Book Review (review extracted
from www.playingoutloud.co.uk)
The Road To Harry’s Bar - Forty Years
on the Potholed Path to Stardom by Gordon Haskell. Published by Mainstream Publishing - 219 pages plus small photo
section-£10.99.
With a foreword by Reggie Perrn creator David Nobbs, who also helped
with the editing, this autobiography is everything you could hope
for. Beautifully written, full of humour, detail and philosophical
insight, it brims over with the personality of its gifted and charismatic
subject. From Gordon’s schooldays with Robert Fripp to his
early career with bands like League of Gentlemen, Les Fleur De Lys,
and later the infamous King Crimson, it’s a compulsive read
all the way.
It’s also a fascinating insight into the vagaries of the music
business, and Gordon has every reason to be bitter at the way he
has been treated by record companies, managers and radio stations.
But he adopts a philosophical approach and relates his experiences
in unsentimental style, with many amusing tales of life on the road
on the Continent and entertaining on cruise ships.
He also covers his romantic life, from losing his virginity in his
early teens to the problems of maintaining successful relationships
while living the itinerant life of a troubador. Again, all related
in honest style without self-pity or animosity. What shines through
its Gordon’s love of people and his observational wit. Whether
milkmen or movie stars, policemen or prostitutes, or the people who
enjoyed seeing him play live, Gordon treats everyone with respect,
and many of these characters find their way into his songs.
The last third of the book covers his solo career over the last
ten years or so playing in pubs across Dorset and Hampshire and
further afield before “cutting
a hole in the perimeter fence” and achieving a No 2 hit with “How
Wonderful You Are” and the “Harry’s Bar” album. I first
met Gordon in The Platform Tavern in Southampton about 8 years ago, which, like
The Bent Brief and The Talking Heads have a special place in his heart. All the
time Gordon was playing venues like these for around £100 a night, he never
let his standards drop, always playing a committed and soulful set with a great
deal of humour. Giving his best and sharing his intimate experiences with strangers
has been central to Gordon’s career. Which is why this book is so
good, I suppose - Gordon is a natural writer. He has been writing great songs
with great lyrics for 40 years, which is pretty useful practice for writing a
book.
I’ve read plenty of autobiographies by entertainers, musicians and singers
over the years - this is by far the best. Funny, compelling and telling, it’s
a real page turner, and I can only advise anyone reading this to rush out and
buy it!
|
One of the great unsung heroes of
popular music
Independent 14 December 2001
by Terence Blacker
NOW AND then, when visiting schools, I am asked the question “if
you weren’t a writer, what would you like to be?” I used
to reply with sensible-sounding half-lies – “A teacher,
maybe, or a book publishing editor” – but recently, in
spirit of reckless, middle-aged frankness, I have come out with the
only truly honest answer. I would have liked to have been a pop star.
The children laugh. They find my answer quite a lot funnier than
is entirely kind or appropriate. Even when I tell them that I play
the guitar, I try to write songs, and point out that novelty acts
turn up quite often on Top of the Pops , they refuse to take me seriously.
The problem is that middle age (or, in pop terms, old age) and novelty
appear not to go together. Reedy-shanked veterans of the rock establishment
manage to retain their ageing fan base. Personalities, puppets and
comedians occasionally break into the charts. But to find some old
codger who appears from nowhere with their own hit song, one would
probably have to go back to Allan Smethurst, the Singing Postman
until now.
As every chart-watcher will know, the past fortnight has
brought hope to a forgotten generation of musicians with their fading
jeans, receding hairlines and battered Gibsons, Joining the race
for this Christmas’s number one spot, competing with such
kings and queens of hype Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman, Kate
Winslet, and the Tweenies, is a man called Gordon Haskell with his
own song “How Wonderful You Are”. Haskell is 55 and,
until recently earned a living singing in a pub in Dorset.
True hits, created by genuine consumer demand rather
than marketing happen occasionally in the book world – Nick
Hornby’s Fever Pitch was one, the first Harry Potter novel
another - but are rarer in the music business. Haskell’s is
the genuine article. After years of writing and performing, he borrowed £200
to record the song. It was sent on spec to Radio 2, where the oldie
DJ Johnny Walker and Ken Bruce took a liking to it and began to give
it airplay. It became the most frequently requested record in Radio
2’s history and, in advance of its release as a single this
week, 150,000 copies had been pre-sold. Haskell has just signed a
four-album deal worth £2.8m with AOL Time Warner.
