Somewhere near the beginning of 1990, Tommy Vance broadcast a live show by The Quireboys as part of his Friday Night Rock Show on Radio 1. The live set – recorded at Wembley Arena when the still relatively new band opened for the legendary Aerosmith on their ‘Pump’ tour in 1989 – presented the boys in great shape. Numbers like ‘Misled’ and ‘Man On The Loose’ captured a Faces-obsessed swagger in a way that few bands had managed since 1975; ‘Seven O’Clock’ – already known and loved by Vance’s devoted listeners – and the soon to be released as a single ‘Hey You’ showed the crowd pleasing power Spike and the boys already had from the off, whilst the country strains of ‘Sweet Mary Ann’ suggested the Quireboys had the potential to stretch out if required. Although short, this live show was, and remains, a great document of the band firing on all six.
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RAY FENWICK – Playing Through The Changes: The Anthology 1964-2020
The 1960’s spawned a generation of guitarists who paved their way to stardom through vast amount of session work. Arguably the most celebrated of these players are Ritchie Blackmore and Jimmy Page, but for these genuine megastars, there were a legion of other six string heroes who worked every bit as hard – or harder – but never reached “household name” status. Unless you’re the kind of fan who devours sleeve notes and credits with as much enthusiasm as the music itself, names like Clem Clempson, Geoff Whitehorn and Jim Sullivan, for example, might not be too familiar, and yet, if you love 60s, 70s and 80s rock, chances are you own a record or two featuring those guys.
Ray Fenwick is another musician who has maintained a presence for several decades, but has never seemed to get his full due. Beginning as a session man in the 60s, he’s played with some of the greats. ‘Playing Through The Changes’ – a three disc anthology from 2021 – shows off a chunk of his legacy more than admirably, pulling tracks from a very busy career. What it may lack in consistency it makes up for with variety, and unlike so many rock-based anthologies devoted to a singular talent, it doesn’t rely on too many really obvious recordings you’ll own elsewhere – purely because the nature of Fenwick’s work means there aren’t any obvious compilation filling hits and standards. There are a lot of oddities – which aren’t all good, naturally – but, in the main, it’s an enjoyable musical adventure.