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June/July? 1985
Memphis Louie an
The Rockin
Firebirds of
Death 2 Gigs in
One Night
Episode...
Not inspired at
all by Phil
Collins' Live
Aid
Philadelphia/Wembley
Concorde
escapade the
same year.
(Don't think the
Firebirds even
had a car to
move their stuff
from the County
to the Royal)
Circumstances
conspired to
have the band
play two gigs in
one night and
lose a rhythm
guitarist in
between....
1 -
"Rhythm & Blues
Night" at the
Stornoway Folk
Club in the
County Hotel
Lineup:
-
Memphis
Louie
Studebaker
(Vocals,
Harmonica)
-
Bob Bitchin’
(Lead
Guitar)
-
Zink Sputnik
(Rhythm
Guitar)
-
Leroi Z
Coondawg
(Bass)
-
Etheridge
Lockjaw
Jones Ist
(Minimal
Drums)
Etheridge, a
diehard Jethro
Tull fan on the
side, was the
Token Native
committee
member at the
Stornoway Folk
Club, an
organisation
otherwise made
up almost
exclusively of
people from
south of the
border – and I
ain’t talking
Hearachs - in
possession of
facial hair and
lucrative
employment with
the local
authority. When
the folkies
decided to have
a “Rhythm and
Blues Night”
upstairs in the
County Hotel,
Etheridge
managed to
secure a slot
for the band. A
full 2 guitar,
bass and drums
set wasn’t
permitted, so
Etheridge played
the hi-hat again
(or did he?) and
the band
attempted to
keep it down.
Etheridge
not looking like
a folkie
Keeping it down
wasn’t really
their style, and
the performance
was lacklustre,
slightly out of
tune and not up
to practice
quality. Gerry’s
Amazing Hat
Tricks blew us
away with a far
better set of
Fabulous
Thunderbirds
covers, if I
remember right.
At this point
Zink Sputnik
decided he’d had
enough and
called it a day.
He was naturally
inclined towards
more
contemporary
stuff and
hadn’t been
happy with the
Firebirds’
musical style
for a while.
This performance
was the last
straw, and he
decided that the
time had come to
realise his
ambition to go
off and play
Level-42-style
jazz funk bass.
Unfortunately,
just as Zink
headed away for
the bus to Gress,
Bob Bitchin’
appeared and
announced that
the band had a
second slot to
play that night,
down at a
charity ceilidh
in the Royal in
5 minutes…
Songs
(possibly)
-
Crawlin King
Snake?
-
Be-bop a
lula
-
Blues with a
feelin?
-
Hi Heel
Sneekers?
-
I was
Murdered by
the CIA?
-
etc
2 -
Ceilidh at the
Royal Hotel,
Stornoway
Lineup:
-
Memphis
Louie
Studebaker
(Vocals,
Harmonica)
-
Bob Bitchin’
(Lead
Guitar)
-
Leroi Z
Coondawg
(Bass)
-
Etheridge
Lockjaw
Jones Ist
(Drums or
maybe Rhythm
Guitar)
Despite the
departure of
rhythm guitarist
Zink on the
Gress bus
minutes
beforehand, and
constant
heckling from
the late Parkend
Scribe (still
blacked up after
doing his
politically
correct comedy
act earlier in
the evening),
the Royal set
was pretty good
and got quite a
response. Leroi
was feeling smug
at the bar
afterwards when
an emotional
young lady came
up and asked him
“Hey, cove,
what’sh the name
of your band?”.
Leroi told her.
“Well”, she
replied “you
didn’t play
Freebird and
you’re f***ing
sh*te”.
Yes. The band
had failed to
comply with the
long-established
Stornoway
licensing
bye-law that
requires the
Skynyrd classic
to be played at
least once in
every group's
set.
Don’t remember
much else about
this one. I
asked Memphis
Louie but all he
remembers is
being plastered
by this stage.
Songs
(possibly):
-
Louie Louie?
-
Hi Heel
Sneekers?
-
etc...
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