His career, it turns out, is similar to that of hundreds, maybe
thousands, of musicians who have kept on playing down the years in
pubs, bars, restaurants and holiday camps. Like many of his colleagues,
Haskell has had a brush with the big time – he played bass
behind Otis Reading and Cliff Richard during the 1960s and ended
up being part, briefly, of the group King Crimson.
Things went wrong. Marriages went belly-up. He lost contact with
his children. Several years were spent, as he put it, “playing
to drunks in Norway”. I imagine that he has experienced a few
management rip-offs, dodgy gigs and musical embarrassments in his
time.
It is a story which will be familiar to many musicians. They have
played on, in spite of disappointments and humiliations, because
music is their life and because one day, they believe, that music
will be recognised. Their breakthroughs, if they happen, tend to
be a TV theme tune, singing to an adverting jingle, or writing a
song that gets covered by someone younger and less talented.
Haskell’s success is of a different order and, appropriately,
he is giving the royalties earned by “How Wonderful You Are” to
the session musicians who played on it. He’s not interested
in money, he says. “It’s enough for me that my music
has been recognised.”
If there is any justice, Robbie, Nicole, Kate and The Tweenies will
take second place in the charts to someone who represents the true,
unsung heroes of popular music. |
Gordon Haskell The Road To Harry's Bar
Taken from www.allmusic.com
The ex King Crimson vocalist delivers a phenomenally smooth
performance with a group of Polish musicians Gordon Haskell says he
wishes he met a long time ago. The Eden Ahbez tune, Nature Boy,
sounds like a male counterpart to the music of Sade, eloquent and
soothing, as is this entire concert. Haskell's own Voodoo Dance
from the breakthrough 2002 disc, Harry's Bar, leans more towards
Boz Scaggs than the progressive rock world some might envision. The
camera crew does a fine job of capturing all the musicians at work, and
the sound quality is very appealing. Interesting camera angles on "Go
Tell Sarah" which could be Gordon Lightfoot going jazz/pop. The
total running time on this DVD is two and a half hours and it is all
delightful. Average White Band's Hamish Stuart gets second
billing, but don't let that scare you, he leans towards his work with
Paul McCartney and George Benson here and allows the young and
gifted lead guitarist Damian Kurasz to take the lead on the six
minute plus &"Go Tell Sarah". The fusion of the tenor saxophone
- courtesy of Marek Podkowa - and Jacek Piskorz' keyboards, all
perfectly played, give the singer an elegant platform to deliver the
eighteen songs with no flaws, just a sparkling and continuous display of
mellow tones. The melancholy "Al Capone" is a nice change while the
cover of Bill Withers' classic &"Ain't No Sunshine" well suited to
Haskell's new musical world. DVD includes a bonus live video, three
video clips and an extensive thirty seven and a half minute interview.
An intriguing and deeply moving performance and package well worth your
time. |
Review - The Lady Wants to Know
 "If a cd were ever custom made just for me this would be it., March 24, 2005"
Reviewer: MovedbyMusic
I cannot get over how gorgeous these tracks are to me. The music is astounding. I adore these songs by Michael Franks interpreted with the sexiest and most gentle vocals by Gordon Haskell and musicianship of the most superlative kind. Produced by Hamish Stuart this cd is my ideal.
"The Lady Wants to Know" is magnificent. "...Daddy's just like Coltrane, Baby's just like Miles, The Lady's Just like Heaven, When she smiles..." The musicians are so accomplished I have to list them here: Alto sax by Nigel Hitchcock; backing vocals Hamish Stuart; Bass, Steve Pearce; Drums, Ralph Salmins; Percussion, Bosco d'Olivera; Fender Rhoses, Peter Murray; Guitar Robbie McIntosh.
"Satisfaction Guaranteed" with a magnificent trumpet by Martin Shaw is another track to die for.
"Tell Me All About it" was recently recorded by Natalie Cole and I loved her rendition but this one is even more extraordinary.
Honestly you have to take a listen to this cd. A little pop - a little jazz, alot of imagination and heart all make this cd my top pick of Spring '05. I love this cd from track 1 straight through to 11.
So fine - so fine.
Link to original review |
