I took Mrs R&W to see Paul McCartney at the O2 just before Christmas. He was absolutely fantastic. Performed non-stop for most of 3 hours. Special guests were Ronnie Wood and Ringo Starr. Ringo in particular hardly ever appears on stage these days so that was a fantastic bonus. ‘Let me roll it’ is one of my favourite Wings tracks - he did that and a lot of Beatles and Wings stuff. Altogether it was a great evening.
I often wonder what John Lennon would have been like if he’d still have been performing. What music he’d have created? Whether he’d have liaised with McCartney. It is extraordinary how so many great music stars of the 60/70’s are still with us after decades of touring and what that entails; the list is massive and there must be many more than these few off the top of my head:McCartney, Waters, Dylan, Springsteen, John, Jagger, Richards, Clapton, Fogerty, Nicks, Gillan, Hackett, Plant, Cooper, Daltrey, Gilmore, Gabriel, Page, Miller, Townsend, Joel, Tyler etc etc
So true. I often draw comparisons with modern "artists". So many are limited in quality and ability. The shelf life of the majority will be very short. To a degree it also explains the popularity of tribute acts. A lot of those named no longer perform or when they do the cost of seeing them live can be very expensive. So if other musicians can replicate the music of 40/50/60 years ago and put on a good performance of, to a degree, timeless music it is no wonder they are thriving. I don't see house/garage/garbage/rap/crap and the rest of that nonsense doing the same thing in the future.
Totally agree bcfc. Top quality compositions. Did you know that I once played darts with his brother in a pub in Henley-on-Thames? Not a lot of people know that.
Ha! My only claim to fame in that sense is that I know Roy Wood’s cousin (early ELO, Wizzard). He’s known as ‘Woody’. He’s a regular resident at the Rock Hotel in Gibraltar - where we go several times per year!! We’ve shared a drink together watching the sunset. Apparently, Roy Wood now runs a pub in Warwickshire…..!
Funny enough, my nephew (from my first marriage) plays with the current 10cc world with Graham Gouldman. His name’s Iain Hornal and is a very talented young man. I’ve seen them live a few times and they are suberb.
Wow, that's some company that your nephew is keeping. Are they still writing and performing new material? The first time I saw 10cc was at Cardiff Castle. They were brilliant then too.
I attended a charity function at Buckingham Palace and was stood behind Midge Ure in the coat check in queue. Quite a varied bunch there including Ian Paisley and Nell McAndrew . I have some other tales from that event which I will save for another time.
They do a little bit of new writing but the ELO band that supports Jeff Lynne has written a lot of new stuff with their new band Big Horizon. I think ELO will finish after their gigs in Birmingham and London this year. Iain has a couple of his own albums out as well.
Ian Paisley? NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! When I worked in an insurance office in Belfast he came in to try and insure his church with us! Needless to say the man from the Pru said no!
I used to go to the Reading Rock Festival every year when I lived there and got a backstage pass. It’s who you know! Anyway I was having a pee one day and the person who stood next to me was Elton John. We exchanged pleasantries but no Willy watching!!
ELO (with Jeff Lynne) is my favourite band ever. Out of the Blue is the best album ever (IMHO of course). I went to see them a few years ago in Birmingham and it was great - but now Richard Tandy has passed away it’s only Jeff Lynne on his own and brilliant though he is I’m afraid it doesn’t inspire me to go and see him. If Bev Bevan, Kelly Croucutt and Mik Komanski were to join then I might be persuaded……
