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  #31  
Old 06-08-2011, 07:49 PM
THD THD is offline
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Originally Posted by SteveMacD View Post
I've wondered if that was the same gold-top Kirwan used at one point...

I'm afraid I don't know , when I say it was "goldish " I don't mean it was a gold topped Les Paul de Luxe ** with the smaller sized humbuckers I mean it looked sort of like Peter's .Did Danny play a Les Paul deluxe at some point then ?
What I do know is: I remember hearing a radio interview with Duster and he said something like "God Bless Peter he was so kind -he just gave me a Les Paul- the one I use now ." during this int he played a couple of songs live in the studio and his guitar was out of tune so he had to stop and start again !

** (I had one once and it was nearly seized off me by Her Majesty's customs and excise -but that's another story !)
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  #32  
Old 06-08-2011, 08:39 PM
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Upon further review, it appears they're different guitars. Although both are gold-tops with p-90s, the bridge is different. Pete's had a trapeze style tailpiece, where Danny's had a stop tailpiece.



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  #33  
Old 10-03-2011, 09:40 AM
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Default FM gigs at the Roundhouse

The Roundhouse concerts I think I attended three of them but Dinkie Dawson says they only did two Feb 25 1970 and Apr24 Pop Prom? 1970 I certainly remember listening to John Peel’s Sunday radio show and him announcing that FM were doing a show at the Roundhouse in a couple of days time at very short notice and we went to it , maybe that explains why I recall this third concert but it’s not noted ?
The problem I have is separating out what incidents happened at which concert at this venue , as it seems my memory works by associating what happened with the venue So I have problems if I saw them at the same place more than once So what I say happened will have occurred at at least one of them that I attended, but I don’t know which one( unless I say otherwise in the text )

The Roundhouse is a round Victorian building in Camden north London , which was once a railway turntable for quickly changing the direction of,steam locomotives I think there was a balcony all round it- don’t know if this was in the original railway design ..

I remember seeing Mick and someone , poss Peter, standing at the Bar when we arrived , but I was far too timid to go there and try to talk. When we were waiting for the bands, music would be playing and at least twice in the same evening they played Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit in the Sky which really worked well , and I still think is a great record (I think this wasn’t the rock Prom Concert )
John Peel(British BBC radio DJ ) was master of ceremonies at ( at least ) one of these, and people were throwing paper plates, ,some with messages written on them, Frisbee style at the stage ,and he picked up a couple , read them and was certainly displeased by the comment on one of them . ! I guess others were messages for the Mac (I don’t know why there were paper plates around !) We sat on the floor, there being no seating in the body of the hall ,or not at the front a least At one concert I was dying for a pee well before FM took the stage ,but I daren’t leave my position as it was jam packed with people sitting on the floor It seemed though, when the Mac took the stage all thoughts of this problem went out of my mind till after the show When you are young, you are prepared to put up with inconveniences that are intolerable when you’re older! ,

Supporting acts:
One was Elton John: I wasn’t impressed Again ,the reports say he was topping the bill at one of the pop proms but I would not have gone to a concert to see Elton, and my recollection is he was supporting FM at one of these Roundhouse gigs. Also a group called ,Hookfoot, and possibly one called Sassafras, and also Nico ,formerly of the Velvet underground, who sat on the stage and sang several dirges, accompanying herself on a pumped organ thing She was OK though ,and I quite liked it (all I can say is, again , I don’t think this was at he rock prom either )

FM

There was a huge inflatable pink penis dangling over the stage from the balcony, which circumnavigates the place I’m sure Peter made some quip about this when they took to the stage
He started to play Man of the World I think (could have been Albatross I
I suppose)










and after a few bars ,made some comment about doing something more exciting or “that’s enough of that “or ( words to that effect, ) **and just started playing the riff to Oh Well* and they continued with that song till the end, though it may have been an extended version going into a jam I feel this happened pretty early on in the set -,May have even started like that.
These concerts were very loud, too loud in retrospect ,my ears would ring for hours afterwards. At one, the drums were mixed far too high in the mix,-Though I noticed this, it didn’t worry me- it was so exciting They played a great Madison Blues at this show I think they played Lke it that Way
Peter introduced Rattle Snake shake with “this is a song about Masturbation “and sort of said the word with relish I remember being absolutely overwhelmed at some point and wanted to get up on stage and join in the jam- the fact that I didn’t have my guitar with me didn’t seem to be a problem -though of course I didn’t move , but this is how powerful it could be! )
I noticed Christine Mc Vie at the side/,back of the stage, looking intently and admiringly at Peter ,whilst they were playing -,dare I say almost in disbelief at how good he was!


