Steve Gibbons - Live at Rockpalast DVD

Steve Gibbons was certainly no newcomer when he appeared on the stage of the Berlin Metropol on 2nd November, 1981. He had already earned his living with music for over 20 years, in comparison the Beatles and Rolling Stones belonged almost to the next generation of the rock revolution. After he had won the “Elvis Presley Competition” in his home town Birmingham, the trained plumber was certain: having to get up early was no longer part of his lfe. But he realised how difficult the constant party could be during his trans-European expedition through the beat time age... with his band The Uglys. The call to better things overtook him in Mnster, Germany, of all places. He was booked for a month in the local discotheque, Kon-Tiki, there for a month and an American DJ played a new release which completely changed Gibbons’ musical vision. Bob, with his new album “The Freewheelin’” replaced Elvis, Eddie, Chuck and Gene at this point. The strong influence that Dylan’s political folk music had on him over the years can be seen not only in his singing technique – Gibbons is still today regarded as “the nearest thing to Dylan” by many critics – but also in the texts of the songs he wrote which became increasingly socially critical and psychodelic. In 1969 the next step was to start up a new local super-group. Trevor Burton from Move on bass, Denny Laine from the Moody Blues on guitar and Alan White (pre-Plastic Ono Band, Yes) on drums, as the group Balls, only managed to produce one single, but squandered their record company’s money. Denny Laine: “We spent two years together, but most of the time we were drunk or stoned”. Gibbons, on the other hand, had more important plans for his advance payment. He recorded his first solo LP “Short Stories”, under the direction of Traffic and Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller, which only came out on Denny Laine’s tiny Wizard label in 1971. Everything was of the best here, too: country picker deluxe Albert Lee (Heads, Hands & Feet) and Jerry Donahue (Fotheringay) on guitars, and Gary Wright, on keyboard, Greg Ridley, on bass, and Mike Kellie, on drums, were all from Spooky Tooth. However, the Balls did not emerge from their smoky rehearsal cottage and Gibbons had to look for another band with which to earn some money. An offer from Jeff Lynne’s old band came just at the right time: Idle Race were looking for a new frontman. Gibbons immediately reconstructured the band anew and, after a few months transition, the new Steve Gibbons Band came into being. Bob Wilson, guitar, and Bob Lamb, drums, came from Tea & Symphony, Dave Carroll, on the second guitar, was also an experienced country rocker while Bob Griffin, on bass, was rather an unknown quantity; he was replaced by Trevor Burton in 1975. The Steve Gibbons Band really took off that year. Pete Meaden, who had discovered and then managed The Who, had heard the band in a pub, and first got Pete Townshend, The Who boss, interested in the power-quintet which, with its three guitars – Steve Gibbons also played a neat rhythm guitar – fitted into the flourishing Southern rock mould well. Who-bass player John Entwhistle produced the band’s first studio album “Any Road Up”, and finally Roger Daltry covered “One of the Boys”, a Gibbons composition, two years later. The Steve Gibbons Band toured half the world with The Who until 1980, sharing their work as introductory group with such acts as Lynyrd Skynyrd and AC/DC. On 2nd November, 1981, Steve Gibbons decided to wear something more conservative – a dark blue suit with a white scarf – to get the Rockpalast audience on his side. Even though the Rockpalast presenter, Albrecht Metzger, can only remember that “the boys looked pretty hard-worked”, they were really excited at first because their introductory act was one of the greatest idols of the new second guitarist, P.J. No less a performer than slide-guitar-god David Lindley put the Berlin public in the right mood. P.J. Wright had only joined the Steve Gibbons Band a bit more than six months before the Rockpalast gig, and had thus been involved in the current LP “Saints & Sinners”. His extensive collection of notes on which all the songs were written out during the first few months was legendary. Luckily there was no longer any sign of unsureness in November, and P.J. was to become the longest-serving member of the SGB, he stayed till the middle of the 90s and still today supports Gibbons in his Dylan Project with various string instruments (guitar, mandolin and steel guitar). Another new discovery, Alan “Sticky” Wickett, gave his drums debut on “Saints & Sinners” and the subsequent tour. He was so versatile and competent that, after his time with SGB, a move to the jazz scene was the only possibility: he served with no less than Chris Barber - with short breaks – until 1998 and set the beat for his Jazz and Blues Band. Derek Wood, on bass, was also new in the SGB team, he provided a good back-up bass, but was only heard about in the local bands in the Birmingham region after this. Trevor Burton, Steve Gibbons’ most significant partner over time, excelled as rarely before during the Rockpalast concert. One had the impression that his real mastery of the instrument had been forgotten during his many years as bass player in SGB and he definitely wanted to change this. Not only on that evening were the many fans reminded of the original sound of hits like “Flowers in the Rain”, “Firebrigade” and “Lemon Tree”, but they also heard the young Trevor in the first league of British psychodelic pop with The Move. In addition to his own titles, Gibbons took much time to pay tribute to his own heroes: “Paralyzed” by Elvis, “Git It” by Gene Vincent, “Bye Bye Johnny” by Chuck Berry and, of course, Bob Dylan with two numbers: “To Be Alone with You” and “Like a Rolling Stone”, Steve’s absolute favourite of the carpenter. Following on the Rockpalast concert, there were new boundaries for the Steve Gibbons Band to cross: they were the first English-speaking rock band allowed to tour the DDR. The same scenario was repeated in Berlin, Rostock, Weimar, Erfurt, Cottbus, Halle and other places: the public did not only pour into the concerts, but were also fascinated by the SGB ‘s equipment which accompanied them everywhere on its own truck. Anything like the light and sound systems had never been seen in the DDR at that time. The DDR tour was a “revelation on both sides”for Steve Gibbons, which he was allowed to repeat the following year. What made Steve Gibbons, particularly, the first West rock legend in the DDR? Perhaps it was his unpretentious and sometimes humorous short stories in rock form, which kept close to social reality, an exciting mixture of Bob Dylan and Dashiell Hammett. Although it is 30 years since the Rockpalast concert, Steve Gibbons is still on the road with his band and the former colleagues P.J. Wright, Dave Pegg, Gerry Conway and Phil Bond in the Dylan Project. At 70, Steve Gibbons is certainly no newcomer, and that is his strength. Michael Vonau (c) 2010. [show more]

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