PATTO
Following Chris Holmes' departure in 1970, Timebox evolved into Patto. They played a unique blend of 'progressive' jazz-rock (for want of a better term) featuring Ollie's guitar work which began to develop legendary status.
Clive Griffiths bass
Ollie Halsall guitar vocal
Mike Patto vocal
John Halsey drums
And That's Jazz
2021
CD
Hold Me Back
Holy Toledo
Singing the Blues on Reds
My Days Are Numbered
Tell Me Where You've Been
Shmairway of Shmove
I'm Baroque
Flat Footed Woman
Turn Turtle
Peter Abraham
Loud Green Song
Recorded live at The Torrington, North Finchley, London, January 21, 1973 by Colin Johnson. The title 'And That's Jazz' derives from the inexplicable singing of the phrase at the end of 'My Days Are Numbered'
'Shmairway of Shmove' is actually an earlier version of 'Stairway of Love' from The Black Swan, Sheffield, November 1972.
DVD
The Man (Beat Club, January 1971)
San Antone (Beat Club, January 1971)
Time To Die (Pop Deux, March 1971)
I'm Only an Egg interview (Pop Deux, March 1971)
Money Bag (Pop Deux, March 1971)
Patto
November 1970
The Man
Hold Me Back
Time To Die
Red Glow
Money Bag
Sittin' Back Easy
Bonus track:
Hanging Rope
BBC session recordings:
Love Me
Government Man
BBC Radio One 'Sounds of the 70s'
3rd November 1970
Album lyrics
[As translated for a Japanese vinyl edition. Thanks to Peter Nylund]
The Man and Sittin' Back Easy were used on the soundtrack of the 2009 film Observe and Report starring Seth Rogan. Muff Winwood arranged for his royalties to be shared between the band and their estates.
Hold Your Fire
December 1971
Hold Your Fire
You, You Point Your Finger
How's Your Father
Air-Raid Shelter
Tell Me Where You've Been
Magic Door
Bonus tracks :
Beat the Drum
Bad News
Air Raid Shelter
(alternative version)
Don't Shoot Me (Hold Your Fire)
(first version)
Give it All Away
(alternative version)
BBC session recordings:
San Antone
Government Man
Beat the Drum
Sittin' Back Easy
So Cold
BBC Radio One 'In Concert'
4th March 1971
Give it All Away
Air Raid Shelter
You, You Point Your Finger
BBC Radio One 'Sounds of the 70s'
28th June 1971
Roll 'em, Smoke 'em,
Put Another Line Out
October 1972
Flat Footed Woman
Mummy
Turn Turtle
I Got Rhythm
Peter Abraham
Sea Biscuits Parts 1 & 2
Bonus tracks:
General Custer
Flat Footed Woman
Singing the Blues on Reds
BBC Radio One John Peel session –
24th January 1973
Patto's 'Sgt Pepper'. An eccentric and totally OTT affair and, by that token, nearest to capturing the essence of the group. Typically, Ollie reacted to his new-found guitar-hero status by playing piano almost throughout and by devoting most of side 2 to an epic sea-shanty-on-acid! He does, however, let rip magnificently on Loud Green Song
Note: The original US release flipped the first two track to allow Singing the Blues on Reds to open the album [thanks to Tim for this info]
Produced by Muff Winwood
I know the Roll 'em Smoke 'em cover is iconic, but wouldn't the second one above - with painting by Ollie - have made a great alternativeI
Monkey's Bum
1973
My Days Are Numbered
Last Night I Had a Dream
Sugar Cube 1967
Good Friend
Get Up and Dig It
Hedyob
Pick Up the Phone
General Custer
Bonus tracks:
San Antone
Holy Toledo
Loud Green Song
BBC Radio One John Peel session –
12th February 1973
Ollie left before this could be released and, apparently, some of his guitar parts were removed and replaced by tenor sax. You can't tell though, and it remains an awesome piece of work.
Produced by Muff Winwood
What about 'Monkey's Bum'?
"It was the first album we'd done that I wasn't happy with. I liked some of it, but we were trying to write songs and for me, it wasn't happening
John Halsey
No-one seems to quite know the derivation of the album's title. It acquired the name sometime after it was recorded and abandoned.
