THE GONZO TRACK OF THE DAY: Jackson Webber - It's Only Fools

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT GONZO

What It Is CD - £9.99

WALLY MEET LED ZEPPELIN

Well, actually, it is Roy Webber meeting Robert Plant, and it was four years ago so it hardly counts as up-to-the-minute news. But for some reason Google News Alerts flagged it up as a new story (which as there are no words is also an oxymoron). But it is a very good picture (from Bob Harris' website) and deserves to be cross-linked to as I shamelessly promote the Gonzo artist pages for:

Wally
Jackson Webber

EXCLUSIVE: Roy Webber (Jackson Webber, Wally) interview (Part Three)

Today we present the third and final part of our interview with Roy Webber, front man of Wally and the sublime Jackson Webber.

Part One

Part Two

We continue with a discussion about the superb album by Jackson Webber:

JON: The thing that impressed me most about the Jackson Webber album, I remember reading an interview with Ronnie Lane years ago, thirty odd years ago, when he said that what he was trying to do was English country music. He didn’t like the fact that so many people even though they were English sounded American. Which you don’t.

ROY: My heroes are Gram Parsons and people like that. But you can’t be those people. In England it’s hard to write songs about places in England. You need to write songs about places in America ‘cos it seems to flow and work, and you can’t. But all my songs are very you know...I can’t write a song that’s just about nothing. It has to mean something to me, so there’s always a story behind what I do or what I write.

But I’m very fortunate, as not being a very good musician, that I’m surrounded by people like Frank Mizen and Will Jackson that on the one hand are brilliant musicians, but don’t write songs. It’s strange. So we’re doing this album now between Will Jackson, myself and Frank Mizen and the instruments that we’re using are all very acoustic, like pedal steel and acoustic piano and acoustic guitars and mandolins and stuff, and it’s got a very nice feel.

JON: When is it coming out?

ROY: Well we’re about half way through it at the moment. It’s slow moving because, you know, I’m all over the world at the moment with my business, Will is very busy with his studios so we just get together when we can, but I’ll happily send you a couple of tracks for you to have a listen to.

JON: Oh yes please because I really am a fan. Because I’m a Gram Parsons fan as well and I can feel Gram Parsons’ influence in your musical DNA

ROY: What he did, he fused it all together didn’t he?

JON: He described what he did as cosmic American music and I was wondering if I could get away with what I write about you as cosmic Yorkshire music.

ROY: Well I grew up listening to Gram Parsons, and the Byrds and very early Crosby, Stills and Nash. Personally my favourite song writer is David Crosby because my favourite all time album is If Only I Could Remember My Name by David Crosby

JON: That’s fairly close to the top of mine. I think the second Gram Parsons album and the first Flying Burrito Brothers album are mine

ROY: Yes, and it’s hard to find musicians that feel that sort of music. It’s heavily directed by myself because I feel that sort of music, and that whole influence in Wally was .. that whole sort of country side of Wally comes from.

But sometimes it just got out of hand because on Valley Gardens, our second album we did a piece of music that I had nothing to do with, but I had to go along with it, which took up almost one whole side of the album and it was contrived. And half of the band were into people like Yes and Genesis, you know that whole complex stuff of how many guitar notes you can play in a second, you know, and it was so complex that when we actually played it live, there was only about one in five times that we actually got it right and I thought to myself, why are we doing this? Music is all about feeling and just being relaxed, and letting it flow and the pressure of can we deliver this or not? So that was one of the fall outs that we had.

JON: Is there still a schism between the country side and the proggie side of the band?

ROY: No, I think we gelled it quite well. If you listen to the live album, what we’ve just done To The Urban Man and if you listen to the live version of 'To The Urban Man' which last about 15 or 16 minutes, it’s the shortened version ; but if you listen to that it’s classic. It’s absolutely classic prog rock played really well and I love that. I love that song and you could play that at any festival to any audience to any crowd, and it would go down a bomb. So all that stuff I think I love it. It’s the real deal. But there is other stuff that we did that you know, I’m not too proud of because to me it didn’t flow naturally, it was contrived.

JON: How much stuff have you got written for the next Wally studio album?

