Graham Knight

Last night I arrived late at Krakatoa's BBC Fringe night. The Inevitable Teaspoons were already on stage and after a few minutes I was thinking they had a really good drummer. Then I noticed it was Chris who used to be in the Malpaso Gang. The band were very well rehearsed with none of that annoying tuning up between numbers. They unusually featured a trombone player and together with a sax it made for a big sound from this five piece band. Their set went down very well with a large and appreciative audience. The last band featured in this BBC showcase was The Malpaso Gang who were featuring their new femme singer, Eilidh Connolly for the first time. Eilidh showed no sign of nerves and confidently sang great as if she had been with them for years. Well done Eilldh. The whole band are very tight and Abermusic- member Flaneur played some great some great guitar solos. Their 'hot number' Tabasco has benefited from great national publicity over the last couple of months and last night was no exception with the audience joining in the Tabasco chorus. I expect much more success for the Gang. Flashes' enterprising Krakatoa venue has another BBC Fringe night this Friday 25th May. Best not to miss it.

Tonight was Nina's last show as lead vocalist with The Malpaso Gang and she went out other style. The crowd responded to all The Gang favourite as they played most of the numbers on their new '20 Greatest Hits CD.' Nina was in great form and she showed the crowd how to sing and swirl! As usual their 'Tabasco' number inspired the dancers and everyone wished Nina, who is moving to Valencia, great success singing in Spain.

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THE MALPASO GANG "Twenty Golden Greats" review by Graham Knight This whimsically titled new CD from The Malpaso Gang is simply excellent. Over the last few years The Malpaso Gang have been garnering quite a reputation in the North East of Scotland for a sound that is deeply rooted in 40's and 50's country. No live Gang show is ever complete without a lively version of George Jones' hit White Lightning but The Gang always included several numbers written by the members themselves. This new CD has no copy-cat covers and all the material is entirely original. The first track is titled, "El Paso" but it has no connection with the Marty Robbins tune with that name but it still has a feeling for life on the Rio Grande. "Back of You" was written by Dusty Valentino and Nina Eggens and has nicked a few bars of You Are My Sunshine at the beginning but is one of the best tracks on the CD. Nina's vocals are particularly clear. The third track, "Tabasco" will be familiar to everyone who has seen this six piece band in action. It has become something of an anthem for the band and always has the crowd leaping about at shows with the audience joining in the chorus of "Oh Oh Tabasco". Great fun and a great number. "Dead On The Road" tells a woeful story that features some good vocal harmonies and excellent steel guitar. "Whatever" has a lively piano style intro that is used to good effect. A different steel guitar is featured on this track as well as having the whole band joining in the singing of the chorus. The sixth track, "Call It A Day" has Nina singing typical torch song lyrics about a break up between two lovers. Track seven, "Not My Style" bemoans the fact that country girls don't go for the big money attractions of Monte Carlo. Great guitar and drumming on this number that features a solo for each "Gang" member. "Travellers Blues" is another tune that always gets a good reaction at the Gang's live shows with a superb vocal by Nina. The final number is a tour de force by the whole band and Nina fairly spits out the message "Stop Talking - Start Walking". Interesting use of tacets and this track finishes a great CD in first-rate manner. The whole CD has great drumming and perfect bass and all six "Gang" members have done well to produce such a fine CD that showcases all their talents. The sleeve notes have to be seen to be believed and the picture by Rolling Stone Magazine's Annie Leibovitz is quite incredible. The CD follows in the tradition of recordings made in the fifties at RCA's Studio B in Nashville. These current state of the art recordings were made with the help of Calum Farquhar and Johnny Lees of Aberdeen's ultra modern D-Range Studio. I thoroughly recommend this CD.

The Deportees celebrated the release of their new "Birth of Industry" CD with a party at Dunbar Hall in Old ABerdeen. The evening got off to a good start when I was greeted at the door by one of the stars of the evening - Adam Morrice himself. I have seen the band on several occasions recently but this set was much tighter than before and very professional. The band are now a six piece and newbie drummer Duncan Dallas played well and fitted in perfectly - in other words he was a little more restrained than his usual exuberant self. The band's music is hard to categorise as it varies so much from number to number. I liked the Adam Keenan composition "A Single Truth" the best but the whole evening went over well and was met with rapturous applause. This special CD launch party was attended by a huge crowd and each person went home with a copy of "The Birth of Industry." I had never been in the Dunbar Hall before but it is a very good venue. And a last word of praise for the sound - the audio mix was absolutely perfect - well done, the tech people are often forgotten but can make or mar an event. And well done to The Deportees this new release has been a long time coming but it should do very well.

The Malpaso Gang were in good form at Exodus on St Patrick's night. A sea of green were soon chanting along to Gang Favourite - Tabasco Sauce. Some excellent solos on the Melodica ! As ever they proved to be a very tight, well rehearsed band that should be playing bigger venues.

