I talk about Bill Nelson a fair bit here, that’s because he is really rather good. He is our most undervalued guitarist, along with Robin Trower, and continues to expand his musical horizons with every album. Where many of his generation are seated comfortably on their past glories Bill is fighting back against the past.
Look here for my general appreciation of his work. You will find that I’m not bothered by Be Bop Deluxe, they were certainly a great band in their time, but Bill regards their work as of it’s time and gone. There is a new cd box set of Sunburst Finish out now from Cherry Red, and Bill has joined in the promotional round for it, albeit somewhat reluctantly. He recently played a show in Leeds to celebrate his 70th birthday, including a live stream for those unable to get tickets. Bill felt the need to warn that there would be no Be Bop Deluxe numbers in the set as the Facebook groups that follow him are dominated by posts about that 6 or 7 year part of his career, at the expense of the subsequent 40 years. Spending your entire life talking about work you did in your early twenties must be as frustrating for others as it is for Bill, and I for one have pretty much stopped buying the likes of Mojo, Classic Rock and so on because I just want to hear about something other than the Beatles, Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd. And that from an obsessive magazine buyer.
Now I’m all for reliving my youth, as the posts on this blog will testify, but as the fans view of what constitutes the “classic” parts of a band’s legacy tends to be only a small part of the whole, usually centered somewhere from 1971 to 1974. Steely Dan actually did a “rarities” show back in 2011, as a relief from the run of identikit set lists. Yes are another offender in the same-dozen-songs-all-the-time stakes, as are many other 70s bands. Does this mean I’m alone in being bored stupid with live albums that repeat the same old stuff time and again. As live work and the CDs & DVDs that result from it are the staple of most artist’s income now then how many versions of, for instance, ‘Roundabout’ do you need? You can pick from 2 studio and 15 different live versions. Please play something else! In career of 40 or even 50 years they must have written something else worth an airing.
So, hooray for Bill Nelson who won’t revisit the past, continues to plough forward and is thanked for it by his current fans. Robin Trower too, although he hasn’t departed as far from his roots as Bill, but still regularly produces new work that is the equal of much of his 70s output. Yes he still plays the fan favourites, but includes new songs and rings the changes on his back catalogue as the set list on the right shows. Try his recent album Time And Emotion for a feel of where Robin is now.
We all like a bit of familiarity, but repetition to the point of boredom must make for stale performances, jaded listeners and diminishing box office returns. Lets be adventurous and allow our artists to mature and grow, and especially to play something we haven’t heard in a while, or indeed ever. The prospect of another favourite feeling they have to apologise for not playing the old stuff is not one I’m looking forward to. It’s embarrassing for them and for us.
