Neil Christian And The Crusaders - Get A Load Of This (1967)

Neil Christian And The Crusaders might be a relatively obscure UK pop group of the early 60's, but they were as good a breeding ground for guitarists as John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, including in their ranks at various times such luminaries as Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore, Albert Lee, Mick Abrahams and Paul Brett, as well as pianist Micky Hopkins, and bassist Alex Dmchowski, who later went on to join Aynsley Dunbar's Retaliation. Christopher Tidmarsh started his career in music by managing a North London-based outfit called The Red-E-Lewis And The Red Cats, who underwent a line-up shift when the original members joined Johnny Kidd as The Pirates from July 1961 to early 1962. Recruiting guitarist Bobby Oats and drummer Jim Evans, they played a few gigs at the Ebisham Hall in Epsom, and Tidmarsh first spotted Jimmy Page paying there. In early 1959, John Spicer joined the band on rhythm guitar, and when Oates announced that he was leaving the band, Tidmarsh contacted Page and invited him down to Shoreditch to audition for the vacancy. He became their new lead guitarist and Spicer switched to bass, and in Spring 1960 Tidmarsh replaced Lewis on vocals, and they reinvented themselves as Neil Christian And The Crusaders. Tidmarsh changed the names of his musicians, with Page being known as 'Nelson Storm', John Spicer was 'Jumbo' and drummer Evans was nicknamed 'Tornado'. 

Page toured with them for two years until he was forced to quit due to illness, suffering from glandular fever, although he would later still record with the band in the studio until 1964. Page's replacement was Paul Brett from the Impacs, who was himself briefly replaced by Albert Lee, while bassist Jumbo Spicer left to be replaced by Arvid Andersen. The Crusaders were augmented by pianist Tony Marsh, who had previously been in a Wembley-based combo called the Escort alongside drummer Keith Moon, and is was Marsh who introduced guitarist Ritchie Blackmore to Neil Christian, who teamed up with Andersen and Evans for a brief spell in early 1965. In March 1965, Blackmore and the rest of the group defected Screaming Lord Sutch to become The Savages, and so Christian pulled in an entirely new line-up, taking over a Luton group called The Hustlers, who featured Mick Abrahams on guitar. By June 1965 the new line-up was cemented by the addition of drummer Carlo Little, keyboardist Graham Waller and bassist Alex Dmchowski. While he was guitarist with the Crusaders, Abrahams stood in for Screaming Lord Sutch, who did exactly the same set as The Crusaders, before eventually leaving in late 1965. 

Christian disbanded the Crusaders soon after and decided to pursue a solo career, and his fortunes went on the upswing after he hooked up with songwriter and producer Miki Dallon, and landed a number 14 hit single with Dallon's 'That's Nice. To promote 'That’s Nice', Christian reassembled The Crusaders with Richie Blackmore, Tornado Evans, Avid Andersen and Tony Mash, and they toured the UK and Europe, particularly Germany, where they had a residency in Munich. While there he also recorded some tracks for the Metronome label, with 'Two At A Time' being a big hit for him in Germany in 1966. Christian went back to England and recruited new musicians who formed the final incarnation of the Crusaders, with pianist Matt Smith joining three members of Lord Caesar Sutch & The Roman Empire, Richie Blackmore, Carlo Little and bassist Tony Dangerfield. After The Crusaders split up following an argument in a restaurant, Christian released his final UK 45 'You're All Things Bright And Beautiful' for Pye in 1967, although when he moved to the Vogue label he recorded 'My Baby's Left Me' with his old Crusaders mates Blackmore and Little, with Nicky Hopkins on piano and Rick Brown on bass. Christian continued to release singles under his own name and as Neil Christian And The Crusaders well into the mid 70's, but he is best remembered for employing a string of guitarists who later went on to greater things, and an album around 1967 could have included tracks featuring most of them. As that never came about, then here is the best of the band's output, leaving aside some of the more 'pop' moments, and concentrating on the R&B that let those guitarists shine. 

