Finer Things: A Vinegar Joe Story By Malcom Dome (part V)
"We were always trying out interesting and innovative approaches for the album. On the track Black Smoke Rising From The Calumet we wanted to create a cavernous sound for the backing vocals. Now, we were using the orchestral room at the studio, which was very big. So, I put the mics at one end of the room and had the Vinegarettes - who were Elkie, Robert and whoever else from the band - singing at the other end. What we managed to capture were the acoustics of the room. In that way we got the noteworthy and odd sound we were after."
"We did a lot of that type of thing. There were times when we had microphones set up at a distance for a particular guitar overdub. As I said, this was a very experimental album in a lot of ways. This was also one of the first albums to have a Moog synthesiser on it. But this was very easy to incorporate into the overall sound. We had no problems there at all. Pete and I spent about three or four days mixing the album on our own. When it was all finished, I went on holiday. But when I came back, Pete called and said he wanted to alter a couple of things in the mix on maybe two songs. So, we went back in and did that, with Pete also adding a few more guitar overdubs. It wasn't a long job though."
"Pete was very much the person in charge. He was very methodical in his studio approach. The rest of the band seemed to look up to him as the leader and followed Pete. And we never got any interference from the record label. They seemed happy enough to let the band get on with things in their own way. I don't ever recall anyone from Island even coming down to the studio to check out what was happening. That was a relief. It just meant we could get on with the job in the way we saw fit, without having to worry about label executives staring over our shoulders. I have to say that in my opinion the album turned out very well. I was knocked out by what we'd done. I have always regarded Six Star General as being a very special album. It should have been a huge seller for Vinegar Joe. And it's such a shame this album never gets the credit it so deserves for being so good."
"I loved working with Mike Ross," adds Elkie Brooks. "He was so good for us. I worked with him again on Shooting Star, my third solo album (released in 1978). I remember particularly that one day I came to the studio and he told me to go home. Mike immediately realised that I had a throat problem and I wouldn't be able to deliver a strong vocal performance. So, he took control of the situation and sent me away for the day. I have so much respect for Mike. He was such a good studio engineer and had a real understanding of the artists he worked with."
"I suppose we were probably a little more experimental on Six Star General than the previous two albums. But then, that's exactly the sort of thing Pete was always looking to do. Mike was such a clever and talented person. Actually, Robert and Pete were also very intelligent. When those three got together, it really was a meeting of a trio of brainboxes. Too bloody clever by half, if you ask me. It was hard for the rest of us in theband to keep up with them!"
"I love Black Smoke Rising From The Calumet a lot and it's a song I still do live. One song from this album we have never done live is Lady Of The Rain. It is such a beautiful song, though. I recall Pete once telling me that Steve York had written the music for this specially in my honour. But Steve had nothing to do with this. It was composed by Pete Gavin. And I came up with the lyrics!"
One reason this album had a more progressive slant was because Deacon used the Moog synthesiser on two tracks, as he recounts. "It was my idea to bring in the Moog for the third album. But I only used it on Talkin' 'Bout My Baby and Stay True To Yourself, just to add a bit more variety to the sound."
One song on the album was written by someone outside of the band. Brooks details; "Andy Fraser actually wrote Talkin' 'Bout My Baby specifically for Robert. Andy was such a great writer; look at all the songs he came up with for Free. I was in the rehearsal room when he first played this to Robert, and it sounded brilliant even then. Andy was very small in stature, but a musical giant."
"I think Chris Blackwell was plotting to have Rob and Andy form a new band," believes Gage, who bemoans the fact that the band were given little time to work on the album. "We did it in just three weeks, including mixing - again, we were under huge pressure from John Sherry and Island, who clearly didn't trust us to make our own decisions."
It was Pete Gage who came up with the album title Six Star General. "Lumbered with the stupid name Vinegar Joe - they put a stool and mike on stage at our first gig for 'Joe' to use! - I had to try to make some semblance of association. Five Star Generals are the norm - we were one better, up there with MacArthur, Eisenhower! Actually, Joe Stillwell was only a four-star general!"
