ROBERT PALMER : Music & Style

In early 1973, Vinegar Joe headed across the Atlantic for a tour that began on March 16 and ended May 14. "We were told by John Sherry, our booking agent, that the North American tour would break the band over there," remembers Mullen. "But that was never going to be the case. Yes, it was a huge tour that zig-zagged from New Orleans all the way to Ottawa over a period of about two months. It was mostly a stadium tour, and we were the opening band on a bill that also had Wishbone Ash plus Joe Walsh and Barnstorm." Other dates were slotted into the schedule, which included at various times sharing bills with Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes and also Grin featuring Nils Lofgren. The band also did five headlining dates at The Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood from May 2-6.

"We drove everywhere. But the other bands flew from show to show. Now, all of our luggage went on the flight, so we had nothing with us clothes wise. On a typical day, we would grab breakfast and then nine of us - the band and our crew - would get into a station wagon and drive eight or nine hours to the next venue. That's where we'd finally catch up with our bags and could change into fresh clothes. We'd then do a 40 minute set, without ever having the luxury of a soundcheck."

"It might sound fantastic to be playing in these huge places, but because we were going onstage so early there were hardly any people in there. And those who were there had such little interest in us that they would be flying paper aeroplanes in the vast empty spaces. The band did the best we could under the circumstances."

"We were staying in Holiday Inns everywhere, and all their rooms look the same wherever you go. So, our routine was to drive about 700 miles, do a gig in front of virtually nobody and then stay in the same room as we had the previous night! There were positives from this tour, though. One was that when we were in the southern states, our driver would tune in to Texan gospel radio stations. Now Robert and I both loved soul and gospel music. So, we could sit back and lose ourselves in the midst of all this great music we were hearing. That was special."

"I recall that the American tour in 1973 was such a hard slog," adds Brooks. "We were doing shows night after night, with hardly any breaks at all. And there was so much travelling involved. Most of the time, Pete drove the station wagon we were in. He could even have done all of the driving. We were staying in Holiday Inns everywhere we went. When we got to the hotel after another long drive, what did I do? You'd expect me to say that I checked in and went to my room to chill out and freshen up. But oh no, that's not what I did at all. I went right to the bar and had a Southern Comfort. I'd have had a whiskey, but they didn't have any decent ones in the States - at least not where we went. Why did I have a drink? Because I needed to build up a bit of energy for the gig ahead."

"We had to do much of it by road, because the management wouldn't underwrite flights," recalls Gage. "New York and the East Coast was great as we were doing mostly colleges. But when we got to L.A., Elkie had the worst of colds, pretty much pneumonia. But somehow, she struggled through the shows and nobody was any the wiser, although she wasn't on top form."

"We were in Shreveport when I had the message from the US agents that we had an offer to extend the tour, because they felt there was some good reaction that we should follow up with. But Ben Nesbitt and John Sherry, our manager and agent in the UK respectively, wanted us to return for gigs they had for us in Europe. And they said they'd get us back to the USA soon. I spoke more with the American guys, and they said 'Stuff your managers - do these extra American dates'. But I put it to the band and they decided we should go back. It was too risky to chance staying on in the States. It was a big mistake."

After nine months in the band, Jim Mullen was dismissed. And he remembers the reason it happened. "There were definitely egos at work in the band. After every gig we did, there would be post-mortems held about what had gone wrong. Fingers would be pointed at the supposed culprits who'd supposedly messed up. One time, Elkie was busy pointing her finger directly at me. I snapped and told her that if she ever did it again, then I'd bite her finger off! She was so furious about my reaction that she stormed off to Pete Gage and demanded that he sack me. That's exactly what he did. Mind you, I reckon I deserved to be fired. You cannot say something like that to one of the band leaders and expect to get away with it. I didn't work for ages after I was 'let go'. But then out of the blue Robert called and asked if I'd like to play on his 1974 album Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley."

"But despite the way it ended, I have fond memories from my brief time in the band. We did a lot of shows when I was with Vinegar Joe, and quite a few festivals and it was a really good live band. A lot of this was due to the combination of Robert and Elkie. He was a smooth, suave performer, while she was an Annie Oakley type of wild character dressed in buckskin. They were great together and really drove us."

For what would prove to be the band's final album, there was another change in the line-up, as Pete Gavin came in as the new drummer. "I'd seen Pete with Heads Hands And Feet," explains Gage. "He was a fantastic drummer - the real total deal on all fronts. Steve really wanted to play with him, as he loved Heads Hands And Feet. So, when they broke up, I pounced. To be honest, Pete was the final piece of the Vinegar Joe line-up that I had strived to find over those years. The line-up that recorded Six Star General was the real business end of the story."

For this album, Vic Smith was replaced as Gage's production partner. In his place came Mike Ross. "I'd worked with Mike at CBS Studios on many singles and a couple of LPs as a producer," says Gage. "He was a sober, quiet, technically brilliant engineer. A man to be trusted for quality and solid advice."

Ross recalls, "I knew Pete from the late '60s, when he did production work for a record label called Major Minor and that's when I met Elkie as well. Every time Pete needed backing vocalist for something he was working on, that would be her. Then they obviously went off and did Vinegar Joe. I assume they wanted a change of studio and also engineer for the third album, as compared to what had happened on the first two records. So, perharps that's why my name came into the frame. It was also decided to record it at CBS Studios in London where I was based at the time."

Gage is very enthusiastic about the job Ross did. "He was fucking brilliant. We should have had him with us for Rock 'n Roll Gypsies, and the story would be totally different. I wasn't happy with the final mix for that album. I asked for it to be remixed, but Island refused and went ahead to meet the promotional release dates and tour. But then oil prices shot up, which affected vinyl prices, and the label reduced the first pressing to just 5,000 copies. The reviews in the music papers said the LP was disappointing and lacked the excitement of the live gigs, which is exactly what I'd told Island!"

There was certainly a bolder musical approach on Six Star General as compared to what had happened on the previous two, as Ross explains. "This was very different to the other records. Much more progressive and experimental. So, it needed a different production approach. Pete let me have my head when it came to developing the sound of the album. That's why he was kind enough to ensure that I got a production credit. It was really nice of him to think about me in those terms."

"A lot of the time it was just Pete and me in the studio. I would be in the control room and he'd be downstairs doing guitar overdubs, and sometimes I might make suggestions as to how a sound he was trying to get could be improved upon. But I certainly wasn't involved in any of the musical arrangements. I found the band so easy to work with. We got all the rhythm tracks done in just two days. Elkie and Robert also did guide vocals. Then we got down to doing the vocals and also the guitar overdubs - there were a lot of the latter on this album. In all, the recording took took about two weeks, which was normal for most bands in the early '70s. Unless you were a massive name and were able to take as long as you wanted."

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