Posts tagged "guitar"

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.

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(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)

My earliest memories of Micky

We used to live at 106 Harris avenue Rumney Cardiff and Micky was nine years older than me, so my earliest memory was when I was four, he was thirteen.

One memory was of my Father going nuts because Micky was playing the same record over and over again; picking up the needle, moving it back and forth, trying to learn some Chet Atkins or Chuck Berry lick until either the record broke or my Father (Happy days)

Micky was always doing something else, usually something to do with the guitar whereas with Bob (My other brother) I have stronger memories.

Fast forward seven years. I don’t have any more memories until I was about eleven, apart from knowing Micky went to the states, though many of his friends have numerous stories ; including Dave Timothy, Phil Morgan and many more. I will be adding more stories to this site from them.

Next thing I knew, we were about to move to Caerwent Road, Ely, trouble was, nobody told Micky when; and my mother had a problem contacting him. So, a note was left pinned to the front door telling Micky of our new address.   Shortly afterwards, Tom Jones and the squires turned up and dropped Micky off.  Micky walked to the front door, saw the note and turned around, guitar case in his hand and proceeded to chase after them.

Tom and the rest of the band were pretty peeved, you see, this was Christmas week 1963, they’ve just completed a heavy playing/recording schedule and driven about 250 miles on B roads cooped up in a transit van! (This was before the M4 was built).  All they wanted was to get home for Christmas and now they had to drive across the other side of Cardiff and find our new address.