Velvetclown
Banned
Re: Alex Harvey
I bet he was Framed !!! :mad
I bet he was Framed !!! :mad
Alex Harvey (Official Thread)
- Thread starter rtbuck
- Start date
rtbuck
Senior Member
Re: Alex Harvey
Shoot that's tough LG but I would say one of the first 3 (Framed, Next, The Impossible Dream) All three have necessary tracks that define the Sensational Alex Harvey Band.
I may have to go with 'Framed' mainly for Midnight Moses, Framed, St. Anthony, & There's No Lights on the Christmas Tree Mother They're Burning Big louie Tonight.
It's really that close... though any one of those three
Shoot that's tough LG but I would say one of the first 3 (Framed, Next, The Impossible Dream) All three have necessary tracks that define the Sensational Alex Harvey Band.
I may have to go with 'Framed' mainly for Midnight Moses, Framed, St. Anthony, & There's No Lights on the Christmas Tree Mother They're Burning Big louie Tonight.
It's really that close... though any one of those three
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rtbuck
Senior Member
Re: Alex Harvey
S.A.H.B. continued touring but were forced to cancel shows because of Alex’s ongoing back problems due to the fall from the scaffold rig on their previous tour. Keyboardist Hugh Mckenna collapsed backstage after one show due to exhaustion & was forced to sit out the tour. His replacement was Tommy Eyre who played keyboards for Joe Cocker (including his famous version of “With a Little Help From my Friends”). The band was being pressured by their record company for a hit single so the band wrote, recorded, & released “Boston Tea Party”. ‘S.A.H.B. Stories’ album followed the single & did very well reaching #11 on the charts in the UK. Other than “The Boston Tea Party” the album contained other great tracks including a great rendition of the Jerry Reed classic “Amos Moses”. My favorite tracks on the album are “25 Dollars for a Massage” & “ Dogs of War”
With some rare time off Alex & his family went to Lochness where Alex interviewed local witnesses that claimed to have seen “Nessie” (the Lochness Monster). He recorded over 6 hours worth of material & eventually cut it down to fit on a single LP record which was released in 1977. Unfortunately, when Alex returned home tragedy struck once again as he received news that his best friend & manager Bill Fehilly & his 11 year old son were killed in a plane crash. Grief stricken along with his other health issues life was really began taking its toll on him but Alex continued on touring. Halfway through the tour Alex collapsed & was forced to cancel the remaining dates.
During the time while Alex was recuperating the other 4 members went into the studio to record their own album. Alex was very supportive of the project & even helped choose & produce some of the tracks. S.A.H.B. released ‘Fourplay’ & the cover featured a black & white photo of the band including Zal without make-up. The back cover was comical featuring the band in the studio recording while Alex laid bound on the floor with his mouth duct taped shut. ‘Fourplay’ is a good record featuring stand out tracks such as “Smouldering”, “Pick it Up Kick it”, & “Big Boy” (which also ended up on Nazareth’s ‘Malice in Wonderland’ album after Zal had joined Nazareth).
In 1977 S.A.H.B. went into the studio to record their final album together ‘Rock Drill’. A falling out between Hugh & Alex caused Hugh to walk out of the band & he was once again replaced with Tommy Eyre. The album was decent overall with cool songs songs such as “Who Murdered Sex”, “Rock & Roll”, & “Water Beasties” but did not not do well on the charts. This was probably due to the punk explosion which was taking over England while Alex was recuperating. The band was set to tour but after the first date Alex had had enough & retired.
