Dave
Ball's Ballbreakers et al
Saturday 1 March 2008 • The
Boston Arms 'Dome', London
Henry Scott-Irvine invites you to
a fantastic Blues
celebration on 1 March
at The Boston Arms
'Dome', upstairs on Dartmouth Park Hill Road
opposite Tufnell Park underground station London N19
The
gig was scheduled for The Marquee, where Henry's last Procol-related promotion
was held, but owing to the sudden demolition notice served upon that venue the
Dome has been chosen for his Cyril Davies Tribute.
'Cyril Davies All Stars' were the first UK band to play real American
blues music live in the UK! He was also the first white musician to play Muddy
Waters music in Britain, and one of the first to record his material on disc.
Without him and his work, The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, Cream, The Pretty
Things and so on might not come into being. Many of these guys learnt their
craft from Cyril Davies.
There has never been a tribute to him until now! Many of his band members are
going to reform for one day only along with special guests, including Procol
Harum's Dave Ball.
Tickets are £12.50, admitting entrants to the shows in the evening, which
will start at doors open 7.30 for 8.00 pm.
Henry will be screening Cyricl Davies All Stars as seen on TV featuring Long
John Baldry from 1962/63: eleven unseen songs from UK TV archives plus a rare
screening of Simon Heyworth's documentary Living with the Blues about
Cyril and his many line-ups, which has not been seen anywhere since the 1980s.
This features many of the people that Cyril Davies played with, including Geoff
Bradford and Danny Thompson in performance, alongside former All-Stars bandmates.
There will then be performances from former Marquee ‘House Poet’
Pete Brown (Cream, Jack Bruce, Battered Ornaments, Piblokto! [and soon to be
Procol lyricist]) and his band,
along with special guests John O'Leary (Savoy Brown) - Harmonica & Vocals, Alan
Glen (Yardbirds, Nine Below Zero) on harmonica, and Art Themen (Alexis Korner's
Blues Inc, and Cyril Davies) on saxes, and special VIP guests
yet to be confirmed!
Headline act will be Dave Ball's Ballbreakers, which consists of Sam Kelly on
drums (www.sam-kelly.com), Spy on bass,
Richard Simmons on keyboards and of course Dave Ball (Procol Harum, Long John
Baldry and Bedlam) on guitar.
Full details from
www.sharkevader.com/gigs
See also
www.cyrildavies.com
Booking from
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/25433 £12.50 plus ten percent booking fee
Check out BBC Radio London / Robert Elms Show from Monday 18 February 12.40 til 1pm,
on which Henry plugs the above. Use
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer
If anyone's still unaware of
Dave Ball, he played with Long John Baldry, Procol Harum
and Bedlam – among other bands. When he played with Long John Baldry as
guitarist he explored his life long love of ‘The Blues’. In 1971 he replaced
Robin Trower as Procol Harum’s lead guitarist. During November 1971 he recorded
Procol Harum Live In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada.
The album went on to become a Billboard #5 album stateside, spawning the
worldwide hit Conquistador, which went to a UK singles chart position of #16.
World tours followed. During 1972 Dave then began recording Procol’s Grand
Hotel. Although unaccredited, the album still
retains much of his
unique guitar work. After leaving Procol Dave formed Bedlam and last
played at the Marquee Club when it was in Wardour Street, Soho,
in 1973/74. Other acts followed including a brief stint with Australian Art
Rocker outfit Duffo – a Beggars Banquet signing from the late 70s. Dave played guitar with Duffo at Edinburgh’s
Tiffany’s Nightclub in1978 where he delivered a blistering version of McArthur
Park! His rhythm section includes Sam Kelly, legendary Soul/Funk/Blues drummer from Cymande, Linda Lewis, Desmond Dekker, Dr John,
Chaka Khan and so on (voted 'Blues Drummer of the year' five times) and his
bandmate SPY on bass.
More about Dave Ball