My memory is that these were all superb concerts, and ,as I had dragged along as many friend as possible to convert them to the cause ,I’m very glad ,to say FM came up with the goods !(Having said that, I didn’t ever see a bad concert by them !)


** if anyone would be kind enough to tell me if anything like this happens on any of the bootlegs that would be interesting cause if not, it might give an indication that there was a third concert.., If anyone can sort out the concerts ,I’d be very grateful!
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  #34  
Old 10-04-2011, 01:11 AM
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Get yer hands off Greeny's guitar, man!
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  #35  
Old 10-04-2011, 05:21 AM
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Get yer hands off Greeny's guitar, man!
Yeah -but did you know that the chord they make with the total of their eight fingers is the unusual Bb demented fifth !
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  #36  
Old 10-04-2011, 01:52 PM
zoork_1 zoork_1 is offline
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Yeah -but did you know that the chord they make with the total of their eight fingers is the unusual Bb demented fifth !
To me it looks like the "made up 5th" ...
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  #37  
Old 10-04-2011, 03:10 PM
Ms Moose Ms Moose is offline
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Originally Posted by dino View Post
Get yer hands off Greeny's guitar, man!
That Goldtop in the picture is actually Duster Bennett's guitar, originally given to him by PG who - as myth has it - had it from Clapton - who had it from B.B. King ect... It was left in the boot of the car Duster had the accident in. It was later auctioned for the benefit of Dusters widow Stella. I can't remember where I have seen this information....Probably in the capture below the picture in a music magazine.

Ms Moose
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  #38  
Old 10-04-2011, 07:46 PM
BklynBlue BklynBlue is offline
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THD -
Memory does play tricks on us - The Pop Proms in April of 1970 were actually a week long set of shows running from Monday to Saturday, and the promoter put together a wildly eclectic line-up of acts, both established and new, for each of the nights.

There were jazz-rock hybrids such as IF (heavy with horns), Quintessence (incorporating Indian music into their jazz-rock), a newly reformed Traffic, the folk stylings of Fairport Convention, the hard blues rock of Johnny Winter and Juicy Lucy and the quieter solo / small band efforts of Matthew’s Southern Comfort and Elton John (who may or may not have been previewing songs from his up-coming “Empty Sky” album).

On the bill with Fleetwood Mac on Friday April 24th were Mighty Baby and Hookfoot.

The show is available for download at : www.wolfgangsvault.com

The tape reveals that the inflatable phallus was deployed at the end of the opening number, 'Black Magic Woman' -

I always thought that unveiling the prop after the first number seemed a bit "pre-mature" as they then had to top that - worse, the next song Green plays is 'Before the Beginning' turning in a stunning version, one of his finest in my opinion. I'm thankful that I only have the audio as I don't think I'd be able to really appreciate the performance with that thing swaying in time to the music.

this is followed, after a some delay by 'World in Harmony'

I don't understand why they wouldn't have waited until a number such as 'Rattlesnake Shake' or the encore numbers, when everyone was already excited to push the audience over the top

Dinky Dawson claimed that Fleetwood got the prop from Mick Jagger; The Rolling Stones would employ a similar prop (was it the same one? How many of these things were out there?) when then toured North America - five years later! Was this something that Jagger just had hanging around the house, that he lent to Fleetwood for the night?
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  #39  
Old 10-05-2011, 02:13 PM
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I don't understand why they wouldn't have waited until a number such as 'Rattlesnake Shake' or the encore numbers, when everyone was already excited to push the audience over the top
Thematically the phallus would have made more sense during Rattlesnake, yeah .

