A Good advert for music at The Navy!   Words: Dave Whiteman, Pictures: Laurence Gale

This week saw a rather unusual anniversary…….it is exactly 60 years since the first television advertisement appeared on our screens. Yes, on the 22^nd Sept 1955 a black and white image of a toothbrush inside a huge block of ice morphed into a lady brushing her teeth with ‘New Gibbs SR ‘ and TV advertising never looked back.  My personal favourites were the Guinness advertisements, which always seemed witty and clever, but who can forget ‘Beanz  Meanz Heinz’ or the Cadburys Smash Martians? How then, would we advertise Tuesdays at the Naval Association? We would have to copy the Ronseal advert and say ‘It does exactly what it says on the tin’ ….which pretty much sums up our weekly Open Mic.

What better way to start than with a few crowd pleasers from Oasis, courtesy of John Minor.  Normally a keyboard player, John has been entertaining us on guitar for a number of weeks now and although relatively inexperienced, he is improving week by week. A nice start to the evening.

Another terrific supporter of our weekly Open Mic is Laurence Gale, who often provides the photographs for these articles. Without his usual musical partner Rob Bryon, Lol was persuaded to put down his camera and get up on stage….even though by his own admission, he hasn’t played in quite a while. Our audience at the Navy are a very forgiving bunch however and joined in enthusiastically with opening number ‘Let it Be’ before an excellent version of Harry Chapin’s ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’……good stuff Laurence, and great pictures also!

I have been away for a number of weeks and one thing that always amazes me when I return is the improvement that some of the youngsters have made in such a short time. It seems like just a few months ago….but is actually around six…. that an anxious looking Richard Heywood took to the stage. Visibly shaking on his first public performance, he gave an understandably nervous performance that was nonetheless warmly applauded by the crowd. Fast forward to this week and his improvement is there for all to see. The nerves are no longer on view and he is very happy to take on quite complicated numbers, from artists such as Noel Gallagher and Radiohead. Lots of potential in this likeable young man.

One of our more experienced vocalists is Alex Ash, normally lead singer with local band Vinyl Tap. He is a larger than life character who brings humour and fun to the stage as well as a wide repertoire of songs. His mixture tonight included covers from Lionel Ritchie and Chris de Burgh before finishing with one of his favourites, ‘Walking in Memphis’….complete with high kick which the crowd always enjoys.

Badly Drawn Boy, real name Damian Gough, was a singer songwriter from Lancashire who had some success in the nineties, but seems to have disappeared without trace. Around three years ago a bunch of musicians from Penkridge,  Perton and Wolverhampton got together and visited the club for the first time as ‘Badly Overdrawn Boy’….a great name for a band. Sadly that didn’t stick and they later re-emerged as The Nameless. Nice to see a few of the boys back this week, getting up on stage as ‘Tuesday Night’, to give us a nice variety of stuff from Neil Young, Bad Company and Green Day.

Just time to assemble a small Scratch House Band for the evening finale, and Alex Ash recruited bandmate and bassist Jude Paton and resident soundman Jonathon Newton to play us out with a couple of classics from Creedence Clearwater Revival and The Beatles, before  wrapping up the night with the ever popular ‘Mustang Sally’.

Deja vu? I have been away around six weeks and it feels as if I have never been away!  Sadly the attendance was only around forty; quite a bit down on recent weeks…..perhaps the others were at home watching adverts on the telly!  The Open Mic has now been running for around thirteen years, surely some kind of record, so if you want to see what all the fuss is about come down to the Navy on Tues night from 8pm.

 Don’t forget this Friday 25th September sees the increasingly popular Soul Nite at The Navy, from7.30pm-1am, £4 at the door. 

Till next time….keep it live!

Last week I went to The Robin 2, probably the best and one of my favourite live music venues in the West Midlands with a capacity of 700. I have seen many great artists there over the years, one of them being the late great John Martyn who sadly died of double pneumonia in 2009 just 60 years old.  My introduction to singer/songwriter and guitarist John Martyn  was at the age of 19 at Stirling University and he was  23.  

Last week's visit to Bilston was to see The Glorious Fools, taken from the title of Martyn's 1981 album Glorious Fool, a four piece band playing an eclectic mix of folk, rock, jazz and blues from John Martyn's entire catalogue. Great support too from 31 year old Matt Woosey to whom I had the great pleasure of chatting at the venue. An evening of nearly 3 hours of outstanding music from 5 talented musicians in front of a "crowd" of just FOURTEEN people!

