by drakula63 » Wed Apr 30, 2014 2:58 pm
Whilst I don’t recall us ever having the pre-requisite ‘avacado’ bathroom suite, back in the 1970s we definitely had a four-piece bathroom suite which was a similarly trendy deep purple colour. The taps were gold-plated and I remember the plug on the bath was raised by turning the round overflow wheel, that was punctuated around the outside with small circular holes. The wallpaper was glossy – waterproof, I suppose – and seemed to be a myriad of dark green and golden patterns. What I loved about that bathroom the most was that the bath itself was reached by stepping through a large tiled arch. If all of this is making you misty-eyed for the 1970s, then there’s a reason for it – I’ve just been listening to my latest acquisition; ‘Alan Hawkshaw plays the Philicorda’. I would argue that this kind of album is just as much the soundtrack of the early 1970s as Led Zeppelin, Sweet, Mud, Slade, Mott the Hoople or T. Rex – by virtue of the fact that this style of music was virtually everywhere at the time; in films, on the TV, in restaurants, supermarkets and, of course, in hotel lounges, etc, etc, etc… Nowadays it would be unfairly labelled as ‘easy listening’, but it’s more than that and it takes me back to rainy Sunday afternoons watching UFO and The Persuaders! on a black and white telly in mum and dad’s bedroom!
I suspect that the LP in question may have been commissioned by Philips as a kind of promotion tool for the Philicorda – Alan almost says as much in his sleeves notes which read a bit like a sales pitch. The instrument itself seems to be something between an organ and a synthesiser, but not quite either. It never quite attains the heavy-duty power of the Hammond, but its wind instrument sounds are good and there’s even a fairly decent accordion sound on ‘Girl Talk’. Needless to say, Big Al gives his usual virtuoso performance and I like to think that he entertained his mates on more than one occasion in his own lounge after dinner on this instrument.
Elsewhere, the playing is tasteful and perfect – Brian has got his ‘big’ tom tom sound here and there and the outro to ‘The Odd Couple’ leaves you in no doubt that you are listening to THE Brian Bennett from the Shadows! Mostly the album consists of ‘standards’, but there’s a nice jaunty piece from Alan called ‘Mariella’ on side one, which closes with the above pretty strident version of ‘Spinning Wheel’. So, yeah, a good purchase.
As I get older I find that I reflect a lot more on the past and in particular the ‘70s, which now seem so long ago and yet vivid in my recollection. And this album somehow helps to bring it all back. Mind you, I bet that the current owners of our old house have long since stripped out that deep purple bathroom suite! Which is a bit of a shame.
P.S. I think the model Alan is using for this record is the 1972, two-manual GM761