Derivation #1
The Monkey's Bum is a variation of the Modern Defense, a chess opening.
Derivation #2
Monty Python's Flying Circus
BBC-TV 1970
Third Bruce: Blimey, s'hot in here, Bruce.
First Bruce: S'hot enough to boil a monkey's bum!
Second Bruce: That's a strange expression, Bruce.
First Bruce: Well Bruce, I heard the Prime Minister use it. S'hot enough to boil a monkey's bum in 'ere, your Majesty,' he said and she smiled quietly to herself.
Third Bruce: She's a good Sheila, Bruce and not at all stuck up.
This remastered version is a revelation, despite having, possibly, the worst and least imaginative cover. Here are some fictitious alternatives. The first features the cast of Meet the Huggetts, a late-1950s BBC radio sitcom. The line, "Does anybody here remember Meet the Huggetts," comes from Mike's lyric to My Days are Numbered.
Give It All Away • The Albums
2021
Box set of all four albums
To be honest, the individual re-issues are better value since thes compilation omits the BBC sessions bonus tracks.
A Sense of the Absurd
1995 remaster by Richard Lane
An earlier remastered compilation of the original Patto and Hold Your Fire albums and studio bonus tracks.
Finally given a free rein by Vertigo, the Pattos crafted quite the finest jazz-rock [if you like] guitar albums of the period [or any other for that matter]. The reissue is a worthily packaged effort by Richard Lane on Mercury.
"In the overall scheme of things, there are two albums anyone who imagines they can play guitar should hear. One is Are You Experienced, the other is Patto's Hold Your Fire"
Produced by Muff Winwood
Oddity not included in any re-release:
See You At The Dance Tonight
Inferior take somehow used by mistake on the original European version of Hold Your Fire LP. [The title track also has a fade-out end on this release]
Warts and All
Live at The Black Swan, Sheffield 1971
January 2000
Download 2009
You, You Point Your Finger
Money Bag
Magic Door
Government Man
How's Your Father
[incorrectly listed as Air-Raid Shelter]
Route 66
Tell Me Where You've Been
San Antone
Sittin' Back Easy
Archive recording by Patto drummer John 'Admiral' Halsey. Best quality Patto 'in concert' recording available
"The solo on Let It Rock alone is worth the purchase price."
- John Halsey
The original CD is out of print but is avaialble as an authorised download via PaPal.
Sounds of The 70's
Alan Black
17 April 1970
• Hanging Rope
• Beat the Drum
• Government Man
• Red Glow
Recorded 11 March 1970
Sounds of the 70s
Mike Harding
12 May 1970
Repeated 29 May 1970
• Time to Die
• Hold Me Back
• Hanging Rope
Recorded 27 March 1970
Sounds of The 70's
Mike Harding
10 November 1970
These two tracks later appeared on a transcription disc probably produced for the BBC World Service: 'Top of The Pops' (Brian Matthew). This was probably the source of their inclusion in the 2017 reissue of the album 'Patto.'
There was, however, a third track from this session:
Reorded 3 November 1970
Live In Concert
John Peel
14 March 1971
Repeated 17 March 1971
+ Bernie Holland: Guitar
BBC transcription disc. Excellent quality apart from surface noise
Courtesy of Saturo Yonemoto
Tracks included in the 2017 rematser of the album Hold Your Fire
Recorded 4 March 1971
Disco 2
BBC2 TV
18 March 1971
[with Alan Bown]
Set list unknown
Sounds of The 70's
Bob Harris
5 April 1971
• The Man
• Money Bag
• Air Raid Shelter
• Alright [Love Me
Recorded 30 March 1971
Sounds of the 70's
Mike Harding
6 July 1971
Recorded 28 June 1971
Tracks included in the 2017 remaster of the album Hold Your Fire
Sounds of the 70's
Bob Harris
5 February 1973
Repeated 16 May 1973
+ Dave Brooks: Sax
Recorded 24 January 1973
Tracks included in the 2017 remaster of the album Roll 'Em Smoke' Em Put Another Line Out.