A friend of mine went to see Arthur Brown (remember the Crazy World of and the hit single "Fire"?) at the same venue to find he was one of only 2 people there. Arthur Brown said "We have 2 choices.....we can all go for a curry or we can do our set." A select audience of 2 chose the 2 hour set from Arthur Brown......a curry they could have any time but an insight in to the music of the day could have been interesting.

A week later at the Royal Naval Association in Newport there were around 60 in for the Tuesday night Open Mic Session paying just £1 for a raffle ticket and free entry. A full board by 8pm looked promising for a great evening of live music. 

Malcolm Purvis drops in 3 or 4 times a year from Leeds when he is working in the area and is a very prolific songwriter of "urban love songs".  With good use of a harmony peddle new songs included "Awkward Day" and "Devastating Friend", a sarcastic dig at a relationship going nowhere. Always good to see Malcolm back in Newport and at our Open Mic where he started out.

Steve Davis had traveled from Manchester to join us tonight and accompanied Vinyl Tap vocalist Alex Ash with an "unplugged" set which included "Road to Hell Part 2" and "Mustang Sally" both refreshingly different with Steve harmonising and on guitar. Anything by The Eagles always guarantees great harmonies and we were not to be disappointed with the addition of a harmony pedal to "Lyin' Eyes".

12 year old Jay Harris was lucky enough to  see Foo Fighters on the Broken Leg Tour at Milton Keynes Bowl so "Times Like These" was a great opener. Jay however was greatly impressed by Iggy Pop as support so set to and learned "The Passenger" giving us a great interpretation of the 1977 song from the Lust For Life album.

Girl Power........and an all girl rock band, a first at the Navy Open Mic I believe, with Emma Woodhouse and Becky Hick on guitars and vocals and Lexi Jones on drums with some driving rock songs by Alanis Morisette, Suzi Quatro, The Undertones and The Kinks. A superb set from these 3 who have only practised together twice before their appearance tonight. A very polished performance too and a departure for Emma whom we have previously seen in the folk influenced band Driftwood.

Bluesman Trevor Rowley has recently got a new band together and tonight Elmore's Dog had their first live outing and an extended set here in Newport. Trevor on guitar and vocals was joined by Mal Brown on bass, Steve Fields on lead guitar and "Johnny the Drummer". Classic blues by T-Bone Walker, Robert Johnson, Peter Green and king of country, Johnny Cash as well as one of Trevor's own compositions "Keeping the Blues Alive". A great collaboration of musicians and an enthusiastic reception from the audience.

Steve Davis was up next for a solo set and proving the point that Newport Open Mic always provides an evening of great diversity as well as exceptional musical ability not just from experienced musicians but from those who are just starting out. Steve is a veteran and tonight's set from him was one of great contrast starting with Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter", then "Every River" from the hugely popular Scottish band Runrig, finishing with a lovely interpretation of Foo Fighter's "Times Like These" which had been performed earlier in the evening by Jay Harris. People often worry about repeating something that has been done previously but both Jay and Steve interpret and sing songs in their own unique style so much so that I don't think the audience even noticed that it had been done twice!

Left hander from Telford but originally from Essex, Paul Townsend paid his first visit to Open Mic last week to "suss us out" but this week he was back to perform in the closing Scratch House Band set recruiting Andy Clarke on bass, grinning from ear to ear as usual, Trevor Rowley on lead guitar and Johnny the Drummer both from Elmore's Dog. A terrific and completely unrehearsed closing set from these four included a couple of great songs by Dr Feelgood and Leiber and Stoller's "Kansas City" originally recorded in 1952 by Little Willy Littlefield but probably better known covers by Wilbert Harrison, the Beatles and Fats Domino.

60 people paying £1 for 3 hours of live music on a Tuesday night in Newport, 14 people paying £14 each last Wednesday at the Robin in Bilston! 

Whenever and wherever there is live music these venues need your support in order to KEEP MUSIC LIVE.

Report: Jude Paton

Photographs: Matt Thomas

Report Jude Paton

Forget the bran flakes, breakfast just got some serious bling as Queen Elizabeth at 89 is now the longest reigning monarch in history overtaking Queen Victoria and notching up 63 years and 7 months on the throne. To mark this momentous event Kelloggs have brought out a new cereal called "Queen Flakes". The royal mouthful comprises gold leaf cornflakes, Special K, edible diamonds and pearls and Her Majesty's favourite macadamia nuts. Sadly you won't find Queen Flakes in the new Aldi store in Newport, nor any other supermarket for that matter but travel to Manchester's Black Milk Cereal Dive and a bowl of breakfast bling will set you back £6.30!

