Posts tagged "band"

My Memories Of Micky Go Way Way Back

My memories of Micky go way, way back, circa 1958/59.

By Geoff Edmunds:

Brother Dave and I had formed our first group – “The Stompers” in approx 1957. Prior to this, Dave and I had a boogie piano act – “The Edmunds Bros Duo” (he’s a great boogie piano player, too) and we would play at church hall concerts (Dave was 12 and me, 16.) The stompers were our first band, where we cut our rock’n’roll teeth – Dave on Lead and me on rhythm. We became a bit more sophisticated, eventually morphing into “The Heartbeats” with Denny Driscoll on vocals and the great Johnny Stark on drums, with Ton Edwards on bass. One of the gigs we liked to play was the Victoria ballroom. Every time we played, two guys used to hang around front stage. One, in particular, stood there all night, transfixed on the band. It was Micky Gee.

At that time, I was playing a horrible ‘f’ holed guitar, that I picked up at Grimwades second hand shop on Cowbridge Road, as I was broke and it was the only thing I could afford. I bought a really cheap pick up, attached by a rod with the volume and tone controls attached and hanging down – real ugly. But I did have a Vox AC30 to plug into, which was half decent. Anyway, the weird thing was that I got the most unusual sound out of this pile of crap.

I played rhythm and was intent only on laying down a wicked rhythm base for Brother Dave to ‘ride on top of’. I hammered that guitar until my fingers literally bled every single gig, because the frets were sharp and it was like a cheese cutter! But the band really rocked and Dave was emerging as a phenomenal lead. So anyway. at the Vic ballroom, on every gig, Micky would stand with his head three feet from my amp, just staring and absorbing. I had no idea who he was, but eventually got to chat with him in intermissions. He was very shy, as I recall. We would talk guitars and that was about it. I could detect that he was a real afficionado of ‘pure’ 50’s rock and good country music. CUT to many years later – about 1982, I think……Vancouver, British Columbia….Micky on tour with brother Dave…I arranged to meet Dave and the band to see their show and renew acquaintances…I knocked on the door of the suite in the hotel. The door opened, I walked in, said hi to the band sitting around having a brew, but before I could say anything else, Micky jumped up, came towards me, grabbed me by both lapels and stared intently into my eyes…”How did you get that sound!!!” he blurted out..”How did you get that F*****ing sound!” I had no idea what he was talking about and looked at my brother and the other guys for help…they just shrugged. I got Micky to calm down and explain to me what was going on. It was then that he told me that he had never forgotten the sound I had got from that old “Otwin” guitar back at the Vic ballroom and had been trying to recreate it ever since! I fell apart laughing and told Micky how it was all put together, the cheap guitar, the rotten Chinese pick-up and the AC30 and that I had no idea how it created that sound. He told me he didn’t believe me and that there had to be something else. This discussion went on for a long time as he insisted there was a special something installed in the unit. I was told that Micky often stripped down the pick-ups on his Fender and re-build them on numerous occasions. Was this an attempt to get “that sound”? We’ll never know. Not that he needed “that sound” as his was perfect – his very own – distinctive and stylish Micky Gee.

I left later that night with Micky convinced I was holding out on him.
Micky was a wonderful guy and on the occasions I chatted with him in those early days and later on tours with Dave, found him to be always gracious, polite and friendly. I marvel at his superb talent every time I see his videos…I only wish I could have answered his frustrated questions on how I got “that sound” way back at the Vic Ballroom…and if you’re watching and reading this up there somewhere, Micky..Frankly, I still haven’t a clue, honest, buddy!

Oh…incidentally…the other guy, who hung around at the stage from time to time, was Shakin’ Stevens…but that’s a whole other story…

From Joe Cocker To Memphis Bend

After Dave Edmunds band Love Sculpture disbanded following the success of Sabre Dance. Micky and his mate drummer Tommy Reilly, also from Cardiff, put an advertisement in Melody Maker stating they were both looking for work. A singer, then unknown to them, Joe Cocker answered the ad and before too long Micky and Tom found themselves moving to London. This was actually in the April of 1968, before Sabre Dance had charted in the following November. They were to play with Joe Cocker and The Grease Band. Micky later commented that Joe had a “set that was a real mixture ranging from the Beatles to Chuck Jackson, during which Joe would stand on stage holding his pint and telling jokes between numbers. But what a singer! He was tremendous!” The band quickly established themselves on the hip London scene and in no time at all the band was making a lot of waves. Along with the likes of Eric Clapton, Jimmy Hendrix and the Stones. Brian Jones of the Stones, Clapton and Hendrix would even attend their gigs, the best of which was at the Albert Hall supporting The Move and The Byrds.