ROY: Not a lot to be honest. There’s probably one or two tracks that we’ve got that we could dig out from the past. I mean it happens fairly quickly because somebody comes along with an idea and it develops. Whether or not we would do another Wally studio album or not I don’t know. Certainly another Jackson Webber one is on the way. We will certainly play some more Wally gigs and I suppose if anything came from that we would definitely do it. We’ve had opportunities to play places, it’s just pulling everybody together.

It’s not easy because the fiddle player, Pete Sage, this is a lovely story, after the last reunion gig, he went home, he had a fall-out with his wife who kicked him out. He had all his kit, his amplifiers and all his instruments and he had nowhere to put them, so he went – he lives in a place called Freburg in Germany – to a local recording studio and he said ‘Look I’m a musician and I‘ve got all this gear and I’ve got nowhere to put it. Would you mind storing it for me? You’re welcome to use it – it will just be for a short while until I get myself sorted out,’ so they said to him, ‘what do you play?’ and he said ‘I play fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bass, you know.’ And they said, ‘we’re working on a project at the moment, would you like to get involved? We’d like to audition you,’ so of course he did, and of course he‘s an absolutely brilliant musician so they took him on and they made this album and this album has gone gold – it’s knocked Madonna off the top of the charts in Germany, it’s now gone platinum, he’s a superstar in Germany where he’s doing TV shows, his made countless videos, he’s booked up for the next two or three years and he’s just gone ‘woosh’ .

..and that is just about it. Roy was an eloquent and entertaining interviewee, and I very much look forward to talking to him again in the future. In the meantime HERE is the Gonzo artist page for Wally, and HERE is the page for Jackson Webber. Enjoy.

EXCLUSIVE: Roy Webber (Jackson Webber, Wally) interview (Part One)

Wally were the first Gonzo Multimedia artistes that I heard back in March when Sir Robin of Aylingshire first asked me whether I would do the blog which metamorphosed into the Gonzo Daily.

I was captivated both by the band and their music; the subtle blending of prog with what Gram Parsons called 'Cosmic American music' was irresistible.

I started trying to set up an interview with the band in late March, but every time that I was just about to speak to their head honcho Roy Webber, something would happen (either to him or to me) and it actually took three months before I (with a mug of tea by my side, and the orange cat on my lap) sat down to talk to him:

JON: What a palaver we have had trying to contact each other

ROY: Not your fault mine. We are launching our new business in Brazil on 3rd July and it’s just absolute chaos here.

JON: What is it you do?

ROY: We are a creative agency. We brand major sporting events – we’ve branded the whole of the World Cup in Brazil for 2014 and I’ve travelled over there about 15 times in the last 15 months. We’ve identified masses of business so I’ve got Brazilian investment and we open Works Brazil on July 3rd so obviously we are creating everything here and it has to go over there and get translated to Portuguese then come back here to be ...it’s a nightmare. We are running behind so I am actually all over the place at the moment, but I’m here now.

JON: It sounds absolutely horrific.

ROY: Well this is why I need my music It’s a great leveller. It is, it’s one of those things that keeps your sane I think.

JON: I have to admit that until I had started working for Gonzo a few months ago I had only vaguely heard of Wally and then you guys made such an amazing comeback – I think that’s really good.

ROY: To be honest, we came from nowhere because we hadn’t done our apprenticeship. Wally was formed by myself and one other guy in the basement of my house in Harrogate and over a period of six months we ... the way it all came together was like it was always meant to be.

We met the pedal steel player, we met the fiddler player, and when we gelled all the sounds of the instruments, I mean going back to those days when everything was experimental and very hippie like, and everything lasted half an hour, we created the most fantastic sound – then totally unique – and even now is fairly unique.

And so when it actually happened we didn’t actually travel up and down the country playing gigs to earn our stars as it were, we just went from doing one gig in London, being seen by Rick Wakeman, supporting him at Crystal Palace Open Air Bowl, being signed to Atlantic Records and going on tour. So we didn’t really have the grounding that most bands have so we didn’t actually appreciate what was happening to us.