Interesting memories you guys have. Thanks.
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  #40  
Old 10-06-2011, 07:52 AM
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Originally Posted by BklynBlue View Post
THD -
Memory does play tricks on us - The Pop Proms in April of 1970 were actually a week long set of shows running from Monday to Saturday, and the promoter put together a wildly eclectic line-up of acts, both established and new, for each of the nights.
(TE)
On the bill with Fleetwood Mac on Friday April 24th were Mighty Baby and Hookfoot.
(TE)
The show is available for download at : www.wolfgangsvault.com

The tape reveals that the inflatable phallus was deployed at the end of the opening number, 'Black Magic Woman' -

I don't understand why they wouldn't have waited until a number such as 'Rattlesnake Shake' or the encore numbers, when everyone was already excited to push the audience over the top
?
My memory is certainlty not infallible (perhas that should be my memory is not inphallible in this case (Lucky I didn't say my phallus was unmemorable !)

Howerver The only time I've ever seen concerts in the Roundhouse they were Fleetwood Mac concerts Despite the published listings, I definitely saw Elton at the Roundhouse, therefore it MUST have been at one of these Fleetwood Mac gigs I can't explain it but it did happen ! Similary Nico Now I'm well aware that in the scheme of things, whether Elton appeared or not, doesn't have much releveance to FM own performance, but it reflects the credibility of my memories But the one thing I am aware about my memory is that it does play tricks with the order of events(I wish so much that I'd kept a diary at this time but didn't do so untill1983 ,and when I look back I'm shocked by what I've forgotten ,and how an event I thought happened before another ,actually happened months after it !

I don't remember anything about Mighty Baby,but it's certainly possible I saw them.

I think the inflatable was up there before they began .It may have been up there for the whole concert(ie while the support acts were on) after all I don't think it could be instantly inflated ,so it would have to have been moved into position( and it was huge) ,or uncovered suddenly I,too, think it would have been far more apt for it to have been revealed for Rattlesnake Shake Perhaps this is an argument for the fact that it couldn't be suddenly revealed ,and they would have liked to have it coincide with this number ,but couldn't co-ordinate it for these reasons

So I would speculate that it had been up there all the time, but some one started waggling it about at the end of BlackMagic Woman -hence Peter's comments on the Wolfgangs vault recordings (Ive listened to these carefully and thanks Brooklyn Blue for that !)

I speculate that if these recording came from Dinkie Dawson then, when he listened to them, prior to writing his memoir , to remind himself of what happened, he interpreted wrongly ,Peter's comments to mean that the inflatable was revealed at that point

Finally ,listening too the recordings was great I do remember Peter complaing about snappers ,but not that he went on so long about it !
I remember John Mc Vie telling photographers to stop at one concert somewhere , and making some sort of semi serious threat like "and you know what will happen to you if you dont !" Also ,one time Mc Vie made some announcement to" be careful 'cause we've heard that the Chelsea Drugs Squad were around (not at these Rouncdhouse concerts )

Last edited by THD; 10-06-2011 at 07:58 AM..
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  #41  
Old 10-06-2011, 02:02 PM
BklynBlue BklynBlue is offline
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THD,

Please believe me when I say that I was in no way attempting to "prove you wrong" as to your memories - you were there, I was not -

in researching past events such as these, with only incomplete and often contradictory written accounts, and (sometimes) old posters or handbills, it is difficult to claim one has found a definitive answer -

It is only natural that timelines and events blend, blur and overlap in our memories as the decades roll by - that is one of the things that make it so difficult to sort out not only when something may have taken place, but also what it was that happened!

Reading and comparing books about the band by Martin Celmins, Mick Fleetwood and Bob Brunning are truly a trip down the rabbit hole
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  #42  
Old 10-16-2011, 05:45 AM
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I definitely saw Elton at the Roundhouse, therefore it MUST have been at one of these Fleetwood Mac gigs I can't explain it but it did happen ! Similary Nico Now I'm well aware that in the scheme of things, whether Elton appeared or not, doesn't have much releveance to FM own performance, but it reflects the credibility of my memories
I've done a bit of research about Hookfoot, which has revealed that they were his backing band on his first two albums, and were on the same record label ,so I think the explanation probably is that Elton must have joined them on stage for a few numbers on the night of the FM concert .
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  #43  
Old 01-18-2013, 01:53 PM
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For the sake of completeness I've duplicated the text of my memories of the concert at the Lyceum ball room in 1970(originally posted on the Mr Bassman thread and still there) and put it here ,so all the concerts appear in the same thread .( This is not quite in true chronological order ,as the Roundhouse concerts were amalgamated into one memoire ,but the last of them Peter's final gig with FM, was after the Lyceum concert .