After weeks of concentrated gigging, Micky and Tommy were given a brief holiday and they nipped home to Wales. But unknown to them studio time had been booked to record a Beatles tune “With A Little Help From My Friends.” This had been a Cocker stage favourite that Micky and Tom had helped to arrange. On finding out about ths Micky and Tommy quit in January 1969. There is a book out about Joe Cocker that states that Micky and Tommy weren’t up to it, which seems hard to believe. Anyway “With A Little Help From My Friends,” now with the now famous Jimmy Page on guitar, became a smash hit in October of 68 and a UK No 1.

Micky now back home in Cardiff started to work with various Cardiff rock n roll bands, musicians and singers, and then in 1970 Micky launced himself into a brand new venture. This ran alongside his other projects, and saw him once again working with his old buddy from the Joe Cocker Grease band days, Tommy Reilly. With Tom on drums and vocals, Lincoln Carr, also from Rumney in Cardiff where Micky grew up, on upright and electric bass, and Micky on lead guitar and harmony. But now in this band Micky would sometimes take the lead vocal. This band was quite successful and the Welsh Rockabilly trio stayed together for the next seven years.

Memphis Bend played local gigs from 1970 to the mid 1970’s and on Wednesdays they played at the Moon Club in Cardiff, which was on the top floor of a fruit and veg warehouse, located on the Hayes. Sometimes they had guests like Dave Edmunds and Geraint Watkins. Usually playing local gigs, Memphis Bend did go to Holland in the early 1970’s. Their set consisted mainly of 1950’s Rock’n’Roll like: “Bird Dog”, “Honey Don’t”, “Queen Of The Hop”, “White Lightning”, and “My Way”. But Micky would also feature in three guitar instrumentals: Santo & Johnny’s “Sleepwalk”, Jeff Beck’s “Jeff’s Boogie” and the Yardbirds’ “Steeled Blues”.

During the mid 1970’s they recorded two singles. The first one was “Louisiana Hoedown” with the flip side “Right String Baby”(1973). “Louisiana Hoedown” is a quite unique Memphis Bend song. Whilst the other stuff that they recorded was Rockabilly or Country music, “Louisiana Hoedown” reminds me of The Band. Micky was really into The Band but he wasn’t so keen on Robbie Robertsons guitar playing, rather it’s the drumming and singing of Levon Helm that he loved. Not just for the way he sung but the whole persona of the man. Although Memphis Bend were only a three piece band, for this song they did a lot of overdubbing. For example, the song’s intro has three different guitars, and the result is a little bit garbled. This “wall of guitars” sound, makes Micky sound like a typical 70’s rock guitarist! Then again on “Right String Baby” Micky’s guitar has a lot of overdubbing. Here there are two lead guitars that trade licks. So the overall sound on this single is much rougher and modern than on other Memphis Bend records. In contrast the second single was “Ubangi Stomp”/”Tennesee”(1976), and the A-side is a good, solid version of Warren Smith’s Rockabilly classic.

By the middle 1970’s Memphis Bend were to back one of Micky’s heroes: Chuck Berry. Memphis Bend, plus a piano player, backed Berry on two gigs: at a festival at Buxton in Derbyshire, England on 21st July 1973 and at The Rainbow Theatre in London on 7th September 1973. However, the Chuck Berry whom Micky admired didn’t exist anymore. During the 1950’s Berry had been an innovator of popular music, wrote great songs and played wicked guitar. But by the 1970’s he had a “couldn’t care less” attitude. Even his recordings were just rehash versions of his old material. Then when he played live gigs his guitar was often out of tune. Another thing was that Berry hadn’t had his own band since the 1950’s, so concert managers provided bands for him. Then Berry often had this habit, during the first few numbers, of giving his backing musicians solos. Chuck would then ask the question to his audience “isn’t he great?” But when he gave Micky, a master of Chuck Berry style solos, who could play Berry riffs like a demon, a solo, there were to be no questions to the audience! Not only that, Chuck never gave Micky another solo. It’s impossible to know what Chuck thought but he acted in a similar way towards Keith Richards in 1972, who was also a disciple of Berry. Keith later told reporters: “Chuck didn’t want to be upstaged.” Micky and the band were going to go to Paris to back him the very next night, but Tommy decided that Chuck was a waste of time, and they pulled out.

