Sassafras:
Terry Bennett Dai Shell Ralph
Evans Ricky John Congo Jones
Gary Leeson,
Friars fan, writing for the Friars Aylesbury website in 2008:
"I
thought I would share the first of many memories with you, the gig Be Bop
Deluxe & Sassafras 19.7.75. Bebop were the first band to blow me away,
they played rock blues and pop complete with great stage clothes and
eye shadow !!.
The band were on the way up when they played Friars with their second
album Futurama being played on the Alan "Fluff" Freeman show on Saturday
afternoons, essential listening to anybody who attended Friars on a
regular basis.
The band came on stage in darkness to an intro tape of pulsating drone
type noise with big white spotlights shining into the audience from either
side of the stage. Then they were straight into the first number entitled
Stage Whispers, I was hooked, I couldn't take my eyes off bass player
Charlie Tumahi and Bill Nelson posing and throwing shapes while
drummer Simon Fox flailed around his kit hammering out tricky rhythms' and
beats. The set was mainly made up of tracks from the Axe Victim and
Futurama albums.
The end of the show culminated in what I think was a piece of guitar music
called Watch This Space and climaxed with a large confetti filled balloon
bursting above the audiences head.
Wonderful music all presented with what was then considered a big
production. The following week I went out and blew my weeks earnings from
Tesco on Axe Victim and Futurama from Earth Records, and was a fan of Be
bop Deluxe until they split in 1978."
Chris Sharley,
Sassafras, writing for the Friars Aylesbury website in 2009:
I
have fond memories of playing The Friars in 1974 & ''75 with Welsh band
Sassafras. one gig in particular stands out when we were on with Bebop
Deluxe. What a great band they were? I found a poster on an old Friars
site which was a nice bit of memorabilia for my scrap book. Thanks...
The drummer from Bebop was originally from Hackensack, with Nicky Moore
on vocals. Strangely enough I later became a great friend and did many
gigs with Nicky in the 80's and fairly recently the 'Back For A Bit
Tour'.
Good luck with the 'New' Friars and I'll follow with interest.
Charles Shaar Murray,
NME, 9 August 1975
THE FIRST THING that hits you when you see Be-Bop Deluxe in their current
incarnation (or, for that matter, listen to said incarnation's Futurama
album on the highly deserving and impeccably integrity-loaded Harvest label) is
that they're about 400% better than they used to be.
This is undoubtedly down to the fact that Bill
Nelson (lead everything) is now working with musicians, who can keep up with
him.
It was fairly apparent a year ago that, in the
original Be-Bop line-up, Nelson was stuck in a classic syndrome – semi-pro band
makes good on the strength of the talent of one of their members – but these
days one-man bands don't make it.
Just how unequal to the task Nelson's former
colleagues were only becomes fully dear when you see him working out with
bassist Charlie Tumahai and drummer Simon Ffox (plus an excellent keyboard
player called Andy Mumble).
I mean, they're good.
Hence, Nelson is now able to let fly infinitely
more.
He provides by far the best guitar-show available
in his present price-range, which is just as well since he writes songs of such
an obstacle-course nature that they'd derail lesser mosicians in the first six
bars.
The obstinately dejointed structure of Nelson's
compositions, in fact, are liable to be the major (if the only) stumbling-block
in the path of Be-Bop's upward course to fame, fortune, super-stardom and
guitars which don't go out of tune whenever you bend a note, since he doesn't
write anything even remotely catchy for the benefit of us poor bozos who're
unable to retain any line longer than 16 bars.
The way round that little dilemma,
however, is the frenetic energy with which Nelson et al approach the
songs in performance, as per Aylesbury, one of the few remaining English rock
halls where you can amble in and be confronted with a (glurrrrrrrp) light show
and (choke) Country Joe and the Fish records over the P.A.
It's strange that a hall with such a totally
ZigZag aura should've been the launching pad for such '70s-oriented acts as
Mott, Bowie, C. Rebel and now Be-Bop Deluxe.
Instead of just standing there and letting Bill
gangle his way through the show as the only remotely visual item, Tumahai vibes
up the ensemble quite considerably with the intensity of his playing and back-up
singing, and the awesome charisma and star quality emanating from his hat (don't
ask silly questions. Go see and All Will Be Revealed).
Occasionally, Nelson seems a trifle out of his
depth conceptually.
Dramatising a scene from Harlan Ellison's
'Repent, Harlequin!', Said The Tick-Tock Man on the back cover of
Futurama was a nice idea (and proves Nelson to be the only rock star apart
from David Bowie who's openly conversant with Mr. Ellison's work), but 'Swan
Song', the album track which I am informed relates to the picture, doesn't seem
to do anything of the sort. Plus his lyrics still come on like collegemag poetry
of the more tangled variety.
Still and all, Be-Bop Deluxe are a good show
(Good show, chaps). Nelson's fluid, deft, powerful and intelligent lead guitar
(note to EMI: this phrase is eminently suited to quoting in advertisements)
builds up a more than considerable head of steam on 'Maid In Heaven' and 'No
Trains To Heaven', and he gets lyrical all over the place on 'Sister Seagull'
and the afore mentioned 'Swan Song'. Very bird-oriented is our Bill.
Still think they're a little overheated in the
singing and songwriting departments, but Be-Bop Deluxe are still of this
season's most interesting and promising new groups.
Though they haven't yet developed the knack of
transmitting the greater part of their energy and presence on record, they're
hell on wheels in concert.
Did you know that when the
original Cockney Rebel imploded, the departing musicians from that band
joined Bill Nelson in the second version of BeBop Deluxe? The reason that
version didn't last is that the record company thought they were too much
like Cockney Rebel.....
The band ended in 1978 and Bill Nelson went
on to forge a solo career that still goes strong today. Charlie Tumahai
died in 1995. Andy Clarke is believed to be working for
Peter Gabriel's Real World studios. Simon Fox's whereabouts aren't so
clear.
Sassafras went on to headline
Friars twice and are still going strong as at 2010.
