The Camaro
SS was wasted on the roads around Sunset Boulevard so a trip up to Mulholland
Drive was far more fun than was legal. I wasn’t sure the tyres would last the 4
day rental!
From
Lookout Point I could see the fires away in the distance. The wind was blowing
stronger today and as I stared out across the valley towards Big Bear and then
south following the massive smoke trail, I felt for all the people and animals
struggling to make themselves safe and save what they could.
It was
good to catch up with some of my friends in L.A.. Around dinnertime I would get
some good Mexican food and Margaritas at El Compadre and listen to the trio
making the right sound to complete the early evenings combination. I’ve been
going to El Compadre for 38 years and it never fails to be a great start to the
evening.
Goodbye
to my layover on the West Coast and back to the UK. Within hours of arriving at
Heathrow I was driving down the lanes to my quiet home. There had been a small
flurry of snow and all looked as it should.
A few
days later I went to see Robert Plant play his last show of his UK tour in
Birmingham. I had missed Chrissie singing with him at the Albert Hall a few
days earlier. It was a great night and the band were truly amazing. Robert has
such great command of the stage.
After the show I had a few words with him about
the gig and missing him at his London show. He always gathers a great
collection of musicians around him. In a way it was a home gig for Robert and I
thought I may see some old faces backstage. Birmingham is only an hour from
Hereford and was a source of many gigs like Mothers and Henry’s Blues House not
to mention the Birmingham Town Hall that I had played with my band Karakorum on
a UK tour with Alexis Korner in 1971. I was very pleased to meet with Bev Bevan
who was the drummer from The Move and other collaborations. A delightful man.
Robert
mentioned to me about our possible USA tour with him in the summer of 2018.
Much to my disappointment nothing was to come of it. 
That week
I called Johnny Borrell. It was obvious he was burning with a load of
enthusiasm and had written more material since we spoke in Los Angeles. I told
him it sounded like we should get on with it before Christmas, which we did. In
the new year the majority of the album was completed.
I had
met Johnny a few times before at rehearsal rooms and liked the fact he worked
on old motorbikes. Bass, guitar and drums were the way we worked. With Johnny
and collaborator David alternating between playing guitar or bass, the
arrangements were formulated. In the new year during the recording process I
awoke at 4am one morning with the shakes and sweats. The following morning I
continued as normal, but the bug put Johnny in bed for 2 days and David for
three. Nevertheless, the songs tumbled out well and I’m sure they will get a
lot of airplay. I look forward to hearing the finished mixes.
During
this time, I managed to fit in a trip to the historic and picturesque city of Bath,
where I saw my two grown up children for a little food and a catch up. They
looked great and happy as usual. With being away so frequently and the
continuing work back at my home, it is always hard to find the time to visit (not
to mention feeling exhausted and being so burnt out from the travel.) It is, of
course, always great to see them both. I look forward to having a home soon
that can accommodate a visit from them all together.
True to
form, rehearsals for the South American tour loomed quickly and suddenly there
were lots of preparations I hadn’t seen coming. Yellow Fever inoculations for
Brazil and a second passport to enable us to get visas for Argentina because
our other passports were at the Peruvian Embassy and then with the U.S.
Embassy.
After a lot of rushing about, things were in place and a new set
of songs were arranged and placed in a running order for our opening show at
the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
M.D.C.
You didn't happen to pop into Sam Ash did you?
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