Memphis Bend recorded their only LP, “Good Rockin’ Tonite”, in 1977. During their gigs they played all kinds of 1950’s Rock’n’Roll music and country stuff, but with recorded material it was Memphis and Sun Records that was their focus. Sun Records was a legendary Memphis record label where Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins started their careers. For “Good Rockin’ Tonite” Memphis Bend recorded five songs that were originally released on Sun Records: “Mystery Train”, “Tennesee”, “Big River”, “Red Hot”, and “Good Rockin’ Tonight” plus the A sides of both their singles, “Right String Baby” and “Ugambi Stomp.” Carl Perkins’ “Tennesee” was in praise of Tennesee itself, and it’s music. Even the graphic on the “Good Rockin’ Tonite” sleeve reminds us of the Sun logo.

To say that the recording sessions of the LP were unusual would be an understatement. Memphis Bend had to record secretly. There was another band in the studio during the daytime, and it was only when this other band went to bed, that Memphis Bend were able to sneak in and record their own LP. So Memphis Bend used this other band’s studio time, and at 4 am. they would put the microphones back in the places where the other band had left them. This routine went on night after night. Who was this other band? Queen!!! Freddie Mercury and the guys! They were recording their legendary LP “A Night At The Opera” right there in Rockfield. This was the LP that included “Bohemian Rhapsody” and I think that even today the Queen guys didn’t have a clue what went on. Memphis Bend had been having problems with their record company so this was probably the reason why they had to record this way.

Micky’s playing is great throughout the album and inspired. He plays a fluid James Burton style ‘chicken pickin’ lick on “Big River.” There is also a great intro on “Settin’ The Woods On Fire.” Here Micky and guest musician, pedal steel player B.J. Cole, play the intro, with Micky playing descending notes and B.J. playing ascending notes. Both these things are happening at once. On the title track’s first solo, there is a great “question – answer” session with phrases, where Micky plays the first lick on the lower strings and then “answers” it on the higher strings. Then later on the song’s second solo there are beautiful Chet Atkins inspired rolls. On “If You Can’t Rock Me” Micky again does some great fingerpicking. At the end of the first solo Micky plays one of my all time favourite guitar licks. The song’s key is C and the first six notes of this lick are part of the C major scale (G,F,E,D,C,H) and the last six notes are part of the C minor scale (Bb,Ab,G,F,Eb,D)!! I remember when I asked Micky about this lick, and he smiled and said something like “that lick don’t make any sense but when you play it fast it sounds great.” After this album Memphis Bend disbanded, a clash of ego’s perhaps, who knows! All in all, although the guitar picking on this album is brilliant, I personally prefer Micky’s later work with Shakin’ Stevens, where even more of Micky’s personality came through.

_____________________________________________

(This is another chapter from Ari Niskanen’s biography of Micky Gee and hopefully more chapters will follow together with a complete bibliography and discography – Phil Morgan)

Shakin’ Stevens – First Encounters

SHAKIN’ STEVENS – FIRST ENCOUNTERS – By Ari Niskanen

In the Autumn of 1971 a Welsh Rock’n’Roll group called Shakin’ Stevens and the Sunsets started to record “I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent” LP for CBS Records. They started to record with guitarist Carl Petersen but they needed a new picker as they had to record another six more songs for the LP, and it was Micky who stepped in and played on the remaining cuts. The highlight of which was “Right String Baby” on which Micky played two great solos with a great, slightly distorted sound. He plays some great finger picking stuff and ultra fast pull- off licks. Another cut “Superstar” also includes some great finger pick playing. Unfortunately, the guitar has been mixed down on this record, and it’s difficult to hear him clearly. “I’m Not a JD” didn’t sell too many copies when it was initially released, however, when Shakin’ Stevens hit the big time ten years later, it was re-released and it sold very well both in the UK and all over Europe.

