| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| harvey |
Posted - 01/10/2005 : 23:11:06
I roadied for Love in 1974 when they toured U.K. with a new signing for Rocket called Casablanca. The other 2 roadies and I worked for Casablanca but Arthur and Love turned up with only their guitars and a manager, Bruce Riley, so we had to organise all their backline amps and share the drum kit. The Love lineup was Arthur, Bruce Rozelle bass, John Stirling and Melvin Whittington guitars and Joe Blocker on drums. I have my old tour diary, a set list and a quarter track tape of both bands sets using a Sony tc 366 and a crossed pair of D 190 mics recorded at the Rainbow London. Arthur asked me to do the tape and he listened to it and later he asked me to send him a cassette in the States. I have not talked to Arthur since. Tour dates and annecdotes are available for discussion.
Harvey the Roadie |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| bob f. |
Posted - 04/10/2005 : 04:29:49
i was at a LOVE show in about '76-'77 in downtown L.A. Arthur and band played, and so did the GO-GOS! this was in those early "punk" days, and all i remember is "7 and 7 is", some GO-GOS, me loaded beyond repair, and a sort of dank, seedy atmosphere. i went to see LOVE, and missed a lot of it 'cause i was fooked up on a qualude and liquor. does ANYONE know about that concert? someone must know! |
| harvey |
Posted - 04/10/2005 : 00:26:59
No but he was quite young and did not look english and spoke with a foreign accent possibly dutch but didnt say anything before he hit Arthur, he only spoke after when I handed him to the security guys on the door. Arthur did not react as though he knew who he was and just said he was O.K. and went offstage to the dressing room. We asked Boss who ran Dingwalls if he knew him or had any similar events but he said no. Arthur did the big gig at the Rainbow the next night with no ill effects so no harm done. |
| waxburn |
Posted - 03/10/2005 : 18:45:05
quote:
Originally posted by harvey
to dukie
No I never worked for Thin lizzy I just new pete who worked for them and was a local bloke in S.W. London
Harvey, did anyone find out why that fellow came thru and punched Arthur without reason? |
| harvey |
Posted - 03/10/2005 : 18:39:53
to dukie
No I never worked for Thin lizzy I just new pete who worked for them and was a local bloke in S.W. London |
| Dukie |
Posted - 03/10/2005 : 16:02:46
Love toured the U.K. in '70,'74 and'75 and then Arthur didn't return here until 1992 with Shack as his backing band.
Harvey, if you worked with Thin lizzy then you must have known my friend Chalkie Davies (photographer)? |
| harvey |
Posted - 03/10/2005 : 01:56:50
Sorry to be so late on the scene . I may be able to fix a Vox amp in the pitch dark or find out why all the P.A. just went dead in front of thousands of festival fans but when my outgoing internet connection packs up I find I know B... all about computers and it takes some time to get it working again. I have been monitoring this site for some months since I got my first internet computer (dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th century!)and as soon as I got a connection with a new board in the computer I thought I had better crawl out from under the pile of old speakers and amps and drum kits I call home. The only Lizzy roadie I knew was Pete G..s who I believe also worked for the Who but I expect it is someone else. The Roundhouse gig we did on the 1974 tour was on 19th May and I do not think Arthur and Love played that gig. I know Casablanca played and one of the other acts was the Keef Hartley band.I remember one of the other acts had an all female road crew which I believe was one of the first and I seem to remember we got them Ice creams from the very special shop at the foot of the hill opposite the Roundhouse (Ginellis or something) and then got lumbered into helping them get keyboards and speakers in and out of their truck and we had just driven 240 miles overnight ( shared between 2 of us as one of the crew did not have a driving licence) from the Lancaster University gig which had finished late as Arthur was avoiding the student press. (see above) and as it was a Sunday the Roundhouse gig was an afternoon and evening gig with several bands so we were totally knackered. Luckily we were staying a few yards away in Hampstead so we did not have far to go after the gig. We were also staying in a squat in Finchley in a house that is probably worth millions now but was wrecked then no electric, no water, most of the windows and doors out. Luckily we got the monday off but tuesday was fun as it was at the University of East Anglia, Norwich during the student unrest when all Universities had their entrances blockaded in protest about something and we had to spend a long time arguing before they would let us drive the truck in. Must have looked funny one bunch of long haired ugly roadies arguing with a bunch of long haired ugly students. Only in the 70's. Sorry have only just spotted message from Dukie. The wednesday 8th of May 74 gig at the Colston Hall was the first gig of the tour and we had only met Arthur and the band that afternoon. I nearly knocked Joe Blockers teeth out adjusting the boom vocal mike over the kit and that was the first time any of the crew had worked with that P.A. rig and at the changeover between the two bands the sound engineer told me to pull out the mic leads in the stagebox that had white tape on, however all the plugs had white tape on and it took us some time to go through all the channels and re-plug everything which could have been why Arthur and the band sounded a bit off. I only worked with Arthur on the 74 tour I know he toured again later in the 70's but when and where I do not know and I didnt get to see him. The crowd at Colston was a bit small and we had been told to get people in I met a guy from my old tech college in W. London and asked him to get any mates to come along. As I have said before I do not think Arthur was that well known here then. But they went mad over Casablanca and were shouting for more as I remember.
