Rock Around the•World • April, 1977   13

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GABBLE RATCHET LIES DOWN IN MANHATTAN

by Niall Krumpett

Given a strong shot in the arm by ace Irish guitarist supreme, the hirsuite Gary Moore, 4-strong Thin Lizzy excelled in their Gotham premiere as support for Queen recently at Madison Square Garden. Lizzy appeared remarkably at ease in this monster of a venue and opened with the usual ‘Jailbreak’, this time with spoken word tape added to the sirens etc. The energy level of this exciting outfit refused to abate over their 55-minute set. Normally one musician cannot be pin [‘lint cd in a L stale act as a p:t rticular standout, so evenly balanced are they; however, Moore must be singled out! Gary, a former member of Thin Lizzy, was called in at the last minute to stand and pluck for Brian Robertson who had severed an artery in his hand going to the aid of Scotsman Frankie Miller in an unfortunate backstage free-for-all at the Speakeasy in London. His stage manner and one-million-volt solos absolutely stole the eve’s honours as in ‘Johnny The Fox’ and ‘The Boys are Back in Town’. It is easily ascertained that Lizzy are now poised to escalate into the premiere ranks of international touring rock outfits and all night long they laid their trademark on the 19,000 plus in attendance — stinging and scorching dual leads. Other rousing offings by the lads included ‘Emerald’. ‘Still in Love With You’ (with Lynott belting out an emotional lead vocal), ‘Cowboy Song’, and ‘Sha La La’ with the incredible Brian Downey drum solo. However, it was ‘Warriors’ which came off as the top tune of the night. We trust that when this unparalleld band return to New York City, they will choose a more intimate venue in which to appear.

Recently revamped with Andy Pyle, well-known British musical journeyman on bass, the Kinks entertained at The Palladium for two nights in a strong showing. It would he extremely difficult for this Krumpett to slam such old mates of mine as the Bros. Davies and friends, so I won’t! However, let’s face it, chaps, The Kinks that we knew and loved are gone. I’ll own up though; what I loved about the old Kinks was a combination of the. charming ‘lost fool’ idiot aire of Ray tempered with their endless string of single hits. Well, that’s all changed. Gone is the spontaneity and drunken fun of the band–instead we were presented with an extremely tight and professional approach to the proceedings, all thoughtfully planned out and pre-determined. Even the short meanderings into the past, once cheekfully haphazard, appeared

by Annie Nightingale

I first met Julie Covington two or three years ago, and she’d been out of work for 18 months. Work meant acting, but way back she’d also made the odd record … sung on sessions and appeared in the original stage version of ‘Godspell’ with David Essex. In addition, Julie got the occasional TV job, singing on a children’s show. She was obviously talented, which made her lack of progress reach hair-tearing desperation proportions.

This past month her first single has not only hit #1 —but gone gold. a true rarity in England these days! Not just that, but Ms. Covington has just been awarded the coveted ‘Plays And Players’ award for Most Promising Actress, for her role in ‘Jumpers’ at the prestigious National Theatre. Wonderful, wonderful ..

recognition at last. Stardom beckons. Does it. hell! Not once has Julie appeared anywhere to sing the song that has at last made her name very nearly a household one! Not once has she talked to the Press about her record ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’. It comes from ‘Evita,’ a musical based on the life of Eva Peron, written by ‘Superstar’ authors Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd-Webber.

The reason for all this reticence? Ms. Covington, having set British male blood racing in a TV series last year called ‘Rock Follies’ has been working too hard, she says, to he promoting a single. The second ‘Rock Follies’ series has taken up all her days, and the National Theatre her nights. All of which has given the lady a reputation of being ‘difficult’ and ‘unco-operative.’ But when you hear her shiver-inducing treatment of ‘Argentina.’ you’ll forgive her, too!

who gets around quite a bit these days, Rabbitt Bundrick on piano and organ, the fivepiece SB&Q entertained with a good. clean sound during their fifty-minute opening slot. Two hot pieces ‘Slipstream’ (Van Morrison-esque) and “Saturday Night in New York” kicked off the set. It was a veritable shame that many ticket holders were not in their seats for this band—it was definitely their loss. When The SB&Q sallied into a most powerful rendition of ‘Sailing’ (which they composed) and ‘You Got Me Anyway’, a charge of electricity shot thru this ligger’s spine–now that was real excitement. Tim Renwick stood out as an thoughtful and concise guitarist and his solo in ‘Sailing’ was one of the high points of the set. The SB&Q sport an excellent tight harmony duo in the Sutherland Bros. and overall present a fine Brinsley Schwarz-type pub sound. altho samey at times. Dr. John’s shitkicker ‘When that Train Comes’ closed the set. Try to catch these guys next time out—you won’t be disappointed. And hat off to the mixing engineer who got that great bass drum sound! Next month. my children, watch for the only column in North America which will present to you, God Willing, concert reviews of Genesis, Gentle Giant, and Peter Gabriel in one space—that is if I survive those mind-blasting shows. The thought of seeing Bob Fripp with Gabriel just sets these ears a-twitching! •

Bryan Ferry

It always surprised me that super-chic Roxy Music didn’t do better in the States than they did. Lead singer Bryan Ferry seems a huge name in Britain right now. A superb single ‘This Is Tomorrow’ was the trail-blazer for his quite raunchy album ‘In Your Mind’. As backing he’s recruited some of Britain’s best session men like Mel Collins. Chris Spedding, Chris Mercer, and the admirable John Wetton.

I await with bated breath to see if you will take Bryan to your collective bosom!

(Continued on page 31

rehearsed. Woe is me! All that crap aside, it was an excellent show on pure musical terms. Suited Ray led off with ‘One of the Survivors’. backed by 2 chick singers and 2 horns. Followed came ‘Starmaker’, ‘Rush Hour Blues’, ‘Schooldays’ (with its Peter Gabriel rip-off ‘Musical Box’ mask), ‘Education, and ‘Brother’. Ray’s loose tongue was in rare form as he spat out such memorable gems as: ‘Schaefer beer has to be the most degenerate drink I know’ preceeding a spirited ‘Alcohol’; ‘How could you believe that this idiot standing over there could have invented that sound?’ on Dave’s guitar sound prior to ‘You Really Got Me’; and ‘Some of you out there must think that I’m queer’ just prior to ‘Lola’. Aaah —a memorable eve indeed. The singalong was a high spot combining ‘Well-Respected Man’ and ‘Sunny Afternoon’. ‘Celluloid Heroes’ scored in a large manner and two new tunes from the ,Sleepwalker’ album were well-received. But it was The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver which grabbed this writer’s attention early on. Ably assisted by the Texan. recently shorn of hair.

Sutherland Bros. & Quiver

Thin Lizzy

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Sutherland Bros by Mark MacLaren   Bryan Perry by Paul McAlpine