Micky played a few gigs with Sunsets but as they played all over UK he didn’t want to go on the road recalling the traumatic Love Sculpture tour in the USA one year earlier. Paul Barrett’s book of Shakin’ Stevens gives a different explanation saying that the other Sunsets were too wild for Micky, and that’s why he quit. But actually Micky told me that it was his reluctance to tour was the real reason.

In 1980 Shakin’ Stevens was a rising star and he had an excellent record deal with the big Epic label and also performed on the rock n roll “Oh Boy” TV series which was broadcasted in the UK and Germany. It was the same year as he got his first hit “Hot”Dog”. Everything was going fine but then the current lead guitarist Albert Lee quit, because he had a chance to play with the Everly Brothers who were his childhood idols. For a replacement Shaky suggested Micky who had made a big impression on him nine years earlier, back home in Cardiff. Micky’s first session with Shaky produced a second hit single “Marie Marie” and he was accepted into the
band and performed on “The Entertainers” TV show.

The line up now was Shakin’ Stevens vocals, B.J. Cole pedal steel guitar, Geraint Watkins piano, Howard Tibble drums, Roger McKew rhythm guitar, Stuart Coleman bass, and Micky Gee lead guitar.

It must be emphasised that many times when great players play 1950’s Rock’n’Roll they don’t look at it with respect, and they think it’s too easy for them, not appreciating it’s key components. Then the result usually sounds boring. But now that Shaky had technically great players who loved 1950’s music, he had the tools to do something positive. All the songs Shaky recorded were typically simple 1950’s Rock’n’Roll but the musicians were able to add all kinds of clever twists to the songs. Perhaps tempo changes and other little tricks that made the music much more interesting and exciting. Additionally, with soloist like Micky and Geraint that had fire in their playing, and a great vocalist, they had created a hell of a Rock’n’Roll band. Furthermore, the bass player Stuart Colman was also Shaky’s record producer and band leader and an avid collector of 1950’s Rock’n’Roll records. Too often modern rock n roll artists record familiar rock n roll songs. Shaky wanted to record good obscure cover songs and the band usually then did a completely new arrangement. Micky too, over the years, would suggest to Shaky songs like “Revenue Man”, “If You Can’t Rock Me” and “Singing The Blues” etc.

Stuart and Micky worked really hard on the guitar parts, and Micky didn’t often use an amplifier on these sessions. He plugged straight into the mixing desk in the control room where Stuart sat. In there they both worked on the guitar parts, swapping ideas, and trying to create something that, quoting Stuart’s words, “really means something.” They often worked solos bar by bar which helps to explain why many of Shaky’s songs have a really melodic guitar solo. Stuart said that Micky liked it when somebody made him really work hard. Many times Micky, who has a reputation for being a great player, would be asked to play something, and Micky joking, would object and remind Stuart that he used to play in a ‘pop band’ called Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours, back in the 60’s. Nevertheless, Stuart got Micky some great session work during the 1980’s, and over the years Micky has had most of his session work from musician buddies. He was never an actual session musician as he could not read music, and as a matter of fact, he has lost many possible sessions because of that.

Roger McKew was another guitarist in Shaky’s band in the early 1980’s. Years later Micky commented that “when I went to London I played with other musicians and I found it hard, playing alongside them (other guitar players) they are very good, probably better than me, but they are, dare I say, getting in the way. I know that’s a terrible thing to say but that’s how I really feel about it.” Stuart Colman comments that this was a problem especially with rhythm guitar playing. When Micky, for example, plays Chuck Berry style, he has a powerful style which covers a lot, add another electric rhythm guitar, and the result would have been a mess. To resolve this Micky would first put down the rhythm guitar track and then over dub the lead parts.