In answer to other matters I would not dare tell Arthur how to run his life I would be too scared as other members of Casablanca had seen what he carried. |
| Dukie |
Posted - 03/10/2005 : 00:58:40
I saw Love at Colston Hall, Bristol on the '74 tour and they were definitely a bit ragged.... the recording that I have of the show is of poor quality.The show wasn't particularly well attended as I recall and there was very little interaction between band and audience(the bass player was Robert Rozelle and the manager's surname was Reilly, I believe).
They toured again in 1975 and I saw three of these shows (Birmingham, Salisbury and the Lyceum in London) and this time around the band was Arthur plus John Sterling on guitar, Kim Kesterson on bass and the mighty George Suranovich on drums(and they were pretty tight and a lot more together).I spoke to the manager before and after the Brum show and was invited in to the dressing room after the show to meet the band. I was told I could probably interview Arthur sometime during the tour but when I enquired before the Lyceum show(which was great, by the way), I was told that Arthur wasn't doing any interviews and I believe that the tour finished after the London show and some dates after London were not fulfilled.I spoke to the two people running the desk at the Salisbury and London shows... was Harvey still around then?..I have seen shows on all of Arthur's visits to the U.K. except the first one in 1970 unfortunately, but I managed to do a telephone interview with Gary Rowles (lead guitar on that tour) for "The Castle" fanzine a few years ago(I also interviewed Jay Donellan for "The Castle" around that time as well)
I am always looking to extend my collection of Love recordings, so get in touch if you have anything interesting.Thanks. |
| waxburn |
Posted - 02/10/2005 : 17:55:43
quote:
Originally posted by oldfartatplay
It's kind of sad that Harvey has come on board just as LarryNYC has called it a day.I'm sure that with a few thousand miles of touring,and a trunkload of anecdotes,between them they could have kept these boards well alive for quite a while.One of my oldest friends,and still a close neighbour down here in Dorset,is a veteran of the British music scene,as former roadie(Thin Lizzy in the early years...another rich source of Spinal Tap-style legends),DJ,Promoter,and Vintage Record Shop owner.He still says to this day.....'Never get to meet your heroes - they'll always pop your balloons!'Harvey has already reminded me why I didn't make the effort to catch Arthur & Love back in '74,even though I could get hold of tickets for the Rainbow very easily since I knew half of the staff through college,and the network of wierd & wonderful squats which formed the heart of London life back in those days.As many will recall,Larry was down the road running the stage at the Roundhouse about that time.Hazey Daze indeed...welcome aboard Harvey!
OFAP, sad to see LNYC go, but I don't understand exactly what they want, do they want everyone here to berate AL? AL hasn't done
anything to me, but make music that I love. I don't really want to be his friend, or hang out with him etc etc.
It seems that many here are friends with BL, nothing wrong with that.
But I don't know BL, never have received 'private emails' and it wouldn't really matter if I had.They have beers after the show and hang out. I don't drink beer anymore. It makes people act funny-case in point, some of the people up in arms about AL recent behavior, were, just a few months ago, his staunchest defenders.
