My Personal Gig History, Volume 1 Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The very first gig I ever went to was at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 27 May 1966. It was an American artist; during his first set he played solo acoustic, but in the second set he played an electric guitar and was backed by a band. Only a few days before he'd been called a "traitor" because of this. Who was the artist?

Answer: Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan's tour of the UK in 1966 has become legendary. After an acoustic first set, at the start of the second set he appeared with an electric guitar and a backing band. At this point in the gig at Manchester a few days previously somebody in the audience had shouted out "traitor", presumably accusing Dylan of abandoning his folk roots. Dylan had replied "I don't believe you" and had launched into a particularly blistering performance of "Like a Rolling Stone".

I went to the London gig with a friend from school - I'd even bought myself a black leather jacket from C&A for the occasion - and I just loved the whole event. What a choice for my first-ever gig!

2. The band I went to see at the South-East Essex Technical College in Grays in May 1967 were from Birmingham. In 1964 their second single release had hit number one in the UK and number ten in the US, but after vocalist Denny Laine left the band they'd had no further success. However a few months after I saw them they released a concept album themed around times of the day that defined Prog Rock, and in the early 1970s they had three number one albums in the UK and two in the US. What was the band?

Answer: The Moody Blues

The magnificent Moody Blues had had a number one hit in 1964 with "Go Now", but subsequently their career had been on the skids. Reaching a nadir they recruited new members John Lodge and Justin Hayward, and they hit the stage at this college gig with their new single "Fly Me High". This totally failed to chart, but it's still one of my favourite records.

However the band were incubating the album "Days of Future Passed" (including the hit single "Nights in White Satin"); this achieved massive success when it was released in November 1967, as did their subsequent albums with over 70 million total sales. Famous for their symphonic style, they made a lot of use of orchestral backings and a mellotron. Despite the fact that they're still underrated they're now recognised as one of the pioneering Prog Rock bands, influencing bands like Genesis, Yes and ELO.

3. By mid-1967 I was going to the Marquee Club in London almost every week. I'd developed a taste for blues music, so on 13 February 1968 I went to see a band led by a singer/guitarist/harmonica player who had kick-started the careers of some of the UK's greatest blues and rock musicians, such as Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Peter Green and Mick Taylor. What was the name of this musical Svengali and his band?

Answer: John Mayall's Bluesbreakers

John Mayall's influence on the British blues scene cannot be overstated. From 1963 onwards he was playing regular gigs with John McVie on bass and Hughie Flint on drums. Eric Clapton joined in 1965 and when he left Peter Green was recruited; meanwhile Jack Bruce replaced McVie. And so it goes!

The version of the Bluesbreakers I saw that night was from the period of the "Bare Wires" album, with players like Mick Taylor (guitar), Jon Hiseman (drums), Henry Lowther (cornet) and Dick Heckstall-Smith (sax). Mick Taylor was particularly good, I remember, though Mayall was a total perfectionist, bawling out other members of the band if they played a bum note. He looked great, though, with his collection of harmonicas in a bandolier.

The support act was a band called The New Nadir - I actually thought they were better than Mayall, and they're a bit of a cult band now.

4. So I was back at the Marquee Club in London a couple of weeks later on 27 February 1968 to see a pop group from Birmingham record a live EP. The group's main claim to fame is that one of their records, "Flowers in the Rain", was the very first to be played on BBC Radio 1, at 7am on 30 September 1967. What was the name of this group?

Answer: The Move

I thought that the performance by the Move that night was great, but the school friends I'd gone with all thought they were rubbish! I was very disappointed with the resultant EP, "Something Else from The Move" when it was finally released in June 1968 - although there were some good tracks on the record (especially "Something Else") they were all cover versions, with none of the original tracks by the Move included.

It later turned out that the quality of the recording that night was so bad that most tracks were unlistenable. Sad.

5. Back to the Marquee Club in London again on 18 July 1968 to see a band that had formed in 1967 as a backing band for P. P. Arnold. A quartet featuring an extravagant showman playing (and abusing) a Hammond organ, they reached number 21 in the UK charts with a re-working of "America" from "West Side Story"; a later concept album based on Newcastle's five bridges also sold well. The band split in 1970 and the organist went on to join a "supergroup". What was the name of this band?

Answer: The Nice

The Nice were a phenomenal live band. That night in July '68 was the hottest night of the year and the crowd was the largest-ever at the Marquee - it was packed to the gills! Lee Jackson laid down really heavy bass lines and Keith Emerson on Hammond organ - a real showman - used to do things like stick knives into its back.

While "America" did well for them in the charts, their stand-out numbers were "Rondo" (based on Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a la Turk") and "Brandenburg" (adapted from the J. S. Bach piece). Sadly the band split and Emerson got together with Greg Lake of King Crimson and Carl Palmer of Atomic Rooster to form ELP - a massive stadium band.

6. In October 1968 I went to Exeter University, but the first gig I went to during that period was at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff in November. The headline band were a five-piece (a clue!) folk/jazz band starring a female vocalist with a stunning voice and two brilliant folk/jazz guitarists. They'd become popular after recording the theme music for a TV series called "Take Three Girls", BBC1's first colour drama series. Who were they?

Answer: Pentangle

Pentagle were for a short period unbelievably trendy, especially because of the "Take Three Girls" soundtrack. The two guitarists, Bert Jansch and John Renbourne, were both excellent, and Jacqui McShee's voice was a delight, but I'm sorry to say that I found them deadly dull.