Shaky’s next LP “Marie Marie” was released in October 1980. This record includes some of Micky’s greatest picking. “Nobody” for instance, includes a wonderful, angry Berry-style solo. Here Micky tuned down his low E string to D when he played the rhythm guitar; the song’s key is D. On “Revenue Man” the solo has a Jerry Reed or Chet Atkins style pull-off licks. Whilst, at the end of “Slippin’and Slidin’” he plays great lick with a backstroke technique. “Move” has some of his greatest playing, where Micky combines jazz licks, harmonics, Chuck Berry third intervals, great conversational “question and answer” licks with the pedal steel guitar and God only knows what else!

Shaky’s next single was “This Ole House” which was released in March 1981. It went straight to number one in the UK and all over Europe making Shaky a teenage idol! Micky’s solo on this record is epic. The guitar has a very observable role and he plays a very melodic lead break, which includes fingerpicking and Chet Atkins influenced rolls. It is good that when Micky plays fingerpicking style solo, he doesn’t always use that technique for the whole solo, because a solo full of that style would be too much. Fingerpicking style covers a lot, because you have alternating bass notes on lower strings and top of that there are lead notes on higher strings. So, for example, on “This Ole House” the rolls and the two note licks, make it much more interesting. Then again on some of his best solos, like Shaky’s “Don’t Tell Me Your Troubles” and “I Might” he uses the fingerpicking style very tastefully, and never overuses it. Sometimes, to the annoyance of Micky, Shaky’s recording engineers changed guitar sound after the recording session, and “This Ole House” is perhaps a perfect example where the guitar sound is perhaps too bassy.

Shaky’s next single “You Drive Me Crazy” includes a brilliant solo and rhythm playing. In the guitar solo Micky uses the following trick where he changes the song’s key during the guitar solo. “You Drive Me Crazy” is originally in F but when Micky takes the solo, the song’s key changes to G. At the end of the solo the key returns to F. “You Drive Me Crazy” is a simple tune, so this sudden change of key makes it more varied. Dave Edmunds has also used this trick in the “Queen Of The Hearts” and “Singing The Blues,” so I’m unsure who invented it. The solo itself is very melodic and includes Micky’s typical “one moment sad, next moment happy” playing. The end of “You Drive Me Crazy” is also great, when Shaky repeats the song title and Micky replies with guitar licks. To the average listener this perhaps might sound like a jam session, but it was not. Here Stuart and Micky have carefully created melodic licks right through to the end of the song. Micky actually plays a two note lick (using thirds) which was inspired by Dire Straits’ guitarist Mark Knopfler, coupled with a great percussive lick on which he strums muted strings near guitar’s fingerboard.

At this high point of his career, Shaky released his next LP called “Shaky” in May 1981, and if you have never heard Micky’s playing perhaps this should be your first purchase. It has a wonderful variety of styles, with Chet Atkins style rolls and tenth intervals on “Don’t Tell Me Your Troubles”, syncopated Berry licks on “I’m Knockin’”, twin guitar harmony by playing single note lines simultaneously on “Don’t Bug Me Baby”, fast pull off licks on “Don’t She Look Good” plus all the other Micky trademarks are here. On “Let Me Show You How” Micky plays “death thumb” style. He plays constant notes on the open low E string and at the same time plays the lead notes on the higher strings all in the key of E. He got inspiration for this from James Burton who also used this style on Ricky Nelson’s “My Babe”. On “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself A Letter” Micky plays a great pedal steel lick. First he plays a D7 chord of D, A, C and F# notes and then he bends the F# half a step higher which creates a cool sounding D7sus4 chord. He borrowed this idea from another great Tele player, Roy Buchanan. You can hear Roy playing this same lick on “After Hours”.

Micky played on the following sell out tours with Shaky:
UK May-June 1981
Europe September 1981
UK November-December 1981

Shaky was a great vocalist but on stage he moved so much that he often sounded out of breath. So Micky would help out by singing “It’s My Own Business” and “Revenue Man” on the Shaky tours, and although his voice was thin he delivered these with lots of feeling.

Micky started to play with the Dave Edmunds Band in Autumn of 1981. For a while he was playing for both artists, Shaky and Dave, which sometimes led to some funny situations. At the end of October Dave was doing a tour in Scandinavia, and Micky got a frantic call from Shaky’s manager. Shaky’s manager wanted him to travel to Holland where the TV station was about to film Shaky’s Dutch concert. Micky said he could but only if they got him another Telecaster to play. They did, and he flew down from the Edmunds tour (which probably pissed Edmunds off) and did the concert. During filming Micky broke a string but changed it so fast that no one noticed.