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The best concert I ever saw them do was a the Lyceum ball room in April 1970 (I think )by this time the set involved a section with just Mick and Peter on stage , Peter playing vituoso bass - )
The Lyceum is in the Strand. London where it joins the to the curve of the Aldwych A grand building with a Greek columned frontage( more like side-age really) I remember queuing to get in with some friends , whilst buskers played. I think the concert was to raise money for charities helping Jewish old people , and the Grateful Dead were supposed to be playing, but they certainly weren’t there that night )….. whilst we waited they showed two films The Plank ,a brilliant English silent comedy starring and written by Eric Sykes, with appearances by other great British comedians such as Tommy Cooper and the like , and a film about the Wild Horses of the Carmargue (That bit about the films is moot (whereas the characters in the Plank were mute)-I definitely saw these films at a FM concert, but it might have been another one- I don’t think so but……. )
Humour was a big part of Fleetwood Mac .At a previous Roundhouse concert Mc Vie had been wearing a green tee shirt with Filmore West emblazoned across the chest in yellow , so we had prepared our own tee shirt of the same colours with Filmore EAST on it ,thinking we were being ultra clever ,and that if McVie spotted it he might be amused My good fiend Paul wore this creation . In our schoolboy minds we thought we were being incredibly funny, but little did we know there really was a Filmore East ! Meanwhile , I had brought a special comedy gift for Mick!
Glen Cornick’s Wild Turkey were on the bill ‘he wore a bandana, and had his trousers tucked into knee length boots ! I think they played as a complete out fit ,but “Blue horizon” in his posting is probably right that Nick Picket ,with others played first
When the Mac played their set , Peter was dressed in his Russian peasants outfit with a white top and possibly black baggy trousers, I don’t think he was wearing the full length coat thing ,but I could well be wrong The Lyceum Ballroom was formerly a theatre, and the stage was overlooked by small elaborate highly decorated balconies .In the right hand one was a very , very beautiful woman blonde I think!! and Peter acknowledged her when they took to the stage, or some point during the show, maybe she was his then current amour ?They played brilliantly - Coming Your Way - Albatross,- World in Harmony , -Jeremy’s slide numbers - I’m a stranger in your town was one I think- Before the Beginning ( thought there must have been hundreds of people there, some how you felt Peter was looking at you personally Obviously he wasn’t but there was something about him ,but there was this sort of intimacy with the audience that you just don’t get at a FM gig or anybody elses now a days -at Earl’s court for example ,and I especially felt it in this number ).The Green Manalishi – Big gong behind Mick’s kit for the intro’-probably the 6 string bass Peter And Mick interlude followed within the jam stemming from this song . Peter seemed very happy, and enjoying it ,as did the whole band ,not to mention the audience They went into a night club type vamp repeating, and repeating, and Peter introduced their very special celebrity guest ,which of course turned out to be Jeremy in one of his alter Egos Elvis probably ,and it was just fabulous. I cannot emphasise enough, what an important part of the show Jeremy was. People post that he was redundant after Danny joined Not so! It would have been a far poorer show if he hadn’t been there If he had quit to form his own band ,I can’t see them matching the excitement of the backing by John ,Peter And Danny Mick , ( I saw plenty of fancy drummers , but very few could get this aspect right ) , and as I say FM’s shows would have been the poorer without Jeremy ,!.