Without sounding really blasé, that is what happened. So when we signed with Atlantic Records, we signed a two album deal and we made the first album, which was catastrophic because we’d never been in recording studios before, Bob Harris had never produced an album before. Rick Wakeman was the only guy who knew what he was doing, but he had a heart attack half way through it so we released the first album, and then went off on tour, which was very successful. Then we had a meeting with Atlantic Records and they said, well how is the second album coming along? And we didn’t realise until then that we should have been half way through the second album.

That’s how naive we were. Really, to be honest.

JON: Then you had a break of 30-odd years before the third album...

ROY: Well yes. The breakdown came quite naturally because we actually signed to Atlantic Records with the Average White Band, and the Average White Band had done everything properly. They had earned their stripes by touring up and down for years and becoming known, and had a good following, so we when we signed to Atlantic they signed three bands. There was Wally, a band called the Heavy Metal Kids – I don’t know if you remember them, a guy called Gary Holton...

JON: Yes...he was the guy who was in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet..

ROY: They signed his band, Wally and the Average White Band, and we all had a choice. We could wait three months and then sign to Atlantic America or we could sign immediately to Atlantic UK, and the deal with Atlantic UK was they would pick us up in a limousine, they’d drive us to the same office in London where The Beatles signed their contract – they made it glamorous. So, of course, being very naive, we went for the quick easy option and signed to Atlantic UK, whereas the Average White Band were much shrewder and they waited and signed to Atlantic America.

So, of course, when things went wrong for Atlantic Records, they closed down their UK operation. That meant that the Heavy Metal Kids and Wally were dropped by Atlantic Records, and of course the Average White Band who were signed to Atlantic America continued. So we continued for a while after we dropped by Atlantic, and we were supported actually by the Average White Band and the money that was invested in them. In the end it all faded away, and it was hard work. So we ended up calling it a day.

And then a very strange thing happened. Nick Glennie-Smith, who is the keyboard player in the band – he’s become a very successful writer for movie scores – was taken under the wing of Hans Zimmer – he’s the most prolific writer of music scores - and Nick was taken under his wing, and then within a couple of years was writing movie scores for the most amazing movies. You would have heard of them all. So Nick became very, very successful and he was over in London about three or four years ago and he just called on us. I hadn’t seen him for years. We went out for dinner and he said why don’t we get together again. And I said well that’s easy Nick, you live in Los Angeles so if you give me three days, I’ll put it all together but if you commit to it. And he said no I will, I would just love to do it.

And this seems like an appropriate place to break off for today. We will be back tomorrow with part two. However in the meantime check out their Gonzo artist page:

http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/6764/Wally

WALLY: More OGWT 1974

Yesterday's post of Wally from 1974 OGWT was so succesful, that here's some more...

WALLY ON 'THE OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST'

What a band! I really cannot make up my mind whether I prefer the original albums, or the new one. You decide. Check out the Gronzo Artist Page for Wally

LINK: Wally review

http://blog.billkopp.com/?p=789

Album Review: Wally - Montpellier

With a sound that falls somewhere between Dire Straits and Pink Floyd, the goofily-named Wallycreates a musical ambience that is rooted in classic rock styles, yet vaguely contemporary-feeling. On their latest,Montpellier, they go lots of places, and it’s an engaging ride.

“Sailor” opens with keyboard textures straight out of Meddle– complete with “seagull” guitar work, but then quickly shifts gears into a piano-based melody that owes more to Supertramp or Harry Nilsson. There are a lot of appealing qualities to Wally’ music, but their not-so-secret weapons are steel and pedal steel guitar. Not sinceDavid Gilmour, Steve Howe and Glenn Ross Campbell (The Misunderstood) has steel guitar been used so effectively in this sort of music. Soaring, dive-bombing guitar runs are joined by female-chorus vocals (more shades of Pink Floyd, but with less of a space-rock bent) as the lengthy-but-never-boring “Sailor” unwinds.

As the liner notes explain, Wally had been working on what would have been their third album for Atlantic around 1975, when something happened. The notes don’t make it clear what that something was exactly, but it’s safe to assume that either the band broke up, Atlantic dropped them, or both. In any event, the songs on Montpellier thus have a pleasantly timeless quality that is firmly built on a foundation of that album-rock era.