At this time Shaky often used to do many TV shows just miming to his records with the band and Micky didn’t like doing this, so that also was one of the reasons he left. Later when I asked Stuart Colman about this he suspected that was one of the reasons and similar pressures. Remember, Shaky was Europe’s biggest star at the time and the pressure from all directions must have been enormous. Stuart too told me that “the pressure was unbelieveable and as I had produced Shaky for four years by then, I needed a good rest.” Besides, Micky was drawn to Dave because he use to do 10 – 12 week tours of the USA, a place that Micky loved, and therefore a good reason to work with Dave.

The next LP to be released by Shaky was “Give Me Your Heart Tonight” released in January 1982. Micky plays guitar on four tracks and “Shirley” includes a brilliant string bending country solo. This track was actually the only time that Micky and Shaky’s next picker, Billy Bremner, played together. They play the song’s main riff in unison.

“Vanessa” is an excellent rocker on which he plays three choruses and a long outro solo. Micky here has a great and quite unique “dry” sound for this track. On “Too Too Much” he plays a twin guitar solo with the pedal steel. Then on “Oh Julie” which was yet another UK number one single, he does one of those incredible key changes during his solo. I have listened to that track for many years but only recently realised that there is a key change. Surprisingly, as Shaky’s music is suppose to be traditional simple rock n roll it does sound radical to change the key in the middle, even strange. But when I talked to Stuart Colman about this he remarked how it still impresses him how smoothly Micky handled those key changes.

________________________________________

(This is another chapter from Ari Niskanen’s biography of Micky Gee and hopefully more chapters will follow together with a complete bibliography and discography – Phil Morgan)

What are you doing after the moon?

This is from Chapter Arts newspaper  1984 – 1985.
It’s impossible to see most of it, so I’ve provided a download link here.  Just press Control ++ to zoom in.

I’m using OCR software to extract the text, so if you see any gibberish please contact me using the button above.

If you had been in Cardiff at midnight on a Wednesday night in 1975 and had made your way to the bottom end of The Hayes, you would have heard music coming from the dimly lit backstreets behind the old Mill Lane open air market.

The music would have become louder if you had gone into the backstreets, turned into New Street and found a narrow staircase that led up to the New Moon Club.

Inside the club you would have seen Red Beans and Rice playing an eerily authentic mixture of Chicago and New Orleans blues, Cajun music and rock and roll.

The New Moon Club is not there anymore because New Street has been demolished, but rhythm and blues is still alive and well in Cardiff. Red Beans and Rice forms part of the trunk of the Cardiff rhythm and blues family tree   a tree which has spread its branches wide.

Tommy Scott was to revert to his original name of TOM JONES … and he never looked back.

The instigator, and only constant member, of the band is drummer Tommy Riley who formed Red Beans and Rice in 1975. Under his guidance the band has resisted the fads of the last nine years and has continued to produce music of quality. Red Beans and Rice has proved to be an enriching experience for dozens of musicians wishing to explore a wide range of American R’n'B music.

Tommy Riley said of the band: “The idea of Red Beans and Rice was to play all types of R’n'B music rather than just one particular type, whether it was just soul, just rock and roll or just blues. We wanted an amalgamation of all of it. ”

His roots in RWB go back a lot further than the forming of Red Beans and Rice. In the early and mid’60s he was the drummer in a rock and roll band called The Sons of Adam. Dave Edmunds was on the same club circuit with The Raiders and so was a rock and roll band called Tommy Scott and the Senators. Tommy Scott was to revert to his original name of Tom Jones … and he never looked back after that.

(Left: The original Memphis bend   left to right: Lincoln Carr, Micky Gee and Tommy Riley.)

The guitarist in The Senators, and later with Torn Jones and the Squires, was Mickey Gee, now one of the most respected rock and blues guitarists in Britain   a musician’s musician.

During the mid’60s both Tommy Riley and Mickey Gee played, at separate times, with Dave Edmunds’ band, Love Sculpture, and in 1968 they both joined Joe Cocker’s Grease band.

