Where’s My Guitar?: An Inside Story of British Rock and Roll

скачать книгу бесплатно


I moved on from the bedsit in Shepherd’s Bush as Fran and I took a basement flat in Paddington that we christened ‘The Dungeon’. It was shabby without the chic, but we were very fond of it and the location was fantastic. I was keen to find a new band and I didn’t have long to wait.

I had first met Cozy Powell in his dressing room at Manchester University after a Wild Turkey and Bedlam double-header. We immediately got along. I loved his can-do attitude. Here was a truly phenomenal player who had played in the Jeff Beck Band and yet he was much more interested in talking about football and racing cars. He said Bedlam was falling apart, Cozy’s hit record ‘Dance with the Devil’ having a negative effect.

Cozy called me at The Dungeon some weeks later to ask me to join his next band, Hammer. I was over the moon. I think it had upset him personally that his solo success had caused a problem. I said that I had experienced something similar with UFO, and he revealed that he knew all about that. He had been checking me out …

He was signed to Rak Records, owned by super-producer Mickie Most, and the new band would comprise singer Frank Aiello from Bedlam, Clive Chaman from the Jeff Beck Group on bass and Don Airey as keyboardist. Don was a classically trained musician with little experience on the road with a rock band but when he arrived at the rehearsal room, everybody’s face lit up. I heard a Mini Moog for the first time that evening and Don was already a total master, bending single keyboard notes the way I could bend a string on a guitar. It really was something else. His solos would scream just like a guitar.

Cozy’s double red Ludwig kit, shining in the centre of the room, looked ominous even before he sat down at it. Hearing him play was a real eureka moment, totally unlike experiencing him with other bands or on record. He held the sticks in the traditional way and could be very subtle with his playing but then the power of those bass drums would knock me for six. I was blown away by his timekeeping. I had to keep myself together with this man.

Our set opened with an instrumental, ‘Super Strut’ by Eumir Deodato, an old bluesy song by Elvis Presley, ‘Trouble’, a couple of Cozy’s hits – ‘Dance with the Devil’ and ‘The Man in Black’– the Clive Chaman song ‘Who’s That Girl’ and a couple of songs I had written, ‘Hold On’ and ‘Keep Your Distance’. A Marquee gig was heard by the likes of Queen’s Roger Taylor and Brian May, along with Cat Stevens, Brian Auger, Max Middleton, Suzi Quatro and Jeff Beck. Clive was quite unbelievable that night. ‘Super Strut’ had me open-mouthed at his dexterity. Cozy eventually leaned over to Clive and whispered, ‘Clive, listen, I know all your famous mates are here, but do you fancy playing the next fucking song with the rest of us?’ I was in hysterics!

Football would become almost as loved in the band as music. We played at any opportunity – in rehearsal rooms, outside gigs on the car parks. The mere sight of goalposts on the way to a gig would result in a stop-off. ‘Surely we can spare twenty minutes for a kickabout?’ Cozy would say.

We carried our kit everywhere, Powell in bright-red Swindon Town gear, Don with his Sunderland stripes, Frank in Arsenal away kit, and Clive in a gold Brazilian shirt. I looked more like Dave Mackay after too many nights in the pub. We were late for a Swansea gig after stopping for about an hour in the heavy mud of a Welsh field. Don was injured in a filthy Aiello tackle. He hobbled to the venue entrance, moaning and groaning, the rest of us covered with mud. The Welsh doorman was having none of it. ‘Fuck off yew lot, I’ve got Cozy Powell and the Hamsters ’ere in ’alf an hour.’ We explained that we were indeed the Hamsters.

Here is some inside info hardly anyone knows about. Cozy put a team together to play in the showbiz league, with members of the Average White Band, Humble Pie, Hammer and David Gilmour (a fine footballer). Cozy was a raiding winger, fast and dirty on the right. Don Airey played in midfield and was dreaming of and trying to channel Jim Baxter. Frank Aiello, on the inside right, was a real nuisance to opposing teams. Alan Gorrie was our superb goalkeeper. Hamish Stuart, a powerful centre-forward, was brave beyond the call and headed any ball. Jerry Shirley never stopped swearing. Dave Clempson was a fast and brilliant forward.