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Features
From
issue 169 - July 2010
Celebrating
British Rock 'n' Roll
Railway
Club, Coventry - Saturday, 28th May
Review & Photos: Maggie Sampford
Considering how quickly this event had been arranged in such a short
time and the obvious lack of advertising, the turnout was very encouraging!
A good sized concert room tucked away at the back of a deceptively
large club on a busy road which is not normally home to Rock 'n' Roll
but was pretty much full early on. It turned into more of a re-union
of old mates rather than a celebration of British Rock 'n' Roll as
I saw and chatted to so many people I'd not seen for years (as many
others did too).
The
doors opened at 6.30pm which meant the Eager Beavers and the Billy
Fury tribute by Johnny Gunner were missed by quite a lot, me included.
I just caught the tail end of Johnny Gunner singing 'Halfway To Paradise'
with backing tapes but he had a nice voice and that's about all I
can say about him really. The
So Rare Record Hop duo looked super smart in matching red waistcoats
and dickie bows and played an interesting selection of music throughout
the evening. It was quite different to the usual concoction that generally
gets served up and made a nice change.
The
diminutive Wee Willie Harris was entertaining. Still wearing his trademark
bright red drape jacket with his name emblazoned
on the back in bright orange - just in case he forgets
who he is! I don't think in the last twenty
years
I've
ever seen him wear anything else! Great rapport with the audience,
funny stories, jokes - a tried and tested recipe that always works.
'Be My Guest', 'Let's Have A 
Party',
'Splish Splash' and a very
different take on 'House Of The Rising Sun'. Really fast and well
rocked up, yes it worked. He was very ably backed by Vince Eager's
new band, the Memphis Tones, so no backing tapes which I've always
been aware of him using in the past. An excellent performance from
a veteran Rocker who finished his set with lively versions of 'Kansas
City', 'Hound Dog' & 'Johnny B Goode'.
More
gems from the So Rare duo
until another Rockin' original, in the form of that big, big guy,
Vince Eager who arrived to finalise this British Rock 'n' Roll celebration.
A lovely version of a long time favourite of mine, 'Such A Night'
followed by a powerful 'Midnight Special'. Nice treatment of 'Baby
Blue' which he actually performed with Gene Vincent on that final
fateful tour which ended Eddie Cochran's life.
An
emotional 'Make Believe' preceded a change of tempo indicating great
versatility with the lively 'Please Don't Touch', 'Yes Tonight Josephine'
and 'Mean Woman Blues'. 'Teenager
In Love' was stretching the imagination just a bit but with the plentiful
audience participation, who cares that many of us were recycled teenagers
anyway! 'Suspicious Minds' wound up a lengthy but entertaining and
professional performance, then it was back to the So Rare duo to wind
up the evening with more choice classics.
Check
out www.covabilly.co.uk for more news and future events.