For the first time in 6 years Alex was without a back up band but he didn’t stay down for long & soon formed “The New Band” (as he called it) featuring Tommy Eyre & an 18 year old English guitar prodigy named Mathew Cang. At one point for a short time Eyre was replaced with Hugh Mckenna but was soon back in the band. The band toured throughout 1978 & 1979 & released one album titled ‘The Mafia Stole my Guitar’ which despite some good tunes in my opinion it’s not in the same league as S.A.H.B. I do enjoy the album especially the title track, “Oh Spartacus”, & an awesome modern version of “Shaking All Over”. The album also featured a Louie Prima medley of “Just a Gigolo /I Ain’t Got Nobody” which pre dates David Lee Roth’s version. The band continued touring during 1980 but eventually they fizzled out as records were not selling & even the live shows weren’t drawing a crowd.
Alex’s health & battle with alcoholism was becoming worse but as always he kept going. He formed a new band called the Electric Cowboys & in December of 1981 went into the studio to record an album titled ‘Soldier on the Wall’. The band began playing gigs but on February 5th 1982 Alex collapsed with a heart attack while waiting to board a ferry. One account said that Alex clutched his chest & said “This is it boys…” Alex was in a coma & suffered a 2nd heart attack which was fatal. Rock & Roll lost another member too early.
‘Soldier on the Wall’ was released in 1983 & though it was a bit different style album I loved it especially “Billy Bolero”, “Snowshoes Thompson”, & “Roman Wall Blues”. Since his death their have been a bunch of other albums released such as ‘Ice Cold’ which was recorded in 1970 & is a jazz/rock style. S.A.H.B. released a few other live recordings from the 70’s including ‘Live on the Test’, ‘The Gospel According to Alex Harvey’ which features 2 discs (one a great live BBC recording & the other is a muddy sounding show from the Reading Festival 1977 which features Alex playing the role of Jesus on “Framed”), ‘British Tour ‘76’ (which is great sounding & features Alex playing the role of Hitler during “Framed”), & ‘Hot City’ which is the original remastered versions of ‘The Impossible Dream’ including an unreleased tune titled “Ace in the Hole” (the versions of ‘The Impossible Dream’ tunes are awesome & different versions).
As far as the other members of S.A.H.B… Chris Glen & Ted Mckenna became the powerhouse rhythm section of the Michael Schenker Group & Zal Clemison joined Nazareth & played on ‘No Mean City’ & ‘Malice in Wonderland’. S.A.H.B. released a couple of live albums featuring different singers ‘Live in Glasgow 1993’ & ‘Zalvation Live’. They still play around although Zal recently retired.
S.A.H.B. continued touring but were forced to cancel shows because of Alex’s ongoing back problems due to the fall from the scaffold rig on their previous tour. Keyboardist Hugh Mckenna collapsed backstage after one show due to exhaustion & was forced to sit out the tour. His replacement was Tommy Eyre who played keyboards for Joe Cocker (including his famous version of “With a Little Help From my Friends”). The band was being pressured by their record company for a hit single so the band wrote, recorded, & released “Boston Tea Party”. ‘S.A.H.B. Stories’ album followed the single & did very well reaching #11 on the charts in the UK. Other than “The Boston Tea Party” the album contained other great tracks including a great rendition of the Jerry Reed classic “Amos Moses”. My favorite tracks on the album are “25 Dollars for a Massage” & “ Dogs of War”
With some rare time off Alex & his family went to Lochness where Alex interviewed local witnesses that claimed to have seen “Nessie” (the Lochness Monster). He recorded over 6 hours worth of material & eventually cut it down to fit on a single LP record which was released in 1977. Unfortunately, when Alex returned home tragedy struck once again as he received news that his best friend & manager Bill Fehilly & his 11 year old son were killed in a plane crash. Grief stricken along with his other health issues life was really began taking its toll on him but Alex continued on touring. Halfway through the tour Alex collapsed & was forced to cancel the remaining dates.
During the time while Alex was recuperating the other 4 members went into the studio to record their own album. Alex was very supportive of the project & even helped choose & produce some of the tracks. S.A.H.B. released ‘Fourplay’ & the cover featured a black & white photo of the band including Zal without make-up. The back cover was comical featuring the band in the studio recording while Alex laid bound on the floor with his mouth duct taped shut. ‘Fourplay’ is a good record featuring stand out tracks such as “Smouldering”, “Pick it Up Kick it”, & “Big Boy” (which also ended up on Nazareth’s ‘Malice in Wonderland’ album after Zal had joined Nazareth).