This band had everything : Humour mainly Peter and Jeremy , Peter’s playing could make you cry(but be sure that this depended on sympathetic playing from the others , He(Peter) and Danny played and interwove together like demons,(and two strong composers ) and the whole band could rock better than anyone I ever saw, and then take it up a notch above that (Sorry! Almost a Spinal Tap moment ), This was so important in Jeremy’s slide numbers too ! And there was the delight of seeing Mick, all knees and elbows,and grimaces , like some sort of demented a human steam hammer!(you can barely see him now ,as he has with such a huge kit enveloping him )

But I digress !I think they did Twist and Shout ,and McVie was doing backing vocals !!And Peter seemed to radiate this sense of humour when they were doing this sort of number. I truly can’t remember what the last number was ,or what other songs they did possibly Twist and Shout was the last . Then various people returned to the stage for a jam -Clen Cornick ,Mick Fleetwood amongst them. My friend Paul ,who’d driven us there wanted to go , or maybe other friends to whom he’d given a lift were putting pressure on him, but I just had to give my gift to Mick , so I waited till he left the stage -others were still playing,collared him ,and presented him with two giant mahogany balls each about 7 inches in diameter, tied together with string (obtained when my friend Dave "castrated " the staircase of his house, when he was forced to leave it against his will- the balls not the string ) saying something like “these are for you Mr Fleetwood- hope you like them “ever so politely and pathetically , and then turning and running to catch up with my friends who were already leaving . Other friends who stayed later than us (it may have gone on all night ) ,told me that Mick returned to the stage, to much laughter, flaunting these monsters hanging from his belt , having temporarily replaced his own( by comparison) modest spherical danglers !(but not for long I’ll wager - wearing them for any length of time would have been a real strain as they were heavy you couldnt play the drums wearing them !)
So it was a fantastic night ,and the best I’d ever seen them ,before or since ,or anybody else for that matter (with the possible exception of Brian Wilson about 5 years who was almost as good but in a different way )

Finally, when FM were over a couple of years ago to play Wembley , after many years of waiting for the opportunity, I had a good talk with Mick , and he couldn’t remember the giant balls incident at all. ,

Still it meant a lot to me at the time !

Last edited by THD; 01-19-2013 at 09:45 PM.. Reason: spelling and a little more info
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  #44  
Old 01-19-2013, 08:23 PM
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Wouter Vuijk Wouter Vuijk is offline
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Still it meant a lot to me at the time !
Yeah, know what you mean. It's hard to express emotions of the past into words of the present.
But cheer up, you're definitely not the only one.
As for me, I only saw FM once (perhaps twice, can't even remember that!!!). But I'm in no way to put down any recollections of the show apart from being astonished by a song where Mick is bent over his high hat, continuously hitting just that with his sticks, whilst Peter plays on. By now, years later, I guess that must have The Green Manalishi with Peter playing his 6-string bass. Little did I know back then in 1969 at 18 years of age.....
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Old 01-19-2013, 10:18 PM
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recollections of the show apart from being astonished by a song where Mick is bent over his high hat, continuously hitting just that with his sticks, whilst Peter plays on. By now, years later, I guess that must have The Green Manalishi with Peter playing his 6-string bass. Little did I know back then in 1969 at 18 years of age.....

Wouter ,the following is the text of my original post on the Mr Bassman thread which lead to the further detailed posting about the Lyceum concert on that thread (the previous - but -one post )and was about the section where only Peter and Mick were onstage to which you refer. I think your right it was the final section of a jam which itself followed on from the Green Manalishi .


The best concert I ever saw them do was a the Lyceum ball room in April 1970 (I think )by this time the set involved a section with just Mick and Peter on stage , Peter playing vituoso bass - I think I may have been a 5 or 6 string , and my recollection is that part of the time he was using a wah wah pedal (stangely though, I don't think he used a wah wah in any other song that night !)I think some how one of the songs had morphed into a jam typical of the period ,and then Peter was handed the bass ,whilst the others continued , and then Danny and John left the stage so the music never stopped ! He and Mick then played for at least ten minutes ,and it was great stuff !Mick is always very modest about his drumming abilities, but it was fantastic the way he kept the hi -hat going ,and would then throw in a sort of unexpected off beat with his bass drum which would surprise you- much more difficult to do than a continuous bass drum beat against the hi hat rhythm. I think there is some of this on the Boston tea party recordings and I'm sure the casual listener assumes John Mc Vie is doing the bass playing !
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