They were together again in 1973 playing the dreary working men’s clubs of South Wales. Recalling that time, Mickey said: “We were playing some nowhere gig up the valleys in between the bingo sessions. The singer collapsed in the middle of a number. Tommy and I looked at each other and he said: ‘We’ll share it, you sing one, then I’ll sing one, so we can get our money’. “They did just that and it worked. With the addition of Lincoln Carr on bass, the trio became Memphis Bend.

The sound was rockabilly. It was, added Mickey, “just like the Stray Cats are doing now, except we didn’t have a string bass and I didn’t have the hair”

In 1973 the New Moon Club was a down market ‘chicken in the basket’ night club. Mainly frequented by bus drivers, it was open only at weekends until Memphis Bend secured a Wednesday night residency. For a year the trio entertained the more discerning members of Cardiff night life before splitting up in 1974.

Mickey Gee was quiet for the next few years until 1979 when Mik Flood, then Artistic Director of Chapter, invited him to play in Alan Osborne’s Terraces at Chapter under the musical direction of George Kahn of The People Show. Shortly afterwards Mickey joined the Shakin’Stevens’ Band alongside pianist Geraint Watkins, and they both also played with Dave Edmunds’ band. Whilst with both bands, Mickey was in great demand for recording session work, as he is today. Now he is working with Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones.

After the demise of the original Memphis Bend in 1974, Tommy Riley kept the band going until 1975 when he formed Red Beans and Rice with Lincoln Carr, Graham Williams on guitar, and Geraint Watkins. With the introduction of Geraint on piano and accordion, the sound became New Orleans blues. Then Geraint left for London where he worked with Stiff Records and formed his own band, Geraint Watkins and the Dominators.

Red Beans and Rice went through some changes, the most important of which was Tommy’s teaming up with local soul legend Lavern Brown in 1976. With the addition of Geoff Coleman on guitar, Mike Pace from London on sax, and Bennie Herbert on bass, Red Beans and Rice brought the soul sound of the ’60s to life.

That line up ended in 1980, shortly after Lavern secured a contract with Chiswick Records. Mike Pace joined the Jools Holland Band with bass player Pino Palladino, who is now with the Paul Young Band. Before joining Jools Holland, Pino had been a member of the Dominoes – a Cardiff-based trio Peter Wenger on drums, formed in 1980 by Mickey Gee.

Meanwhile Tommy Riley briefly adopted the name of The Sole Distributors for his band, but by 1981 had reverted to the name of Red Beans and Rice. Through the following years the band has, developed a’40s style swing blues. Indeed, by 1983 it had swelled to a seven-piece band with three saxophones.

In 1982 Lavern joined up with Geoff Coleman. Mike Pace joined the band, too, along with brilliant young pianist Rob Ford, Paul Westwell on drums, and Neil Jones on bass. That was the beginning of the Lavern Brown Band. The band’s soulful blues still survives now.

Many other local musicians developed R’n'B from the ’60s into the ’70s. Bands such as Stiletto, The Nicutinos and The Cadillacs all added to the strength and depth of Cardiff R’n'B. Now, in the’80s, Red Beans and Rice is still playing and so is the Lavern Brown Band. There is Snatch It Back, Fire Down Below and the crazed blues of The Red Hot Pokers, too. Soul music has been kept alive with Dansette and now the Madassa
Soul Band.

Back in the 1960s Tommy Riley, Dave Edmunds, Mickey Gee, Lavern Brown and a handful of others developed an authentic approach to American R’n'B music. That approach reverberates through the music being played in Cardiff today.

It took me three years to learn those chords. C and G were easy, but F was hell!”

When asked what first interested him in playing music, Mickey Gee had to delve back to
1959: “The thing that started me playing was my Uncle Sid, and who knows Uncle Sid? But dammit if he hadn’t been there,  I wouldn’t have been here. Uncle Sid was a house painter from Llanrumney. He’d be there in his painter’s overalls with a two quid guitar, strumming three chords. It was magic. It took me three years to learn those
chords. C and G were easy, but F was hell! ”

Here’s to Uncle Sid and the continuing excellence of R’n'B in Cardiff.