Quick plays: STEELEYE SPAN, GALLAGHER & LYLE, HUMBLE PIE

STEELEYE SPAN Live at De Montfort Hall Leicester 1977 Store For Music/Angel Air [Release date 04.10.19]

One glaring error on this CD is the concert was in fact recorded in 1978 on the band’s then farewell tour (although the band went on hiatus in 1978 they were back in action by 1980). The line-up captured in this live show featured Martin Carthy, Tim Hart, Maddy Prior, Rick Kemp, Nigel Pegrum and John Kirkpatrick who had joined the band in the previous year and his son Benji is now a member of the band’s current line-up.

It is a good quality live recording and you can certainly see the change in the band’s sound with Kirkpatrick’s accordion playing replacing the fiddle of Peter Knight who left in 1977. Lively versions of ‘The Duke of Athols Highlanders’ and ‘Cam Ye O’er Frae France’ are the highlights, plus a lively version of ‘Hunting The Wren’ which shows the band’s vocal talents.

They close the set with their version of Buddy Holly’s ‘Rave On’ with added jigs and reels, although their biggest hit ‘All Around My Hat’ is absent.

One for the fans as it captures that period of the band’s history well. ***

Review by Jason Ritchie

GALLAGHER & LYLE Live at De Montfort Hall Leicester 1977 Store For Music/Angel Air [Release date 04.10.19]

Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle had a run of hit singles and a couple of hit albums between 1976 and 1977, where their brand of soft rock/soul was perfect for the time. Indeed the album starts with their biggest hit as Gallagher & Lyle ‘I Wanna Stay With You’. Elsewhere you have the folk leanings on ‘The Greatest Australian Dream’, sung with great feeling and a couple of funky soul/soft rockers ‘Every Little Teardrop’ and ‘Head Talk’.

The other big hit ‘Heart On My Sleeve’ appears at the end of the set, a lovely tune that has stood the test of time. The last song is ‘When I’m Dead And Gone’, which they wrote and recorded as part of McGuiness Flint.

A live show that captures Gallagher & Lyle at the height of their success, just a shame there are no bonus tracks or sleeve notes, aside from a very brief set on the inside sleeve of the digipak. ***1/2

Review by Jason Ritchie

HUMBLE PIE Go For The Throat Store For Music/Angel Air [Release date 04.10.19]

Another Humble Pie re-issue from this label and again it doesn’t feature the original cover for some reason? To be fair neither are classic album covers! Sleeve note anoraks will spot Robin Beck (‘First Time’ and subsequent AOR/melodic rock songs) listed amongst the backing vocalists.

The band split-up after this and you can see why, take a listen to the cover of ‘All Shook Up’, sadly Marriott’s vocals are so strained on this one. Speaking of covers their version of Aerosmith’s ‘Chip Away (The Stone)’ is pretty darn average too. The original songs are pretty standard blues rock fare, ‘Keep It On The Island’ just about passes muster.

The only really saving grace is an update of the Small Faces classic ‘Tin Soldier’, which gave them a minor hit at the time in the US.

I can’t really see anyone wanting this album bar a completest fan and even then they are likely to already own it. *

Review by Jason Ritchie

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 1 December 2024.

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)