The interesting thing about the gig, however, was the support act: Shakin' Stevens and the Sunsets! This was Shaky performing before he had a record contract and before he went on to be the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s and recording 33 Top Forty singles. A bit more successful than Pentangle, it has to be said - but what about artistic integrity?

7. Very early in the morning of Saturday 7 June 1969, I and about 50 other Exeter Uni students boarded a coach to go to Hyde Park in London where a new "supergroup" were performing their first-ever gig. The four-man band stemmed from three different groups, and featured the world's best guitarist and drummer. What was the name of this supergroup?

Answer: Blind Faith

Blind Faith were comprised of Eric Clapton (guitar) and Ginger Baker (drums) from Cream, Stevie Winwood (keyboards) from Traffic and Ric Grech (bass and violin) from Family. There were about 100,000 people at the gig. I've no memory of the support acts: the Edgar Broughton band, the Third Ear Band and Donovan all passed me by. However I do remember Richie Havens, who as far as I was concerned blew Blind Faith off stage - the headliners were poor, seeming listless and sub-par.

Their debut album wasn't particularly good, but what really ruined its reception was the photo on the front cover of a topless 11-year-old girl (for some reason holding a toy spaceship). Even in the let-it-all-hang-out, anything-goes 1960s this was seen as unpleasant and creepy. The cover was changed for the US release.

After the Hyde Park gig the band played short tours of Scandinavia and the US and then broke up at the end of August 1969. But Mick Jagger was at Hyde Park, and he was so impressed by the atmosphere and the number of people attending that he decided to have a Stones concert there.

The journey back to Exeter was a nightmare, as a lot of my fellow-passengers had had too much to drink and spent most of the journey vomiting. The inside and outside of the coach were disgusting by the time we got back to Devon and we had to bung the driver a large backhander to keep him from complaining to the Uni authorities.

8. Exams at Exeter Uni had finished by mid-June 1969, so this gave me an opportunity to hitchhike down to the Van Dyke Club in Plymouth on 27 June to see one of the first British psychedelic groups. They became very popular having arrived on the scene in 1965, but they lost their vocalist/guitarist due to mental health issues and replaced him with a musician who became their primary lyricist and thematic leader. Since then they've sold more than 250 million records world-wide. What's the name of this group?

Answer: Pink Floyd

Well, yes, it had to be Pink Floyd! I remember the gig vividly - we all sat cross-legged on the floor and grooved along to long improvisations. The two-hour gig featured four tracks - "Careful With That Axe, Eugene", "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun", "Let There Be More Light" and "Astronomy Domine" - in fact, more-or-less sides one and two of the live album on "Ummagumma". I really enjoyed it, and to be honest I still rate the band's music from that period as their best.

I also remember that it was a long hitch home - by the time the gig finished there was little traffic on the road, and I didn't get back to Exeter until about 6am the next day!

By the way, Principal Edwards Magic Theatre was a band composed of about 15 Exeter Uni students with whom I was contemporaneous. John Peel rated them highly, and they were the first act signed by him for his Dandelion Records label. This was despite the label's co-founder saying that they were "the most pretentious act I have ever come across", and John Walters (Peel's long-term radio producer saying that they "incorporat[ed] all kinds of arty-farty nonsense". Vicious but fair.

9. I was entranced by this band when I went to see them at Exeter University in about November 1969. They were playing what sounded like old English folk songs on their electric guitars - English "Folk Rock", if you like. The lead guitarist was very young but very good, and the woman vocalist was amazing! Ah! but it was a long time ago - and who knows where the time goes? What's the name of this band?

Answer: Fairport Convention

The band was Fairport Convention, just starting their exploration of what folk music could provide to a modern band. Richard Thompson played lead guitar wonderfully, and Sandy Denny sang her legendary "Who Knows Where The Time Goes" which immediately went into my all-time top five records. Interestingly, Sandy Denny was the only guest artist ever to appear on a Led Zeppelin album. It was a wonderful, wonderful gig.

But there's a story behind my going to it. A classmate of mine (call her M) had a flatmate (call her G), whom I really fancied. M was quite willing to inveigle G into going to the gig as part of a foursome, but M wanted me to fix her up with a fella. So I told a friend of mine (call him P) that M fancied him, and I told M that P fancied her. So off the four of us went to the gig. G and I didn't get on at all, but M and P did - famously. A few years later they were married!

10. It was 5 March 1971 and my time at Exeter University was rapidly coming to an end. The last gig I went to there featured a band led by two brothers that had been having UK top ten hits since 1964, including three number ones and three number twos. One of the number two hits is possibly one of the best pop songs ever written - I think of it every time I cross a bridge over the River Thames. What's the name of this band?

Answer: The Kinks

A terrific gig - the Kinks were brilliant and really involved. Even better were the supporting band - an up-and-coming folky-type group from Newcastle called Lindisfarne who went on to greater things. Now Exeter Uni hardly attracted any students from north of Watford, let alone from the far North-East of England - yet there were hundreds of Geordies there!

Sadly and on a more personal note, after five years of heavy wear the leather jacket I'd bought in C & A's for the Bob Dylan gig (see Question 1) went astray from the cloakroom and I never saw it again.

Source: Author Southendboy

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
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Over the years I've been to many gigs. Given the date, the venue and a few salient facts can you identify whom I went to see playing? This quiz covers the years 1966 to 1971.

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