LIVE ON "FRIDAYS" (1980) - ROCKPILE
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2024
- In 1980 'Rockpile' were musical guests on the December 19 edition of ABC's variety show 'Fridays'. While "Knife And Fork" (2:02) and "Teacher, Teacher" (5:48) were included on the "Seconds Of Pleasure" album and subsequently featured regularly in the band's setlist for some time, the real gem here is "Big Blon' Baby" (0:00). Originally recorded by Ronnie Self in 1958 and more prominently by Jerry Lee Lewis a year later, both those recordings suffer from a rather unattractive oompah-oompah kind of rhythm. But not only did 'Rockpile' cook it up here accordingly in their trademark style - to the best of my knowledge, this is their only recording of the track.
Admittedly, this footage is of rather poor quality (video as well as audio) - but as - in its entirety - it's disappeared from YT, I think it's got to be back. And I haven't seen a better version yet, anyway. So, here it is - enjoy!
p.s. Three things to take note of here:
- In the first part of "Big Blon' Baby" Billy Bremner obviously didn't have any sound come out of his amp, which was then rectified.
- Another faux-pas of Billy's happens in "Knife And Fork" when he messes up the (otherwise neat) solo part at the end.
- And, lastly, I was taken by surprise by the band's somewhat clumsy conduct when not playing . . . as if they somehow didn't know what to do - funny.
This is one of the best RocknRoll bands ever! Period.
Still one of the best live bands I've ever seen.
I have a poster from The Seattle Coliseum when Rockpile opened for Bad Company
Bremner’s contribution to the Rockpile sound is underappreciated.
@Nicolas Martin
I know what you mean, Nicholas. I guess, with most folks that's up to the fact that Billy and Terry somewhat stood in the shadows of Dave and Nick, who in 99% of the cases were the targets of interviews and features. But of course you're dead right.
First of all Billy was responsible for quite a number of guitar solos that often were falsely attributed to Dave. And then there's the fact that his playing style is quite different to Dave's and both together were highly complementary.
One of the most obvious and best examples of this can be found in Rockpile's every straight rock'n'roll number: Dave playing his trademark monkey-beat rhythm (he hasn't been crowned the "king of the racka-racka" for nothing) with Billy filling in with his syncopating accents all over the place - rock'n'roll at its very best!
Too bad it had to end way too early - and under pretty foul-tasting circumstances to boot.
Oh for sure Billy was doing some really sublime guitar work with Rockpile and a perfect example of knowing what to add and what not to play. The born fighter film shows Bremner and Williams together as a pair of “rare rock n rollers” playing the beat on his lap and Bremner strutting an old vintage Gibson with his sublime rock n roll shuffle
Yep, a pretty nifty guitar player.............especially when u think only a few years before this he was captaining Leeds United. 👀
I was at this show! Was going to school in LA and worked with a guy who was a page at ABC, he snuck me in. Huge fan of Nick Lowe's, it was awesome to see him live in such a small setting.
Wow how cool is that. I bet you got high just being yard from em here😂 I’ve seen so many Rockpile vids that shows them as the “boozy” band that they were according to Nick Lowe. Here though they look like they’ve come across a shipment from Columbia or something😂 They all look out of their boxes
Rockpile was pure lightning in a bottle
1980 was a good year for music....Seconds of Pleasure was fantastic
Yes indeed!! A great year for RnR
Friday's did have the good reputation for getting great punk/new-wave bands for its musical acts. Musically-speaking, it put SNL to shame.
Saw them Nov. 80 in Cleveland. Top three show of this old man
Terry Williams is one of THE BEST drummers out there.
.....yup......
A treasure from Rockpile.......
I remember the day and place I bought this album.....
So good, it makes me cry.
This is fabulous.
@dolphinmom7
I'm glad you like it! 🙂
I saw this on tv when broadcast, "big blon' baby", Jerry Lee would have approved, Dave & Billy are one the great guitar duos ever. In the league of Duane Allman & Dickey Betts, Johnny Winter & Rick Derringer&Andy Powell & the Turner brother from wishbone ash !!!!🎸🎸🎸🎸
@b bb
Yes, Dave and Billy were complementing each other perfectly in Rockpile! But FYI: Wishbone's Ted Turner was no brother - not to Andy Turner and not more than a musical one to Andy Powell. ;-)
Nice that you mention Wishbone Ash. Also underated.
rockpile, we hardly knew ye. ♥️
I'm so missing theese days, music now really, really sucks...😭😭😭
You too kind 99% of today's "music" = 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩
Ahhh, there's plenty of good music now. And that includes Nick backed by Los Straitjackets, check out those releases.
Today, what is "music"?!
Fridays had THE best musical guests. Blew SNL right out of the water!!
I wish they had Big Blon' Baby in their normal concert sets, that was a jam.
Raised on Styx and Journey in a podunk American suburb, I didn't know what to make of this as an adolescent. It sure sounds great to me now.
@Emlizardo
Rockpile's high energy rock'n'roll has ALWAYS sounded great! ;-)
Styx and Journey? I hear you. I'm still in a treatment program for what that crap did to my adolescent ears.
No 1 Rock n Roll Band! 💥👊🏻
@theegg307
Yes, they were! 👍
In unity there is power...
Billy Bremner in his trademark Harrington jacket-love it!
Fucking great. Thanks.
Really good to all the young uns out there these are proper rock musicians also the Lazy Poker moniker is that a nod to Peter Green alright by me.
@mathill6869
"the Lazy Poker moniker is that a nod to Peter Green" - yes, it is! 🙂
A Pile of Rock
Lol they looked coked out of their minds here😂 Absolute savage group of musicians who on the film Born fighter shows them drinking from morning till night in the studio and Edmunds tries to shut Lowe up when he starts talking about their drug use. Make no mistake this group was the real deal in their Rock n roll musician ship and the Rock n roll lifestyle
After watching that documentary, it was no surprise they didn’t last. But what a great 3-4 years it was!