I don't tell anyone how to think and I don't think anyone is going to tell me how to think. |
| oldfartatplay |
Posted - 02/10/2005 : 11:41:53
It's kind of sad that Harvey has come on board just as LarryNYC has called it a day.I'm sure that with a few thousand miles of touring,and a trunkload of anecdotes,between them they could have kept these boards well alive for quite a while.One of my oldest friends,and still a close neighbour down here in Dorset,is a veteran of the British music scene,as former roadie(Thin Lizzy in the early years...another rich source of Spinal Tap-style legends),DJ,Promoter,and Vintage Record Shop owner.He still says to this day.....'Never get to meet your heroes - they'll always pop your balloons!'Harvey has already reminded me why I didn't make the effort to catch Arthur & Love back in '74,even though I could get hold of tickets for the Rainbow very easily since I knew half of the staff through college,and the network of wierd & wonderful squats which formed the heart of London life back in those days.As many will recall,Larry was down the road running the stage at the Roundhouse about that time.Hazey Daze indeed...welcome aboard Harvey! |
| waxburn |
Posted - 02/10/2005 : 04:52:54
quote:
Originally posted by harvey
Arthur was not with Rocket records he was with A&M at the time but Rocket were looking for a name act to showcase Casablanca as they had an album about to come out. I do not know how much involvement Rocket had as Casablanca had a few well off financial backers of their own but Bernie Taupin came backstage at one of the Biba gigs ( I remember cause I held the door open for him as it was a row of mirrors and only 1 was a door and I knew which one which saved him having to push all of them). Arthur did tour again a couple of years later but I could not get to see him and I do not know if Bryan was with him. Robert Stigwood (RSO) would have promoted him strongly as he always backed his artists but I think that was it for the 70s. As has been said Arthurs attitude to audiences and fellow musicians whether intentional or not could have lost him support and he was known for short setting and did not seem to be enjoying himself as was mentioned in later reviews. To talk about Arthur is as difficult as to know him and he never seems to spot the difference between those that care about him and those trying to use him for their own gain and he therefore treats everybody as the latter. In 74 he had a pretty bad habit but I think whenever he cleans up he is on the edge of going back down again. I do hope he gets another break and can make good one day but I am afraid history is not on his side.
Harvey
Arthur has no choice but to get going.. I may be off base, but I suspect his situation may have been a bit exaggerated. He seemed
fine during the Zombies tour , some very good shows.
As you know, in the music biz, those for you and against you end up
being one and the same. |
| harvey |
Posted - 02/10/2005 : 03:24:06
Arthur was not with Rocket records he was with A&M at the time but Rocket were looking for a name act to showcase Casablanca as they had an album about to come out. I do not know how much involvement Rocket had as Casablanca had a few well off financial backers of their own but Bernie Taupin came backstage at one of the Biba gigs ( I remember cause I held the door open for him as it was a row of mirrors and only 1 was a door and I knew which one which saved him having to push all of them). Arthur did tour again a couple of years later but I could not get to see him and I do not know if Bryan was with him. Robert Stigwood (RSO) would have promoted him strongly as he always backed his artists but I think that was it for the 70s. As has been said Arthurs attitude to audiences and fellow musicians whether intentional or not could have lost him support and he was known for short setting and did not seem to be enjoying himself as was mentioned in later reviews. To talk about Arthur is as difficult as to know him and he never seems to spot the difference between those that care about him and those trying to use him for their own gain and he therefore treats everybody as the latter. In 74 he had a pretty bad habit but I think whenever he cleans up he is on the edge of going back down again. I do hope he gets another break and can make good one day but I am afraid history is not on his side.
Harvey
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| waxburn |
Posted - 02/10/2005 : 02:57:23
quote:
Originally posted by harvey
to waxburn
in answer to have I heard of baby lemonade, not until 2004 when arthur was on at Glastonbury and also played on Jools Holland on TV and was interviewed by Jools, who asked Arthur where he disappeared to in the seventies and asked why he had not toured and Arthur did not correct him so maybe he wanted to forget the tours in the 70s.
