I see from the local press that Kate Rusby is appearing with her band at the Southport Theatre on 28 May. She has come a long way since her first appearance in Southport, which was at the Bothy in a duo with Kathryn Roberts, and then later on her own. The admission charge on those nights was probably around a quarter of the £20 you'll pay at the Southport Theatre. Her waif-like singing style is rather at odds with her down-to-earth, Barnsley girl chat between songs, but she is undeniably popular with an appeal that extends beyond the folk scene. It's not the first time the Bothy has featured people on the way up. A few other examples include: Barbara Dickson, Show Of Hands and Mary Black, and a favourite story at the Bothy is that the club refused Paul Simon a gig in 1965.
"She's got to make her money while she can Clive" is what her Dad told me several years back when I was asking about her Bothy availability, implying that she wouldn't be playing our place again for a good while! At least this was more polite than Steve (Show Of Hands) Knightley's comment - "don't bother asking us again mate - we're going places and won't be playing gigs like yours again."
ReplyDeleteBarbara Dickson is still a bloody good singer of traditional songs when she chooses to be. We paid her £20 in 1974. I have a recording of that night which even though done on a Phillips shoe-box cassette recorder is magical.
Well we build 'em up and maybe catch 'em on the way down.
I still intro. some of these at Festivals. Kate's OK, never could hit it off with her ex-partner McCusker. The new Mr Rusby, Damien O'Kane is much nicer. SOH a bit erm 'up themselves' as street parlance has it. Yes, I could write a book.
Tony Wilson who famously turned down Paul Simon said "A conceited man and that came through in his songs. I didn't think he was worth £10 in 1965 and I don't now!" Inspired.
Yes, and he pinched Martin Carthy's arrangement of Scarborough Fair without acknowledgement, so perhaps Tony was right to turn him down.
ReplyDeleteAs I have mentioned before I used to work with Tony Wilson. I remember him telling us at the height of Simon and Garfunkel's fame that he had once turned Paul Simon down to play a gig. I thought there may have been an element of exaggeration in that story, but Clive and Nev you have now set the record straight! I once went with him to see Barbara Dickson in a pub on Park Road in Liverpool. I think it may have been called the pineapple. During the break Tony went to talk to her and she bought me half of bitter!
ReplyDeleteI can imagine Tony enjoying telling that story with a certain degree of satisfaction!
ReplyDeleteLost count as to how many times I've seen Kate. She is always good. She's a performer that will be hard to tire of.
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