The Last Waltz

My name is Virgil Kane and I served on the Danville Train…

Late-Summer 1968 – There has been quite a noise over the last few weeks in the Melody Maker; their writers have been talking about this new group from America. A few pictures have been posted – the group all seem to wear hats and beards and, according to the scribes to whom I subscribe, the music they make is unutterably glorious: a heady mix of Southern soul and Northern driftwood.

I don’t actually know what this means but, my (nearly) sixteen year old musical mind has started salivating. Nothing but nothing has been played on the radio yet my pocket-money has begun burning a hole in my flared jeans.

My Dad works in Argyll Street, just off Oxford Circus and, one morning, he finally relents to my constant pleas… Locally (this being the backwaters of Hampshire) no record shop I know of stocks this record I've been reading about so, please… please… take my money, all 32 shillings and 6 pence of it (that’s about £1.70 or so / $2.30) and bring home a copy of this album. Please.

That very evening, it arrives. It has been purchased from Harlequin – a record store in Berwick Street (now long defunct). And, the purchaser wasn’t actually my Dad at all; he’d sent his secretary out to affect said transaction. It’s a mono pressing (hell, what did I know, what did I care)… and is contained in a sleeve adorned by what looks suspiciously like a child’s painting. Only its not, it’s by Bob Dylan. There is no wording on the front cover – just this painting. And, on the back not a whole heap of information either– so far, not so terribly good. But, inside… the warmth of the black-vinyl exudes… something.

The needle drops and I’m all expectation. Can this be really as good as has been written about? Forty minutes or so later, having indulged myself in both sides of the vinyl, I’m in quite a state of shock. At this distance, its quite hard to explain in mere words just what an impression that record made. Put simply, up until that point in my life I’d never… ever… heard anything like it.

Its akin, I guess, to someone hearing (say) Miles Davis for the first time; hearing Winwood sing; seeing Hendrix or watching Bob Marley for the first time – this was music from another place. Completely.

Fast forward. It’s the end of June 1983, I’m in New York and traveling with Niall Stokes, the editor of Ireland’s most fortnightly music publication, the much-revered Hot Press. We’re out on the road with the Irish Group; these being the final US dates on this leg of The War Tour… and have tipped up in Manhattan with the venue for the evening being Pier 84 (don’t think they have shows there anymore). It holds about 3,000 people – places like Madison Square Gardens are on the tour itinerary horizon but not booked… just yet.

Late afternoon and there’s a knock on my hotel room door. Stokes’ beaming face is at the entrance.
“Shall we meet in the lobby at 6?” he inquires.
“Bit early, isn’t it?” I suggest.
“Well… yes… but… actually, there’s a bar downtown and I thought we should go there first ‘cos there’s a band playing that would be well worth seeing before the show”. The good Stokes is giving little away and I’m not entirely convinced. Nor am I really of a mindset to go see a bar-band but… to humour him… sure, why not.

At the appointed hour, we meet in the lobby and jump a cab that is propelled downtown by a driver of Eastern European extraction. It appears unlikely that this fella is possessed of a license as red lights are run at a terrifying pace but, eventually, we’re deposited relatively unscathed outside a not-terribly-enticing bar in a particularly seedy part of lower-Manhattan. This isn’t looking that promising but a beer is a beer is a beer – we push our way in and up to the bar.

As Niall does his best to lure the barman over, I start tugging at his coat. There is a band setting up in the corner… keyboards, drums have been placed in position, a bass guitar is on its rack… mic stands are in place. And, there are faces that look extremely familiar along the bar; isn’t that…? That surely can’t be…? I tug again “Niall will ya look for pity’s sake… isn’t that…?” Two pints in hand, he turns round… and says, “Thought you’d fancy this… only found out by chance…"

At that moment, the musicians started to take their places… there is a short drum roll… The first song kicks in, with the bearded drummer easing up to his mic on the off-beat and that familiar voice, straight out of Arkansas, opens with… My name is Virgil Kane and I served on the Danville Train…

There are maybe 75 people in this bar. Stokes is grinning ear to ear; me – my jaw has just dropped to the floor. If there is a musical heaven, then I’ve arrived.

Unhappily, due to our appointment at Pier 84 being at 8pm we have to leave before the end of the show (I later discover that this edition of The Band minus Robbie Roberston were due to play two sets). But, it was… in retrospect… enough. In fact, it was more – it was a true privilege to witness musical magic that close up.

Fast forwards. A few days ago, the news broke that Levon Helm was loosing his battle with throat cancer. This morning, the unwelcome news came through that he’d quietly slipped away, surrounded by friends and family.

This, therefore, is simply to echo all that is being written today across the globe: Levon – for all the music, over the years… thanks.

