DCJ wrote:
Who knows if the RAH 74 cd will ever be released (sigh), but if it is, then WS2 would be the perfect person to write the liner notes. I mean it. WS2 would do a GREAT job!!!
Cher DCJ,
I’m more than touched but I think our hero will need a scribe with more lead in his pencil than moi-meme ! That said, I’d certainly offer my services foc.
I’d love to see this album come to fruition because ‘RAH ‘74’ was not only a moment of huge significance in Ferry’s career, it was a tremendously important event in the history of rock and the history of RAH.
By way of context, the first rock act to appear at ‘The Albert’ was Bill Hayley back in the ‘60s but following a number of over enthusiastic performances by both bands and fans, Rock acts were effectively banned in ‘72.
Ferry tried to get a date in early ‘74 on the grounds that he was appearing with an orchestra and his set list mainly comprised ballads but was turned down.
The management eventually relented and he got his December date. So, in a certain way, he was responsible for getting rock back at the RAH.
More than this, the show itself was absolutely groundbreaking.
As those of us of a certain vintage know, music had become incredibly tribal during the late ‘60s. Eclectic tastes were virtually a secret obsession. If you liked the heavy rock of Zeppelin it would be most uncool to acknowledge Jazz or Soul and the sartorial had followed suit - or not ! Most rock musicians had started to dress like refuse collectors and only the soul aficionados had retained any semblance of elegance.
Ferry had already broken the mould in every way with ‘Roxy Music’. Their fusion of influences, the originality of their compositions coupled with a glamorous stage presence had already heralded a new era of art rock.
Not content with this, he started to plough a parallel solo furrow that now, two albums in was truly braking all semblance of tribalism with an achingly cool set of interpretations that were completely genre-crossing.
Now in a series of three shows, culminating at the RAH, he appeared for the first time under his own name and with a full orchestra to showcase virtually the entirety of TFT & ATGB and dressed in a tuxedo !
It was just amazing. It set the standard and really launched a solo career that’s now spanned over 45 years.
I finished up going by mistake (we were supposed to be at the Newcastle gig) but it was a night I’ll never forget and I suspect he won’t either. It was a complete triumph.
I’d no idea that a recording existed but clearly it does and if it’s good he simply has to release it. It will be massively interesting to fans and contains songs that have never been performed live since.
It’s a piece of history that didn’t just launch a solo career, it re-launched one of the world’s preeminent music venues, broke down tribalism in music and brought some much needed style back to things. It made him the boy wonder !
Salutations ,
Windswept.