Has it come to this? Last night’s gig was a 70 year old Geordie who walked out on the Animals at the height of the band’s fame and once had a reputation for being ever so slightly chippy. However, that would hardly phase any Van Morrison fan, even if true…
There is of course far more to Alan Price than any of that rather incidental nonsence. Still gigging at 70, he had a very fine band with him – Zoot Money (keyboards), the great Bobby Tench (guitar), Peter Grant (bass) and Martin Wild on drums. This band worked with Price as the snappily titled “Alan Price and the Electric Blues Company“, who recorded the bluesy and well received CD ‘A Gigster’s Life for Me‘ in 1995. Still friends, still playing together!
Still a fine keyboard player and, if anything a more robust and stronger singer than in his heydey, he played a selection of his more well known material from throughout his career. He didn’t shy away from the Animal days (We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place, House Of The Rising Sun, Bring It On Home To Me etc.), but also included a number of his earlier solo hits and more rounded self penned material. Despite the self deprecatory nature of the introduction (‘you might want to drop off here’) the O Lucky Man! soundtrack medley worked particularly well. The quality of the musicians meant that all the material benefited from a a very tight and muscular sound, far rockier and bluesier than we might have expected. Tributes to some of his heroes (Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker), chances for the musicians to branch out (even the drum solo had merit!) and excellent song choices all made for a very enjoyable evening.
Of course, when you have a band of this calibre (Tench has worked with Freddie King and the aforementioned Van the Man amongst many others) you clearly have a head start but Price, with his laconic, bemoaning introductions that belied the obvious relish and skill with which he played and sang, was undoubtedly the star of the show