In 1977 S.A.H.B. went into the studio to record their final album together ‘Rock Drill’. A falling out between Hugh & Alex caused Hugh to walk out of the band & he was once again replaced with Tommy Eyre. The album was decent overall with cool songs songs such as “Who Murdered Sex”, “Rock & Roll”, & “Water Beasties” but did not not do well on the charts. This was probably due to the punk explosion which was taking over England while Alex was recuperating. The band was set to tour but after the first date Alex had had enough & retired.
For the first time in 6 years Alex was without a back up band but he didn’t stay down for long & soon formed “The New Band” (as he called it) featuring Tommy Eyre & an 18 year old English guitar prodigy named Mathew Cang. At one point for a short time Eyre was replaced with Hugh Mckenna but was soon back in the band. The band toured throughout 1978 & 1979 & released one album titled ‘The Mafia Stole my Guitar’ which despite some good tunes in my opinion it’s not in the same league as S.A.H.B. I do enjoy the album especially the title track, “Oh Spartacus”, & an awesome modern version of “Shaking All Over”. The album also featured a Louie Prima medley of “Just a Gigolo /I Ain’t Got Nobody” which pre dates David Lee Roth’s version. The band continued touring during 1980 but eventually they fizzled out as records were not selling & even the live shows weren’t drawing a crowd.
Alex’s health & battle with alcoholism was becoming worse but as always he kept going. He formed a new band called the Electric Cowboys & in December of 1981 went into the studio to record an album titled ‘Soldier on the Wall’. The band began playing gigs but on February 5th 1982 Alex collapsed with a heart attack while waiting to board a ferry. One account said that Alex clutched his chest & said “This is it boys…” Alex was in a coma & suffered a 2nd heart attack which was fatal. Rock & Roll lost another member too early.
‘Soldier on the Wall’ was released in 1983 & though it was a bit different style album I loved it especially “Billy Bolero”, “Snowshoes Thompson”, & “Roman Wall Blues”. Since his death their have been a bunch of other albums released such as ‘Ice Cold’ which was recorded in 1970 & is a jazz/rock style. S.A.H.B. released a few other live recordings from the 70’s including ‘Live on the Test’, ‘The Gospel According to Alex Harvey’ which features 2 discs (one a great live BBC recording & the other is a muddy sounding show from the Reading Festival 1977 which features Alex playing the role of Jesus on “Framed”), ‘British Tour ‘76’ (which is great sounding & features Alex playing the role of Hitler during “Framed”), & ‘Hot City’ which is the original remastered versions of ‘The Impossible Dream’ including an unreleased tune titled “Ace in the Hole” (the versions of ‘The Impossible Dream’ tunes are awesome & different versions).
As far as the other members of S.A.H.B… Chris Glen & Ted Mckenna became the powerhouse rhythm section of the Michael Schenker Group & Zal Clemison joined Nazareth & played on ‘No Mean City’ & ‘Malice in Wonderland’. S.A.H.B. released a couple of live albums featuring different singers ‘Live in Glasgow 1993’ & ‘Zalvation Live’. They still play around although Zal recently retired.
Last edited by a moderator:
Spankymadoo
Member
Re: Alex Harvey
Awesome post Bucky. I learned a lot in your biography. Thanks!!
Awesome post Bucky. I learned a lot in your biography. Thanks!!
Velvetclown
Banned
Re: Alex Harvey
rtbuck
rtbuck
Sweaty
ThE OtHeR rAmOnE
Re: Alex Harvey
One of my faves, great write up...
One of my faves, great write up...
Last edited by a moderator:
Sweaty
ThE OtHeR rAmOnE
Re: Alex Harvey
