October 3rd always brings back so many memories for me. It was on that day in 1973 that I signed my first recording contract with Rocket Records. I spent that week over half term in London recording the first few songs for the album Rocket Boy. A single was released the following March but the album itself was finished and then shelved due to my voice descending an octave in the following weeks. The album was eventually released 50 years later when Elton John very kindly returned all of my tapes and copyrights.
Signing to Rocket Records hackneyed my life for ever and led me to places, studios and concert halls I would otherwise never had the opportunity to visit. Over the years through this column I have talked about some of the amazing musicians and producers I have worked with. I have striven to bring attention to some of the local musicians who have made their mark on the entertainment world.
Artists like Steve Balsamo who has one of the finest voices in the world or West End star Ria Jones. Only last week at the memorial concert at the Pontardawe Arts Centre for Andy ‘Wal’ Coughlan, my friend and bass player of over 40 years, we were able to welcome home players of the calibre of Richard Cottle who over the years has played with David Bowie, Eric Clapton and Wham.
But whilst it would have been impossible for singers and musicians like these to be so successful without their inherent natural talent and their drive to achieve their goals there are many ‘unsung’ heroes and heroines who have given their lives to music or drama in the region and by doing so have enabled others to fly.
Next Saturday, that’s the 10th October there will be a special Orchestrated Concert production of the Lerner and Lowe classic musical ‘My Fair Lady’. The concert is in memory of John Davies. Uncle John had been a stalwart of musical theatre for decades and over the years his generosity of spirit and musical talent touched hundreds if not thousands of people.
Now to be honest growing up I had very little connection with the world of amateur dramatics. My world was garage bands, and a ‘you hum it and I’ll play’ relationship with music. It was only when I started writing my own musicals that I started to find that there was a whole world of music and theatre that had been happened in my town which was of such a high standard and demanded such commitment that to call it amateur felt like something that should be challenged by the Trades Descriptions Act.
It was back in 2011 that I was approached by Abbey Players about the possibility of them performing my musical about the 1904 Welsh Revival, Amazing Grace. I was delighted but then I had to break the news to them that unfortunately there wasn’t any music. Well that’s not quite true. Although I have been a professional musician for over 50 years I don’t actually read or write the dots, it’s still hum and play for me…but technology has proven to be a bit of a godsend.
Obviously a lot of singers need a score for them to learn their parts but it’s not just the performers that need the dots. A musical needs a score so that the stage managers can cue the lights and set changes. It’s the road map everyone follows.
When I write music I usually play it on a keyboard which is connected to a computer. The computer can then take my performance and turn it into notes on a stave. When it came to the musicals I would first play the piano parts into the computer. Then I would add extra lines for the melodies using the same computer process. Finally I would add the words via another computer programme. Voila.
The thing was for my shows I would bring in my band The Jacks who on the whole didn’t work with dots either. We would rehearse and bring the music to life but be the only ones in the production that didn’t actually need the score.
I remember meeting John Davies and trying to explain to him the situation. Now sometimes people who read musical notation can make those of us who don’t feel a little inadequate. It’s as if we are not proper musicians after all. John was a master craftsman. He could sight read anything and everything. He was also just a lovely man. Not only was he understanding he was encouraging and life affirming. He told me not to worry and with that lovely smile assured me everything would be ok.
The show ran for a week in the Swansea Grand and it was the strangest feeling. I had never actually seen the show myself as I had always been on stage in the band and the oddest thing was that the computer had written the piano parts exactly how I played them. Here I was in the stalls listening to John Davies play the piano…like me!!! After that John was always a welcome face at the shows I was working on and the show of his I would go to see.
Next week John’s friends and fellow musicians singers and actors will gather to perform this very special concert of ‘My Fair Lady’. John had played for so many shows over the years, but his dear friend and musical colleague Jonathan Lycett thought his show captured everything that was great about John.
John Davies loved ‘My Fair Lady’ and had been a part of so many productions over the years that has left Jonathan with a problem on his hands. Which of the many past Eliza Doolittle’s will get the chance to bring the character to life this time around? I think I’m right in saying in the past a young Ria Jones played the part.
All I do know is that there has been no problem filling all of the slots from the leads to the chorus. Everyone who knew and loved John wanted to be a part of this celebration. He was a good man, a great musician who encouraged others to be the best they could be and to enjoy their talents and I will his skill, enthusiasm and that wonderful smile.
There are still a few tickets left with money going towards the Woodfield Sanctuary.