There is a review below of the Malpaso Gang's performance at Captain Tom's a week ago and last night I saw them again with a totally different show at Drummond's Cafe. Last week the Gang played all original numbers and this time there was a huge variety of material including some of their own but mainly a variety of country, rockabilly and rock'n'roll. The show which ran for an hour and half was very popular with the audience and I have never seen so many dancers on Drummond's floor. Some of the dancing was a show in itself and would best be described as agile and athletic. Aberdeen Music's own Bigsby, (Mr 49 guitars), handled all the vocals and another Aberdeen Music stalwart Flaneur played some great licks on tunes as varied as Jim Reeves "He'll Have to Go" to an excellent version of Don Raye and Freddie's Slack's 1940 hit : "Down The Road A-Piece." A smiling Bigsby asked the ladies in the crowd if they would like some Willie tonight? This was the cue for a version of "Almost Always On My Mind." It has been recorded by hundreds of different artists, the most famous of which is that by Elvis Presley. Last night Bigsby eschewed Elvis's big ballad approach and sang a behind the beat version in the style of Willie Nelson. No Malpaso Gang show is complete without their self penned tribute to "Tabasco Sauce." Bigsby even said , "Our rider demands 10 bottles of Tabasco" and sure enough the audience enthusiastically joined in the now familiar Tabasco chorus. Other Gang favourites reprised included "White Lightning" and "Folsom Prison Blues." The biggest reaction of the night came for "Ten Long Fingers on the 88 Keys" a number that only sold a few hundred for Groovey Joe Poovey back in 1958. There were some really great bass lines and solid drumming on this rockin' number that has become a firm favourite with Malpaso Gang fans - they were even singing the words while they bopped around on the dance floor. The original version was less than three minutes but with a little bit of Da Capo the Gang made it into five minute tour de force. At 90 minutes this was the longest performance I have seen from The Malpaso Gang and on this showing they ought to be playing bigger venues.

I have just been to Captain Tom's to see The Malpaso Gang. Nina is back as the main vocalist/dancer and she harmonises well with Aberdeen Music's Dead Pool Leader - Bigsby aka Mr 49 guitars. Tonight the Gang performed a whole set of original numbers - numbers that were inspired by the sound of 40's and 50's country. For example one number was inspired by The Miller Sisters a duo who recorded for the famed Sun Record Company of Memphis but failed to make it while label compatriots like Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Charlie Rich all went on to fame and fortune. It was my first visit to Captain Tom's and I must say I was very impressed by all the facilities - especially the sound proofing and the hot chocolate was excellent. It was a very good night. Well done to the whole Gang and to everyone at the venue.

This relatively new four piece band had a great night at Downstairs In Holburn Street. Most of their self written numbers were relatively short and the titles were certainly unusual. "Dead Mole in the Garden" written by drummer Duncan Dallas's nephew is just one example. "Young Men With Grey Hair" was another unlikely title. The two guitarists stayed on stage but the keyboard playing vocalist stayed off the stage and almost in the audience for the whole set. The crowd lapped up musical and whimsical references to pigs and David Cameron! The last number was especially unusual as the entire crowd were encouraged to dance and were even led Pied Piper-like to the exit before they all rushed back in again. I can truthfully say I haven't seen so much syncronised dancing since the audience did the Timewarp at the Capitol long, long ago. It was quite an evening!

Thanks to Bigsby and Aberdeen Music. On Thursday night I was at the Glasgow SECC to see Jerry Lee Lewis for the umpteenth time. I have been going to his shows since 1962. This was a special visit as I had traced a bracelet his cousin gave him back in in 1957. I think it went missing after the IRS cleared everything out of his house, including his pianos, and sold the contents as he was due the tax millions. I was delighted to be able to give him back this family bracelet that he had worn from 1957 until 1990. Normally I would just have handed it over but I took Matt into the dressing room with me and he filmed me returning the bracelet and he recorded some of our chat. I only met Matt of The Malpaso Gang through Aberdeen Music - so special thanks Neil and all the volunteers who help to keep this site running and extra special thanks to Matt for his excellent camera work that you can see in these two clips. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpNxbLhGePk www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDe7NoYJAWU

Last night Robert Plant, Ringo and other UK musicians were quite happy to sit,(undisturbed by fans), in the audience and watch Jerry Lee Lewis's 80th Birthday performance in a sold out show at the London Palladium. The first half included contributions from Albert Lee and James Burton. http://www.nme.com/news/ringo-starr/88128 Jerry Lee will be at Glasgow's SECC on Thursday night and Aberdeen Music's own star "Bigsby" will be there along with Chas Hodges and many others. Anyone else going to this show please message me.