Wally is a big band with a big sound: Montpellier credits seven musicians (plus a guest guitarist on one track, and those three female auxiliary vocalists). But the song arrangements – “Thrill is Gone” being one of many good examples – aren’t fussy and overwrought; the band crafts a sound that is halfway between meat’n'potatoes rock and more subtle and finessed styles.

“Surfing” edges closer to a progressive approach, and is reminiscent in places of Roy Harper or Jethro Tull, albeit with a subtle reggae flavor. Like most of the songs on Montpellier, it’s a longish number, running in excess (but not excessively so!) of seven minutes. Pete Sage’s violin – the other sharp weapon in Wally’s arsenal – is central to the appeal of the track, adding color to the song’s spoken/sung lyrical approach.

The initially understated “In the Night” sounds a bit like Sting’s 90s work, but a delightfully long instrumental break with loads of stratospheric guitar lines give it more texture before returning to earth. The country-flavored “She Said” is based on a familiar melodic approach, but as with all the other songs on the set, the effective use of pedal steel and other slightly outside-the-box sounds help take it somewhere more interesting. A ghostly, melancholy violin solo opens “Giving,” continuing the Americana vibe (Wally’s a British group, by the way), but again employs a well-worn but effective arrangement approach: halfway through, the song opens up, goes instrumental and really takes off. The band is adept at conveying emotion wordlessly, and “Giving” is an exemplar of their skill at doing so.

Interested listeners will come to Montpellier for the guitars and fiddle. They’ll stay for Wally’s well-written, -arranged and -played songs.

WALLY/JACKSON WEBBER: Dutch interview

Many thanks to André Steijns and those jolly nice people at http://www.paperlate.nl/ for letting us repost this smashing interview with Roy Webber from Jackson Webber and the mighty Wally.

Check it out dudes and dudettes:


http://www.mijnbestand.nl/Uitnodiging-RJYRQODFBXUO.mp3

WALLY NEWSLETTER

Hi folks, gosh it seems like a long time since we sent a news letter.

Various bits of news for you. Firstly the Montpellier album has been successfully released on the Gonzo label, other albums and the DVD to follow in the coming months. The original Atlantic albums Wally and Valley Gardens will have extra tracks and sleeve notes by Bob Harris and are due for release any day now. The DVD will include a video interview with the band.

You can now Twitter with Wally @wallymusic and on @jacksonwebberuk

Roy Webber and Will Jackson are busy in the studio working on a new Jackson Webber album for release either late this year or early in the new year. Their first album 'What it Is' has also been released on Gonzo with two extra hidden tracks at the end, including their version of the classic Wally track 'Your Own Way'.

Check into http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/ for details of releases and how to purchase.

Origional albums are still available on iTunes or from the website www.wallymusic.co.uk


Happy listening

Stuart (on behalf of Wally and Jackson Webber)

LINK: Another Wally Review

http://palaceofrock.blogspot.com/2012/03/in-my-stereo-wally-montpellier.html%20%20

In my stereo : Wally - Montpellier (2012)

Wally is a British progressive rock band formed by singer song writer Roy Webber in Harrogate in the early seventies. The band was signed to Atlantic Records in 1974 after entering a contest organised by the music paper Melody Maker. Unfortunately the band did not win the competition but they did catch the eye of One of the judges at the competition, presenter of the Old Grey Whistle Test Bob Harris who oversaw their prize which was to record a session for his Radio 1 programme. Through Bob the band were signed to Atlantic Records and Bob subsequently produced the band’s debut self titled album alongside Rick Wakeman. The band also enjoyed a number of high profile concerts including an appearance at the 1974 Crystal Palace garden Party which was headlined by Rick Wakeman and after being managed briefly by the manager of Yes Brian Lane would support Yes also at a number of high profile concerts.