Dave looks more like he just had sixer of Blue Ribbon.
Schmirnoff Blue Label actually.@@jbpo
@@graemeselkirk90 proof
Do I hear Billy Bremner hitting two single-note clams at 00:38 and 00:40? Right after he turns around.
@kingcormack8004
When you watch Billy closely during these first bars of "Big Blon' Baby" (and as I explained in my accompanying notes), Billy noticed that his amp wasn't working and as he then gets it running, he checks that it's actually working by picking one, two not very fitting notes.
Wonder why it (Big Blon Baby) didn’t make the album? Never heard before so thanks for sharing.
hi lynn,
and thanks for all of your comments! i'm pretty sure that "big blon' baby" was never recorded for ANY rockpile album. the chaps often included the odd rock'n'roll "classic" (if you like) in their live sets for good measure. "mess of blues", "annie's back", "jailhouse rock", "rocking little angel" or "move it" are more examples of live-only covers. unfortunately i haven't found any source yet where to get a bit of insight into the amount of recording outtakes throughout the rockpile years - so nearly everything is up to pure guesswork. it's been assumed repeatedly by fans, though, that - provided enough material existing in the vaults at all - such a compilation would probably make a better album than "seconds of pleasure" had turned out to be. but considering all that, the chance of such a project to ever see the light of day is highly questionable. :-(
cheers - martin
Hey Martin - loving your expert knowledge of all things Rockpile related. Just imagining a Seconds of Pleasure Part 2 with this and Rocking Little Angel (another favourite of mine) and you’re right, it would be better!
@@lynnr1609
. . . btw, lynn - the steve hoffman music forums is a fantastic source of info on any kind of music. right now i started a thread on the "beverl(e)y brothers" EP there - you're very welcome to visit and participate:
forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/nick-lowe-dave-edmunds-sing-the-everly-brothers.1050981/#post-25958635
maybe i'll see you there and we night get in touch.
Following you over there now!
@@lynnr1609
welcome, rocking little angel! i already guessed it's you. :-)
I always thought I detected Dave's voice in the backing vocals for Teacher Teacher on the LP. Am I incorrect, and it was only Billy? Or did Dave contribute on the LP, but not when performed live?
@
Tom Florio
good question, tom - i'll have to listen to the studio track by earphones again . . .
Oh shit ニック ロー パイセン が まだ そんな感じ コステロ先輩ファンとしては新鮮
Great find. Love Big Blon' baby. What the hell was that at 0:38 ?
when you watch billy (and on close listening) it's obvious that his amp wasn't working - whether the amp was still on standby or the cable wasn't plugged in correctly, I don't know. but exactly at that point, billy had rectified the fault and picked a testing note (so to speak), which of course was out of place - that's what you hear. and from that moment on you can also hear billy's characteristicly syncopating rhythm playing.
@@lazypokerblues And Dave doesn't miss a lick, just a quick smirk and gets on with things.
@@jbpo
In other performances' cases of bum notes or lost words and the like they would exchange knowing looks with a broad grin . . . as if to say "Hey, we're just in it for the fun!" - that always makes me crack up with delight.
@@lazypokerblues 'We're only in it for free beer'
@Superlungs
I couldn't care less for bum notes or mixed-up lyrics in Rockpile - they only added to the charm of this band as they were always followed by exchanging of knowing boyish grins . . . absolutely fabulous!
Billy Bremner should have sang all the songs on Seconds of pleasure...
@williedegee1
That's what Dave Edmunds once said in an 1982 interview concerning Rockpile: "Meanwhile I think Billy should've taken the lead vocals on all the songs - 'Billy Bremner's Rockpile' . . . well, . . . !"
@@lazypokerbluesDave had such a great 'rock 'n' roll' voice...his performance of "Blue Moon of Kentucky", "Good Rockin' Tonight", and "Paralyzed" at an Elvis tribute concert show how much Dave Edmunds was synonymous with the essence of rock 'n' roll..
@@coinneachmaclellan3121
You're telling me?! I only stated what Dave himself said in an interview. And although he surely did so tongue-in-cheek, it's well known how high he rated Billy's voice and singing ("Sings like a bird!"). But that doesn't belittle Dave's fine vocals at all, of course.
What happened between Edmunds and lowe you seem like a huge fan I heard they just had a falling out and couldn't get along anymore musically is that true@@lazypokerblues
@@RoyPage1970
Ooooh, Roy, that's something you're asking! The whole affair about the clashes, falling-outs and splits between Dave and Nick is pretty complex and to this day the details behind the break-up of Rockpile are much debated within the fan circle. So it's nigh on impossible to explain it here in detail. What's for sure is this:
Fact 1 - The Rockpile split early in 1981 was the result of a falling out between Dave on one side and Nick and manager Jake Riviera on the other. Whereas Nick had since repeatedly stated that he saw the band merely as a stepping stone. Depending on who you'd ask, the reasons were legal and / or musical.
Fact 2 - A reconciliation of sorts and renewed collaboration between Dave and Nick starting in late 1987 didn't last and was cut short in 1990.
Later on Dave was briefly considering a Rockpile reunion with all four participants, but nothing ever came of it and the idea was quickly buried. And meanwhile it's been literally decades since Dave and Nick ever talked to each other. A sad story anyway.
Should you be interested in more about Rockpile - there's a fine book out there: "Crawling From The Wreckage - A Tribute To Rockpile" (2021) by editors Rikard Bengtsson & Ulf Björe. Copies are still available via Rikard Bentsson . . . look him up. And another one on the band is currently in the making.
The price is right audience.