Sounds of the 70's
John Peel
27 February 1973
+ Dave Brooks: Sax
+ John Peel [!?]: Harmonica on San Antone
Recorded 12 February 1973
Tracks included in the 2017 remaster of the album Monkey's Bum
Sounds of The 70's
Bob Harris
16 March 1973
Repeaed Sunday 6 May 1973
• Flat Footed Woman
• General Custer
• Dear Landlord
• I Got Rhythm
• Sausages
• Hold Me Back
+ Dave Brooks [Sax
Recorded 13 February 1973
THE BBC BAN
According to the BBC, the band was banned from any radio or TV appearances for over a year for missing a scheduled recording session for the Radio 1 Sounds of the Seventies programme in October of 1971. According to an article in a December issue of Timeout, Ollie took over for Bob Fripp in Centipede just days before their gig at The Royal Albert Hall. Patto couldn't do the BBC session, because the date was also the only possible one for Ollie to rehearse with Centipede.The BBC ban extended right up to early in 1973.
The resultant media exile put pay to almost guaranteed appearances on that most prestigious of showcases The Old Grey Whistle Test, which had premiered shorty before on 21 September 1971.
Thanks to Ken Thornton for this information
The Compleat Patto BBC Appearances
PATTO Radio One
This is the album that never was. All the performances were eventually released as bonus tracks on the Cherry Red studio album reissues in 2017.
They would, of course, have made an excellent stand alone album, which is how they are illustrated here.
This fanciful compilation omits the perhaps less than spectacular 'Love Me', 'Beat The Drum' and 'So Cold'.
To avoid duplication, the later versions of 'Government Man' and 'San Antone' are favoured since they are not only better recordings and performances but are also enhanced by the second-guitar of Bernie Holland and saxophone of Dave Brooks, respectively.
Offenburg
Oberrheinhalle
1971
• Stairway of Love
• Hold Your Fire
• You You Point Your Finger
• Shakin' All Over
• Route 66
• The Man
• San Antone
• Sittin' Back Easy
Newly discovered version of a concert recording previously thought to been made in Italy, The overall sound on this one is still quite poor but Ollie's guitar is distinct and quite stunning in places. Many thanks to David Osbiston for supplying this vastly improved addition to the Archive, and to Marc Bouhier for identifying the venue [probably!].
Munich
17 April 1971
• San Antone
• Air-Raid Shelter
• Beat The Drum
• How's Your Father
• The Man
• Big Hunk O'Love
Best recording from these unreleased European shows, but that's not saying much. Hard work ;)
Sheffield
Black Swan 14 November 1971
• Hold Your Fire
• Government Man
• Lullaby of Broadway
• Hi Heel Sneakers
• All Along the Watchtower
• Route 66
• Summertime Blues
• San Antone
• Auld Lang Syne
• You You Point Your Finger
• Tell Me Where You've Been
• Riding Along on the Cest of a Wave
• Day of the Locust
• Barnabus Swain
• See You At The Dance Tonight
• A Big Hunk of Love
• Heigh Ho
• Who's Been Polishing the Sun
plus:
• Stairway of Love
• Talking Shouting Blues
Recording © Dave Hopper
(To be documented)
Sheffield
Black Swan 16 January 1972
• Hold on to What You Got
• San Antone
• Somebody Got to Love Me
• Tell Me Where You've Been
• Carol
• The Browns in the Night
• You You Point Your Finger
• Hold Your Fire
Recording © Dave Hopper
(To be documented)
Stockholm
Kungliga Tennishallen (The Royal Tennis Court), February 1972
• Hold Your Fire
• Shakin All Over
• San Antone
• Stairway of Love
• Don't Start Me Talkin
• You, You Point Your Finger
Thanks to Anders Ohman and Erik Amkoff for this remarkable recording from a tour supporting Ten Years After - Alvin Lee had the unenviable task of trying to follow this every night!. The guitar on Big Hunk of Love is possible the finest example we have of Ollie's playing.