A second album emerged in 1975 again produced by Bob Harris entitled Valley Gardens the band now joined by keyboardist Nick Glennie-Smith who would go onto a successful production and composing career after Wally split in the late seventies just before the band could record their third album Montpelier is the result of a reformation of the band and includes material that would possibly have featured on the bands third album in the seventies alongside new material. The band have performed annual concerts in their home town of Harrogate for the last three years but Montpelier is the first studio album since Valley gardens in 1975. The band does have a large cult following and this album will certainly be welcomed by that substantial following. Release date : March 12th

• Edit Posts

Tracks: 1. Sailor , 2. Sister Moon , 3. Thrill Is Gone , 4. Surfing , 5. In The Night , 6. Human , 7. She Said , 8. Giving.
For fans of Manfred Mann´s Earth Band, John Miles, Camel
http://www.wallymusic.co.uk/

WALLY: The Reason Why (At The Royal Hall, Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Saturday 17th April 2010)

Roy Webber, Paul Middleton, Pete Sage, Nick Glennie-Smith, Roger Narraway, Frank Mizen, Will Jackson, Phil Dean & The Wallettes

Check out the Wally Page on Gonzo

http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/artists/6764/Wally

WALLY/JACKSON WEBBER: Roy Webber interview on Paperlate Radio

This interview appears courtesy of André Steijns and all at Paperlate
http://home.concepts.nl/~paperlte/index.htm

WALLY DOWN UNDER

OK, that headline is a little misleading. Wally are not actually in The Antipodes at the moment (OK, they might be, but if they are, nobody told me). What I actually meant to say in my own bumbling fashion is that those jolly nice chaps and chapesses at the Australian music website, Glory Days Music, have posted a couple of really nice, complimentary articles about the band.

They have a system whereby you have to join before you can read ow't, and so that I can't actually nick any of their content, but it is a mighty fine website and well worth joining, so go ahead and check them out...

http://www.glorydazemusic.com/articles.php?article_id=4722
http://www.glorydazemusic.com/articles.php?article_id=1788

When you join up, tell George Hatcher that Jon from Gonzo Daily sent ya...

LINK: German review of Wally

http://www.rocktimes.de/gesamt/w/wally/montpellier.html



Playing time: 55:18
Format: CD
Label: Gonzo Multimedia, 2010
style: prog rock
04/04/2012 Review of Joachim 'Joe' Brookes
Wally is back. Over thirty years, Roy Webber & Co., the band let it rest. In 2009 it was in the home town of Harrogate, Yorkshire a reunion concert sold out and documented this performance with the DVD "The Urban Man."

Long, long time ago ... Beginning of the seventies took Wally to a contest organized by the Melody Maker. The winner was Druid across the finish line, but even before the finals enthusiastic Wally theYes -keyboardist Rick Wakeman , who also produced the debut album "Wally" (1974). At that time, no expense has been spared, was recorded for the first record in the Morgan Recording Studios. Probably by Wakeman taught, for both Yes and Joan Armatrading , Black Sabbath ,Ten Years After , or UFO at that time used the recording studio. Even during follow-up "Valley Gardens" (1975) showed cracks in the facade group. Many international tours took their toll, and then broke even on the Atlantic Records recording contract.

To break the thirty years is an eternity for a band. After a successful restart of the group and a DVD in his luggage, it is now called "Montpelier." The liner notes make clear, what story is behind the eight songs: "Back recording together for the first time in 36 years we hope that we have retained some of the essence of Wally music. Some of these tracks were conceived for what would have been our third album for Atlantic Records around 1975 and others were a result of more recent times in the studio. "Old and New in new bottles from an old tape.

Before the band's dissolution, there were already been some changes in the lineup, but this disc recorded with almost all the original members. Basically it can be when listening to the eight numbers say that the music has no patina much less rusted. What is here but under the prog rock genre, doing business is relative. Many moments in the fifty-five minutes are characterized by essences of Country or Southern flair. For God's sake, this description is accurate but style does not mean thatWally presents weak music.

Instruments such as violin, mandolin, slide guitar and pedal steel by Frank Mizen make people curious about the composition and also the often appearing around the piano keyboard is remarkable.In addition, one may, if the opener for almost eight minutes, a dynamic wave caused, won quite a damn playful direction in the melodic department, and even here, the two chorus girls Terry Sullivanand Kate Peters is an honorable mention. With "Sailor" begins a varied cruise, where you definitely know where you stand.