Anecdotes would have to include the gig at the Rainbow which had a very deep orchestra pit in front of the stage( the one Zappa fell or was pushed into) Arthur kept pretending to be stoned and was walking right on the edge and pretending he was going to fall or jump for most of the set. As I say he arrived with no equipment and used to borrow the support bands maraccas and at the finale of every gig he would throw the maraccas into the audience and after a couple of gigs (and complaints from the support band) I had to go into the audience and retrieve the maraccas from stunned fans who were so happy that Arthur had chosen them to throw his maraccas at and were very reluctant to give them back so I carried a supply of autographs from the band (some real some fake copies) so if anybody has one trying to sell on Ebay it might not be the real thing.
Harvey, how was Arthur invloved with Rocket Records. I think Arthur may have done one more tour of the UK after that, when he was
with RSO records. |
| harvey |
Posted - 02/10/2005 : 02:34:09
to waxburn
in answer to have I heard of baby lemonade, not until 2004 when arthur was on at Glastonbury and also played on Jools Holland on TV and was interviewed by Jools, who asked Arthur where he disappeared to in the seventies and asked why he had not toured and Arthur did not correct him so maybe he wanted to forget the tours in the 70s.
Anecdotes would have to include the gig at the Rainbow which had a very deep orchestra pit in front of the stage( the one Zappa fell or was pushed into) Arthur kept pretending to be stoned and was walking right on the edge and pretending he was going to fall or jump for most of the set. As I say he arrived with no equipment and used to borrow the support bands maraccas and at the finale of every gig he would throw the maraccas into the audience and after a couple of gigs (and complaints from the support band) I had to go into the audience and retrieve the maraccas from stunned fans who were so happy that Arthur had chosen them to throw his maraccas at and were very reluctant to give them back so I carried a supply of autographs from the band (some real some fake copies) so if anybody has one trying to sell on Ebay it might not be the real thing. |
| harvey |
Posted - 02/10/2005 : 01:50:35
I never got proof that the cassette reached arthur and it was sent via Casablancas management so as I say if it leaked it was at least 2nd generation or as I also say there were loads of opportunities for other people with portable equipment to record it. Is the CD a bootleg or legitimate, Arthur was with A & M records in those days. But apart from giving the roadies a big heavy display board to lug round to the foyer of the gigs I dont think they were that interested. Arthur was not in the best of health for self inflicted reasons and was a bit hot and cold and would order the band about or let them support him depending on his mood. Luckily for Arthur one of the road crew could get him some "medicine" and his mood improved as the tour progressed but he refused to do any "publicity" and would not talk to the press and I spent some time outside dressing rooms explaining to various student and national press people that he was "very tired". His manager and the rest of the band seemed to disappear and let him get on with it. I think he gave one interview at Lancaster university to the Student Union social secretary but the guy was very persistent and would not give up but I do not think he got much response. The only person who got a response out of him was a young (ish) girl named "Isadora" who appeared at several gigs and I had to do the foot in the lift door trick while she got his attention between floors a couple of floors up in the hotel lift. |
| harvey |
Posted - 02/10/2005 : 01:24:46
to waxburn. As I remember it the gigs were all full house but many were at universities and I think many did not know who he really was. The only problem we really had was at the room on the top floor of the Biba store in knightsbridge, london. Arthur decided that he would only play a short set and ths really p..d the audience off but despite my asking him he said he might go back on but didnt. The support band Casablanca went back on again but as it was not a very big venue there were not enough punters to cause any real trouble and a lot were from Rocket records and were supporting Casablanca, maybe Arthur sensed that.Another time at Dingwalls at Camden Lock after the gig one bloke pushed past me and punched Arthur in the face but Arthur rode the punch well and I grabbed the bloke and gave him to the skinheads on the door and told them what he had done and I think he got "sorted". Casablanca were a really good early british funk band (the late Charlie Charles of the Blockheads was the drummer)and I think the audiences enjoyed them but as Arthur only had a small band the full effect of his songs may have been lost but everybody always had a good evening and encores were played and the write ups in the Melody Maker were complimentary.
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