Hidden Masters | The Jess Roden Anthology CD 5 – Eight Days On The Road

There are some... perhaps many... who would argue that an act or artiste recorded live is when their true colours really emerge; no last-chance studio-saloon for overdubbing, re-working those vocal harmonies that went horribly off-key, re-recording a guitar solo because said guitarist was playing with maximum fretwork enthusiasm but minimal concentration by soloing all over the intricate bass-line – thus ruining an otherwise cracking rendition of song Y... and so forth.

Well, that is unless unscrupulous producer Z decides to employ all the gadgets at his or her fingertips that have, far too often over the past few years, turned real live recordings into a travesty bearing the name whereby 'recorded live' actually means it was replicated in the studio but the applause came from the night in question (and very often thats dubbed in too).

So... what do we have here..? Actually, this is as pure as it gets.

Yes, we fixed a couple of things; on one track from the JRB's (now legendary) Marquee appearances, Pete Hunt's bass-drum mic became detached and, quite literally, moved right to left across the stage. Pretty obviously, this rendered the track – as it stood – unusable... but, 'cos the performance was outstanding, how to fix it?

We (that is Jess, self and Richard Whittaker) sat there in the windowless gloom of FX – no one should be under the illusion that studios are all glamour – one Sunday afternoon, chewing on sandwiches, drinking a lot of coffee and scratching our heads. There was a soloution and it was going to take at least three hours: Richard took one, simple, bass-drum 'thud' out of the same song, recorded the previous night, and back into the track we wanted to use. This was done by replacing one note after another. Thud... thud... thud... Was that cheating... nope, we didn't think so.

On another tune we wanted to use, Bruce Roberts' guitar lead wasn't plugged in properly for the first thirty seconds or so; how did we fix that – same methodology. Thank goodness that the multitracks actually survived.

And now ladeeeez and gentlemen..., for your delectation – here is Jess... recorded live as live is...

1. Intro / The Alan Bown – Sourced from the ¼” Master and recorded September 19th 1966 live at The Marquee Club, London… segues into…

2. Reason To Change / The Jess Roden Band – Previously Unreleased, sourced from the 2” Multitrack and recorded May 20th 1976 live at The Marquee Club, London… segues into…

3. It’s Growin’ / The Alan Bown – Sourced from the ¼” Master and recorded September 19th 1966 live at The Marquee Club, London (from the only known Alan Bown club recording, originally issued on Side 2 of the seminal 1966 London Swings | Live At The Marquee LP, the A side featuring Jimmy James & The Vagabonds – although their performance was actually captured on a different night)

4. The Ballad Of Big Sally / The Jess Roden Band – Previously Unreleased, sourced from the 2” Multitrack and recorded November 30th 1976 live at Birmingham Town Hall (from one of the two shows that were recorded – the other being Leicester university – during the last JRB UK tour from which, ultimately, the Blowin’ album was released)

5. You Can Leave Your Hat On / The Jess Roden Band – Previously Unreleased, sourced from the 2” Multitrack and recorded November 30th 1976 live at Birmingham Town Hall

6. Down In The Valley / The Alan Bown – Sourced from the ¼” Master and recorded September 19th 1966 live at The Marquee Club, London

7. Can’t Get Next To You / The Jess Roden Band – Previously Unreleased, sourced from the 2” Multitrack and recorded May 20th 1976 live at The Marquee Club, London (the third and final night of the JRB’s residency at The Marquee that May and on a night when the temperature rose to such a degree that water was running down the walls; a collosal early-Summer thunderstorm broke overhead right as the final notes of that night’s performance played out).

8. Get To Steppin’ / The Jess Roden Band – Previously Unreleased, sourced from the 2” Multitrack and recorded September 18th 1974 live at The Lyceum, London (a Robert Parker tune, ‘Steppin’ was recorded at one of the earliest JRB shows – pre-Billy Livesey joining on keyboards – supporting Georgie Fame’s band at London’s legendary Lyceum)

9. In A Circle / The Jess Roden Band – Previously Unreleased, sourced from the 2” Multitrack and recorded November 20th 1976 live at Leicester University

10. Me And Crystal Eye / The Jess Roden Band – Previously Unreleased, sourced from the 2” Multitrack and recorded November 20th 1976 live at Leicester University

11. You Better Believe It / Jess Roden And The Humans – sourced from the WAV Master and recorded November 1st 1996 live at The Robin, Merry Hill, Birmingham

12. Miss US Dream / The Jess Roden Band – Previously Unreleased, sourced from the 2” Multitrack and recorded November 20th 1976 live at Leicester University

13. The Boomerang / The Alan Bown – Sourced from the ¼” Master and recorded September 19th 1966 live at The Marquee Club, London

14 & 15. All Night Long & Friend Of Mine / The Jess Roden Band – Previously Unreleased encore, sourced from the 2” Multitrack and recorded November 30th 1976 live at Birmingham Town Hall (the penultimate night of their final tour)

(All track selections subject to change and final clearances. Recording dates listed have been sourced from tape box information).