"Sister Moon" is beautiful. From a devout beginning violin class with the track developed until the end of a great electric guitar particular song. In "Thrill Is Gone" and the carousel rotates the other way around. With a lot of drive and powerful liberal guitar parts one might almost speak of a different band, if not for Roy Webber's vocals were good. Speaking of six-string ... the party until the last, almost infernal sounds a hell of a jam party. Super!
After this bombastic sounds that sounds of organ sounds, opened "surfing" on already strange. For the intricate rhythms of drummer Roger Narraway sings Webber with some Ian Dury intonation on the tongue and then sneaks in a nutshell but a smooth easy-fitting blues reggae feel. Oh, one has to fear in front of a Wally-night? Barney finished thunder is heard, but then the combo slides almost to whisper through the dark asphalt. Wonderful, like a Webber and the two women soothe vocally. Quite so quiet it is not, however, through the darkness, as guitars and keyboards again make a stir.

The last two numbers are beautiful. With "Giving" is Webber composed a fantastic song and form their own little memorial set for posterity. "Montpellier" is a successful revival of the group and it's nice that as a Paul Middleton has again felt his musical motive, as he was during the band break including a carpenter.

Line-up:
Roy Webber (vocal, guitar),
Paul Middleton (vocal, bass, slide guitar),
Pete Sage (violin, mandolin, guitar),
Roger Narraway (drums),
Will Jackson (guitar, piano),
Nick Glennie-Smith (keyboards)
Frank Mizen (bass, pedal steel, guitar),
Phil Dean (guitar - # 6)
Rob Reynolds (vocals - # 8)
Teri Sullivan (backing vocals),
Kate Peters (backing vocals)

Follow the link below to buy the album:
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/15413

LINK: A French review of Wally, with a confectioners slant

Here is another foreign review, from France this time. I hope that people don't mind me posting these as they come in, but not only is it good to see what people around the globe are saying about our favourite artists, but there is something rather touching about lined like: "Wally gives us a cake made ​​of rich titles, varied, accessible and ultimately very current."

I really like that metaphor and will be using a version of it myself...http://www.progressivewaves.com/frmchronique.aspx?pro_id=8170&url_ref=Wally_Montpellier Rating: 8.5/10

Wally is an English progressive rock group formed in the early 70s. In 2010 to everyone's surprise, the group reformed and released "Montpellier" more than 35 years after their last production.

For the record, it would seem that the choice of album title comes from the fact that much of the group lives in the French town of the same name. There ends the nod to France, the content is for its good Anglo-Saxon.

The album is a sort of compilation of old demos, old songs and some new. All 8 tracks on the album have been given the opportunity for up to date and enriched. Listed music group offers us several atmospheres with more titles Blues / Country as 'Thrill is Gone' or Rock with 'In The Night'. The combo makes good use of instruments such as the steel guitar and electric violin that add color musical special vehicle and real emotion to the listener. Percussion discrete but also enrich the audible remarks. addition to these instrumental considerations, Wally has the distinction of playing on the voices and female choirs.

As well as the male voice tracks can be lighter or guttural based singer and titles such as 'Surfing' or 'Human' singing sometimes becomes a narrative providing real originality at work. 'She Said' and 'Giving', the last two tracks on the album in my opinion are simply unavoidable.The first is a ballad where the listener will especially appreciate the piano while the second is a final lecture in which the violin will quickly transport you. After more than three decades of absence, Wally ensures a flawless and shows that returns are sometimes beneficial and justified. Far from has-been album, full of emotion, is a breath of fresh air and a feast for the ears.

Experience and maturity terms, Wally gives us a cake made ​​of rich titles, varied, accessible and ultimately very current. A group to (re) discover them.

