More One Liners, and some Old Timers.
Lately, some of the people we used to encounter at gigs up down and around the country have sprung to mind. There now follows some brief descriptions, see if you remember anyone. Some names may be incomplete or missing, but I’m pretty sure most of them were real people.
You’ll also come up against a few choice phrases associated with them.
Jean-Luc…a French fella who used to be a regular at many shows. His favourite number was “Trouble In Mind”, and George would always oblige.
Wee Neily..a small man with a beard and a big voice. You would often hear him before you saw him…with a cry of “HHHHendrix” before descending the stairs into Platini’s. He didn’t like Disco.
A chap called Gillies, can’t remember his first name. He would show up occasionally, and almost always end up saying the wrong thing to the wrong person. Sometimes it was the same person as the last time.
“The Coatbridge Mob”. Again names escape me, but they were a travelling support of varying size. They seemed able to make it to the most remote and obscure of gigs. They turned up at Drumnadrochit…and some Blues Fest in Lancashire. Dedicated or what?
Peter McDougall, playwright and bon viveur. I remember George spotting him once and saying…”See him? He doesn’t know it, but he wants to work with me.” It did come to pass and George and Deke had a bit part as “band in pub” in Down Among The Big Boys. Peter once said of the secret of George’s success; “It’s not the way you sing or play guitar..it’s the way you walk down Byres Road”
Wee Craig was about fourteen and his dad used to smuggle him into gigs, where he would get up for a jam and cause jaws to drop. Wonder what he’s doing now?