DISGRUNTLED PASSENGER'S REVENGE A Canadian musician from Halifax named Dave Carroll recently had difficulty with United Airlines. Dave spent over 9 months trying to get United to pay for damages caused by baggage handlers to his custom Taylor guitar. During his final exchange with the United Customer Relations Manager, he stated that he was left with no choice other than to create a music video for YouTube exposing their lack of cooperation. The Manager responded: "Good luck with that one, pal." So he posted a retaliatory video on YouTube. The video has since received over 6 million hits. United Airlines contacted the musician and attempted settlement in exchange for pulling the video. Naturally his response was: "Good luck with that one, pal." Taylor Guitars sent the musician 2 new custom guitars in appreciation for the product recognition from the video that has led to a sharp increase in orders. Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=5YGc4zOqozo

I arrived at the Moorings late but in time to hear the the Oxbow Lake Band doing a pretty solid, well acclaimed version of Ray Charles What'D I Say. Soon it was time for Moorings stalwarts "The Malpaso Gang" to take the stage. Tonight they were a very tight four piece without their usual vocalist Nina. All the vocals were handled tonight by this Forum's own "Bigsby" AKA Matt Duncan. I think Matt had 49 guitars at the last count but tonight he only brought three. One was a neat Fender steel that was used to great effect on the Hank Williams tune "Honky Tonkin". The Big Bopper/George Jones hit "White Lightning" has long been a favourite by the Malpaso Gang and tonight it was taken at a slightly slower pace than usual. I was then totally surprised to hear a very uptempo version of an obscure rock'n'roll number called "10 Long Fingers on the 88 keys". It was originally done by a guy called Groovey Joe Poovey on the Dixie label - it only sold a few thousand around Texas. Many thought "10 long fingers" was a tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis but in fact the record puts down Jerry and is really praising one of his cousins, Country star Mickey Gilley. The record got a new lease of life when Bob Dylan featured it on his DJ radio programme. Tonight The Malpaso Gang did a great version and had the enthusiastic crowd leaping about. Nobody ever praises the technical support at shows but I will end this short review by praising the excellent mix tonight that had a perfect balance on all the instruments with Matt's vocals well to the front. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBbMMzjjzJE

On the Road by Jack Kerouac I have re-read this often - at about 10 year gaps

This sounds pretty ace - would you like one? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/11745730/Marshall-launches-loudest-mobile-phone-on-Earth-for-music-lovers.html

It is worth re-reading this post as today would have been Les Paul's 100th Birthday. Bigsby was very fortunate to have met him and Alan heard him live too. Les Paul changed music forever.

Thanks to Shaki of Depeche Choade who is currently in New Orleans and kindly recorded this News At Ten type video clip for me as I couldn't attend this show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kS2icduMSw

I was in Germany last week visiting a rock'n'roll promoter. He is well into cars and managed to get up to 245kms per hour in his Mercedes S600 long version limousine. The speed was quite legal on the Autobahn. This Corvette is his latest toy. It needs to driven as it has 7 forward gears but the Mercedes S600 is a more relaxing high speed drive as it has an automatic gearbox, In this one, I told him not to put any music on as the sound coming from the four exhausts was enough.

I have just come from a Headache Promotion at the Blue Lamp - a venue normally used for folk, jazz and comedy. The place wasn't it usual dark self but had been decked out with strings of pennants and masses of coloured lights. The Marionettes have quite a following as the venue got really busy towards show. As ever The Marionettes put on a good show and vocalist Paddy Buchan got a rousing reception when they played their much requested Teaparties. The well received set included a repeat of the crowd pleaser Antiflage during which the line-up changed from four guitars and drums to three guitars and two drummers. No pyramids this time!

What a strange reaction to someone who has taken the time to post and collate a lot of information about forthcoming attractions at The Theatre. As someone who likes to go to the theatre to see plays I appreciate the post. Mind you, judging by the list our Theatre is going like the West End in London and is being filled with musicals rather than drama.

Keith Richard singing Little Queenie with Jerry Lee - Mick Fleetwood on drums http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCY4xOmFDaI

There is hope for the World. Putin is a rock'n'roll fan! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV4IjHz2yIo&feature=youtu.be

I am posting this Youtube video by Deke Dickerson especially for Aberdeen Music's own Bigsby. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RisWJFmOYrI#t=195 Deke plays the rockabilly circuit and is quite a music historian. This second video is of Deke doing Mystery Train using Scotty Moore's Ray Butts amplifier - the one Scotty used on Elvis's Mystery Train. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUzzpKi4Fio

The Malpaso Gang made a return visit to the stage at The Moorings and played a 50 minute set of what could be called "Real Country" - the music of the 40s and 50s - not the pop rubbish produced in Nashville today. The most ambitious number tonight was the Gang's version of the country blues-ballad You Win Again that written and made famous by Hank Williams in 1952. Since then it has been covered by everyone from Jerry lee Lewis to a 2014 release from Bob Dylan. Bigsby played steel guitar and vocalist Nina had so much despair in her singing, it would have made Misss Audrey herself weep. Other highlights were the Big Bopper-penned White Lightning that was made famous by the late George Jones and the set ended with a crowd of dancers rocking to an uptempo version of Cash's Folsom Prison Blues. Some great guitar playing throughout and the new drummer seems to be settling in well. And of course no one shimmies quite like Nina who was dressed in an almost Mexican style

Banjo Boy, the alter ego of Aberdeen Music's Bigsby, performed a very entertaining set at The Moorings Tonight. Three specially created numbers were much appreciated by the crowd who were initially surprised to hear songs sung in the style of George Formby. However special lyrics about a famed Teabags show at The Moorings were well received by the crowd. The bar's new toilets even got a mention in one song! Beryl would have been proud to hear George updated lyrics. And Bigsby is due to make another appearance at The Moorings on Saturday night in his persona as a member of the Malpaso Gang.