The group photo used on the back of the sleeve was taken by Roger Stowell. "I was commissioned by Fabio Nicoli, who was the creative director at A&M Records. I did a lot of work with Fabio who did a lot of freelance work too for other labels such as Island. The photo was shot by a big statue in Hyde Park, near Marble Arch because I knew there was a statue that reminded me of Captain America (in fact, it's Achilles) but I couldn't find it on the day, so we just shot it on the steps of a monumental statue. Fabio was the art director who would have conceived the cover design and produced the finished artwork."
The album was released in 1973. And on August 4 that year, Vinegar Joe played the prestigious London Music Festival at Alexandra Palace. They were on the bill with headliners Wishbone Ash, plus Climax Blues band, McGuinness Flint, Bedlam (with Cozy Powell on drums) and Fumble.
Gage remembers the band's presence for this show annoyed one very high-profile person. "I suspect that as the same time Vanessa Redgrave was hounding me stupid to do all these 'keep left' charities and getting shitty with me when we already had gigs like this one in the book."
Towards the end of '73, Brooks was reportedly the victim of a mugging close to her home, but the whole incident was staged, as the singer recalls. "Pete was the one who came up with this concept for a publicity stunt. His idea was that I should be 'mugged' on my way home to our flat in Fulham. The 'crime' was to be committed in an alleyway that you walk through from Putney Bridge tube station to the New Kings Road. Pete knew a lot of 'interesting' people from South London. So, he got an ex-boxer to play the role of the mugger."
"I was scared stiff about what wouuld happen. I was supposed to have my coat ripped, all my credit cards stolen and be hit in the face. It may sound a strange thing to say, but my would-be mugger was a really nice person. He told me that he'd wear a leather glove when he hit me, somy face wouldn't be badly marked. He also told me to exhale fully just before the impact of his fist, as that would also help me... Oh yes, I was actually punched. It had to look real."
"After the supposed mugging, I was taken to the hospital to be checked out. And I couldn't help myself. I began to laugh uncontrollably. John Sherry, our booking agent, was with me and he told me to stop laughing as there were one or two members from the press about to turn up. Nobody outside of Pete, John and myself knew the truth about what had happened. We told none of the others in the band. But that night we had a gig booked. I knew that Robert had already smelt a rat, so it was important I turned up, so he could see the bruises on my face up close. Thankfully, when he saw the state of my face, that was enough to convince him the mugging had been authentic!"
The coat that was ripped was a real favourite of mine. And I had the aggravation of having to order new credit cards. But it must have been worth it for all the media attention the band got, right? No, it wasn't. We got a couple of small mentions in the press and that was it. As a publicity stunt it wasn't exactly a runaway success. So, I went through all of that for very little."
"By this stage I'd heard that Island boss Chris Blackwell had always wanted Vinegar Joe to be more Robert's backing band than anything else, and he was pissed off that Elkie was getting a lot of attention," adds Gage. A Melody Maker reviewer described Elkie up on stage in her mini skirt to be at risk of becoming the 'under stain lady'. As a result, I threatened to sue the paper. Ray Coleman the editor apologised, and as settlement I asked for the band to be on the Melody Maker front page. We got it."
"I had nothing but contempt for the press and the clandestine atmosphere around Island's management and our manager / agent John Sherry; the latter was a great agent but an ineffective manager. So, I decided we needed 'national' press. Back then the new buzz word was 'mugging'. Anything with 'mugging' in it gets the front page!"
"Being from South London I have some very loyal and useful friends. One was an ex-professional boxer, Ronnie X. We met, and he showed Elkie how not to stiffen on the punch but to roll with it. He'd aim for the cheek bone, below the eye and above the teeth and snatch her bag. They were consummate professionals pulling it off with witnesses on the street. John Sherry knew it was going down and made sure it went to the press that afternoon in time for the late edition. Naturally the press accepted the mugging because of the police and witnesses, but they were more interested if there had also been a sexual assault. Typical, eh?"
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