The Wake Arms
Epping, Essex 13 February 1972
• San Antone
• Hold Your Fire
• Shakin All Over
• Tell Me Where Yo've Been
• You You Point Your Finger
• Route 66
• Give It All Away
• Lonely Nights
• Little Jimmy Brown
• Unknown
• Big Hunk of Love
• Stairway of Love
Fair quality live recording - you can actually hear the bass! Rare outing for The Admiral's unique renderings of 50's 'doo wop' classics. Totally manic guitar on Hold Your Fire and an extraordinary, unidentified 25 minute [!] composition with Mike on piano.
Can You Hear Me Johann?
Deutschlandhalle, West Berlin, Germany
3 March 1972
• Hold Your Fire
• San Antone
• Tell Me Where You've Been
• Don't Start Me Talking
• Route 66
• Unknown?
• Sittin' Back Easy
• Big Hunk o' Love
Entitled after Mike's impassioned cry to the roadie during the opening track. Dreadful sound quality. Virtually unlistenable. Halsey notably acknowledges the audience's 'appreciation' with the epilogue "Thank you and goodnight you miserable load of bastards, thank you!
Live in Germany
Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, Ludwigshafen, 8 March 1972
• Hold Your Fire
• Tell Me Where You've Been
• You, You Point Your Finger
• Route 66
• Shakin' All Over
• Stairway of Love
• Walk Don't Run
• San Antone
• Johnny Reggae [!]
• Sittin' Back Easy
Dreadful sound quality. Virtually unlistenable
The Torrington
London, 9 April 1972
• Intro [Soley Soley]
• Move It
• Hold Your Fire
• Maud, I'm Bored
• Little Jimmy Brown
• Lonely Nights
• Rebel Rouser
• Oh Carol
• Tell Me Where You've Been
• You, You Point Your Finger
• Money Honey
• Walk Don't Run
• Big Hunk of Love
• San Antone
+ Gary Windo [sax]
Appalling quality recording via [John Halsey's] portable cassette recorder, but somehow it works.
Kings Cross
King Sound at the Kings Cross Cinema
[Fomerly the Scala Cinema]
24 June 1972
• Intro
• Don't You Rock Me, Daddio
• John Henry
• All I Have to Do is Dream
• Warm Red Glow
• San Antone
• I Got Rhythm
• Tell Me Where You've Been
• Hold Your Fire
• Mummy
• Stairway of Love
• Little Jimmy Brown
• Flat Footed Woman (incomplete)
• Turn Turtle
• Singing The Blues On Reds
• Big Hunk O'Love
• Lonely Nights
Appalling quality recording. You had to have been there - and Roger Fitton was!
"I went to an all-night gig at the Kings Cross Cinema where Patto were supposed to be supporting Roxy Music. The latter superstars never turned up; no refunds were offered and the management compensated by repeatedly playing the Mothers of Invention with the Turtles at a million decibels.
"So, when Patto finally took to the stage, they got a very bad reception from lots of morons in the crowd who clearly blamed them for being ripped-off. It was ugly, ugly, ugly - just a few badly-chosen words away from a full-scale riot.
"But the band simply turned the situation on its head: John Halsey doing the Mummy stuff and then playing the washboard as the band sang [skiffle standards] and the four of them delivering one of the best live performances I have ever personally seen. Ollie Halsall's guitar playing was phenomenal and keyboard stuff he did made Patto sound so much more than a four-piece.
"Tracks like Government Man and Singing the Blues on Reds - which I personally think is what they were all about with the light and shade and time changes in the middle - stand-up even today. They should have been famous - but they were probably ahead of their time."
Roger Fitton
Viarreggio, Italy
Piper 2000 July 1972
test
Recording coutesy of Francesco Malfatti
Photo: Thanks to Joerg Reinicke
Don't You Rock Me!
The Supertivoli
Travagliato, Brescia, Italy 29 July 1972
• Loud Green Song
• Tell Me Where You've Been
• Hanging Rope
• Stairway Of Love
• Dream
• Singing The Blues On Reds
• I Got Rhythm
• Peter Abraham
• Hold Your Fire
Pretty grimm recording. Only essential content being a skiffle session with washboard solos from The Admiral.