Follow the link below to buy the album:

http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/15413

WALLY/JACKSON WEBBER: Eulogistic reviews from Israel

WALLY - Montpellier Gonzo 2012

http://dmme.net/reviews/reviews49.html#wally More than three decades on, the Harrogate moon rises again. It's like a heady moonshine has never been away. When WALLY fizzled out in the late '70s, nobody paid much attention and lamented the demise of a band who brewed the impossible alchemic concoction of English prog and West Coast country rock. Remembered mostly for being produced by "Whispering" Bob Harris and Rick Wakeman, their two albums became cult items nevertheless, so the group's 2009 return was met with much acclaim, even though nobody hoped for another studio work. Yet here it is - some completely new compositions, some based on the halcyon days' demos, no line drawn between them - and nostalgia trip "Montpellier" ain't, even though "Sister Moon", which connects with the ensemble's cover sign, ripples with silvery celestial sadness. Still, featuring five original WALLY members, WALLY sound surprisingly fresh, while deeply rooted in their own tradition. Thus, "Thrill Is Gone" rocks in a modern Americana way, homespun and calling to chug along, but once the birds' chirp gives way to majestic piano chords in "Sailor", a panoramic view unfurls before one's mind eye to float solemnly on Paul Middleton's and Frank Mizen's steel guitars and Nick Glennie-Smith's smooth organ before the blissful vocal harmonies strike in full force and riffs make the picture bright and clear. The same instrumental combination lights the heart-gripping velvet of "In The Night", a power ballad with the strongest pop hooks on offer - female backing, Roy Webber's warm voice and Will Jackson's transparent guitars reach for heaven on this one - and "She Said" might challenge Neil Young for troubled textural sensuality. Significantly, both songs are new, previously recorded for a Jackson Webber album so, after a long, slow, violin-oiled yet optimistic coda of "Giving" shimmering with magic, there's a longing for more music from the veterans. ****2/3

JACKSON WEBBER - What It Is Gonzo 2012

A logical and tuneful union of two stalwarts of British progressive folk scene - a perfect trip for a snug and bubbly journey down memory lane. Roy Webber and Will Jackson have too much in common not to feel the mutual gravitation, even though the former quit music in the late '70s when his band WALLY folded and the latter has been playing in public all of his life, most notably in MAGNA CARTA. Once Webber, who decided to write again, booked into Jackson's studio a powerful chord was struck, its repercussions resounding to this day: having recorded the twelve tracks in 2006, three years later the pair ended up in the reformed WALLY whose new album, "Montpellier", includes two songs from "What It Is" cut anew. Here, the sparse, ghostly "In The Night" with its exquisite six-string lace and the piano-driven "She Said" sound different, their acoustic texture more palpably delicate as Will's silky guitars wrap around Roy's mellifluous voice that grabs your attention right from the arresting chorus of mandolin-adorned opener "Falling Down" and lets go only when the bitter-sweet ring of "On Your Own Way" fades away. Yet for all the gentle flow there are rolling and rollicking pieces in a country vein that'll quicken the listeners pulse: although the reckless rumble of "Shame On You" comes too close to His Bobness' pastiche to set an irony barrier straight, "Another Time" rides the organ lick in the most rocking way THE BAND would have liked, and steel sliders of "Heartbreaker" might make Tom Petty green with envy. A shimmering celebration of simple joys of life peaks in "All These Times", so it's impossible not to relate to such a happy dozen - that's what it is in the end of the day. ***4/5

WALLY: Someone else likes them as much as I do

http://www.classicrockrevisited.com/reviewwally.htm

Wally – Montpellier
Gonzo Multimedia
www.wallymusic.co.uk
Rating: B

Wally originated in England in the early 1970’s. In 1974, they released their debut album, which, interestingly was recorded at Morgan Recording Studios, the same place that Black Sabbath and Yes had recorded. The album was co-produced by Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman.

The album ended up being one of those releases that was heralded by musicians but failed to capture the ears of the general public.

The band went their separate ways for thirty years but then, unexpectedly, in 2009 they reunited. Led by original members Roy Webber, Paul Middleton, Pete Sage, Roger Narraway and Nick Glennie-Smith, the band added Frank Mizen on pedal steel and Will Jackson on guitar.

The band sold out a gig in their hometown and recorded a DVD of the show. They discovered they still had the spark and went back into the studio.

Montpellier is part Wally, part Pink Floyd and part Grateful Dead. These diverse styles lead to one heck of an enjoyable listening experience. From the opening track of “Sailor” to the final notes of the emotional “Giving” Wally proves they were a great band who deserved much more than the business of music gave them.