Here in Newport at the Royal Naval Association and for only £1 you can enjoy  around 3 hours of live music at Tuesday's Open Mic session and who knows you may well hear an excellent cover version of a song sung by Farrokh Bulsara better known of course as Freddie Mercury who joined the band Smile in 1970 with Brian May and Roger Taylor. Freddie persuaded the band to change their name however saying "I thought up the name Queen. It's just a name but it's very regal and sounds splendid as well as being strong, very universal and immediate". They were to become one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. Unfortunately our itinerant musician Dave Whiteman is still away on his travels but had he been at Open Mic on Tuesday I am sure he would have obliged with his superb Queen medley. 

After a 7 week break Tuesday is back to being a "school night" so many of the youngsters (or their parents) were polishing their shoes for the start of the autumn term. Nonetheless there were new faces in the audience once again and some varied acts to entertain.

19 year old Richard Heywood got the evening underway with some great covers by Bryan Adams, Oasis and one of my favourites from him, "Lady Madonna". A loyal supporter on a Tuesday night and growing in confidence every week.

John Minor this week brought his keyboard and demonstrated what an accomplished musician he is. No easy task finding the right effects on the keys whilst playing the melody. From Jeff Wayne's musical adaptation of H.G.Wells' science fiction novel "The War of the Worlds" John's  interpretation  of "Eve of the World" was outstanding. Followed by 2 further instrumentals by Greenday and Oasis John was note perfect.

18 year old Olly Flavell first appeared at Newport Open Mic at the age of 13 and has been prominent on the music scene ever since and is now a prolific songwriter. No surprise therefore that this weekend sees him off to the British Institute of Music in Manchester to embark on a 3 year degree course in songwriting. A great set of original material this week,  I don't think the ink had even dried from a couple of them. We wish him well and although he will most certainly be visiting us during holiday periods it will be interesting to see how his style develops over the next 3 years. Fortunately Manchester has one or 2 Open Mic venues for him to visit, not least the Top Dog in Ashton-under-Lyne. A good one to drop by if you are ever up that way on a Monday night. You could even combine it with a bowl of Queen Flakes at the Cereal Dive.

Laurence Gale has not played for some time and good to see him back this week with a varied set list which included The Strawbs "Lay Down" and "Here Comes the Sun" written and performed by George Harrison from the 1969 Abbey Road album. This classic album track has featured several times on Desert Island Discs chosen by Sandie Shaw, Jerry Springer, Boris Johnson and Elaine Paige. A great choice by Laurence too.

High Society was the next and final name on the board and a first visit for this four piece band to Newport Open Mic. We have heard the lead singer Glenys Roston recently accompanied by Alan Laneand this week Glenys once again had traveled all the way from Llandudno to be joined by Ian Wellings on upright bass and from Bridgnorth, Jon Tame from Wolverhampton on drums and our own Alan Lane on guitar and just a stone's throw away from Church Aston. Some logistics involved for these four to get together to rehearse but well worth the effort with a great bluesy swing band sound fronted by Glenys. Seasoned musicians and performers their extended set included a song by the Dutch jazz and pop singer Caro Emerald, Bobby Darin's number one hit from 1959 "Mack the Knife"and "I Wanna be Like You" from Jungle Book. "Blue Moon", a hit from the doo-wop group The Marcels went down really well and is one of my favourite songs covered by the less well known band Cowboy Junkies. Worth checking out on youtube.

Another splendid night of live music from Newport and a salute to nearly 64 years on the throne for Queen Elizabeth and to Dave Grohl who ruled the night last Saturday from his throne of guitars at Milton Keynes Bowl with the rescheduled Foo Fighters gig where they performed "Under Pressure", a great Queen cover, accompanied by none other than Roger Taylor and John Paul Jones.  And appropriately, keeping the royal theme going, the support band at MK Bowl was Royal Blood.  

More live music to look forward to next week at Open Mic, Royal Naval Association in Newport and an extended set from Trevor Rowley's band Elmore's Dog.

 

Until next time 

 

 

Report: Jude Paton

Photography: Laurence Gale (photos of Dan Walton, Dylan Wynford and Mike Collins)

To mark the 50th anniversary of when Elvis met the Beatles at his home in 1965 Radio 2 put out a Bank Holiday Monday top 50 of Beatles vs Elvis record releases based on all time sales.