The Mucky Duck
The Black Swan, Sheffield,
November 1972
• Cold Turkey
• Loud Green Song
• Last Night I Had a Dream
• Peter Abraham
• Singing the Blues on Reds
• Hold Me Back
Stairway of Love
Recorded on Admiral Halsey's mobile studio i.e the same Phillips cassette recorder on which he, more successfully, captured the Warts and All album
And That's Jazz!
The Torrington, London 21 January 1973
• San Antone
• Hold Me Back
• Holy Toledo
• Singing the Blues on Reds
• My Days Are Numbered
• Tell Me Where You've Been
• I'm Baroque
• Dear Landlord
• The Dream I Had Last Night
• Flat Footed Woman
• Turn Turtle
• Peter Abraham
• Loud Green Song
+Dave Brooks [Sax]
Recordings © Colin Johnson 2017
All tracks except 'San Antone' (which is on the DVD), 'Dear Landlord' and 'The Dream I Had Last Night' (omitted to avoid copyright) were released on And That's Jazz CD/DVD 2021 (see Albums above)
'I'm Baroque' is what I thought the song was called [mentioned in a gig review somewhere] Colin names it 'Playing in Oz' Dave Hopper says it's 'I'm F***ing Broke.
As far as can be established, this is the last Torrington gig with Ollie [until the July 1975 reunion.
Additional lesser quality Torrington recordings by Colin [date unknown]:
• Carol
• Hi Heel Sneakers
• San Antone
• Stairway of Love
• Mummy
Hot Dog
Black Swan 25 May 1975
• Hold Your Fire
• My Days Are Numbered
• Sittin' Back Easy
• Let It Rock
Country Pie
• I Got Rhythm
• Peter Abraham
• Loud Green Song
• Singing the Blues on Reds
• Alcatraz
• Government Man
• Hold Me Back
• You, You Point Your Finger
• Move Over
• A Big Hunk of Love
• Day of the Locust
• Helter Skelter
Heigh Ho
• Lonely Nights
Recording © Dave Hopper
(To be documented)
The Torrington London
6 July 1975
Reunion benefit concert
THE LAST EVER PATTO GIG
Hi Heel Sneakers was, therefore, the last song Patto ever played
Essential listening because it is one of the few remaining complete performances and includes much of the sheer lunacy that was Patto. Appalling quality recording via [John Halsey's] portable cassette recorder, but somehow it works.
"Perhaps the best illustration of the excitement they generated in concert occurred some two years after they had split up. On a Friday [Actually, Sunday 6 July- Ed.] night in July 1975. at the Torrington in Finchley (one of Patto's regular gigs and the scene of their farewell show two years earlier), the four original members played a one-off benefit for the family of one of their old roadies, who'd been killed on a trip to India. The queue stretched round the block, literally hundreds were locked out, and inside Patto were playing like they'd never been away."
- Nick Saloman
Record Collector magazine, August 1990
This is what the once legendary music venue, The Torrington, North Finchley, has been reduced to. Starbucks. Obviously necessary, because it's such a long way to Costa. ;)
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PATTO Time to Die Pop Deux • French TV 1971
PATTO Money Bag Pop Deux • French TV 1971
PATTO Interview Pop Deux • French TV 1971
PATTO San Antone Beat Club • German TV 1971
PATTO interviewed in Australia 1972
Cool Vibes
Instrumental Rehearsal Tapes 1970
• Cool Vibes 1
• Cool Vibes 2
• Cool Vibes 3
• Cool Vibes 4
I recorded this one afternoon during rehearsals for Patto's first album. Tracks 1, 2 and 3 are as recorded straight off the original 1/4" tape, which is in remarkable condition considering it has sat on its machine for 10 years. Track 4 was in poor condition and has been engineered to make it listenable to. Many thanks to Crispin for this."
Phillip ['Barnabas'] Swain 2009
Ollie Halsall feature in Guitar Techniques magazine September 2013
Shindig Magazine #68
A substantial Patto article by Marco Rossi in the June 2017 edition of this highly respected rock journal.
View online here but please by the magazine, it's an excellent read
This is a note from Ollie returning some LP's I lent him, including a Les Paul & Mary Ford album. He was obviously impressed with the double tracking as he used the technique on the next Patto album."
