’t compare to the excitement they created in front of a live audience. 

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This was just part of one of the last shows to be held at JJ’s Blues club on Stevens Creek.  To the best of my recollection, the club opened its doors on San Jose’s west side in the very early 1980s and quickly became the area’s main, if not only, Blues venue with Blues bands performing every night of the week until the bar closed at 2am.  Many nights, there would be a band from 4-8pm with the headliner playing from 9pm until 1 in the morning.  They also had weekend barbecues and for several years put on their own Blues Festival at the San Jose Fairgrounds as well as bringing touring bands into the club.  There were also two expansions attempted with clubs opened in Mountain View and downtown San Jose, and I believe there was a time when all three were open.  Although the annexes were short-lived, the Stevens Creek location survived well over thirty years including going through some rough times for bar businesses.  With all the shows and jam sessions, it gave our established players a place to show off their talents and lots of local lesser-knowns the opportunity to hone their chops.  Likely the widest known nationally would have to be Chris Cain and Tommy Castro.

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Here’s a reconstruction of Andy Just and the Shapes with Andy on vocals and harmonica and former bandmates Dave Price on drums and John Wedemeyer on guitar.  Endre Tarczy fills the shoes of Fingers Farrell on bass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8elNY60KJw&index=6&list=UUk-b91B34mWWgOHmJucD3RQ

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Andy Just and John Wedemeyer: Going Down Slow (7 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9iVeuvpGyM&index=3&list=UUk-b91B34mWWgOHmJucD3RQ

John was an original member of Andy Just and the Shapes (a reference to a Yardbirds tune) back in the early 80s.  John has been and always will be one of the bay areas’s favorite musicians and was tapped by Charlie Musselwhite for at least one of his albums and associated gigs.  He, and particularly Andy, filled in with the Ford Band when brothers Mark or Robben Ford had other commitments.

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Gary Smith on harmonica and bassist Frank DeRose join Wedemeyer and Hayes on stage for Going Down Slow, Gypsy Good Time, Mean Old World and the closer. (21 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V-Pn8eawKM&index=2&list=UUk-b91B34mWWgOHmJucD3RQ

Gary’s reputation has been established as the premier Blues harp player in the area long before the opening of JJ’s.  He was the very first Blues DJ at KKUP and has helped the station any way he could ever since.

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This show started Saturday, August 23^rd at 9pm and ended at 2:15am.  The Blues were finally locked out of the building on September 1^st, 2014.  Thanks go to Bobbi Goodman for the video capture and Jim McKee for his mastery of the mixing board.  I was sent a fifth link but have been unable to access it.