The Elvis countdown was "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" at No.3, at 2 "Jailhouse Rock" and at No. 1 "It's Now or Never (O Sole Mio)". "Suspicious Minds"only came in at number 12 in the Top 50 highest selling Elvis singles but was his 18th and last number one hit in 1969. I am not the biggest Elvis fan but there is a great cover version of this single by Erik Hassle, and Fine Young Cannibals is pretty good too....check it out.

From our own home grown talent, The Beatles Top 3 is "Can't Buy Me Love" at No. 3 and when it entered the US charts in 1964, the entire top 5 were Beatles songs. With a million advanced copies ordered and at No. 2 is "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" and The Beatles first No 1 hit in the U.S. No surprises really, the biggest all time selling record for The Beatles is "She Loves You"lasting all of 2 minutes 18 seconds and the best selling single of the sixties only to be surpassed by "Mull of Kintyre" by Wings released in 1977 and selling over 2,000,000 copies. 

Unusually for an Open Mic night there was not a single Elvis or Beatles cover performed on Tuesday and the evening turned out to be devoted to male solo acoustic performers. Gentle and quite delightful on a wet September night. Young Dan Walton followed by Dylan Wynford got the evening underway with a couple of songs each, a good choice from Dan with Pinball Wizard and a week before his 20th birthday a lesser known song by the Courteeners "Not Nineteen Forever" was an excellent and appropriate choice by Dylan.

Mike Collins from Perton has, on recent visits to Open Mic, been accompanied by his son on  bass but tonight did a solo performance which included 2 songs by The Stereophonics, recent headliners at V Fest. Crowd pleasers at V and certainly  Mike was a crowd pleaser at Open Mic.

Dylan Wynford will shortly be returning to University in London where he is studying Musical Theatre and is proving to be a prolific songwriter. Having released an eleven track album"The Funniest Night of My Short, Beautiful Life"  in July he has already got 4 tracks lined up for a forthcoming EP "It Rarely Happens So". Nice to have a sneak preview on Tuesday and not only a great talent but a great voice. Good luck Dylan with your studies and your music.

It's good that so many young people who have cut their teeth on the Open Mic stage come back to visit during University holidays and like Dylan, Dan Walton has not forgotten us. Studying popular music at Cheltenham, Dan has previously played with his band Blue Tuesdays and is alsoan accomplished solo performer. A great choice of songs included "We're Going to be Friends" by White Stripes and then back to 1967 with a Kinks classic "Waterloo Sunset". Listen to Dan on soundcloud with the track "Wandering Man" by Cambio Music. Another great young talent in our midst.

Richard Heywood, another 19 year old, and Open Mic regular, brings new songs to the stage most weeks. His guitar style is delightful and 2 new songs this week were "Doolin-Dalton" from the lovely Eagles album Desperado and a new one for me "Lovers on the Sun" by French music producer David Guetta.

Last, but by no means least, a long overdue visit from Wolverhampton man, Steve Reynolds. A true romantic at heart I am guessing with Paul Weller's "You Do Something to Me", "Fall at Your Feet" and Madness "It Must Be Love" finishing with Adele's "Make You Feel My love". Not a dry eye in the house and a quivering bottom lip from his lady in the audience!

So no Beatles, no Elvis but a splendid night of live music at the Royal Naval Association in Bellmans Yard in Newport. All types of music catered for, from solo performers to full band set up every Tuesday from 8pm. 

Report: Jude Paton

Photographs (except Tom Jones): Matthew Thomas

Until last weekend I have to admit that I knew nothing about Calvin Harris which I felt was rather remiss especially as he was headlining on Day 1 at V Fest at Weston Park on Saturday.  I have since learned that he is a 31 year old Dumfries born (real name Adam Wiles) DJ, songwriter and record producer earning a staggering £41.8 million last year ranking as the world's highest paid electronic dance music artist. Although he was hardly visible on the Virgin Media stage behind a dazzling display of fireworks and pyrotechnics he apparently drove the biggest crowd of the night wild. Real music however was provided on the MTV stage by fellow headliners, the Welsh rock band Stereophonics and on Sunday Tom Jones rose from the ashes of his talent show career to give a showstopper of a performance. Despite being axed by the BBC from The Voice to be replaced by Boy George the 75 year old from Pontypridd still managed to woo the ladies who seem all too keen to remove their underwear and throw it at him. His one request however was for his own private loo and as you can see Weston Park really pulled out the stops.