-Niles [Ian] Alexander 2017
Wilco guitarist Tweedy's influences By George Varga
With nearly 130 albums to his credit, Wilco guitarist Jeff Tweedy is perpetually active. He's also a lifelong music fan with very eclectic tastes. Here's a look at two of his favorite artists: PATTO - This four-man English band released three albums between 1970 and 1972, the best of which is 1971's classic "Hold Your Fire." The group's fusion of rock, blues, jazz, and country still sounds fresh. So does Patto's remarkably fleet and inventive guitarist, Ollie Halsall, whose devoted admirers includes Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen, and ex-Ten Years After leader Alvin Lee (who has a cache of still-unreleased live recordings he made of Patto during a joint European tour in 1973). "Shake It Off," a song on Wilco's new album, pays homage to Patto, as does Nels Cline's spiraling solo on "Side With the Seeds." DID YOU KNOW? Halsall, who died in 1992 at the age of 43, and ex-Patto drummer John Halsey were both members of The Rutles, the satirical Beatles-inspired band that made the classic 1978 TV movie "All You Need Is Cash." CLINE: "One of the most remarkable things about me joining Wilco was finding out they liked Patto, too. The first two years I played with Wilco we'd walk on stage to Patto's (1970 song) 'I Saw the Man.' At least once a week I would say: 'I never would've believed it if anyone had told me I'd play shows in venues of this size and that we'd walk on stage to 'I Saw the Man.' But there are so many things in my life that make me feel like the luckiest man alive."
Wilco's Nels Cline & Jeff Tweedy
Australian tour poster
Thanks to Vezetek
I went to see Joe Cocker on the opening night of his stint at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney. The Hordern is a huge hall in the Royal Agricultural Showgrounds in Sydney. At that time it had been fitted with a flat seating arrangement and a raised stage to cater for touring rock bands like Cockers. I lived in a share house in Surry Hills which is across Moore Park from the Showgrounds and I saw a lot of shows at the Hordern.
"Patto was the support for Cocker and his entourage. I knew little about them even though I was an avid reader of NME and other industry rags. I had read that Ollie Halsall was a hot guitarist but that was all I knew. I was, and still am, a huge Cocker fan so I was really looking forward to seeing him after following him from the intial hit of 'With a Little Help from My Friends' and on through the albums and the Woodstock and Mad Dog films. Patto were a revelation. A solid rocking act. The only song I really remember is "Singing the Blues on Reds" but I was amazed by Ollie Halsall's solos.
"Tanyrate, Cocker and entourage come on stage and start up. Somewhere along the line they had lost Bobby Keys and Jim Price so they were short handed compared to the advertising but we didn't care. Cocker was in fine form, out of his head but so was most of the audience. Two or three songs into the set, Ollie wanders onstage looking a bit lost. I think there was an on stage announcement by Cocker as to the circumstances but it was forty years ago and the memory is hazy. What I do remember is Ollie and the other guitarist standing nose to nose with the guitarist yelling out the chords till Ollie got the tune. Ollie gained confidence as the show went on and started to unleash on a couple of the solos that just made time stand still. I'm no musician but I knew I was listening to some one really special. Then they started on "The Letter" and the band wound into this one with a big powerhouse sound. Cocker wailed, the chorus was a surge and Ollie played a solo. A solo that had the entire band agog trying to figure out where he was going and how he was going to resolve. The band was watching him intently, with the piano player hanging off his stool. As Ollie swept into the climax he turned his back and pulled out some piece of utter magic. The piano player nearly fell off his stool, the band roared on, Cocker laughed and launched into the wind up.
"I've seen a lot of acts now but that night does stick in the memory."
George Millwood 2012
Western Springs, New Zealand 1972
© Lloyd Goodman
Western Springs, New Zealand 1972
© Lloyd Goodman
Note: Although Ollie's 'Beatnik' beard dates this photo correctly, he has the same jacket he wore onstage with Boxer some 4 years later. Maybe he picked it up there!
Rather disturbing photo of Joe Cocker under arrest in Melbourne during the tour. Thanks to Buda. [The picture that is, not the arrest!]