Track listing

01 She's Got The Action
02 Get A Load Of This
03 One For The Money
04 Yakity Yak
05 That's Nice
06 Honey Hush
07 Bad Girl
08 Crusading
09 Oops
10 Countdown
11 My Baby's Left Me
12 Let Me In
13 I Like It

Featuring on guitar:
01, 02, 08, 12, 13 Jimmy Page
04, 07, 09, 10, 11 Richie Blackmore
01, 05 Mick Abrahams 
03, 06 Phil McPill 

...and on guitar - The Book (2023) **UPDATE**

Thanks to the recent visitor who pointed out to me that I'd spelled Steve Lukather's name wrong throughout his '...and on guitar' post, and I was surprised that it hadn't been spotted before. The post was easy enough to fix, but then I realised that I should really update the book that I put together from the posts, and that was a bit more tricky. When I opened up my original Word file I found that the cover for the Robbie Blunt post was corrupt, and all the covers after that entry were blank. I though that someone would have mentioned that when I first posted it, so I can only assume that somehow the picture became corrupt after I'd made the post, but it had also affected the pdf, which I don't understand. Anyway, I've managed to re-do the whole thing, and I've double-checked and all the pictures are now there. If you got a dodgy copy when you first downloaded it, or just want the updated version, then try it now. 

pj  

...and on guitar - The Book (2023)

Now that I've posted what could turn out to be the final entry in the '...and on guitar' series, here's something that I've been thinking about doing this for quite a while. When the number of posts in the series reached over 75 then I thought that now was the time to put them all together in one place, almost like a book. So what you have here are all the write-ups for the '...and on guitar' series, presented in alphabetical order, so that they can be dipped into as you are listening to the albums, or just read as a history of the lives of all these great guitarists. 

Soulseek hint      book aiwe

XYZ - Telephone Secrets (1982)

In December 1980 Yes bassist Chris Squire met Jimmy Page by chance at a party, and the idea of forming a group together was mooted, to be called XYZ, which was short for eX-Yes-Zeppelin. Squire brought along drummer Alan White, and they also recruited former Greenslade keyboard player and vocalist Dave Lawson. Squire was the main writer for the group, and Page believed the band needed a strong vocalist, so sought out his old pal Robert Plant, and although he did attend one rehearsal on 28 February 1981, he decided not to join the group, citing his dislike for the complexity of the music, and because he was still deeply hurt by the recent death of his long-time friend and band-mate John Bonham. Without a firm commitment from Plant, and with contractual issues on who should manage the group (Peter Grant or Brian Lane), the project was shelved, but not before four demo recordings had been made with Squire on vocals. With XYZ's future in limbo, Squire and White recorded a Christmas single called 'Run With The Fox' in October 1981, and they then asked guitarist Trevor Rabin to join them and form the band Cinema, along with old Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye. Rabin initially attempted to rework the XYZ material along with his solo songs for the new group, and they recorded a few demos, but they then decided to invite Jon Anderson into the group, and Cinema evolved into a new line-up of Yes. The demos produced from the Cinema sessions included 'Make It Easy' and 'It's Over', with lead vocals by Rabin, and an early version of 'It Can Happen' featuring Squire on vocals, which have since appeared on Yes re-issues, but they also recorded a 20-minute instrumental called 'Time', and another unreleased track entitled 'Carry On'. In 1983 the new Yes line-up released the '90125' album, which included the introduction from 'Time' as an instrumental called 'Cinema', as a tribute to the aborted band. Other XYZ and Cinema songs turned up later, with one instrumental being reworked to become part of 'Mind Drive' on the 1997 Yes album 'Keys To Ascension', while 'Can You See' became 'Can You Imagine' on 2001's 'Magnification'. Part of another XYZ instrumental was used as the intro to The Firm's 'Fortune Hunter', which was fair as Squire has mentioned that Page brought the riff to the band anyway. This album collects together all of the above-mentioned tracks except 'Time', which has never surfaced, and as the whole thing started with that chance meeting by Squire and Page, I'm counting it as a lost XYZ album, as Squire and White are constant members throughout the recordings.  