9 miles away, as the crow flies, a crowd of us were having a barbecue on Saturday night and not only could we hear the music from V Fest we also had our our spectacular light show by way of a thunderstorm bringing with it flashes of sheet lightning. I understand that the Environmental Health Officers were out at Weston because noise levels were such that houses on the estate were literally shaking.

No such thing at Open Mic on Tuesday with Matthew Thomas on the desk as well as behind the camera ensuring that vocals and instrument levels were just right for the opening set from John Minor, a big Oasis fan. The inclusion of "Imagine" in his set was the first of a few Beatles related songs to be heard during the evening.

Glenys Roston had travelled two and a half hours from Llandudno to sing for us in Newport accompanied by Alan Lane and Nick Wells on his 6 string bass. A seasoned vocalist, Glenys's interpretation of classics by Adele, Mamas and Papas and Roberta Flack were real crowd pleasers but Robert Johnson's "Malted Milk Blues" was the winner for me and Alan's accompaniment on guitar was superb.  

From an experienced veteran to 14 year old Frankie Wakefield making her debut performance in public in front of a crowd of 50 as well as proud dad. With no apparent nerves, lovely stage presence and a voice, mature beyond her years, she sang songs by Kodaline and Vance Joy as well as a self penned song "You Said". A great choice of new songs as well as original material and a young lady who is destined for a great future. We shall definitely be seeing a lot more young Frankie Wakefield.

 Not a veteran in years but a veteran at Newport Open Mic is 12 year old Jay Harris who now has a huge repertoire of songs  spanning several decades and a song by Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds was a great opener.

Olly Flavell will soon be heading off to Manchester to pursue a career in music but in the meantime he has been busy writing new songs which he hopes to include on his second album, the follow up to LO FI, his 12 track album released earlier this year. Some promising material there Olly.

Another outing for Vinyl Tap and vocalist Alex Ash was in fine voice on the eve of his 42nd birthday. It's always good to be able to use the Open Mic stage by way of rehearsal for upcoming gigs which this weekend sees the two day Pheztival on Bank Holiday Saturday and Sunday in Newport in aid of McMillan and the Scarecrow Festival in Moreton the following weekend.

Plenty of variety tonight and two years since the next performer played at Open Mic at the Royal Naval Association. Two years ago he was only 10 and tonight 12 year old Conor Ross captivated the audience with his vocal talent and guitar playing. Another proud dad present told me that he is a multi instrumentalist playing drums, keyboards, cornet and pretty much any other instrument that comes his way in his school's music department. As well as writing his own material Conor also plays in Wigan Big Band. These youngsters show no nerves at all and what a privilege it is to have such talent appearing on the Open Mic stage knowing that many will go on to greater things. Dad, Steve Ross, was only too delighted to join his son on stage for an excellent instrumental jam of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water".

Another two year lapse since the last appearance of Driftwood, a five piece band normally but with Rhiannon Lewis on flute missing tonight, they still delivered a wonderful acoustic set with a "big dollop of soul". Emma Woodhouse - vocals, Ali McDonald - keyboards, Nick Wells - bass and Dave Rolfe - songwriter and on guitar. A great set from Driftwood included the title track "Hit the Road Jack" from their latest album "Hit the Road". Hopefully it won't be two year before we see them again.

Richard Heywood is a Tuesday night regular now and has developed a lovely guitar style of his own over the past few months. Anything by Lennon and McCartney is always popular and "Eleanor Rigby" followed by  "Free as a Bird", a song originally composed and recorded in 1977 as a home demo by John Lennon, went down really well.

Dave Whiteman is away on his European travels at the moment but a Scratch House Band set is always his favourite part of the evening and Tuesday night's SHB was made up of Open Mic superstars and newcomers. Namely our very own Harry Woolley, Rich Thomas. Andy Clarke and Ed Sullivan were joined by the great Steve Alden, lead guitarist with the band Bluzebox and young Conor Ross. 6 great musicians on stage brought a wonderful evening to a close with a blues jam in E of course which included Harry's signature tune "Diggin' My Potatoes" and a wonderful tribute to the late JJ Cale with "Call Me the Breeze".

A terrific night of live music at the Royal Naval Association in Newport and a comfort to know that Tom Jones may have lost his seat on BBC's The Voice but at least he has his own throne at Weston Park. See you next week!