I was getting a ride down the M1 in the tranny after a Sheffield gig. Barnabas says, "cop car behind us, open the windows lads" Windows duly rolled down to let out most of the smoke. "He's put his lights on...pulling us over." Patto leaned forward and jettisoned the stash into space. Duly pulled over, cop asks all the usual questions while we all tried not to breathe. "Did I see you throw something out of the window?" he asks. "Just getting rid of a used condom, officer" Patto replies. "Don't hold with them, myself," the cop says, "It's like eating chocolate with the silver paper on>" "Off you go boys...behave yourselves." PS Lacking cruise control in the wagon, Barny used to put a concrete block on the gas pedal for motorway trips."
David Baxendell
The Heath Piper
Saxophonist Dave Brooks was in the band for a short time and, at a rehearsal, Ollie became increasingly annoyed with him for not instantly understanding the fine details of some absurd new musical arrangement. Eventually, Dave packed up his sax and stormed out moaning 'I'm a musician - not a f***ing mathematician!'
In 1996, Dave was fined for playing his bagpipes on Hampstead Heath.The actual prosecution, brought by the Corporation Of London, was for playing a musical instrument on Hampstead Heath.
The case provided some humour as it was stated in court that one, Jimmy Reid, had been hanged in 1746, after the Battle of Culloden, for "playing an instrument of war and insurrection"
Dave's solicitor maintained that, as his pipes were thus an instrument of war and insurrection", they could not be classified!ed as a musical instrument.
The judge, seeing the humorous side of the case, threatened to have Dave Brooks charged with "bearing arms on Hampstead Heath and asked the bailiff of the court if he was "ready to take Dave Brooks, Highland bagpiper, to the cells below the court never more for his bagpipes to be heard.
In summing up, the Judge maintained that the original hanging of Jimmy Reid had been 'a gross miscarriage of justice' and that the bagpipes are a musical instrument in peace time.
Dave Brooks was found guilty on "three counts of playing a musical instrument" i.e. the bagpipes and fined £15 on each count a total of £45 plus £50 costs, despite a 1500 signatures petition by Hampstead people.
The Corporation of London as a token gesture gave consent for Mr. Brooks to play his bagpipes for one hour, three mornings a week on the bandstand at Parliament Hilt fields, which he continued to do until his death in 2020..
Thanks to Joerg Reinicke
Yes, I remember Ollie and Mike, that Ollie was a special player."
Alvin Lee and Ten Years After did a tour of Scandinavia with us supporting. On the first night we played an absolute stormer and not one person applauded. Not one! Then Ten Years After came on, they hadn't played for six months. Ric the drummer was so rusty it was unbelievable. It was like Sweep playing the drums with Sooty on the Magic Organ
"And the audience went crazy. It made me wonder what it was all about.. certainly not about going on and playing well. Anyway, Alvin couldn't believe Ollie. He'd never heard him before, and he absolutely flipped. So he got a Revox and recorded every single Patto gig on the tour. Alvin even used to travel from gig to gig in our van., He just wanted to be with Ollie,"
John Halsey
Give It All Away!
I wouldn't normally care for someone copying any solo note-for-note but this is truly something specal. Parker Goessling is a young guitarist from Boston MA, USA. Check out his band The Late here
But first, sit down and watch this
"From Patto's 1970 album Hold Your Fire. Not the best video but I thought it would be nice to post for all the Ollie fans out there. I transcribed this solo for my guitar proficiency at Berklee in the Spring of 2015. Hope you enjoy!" PG
Oh,and, yes, he built the guitar himself too.
Give the Dots Away!
It get's worse!
Parker's even transcribed it!
CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW FULL SIZE PDF:
© Parker Goessling, 2017
These cartoons, taken from January and February 1971 Melody Makers, were likely created by Tony Benyon (1st Patto LP cover artist) and sponsored by Trigrad Entertainments, then Patto's management (Roger Simpson). They are similar to ones that Trigrad hired Tony Benyon to create in 1970 for another Trigrad band, May Blitz (with future Boxer drummer, Tony Newman)
Thanks to www.pattofan.com
Further reading