This is a band, and a release, that is ripe for the picking by those ultimate Rock Nerds who search for every interesting note ever played. In Wally, they will find a treasure trove.

By Jeb Wright

JACKSON-WEBBER: Strange analogies

I know I talked about them yesterday, but in the early afternoon a parcel arrived for me. Well as you may or
may not know that I have a day job - I am director of a singular outfit called The Centre for Fortean Zoology and as part of what we do we have a number of hungry amphibians. We are presently running a breeding programme for some obscure legless amphibians caeled Rio Cauca Caecilians (don't worry about remembering the name, it is the last time I shall mention them today at least) and these little creatures mainly eat earthworms. I am awaiting a shipment of 1000 earthworms from a composting firm, and I thought that this bulky parcel from the north of England was them.

However, much to the disappointment of my amphibious pals, it was only a parcel of CDs from the lovely Anner Marie at Gonzo. And one of them was the Jackson Webber album that I have been looking forward to hearing. So, I rationalised to myself that I really should make myself familiar with the record, so I abandoned the work I should have been doing (trying to get my head around analysing the paternation on the back of various frog specimens) and I went into the sitting room, sat down in my favourite chair with the elderly orange cat on my knee and listened.

Bloody hell, its good! My first impressions are that they are like a 21st Century English analogue of The Flying Burrito Brothers, and I stand by what I said yesterday. There is something particularly English about them. Its not the way that the songs are sung, or the subject matter; they don't sing songs about ferrets, the social security system or black puddings, but something about the arrangements and instrumentation.

If you can imagine what happened if Fairport Convention of about the era when Dave Mattacks was still playing drums and Maartin Allcock had first joined the band, going to a fancy dress party as The Flying Burrito Brothers whereupon Sooty andSweep sprinkled them with oofle dust and the transformation stuck, then possibly you might have some idea what I am talking about.

But rather than trying to get your head around my particularly odd analogy, it would be simpler for you to just go out and buy the album. I warn you, I have not said my last upon this subject.

Slainte...

JACKSON WEBBER: English and Western, or should that be Country and English?

http://www.jacksonwebber.com/

I like country music. There. I've said it. Just after I turned 41 a bloke who used to work for me gave me a CDR of Gram Parsons, and I never looked back. But there is something that I have never understood. Whereas with all the other Transatlantic musical genres that have made it to this country, we have (as a nation) managed to subvert them and turn them into something of our own. We have had British folk music, British R&B, British rock and roll, British reggae and even British blues, for goodness sakes. But there has never been a convincing British country music scene.

Every Englishman who has ever donned a cowboy hat and a pedal steel has always sounded like a strange imitation of someone from the outskirts of Nashville. Until Now.

I remember reading an interview with the late Ronnie Lane soon after he left The Faces in the mid 1970s. He had just launched his new band Slim Chance and said much the same as I just have. Except he added that he wanted to make his group the first bona fide English country band.

I am not sure whether he ever managed it, but I have a sneaking suspicion that Jackson-Webber have. They are a spin-off from Wally about whom I have been eulogistic in my praise over the last few weeks, and from the bits of their album, that I have heard, I am massively impressed.

I am just waiting for my copy to arrive from the lovely Anne-Marie at Gonzo, and I will be driving my nearest and dearest bonkers by playing it too often and too loud. Watch this space!

SOMEONE ELSE THINKS THAT THE JACKSON WEBBER ALBUM IS A CRACKER

Review: Jackson/Webber-What It Is

Will Jackson and Roy Webber are members of the British progressive rock band Wally. This band has been kicking up its heels since the 1970’s. Their newest recording is very melodic and has an acoustic feel that warms the soul. What It Is will be the first recording from Roy Webber in over thirty six years. The album was begun back in 2006 and is now complete.

“Falling Down” is the first track on the album. Layered with percussion and intricate guitar riffs, this piece grabbed from the get go. The vocals are smooth and ease you into the melody. The textures created here are a myriad of beautiful tendrils twining together just as the cover art suggests. Voices coalesce into one and the instrumentation is flawless and natural.

Read on...