Track listing

01 Can You See (Page, Squire, White, Lawson)
02 Mind Drive (Page, Squire, White, Lawson)
03 Telephone Secrets (Page, Squire, White, Lawson)
04 Fortune Hunter (Page, Squire, White, Lawson)
05 Run With The Fox (Squire, White)
06 It Can Happen (Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye)
07 Make It Easy (Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye)
08 It's Over (Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye)
09 Carry On (Squire, White, Rabin, Kaye)

Jimmy Page - ...and on guitar (1966)

Once Jimmy Page hit the big time with Led Zeppelin, he didn't really have the time to guest on friends albums, as the band were touring pretty much constantly. However, before that he was never out of the studio, adding his distinctive guitar licks to a huge number of singles and albums from the 60's, being one of the very best session guitarists around. 
James Patrick Page was born on 9th January 1944 in the west London suburb of Heston, moving to Feltham in 1952, and then to Miles Road, Epsom in Surrey. It was at this house that Page came across his first guitar, possibly left there by the previous occupant, and by age 12 he was playing it, being mostly self-taught. Page's musical tastes included skiffle and acoustic folk playing, and the blues sounds of Elmore James, B.B. King, and Buddy Guy. At the age of 13, Page appeared on Huw Wheldon's 'All Your Own' talent quest programme in a skiffle quartet, one performance of which aired on BBC1 in 1957 (view it here). By the time he was 14 he was playing in a group called Malcolm Austin and Whirlwinds, and shortly after that he formed  The Paramounts, who played gigs around Epsom, once supporting a group who would later become Johnny Kidd & the Pirates. Singer Red E. Lewis had seen him playing with the Paramounts at the Contemporary club in Epsom and told his manager Chris Tidmarsh to ask Page to join his backing band, the Redcaps, after the departure of guitarist Bobby Oats. After playing with them for a while he was asked by singer Neil Christian to join his band, the Crusaders, and he toured with Christian for approximately two years. During his stint with Christian, Page fell seriously ill with infectious mononucleosis so couldn't continue touring, and while recovering he decided to put his musical career on hold and concentrate on his other love, painting, enrolling at Sutton Art College in Surrey. 
While still a student, Page often performed on stage at the Marquee Club with bands such as Cyril Davies' All Stars, Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated, and fellow guitarists Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, and one night he was spotted by John Gibb of Brian Howard & the Silhouettes, who asked him to help record some singles for Columbia Records. Mike Leander of Decca Records was the first to offer Page regular studio work, and his first session for the label was on 'Diamonds' by Jet Harris and Tony Meehan, which went to Number 1 on the singles chart in early 1963. After a few brief stints with bands, Page committed himself to full-time session work, being known as 'Lil' Jim Pea', to prevent confusion with the other noted session guitarist Big Jim Sullivan. Page's studio gigs in 1964 included Marianne Faithfull's 'As Tears Go By', the Nashville Teens' 'Tobacco Road', the Rolling Stones' 'Heart Of Stone', Van Morrison & Them's 'Baby, Please Don't Go', and Petula Clark's 'Downtown'. However, his best work was undoubtedly on the obscure R'n'B singles from bands like The First Gear, The Untamed, and The Sneekers, where he was given free rein to lay down some great solos, and from 1965 he was also producing a lot of them as well. There have been a number of anthologies of Page's session work released over the years, but they tend to try and include every single recording that he appeared on, whether you can hear him or not, and so for this album I've cherry-picked just the very best examples of his work, where his contribution particularly stands out. He has said in interviews that he was doing so many session at one point, sometimes three sessions a day and fifteen sessions a week, that he couldn't now remember if he appeared on a record or not, but if you do want to investigate further then there are probably a couple of hundred other recordings that he is rumoured to have appeared on that are out there, and you can track them down on this excellent archive site https://jppsessionman.jimdofree.com.   

Track listing

01 Somebody Told My Girl (Carter-Lewis And The Southerners 1963)
02 Don't You Dig This Kind Of Beat (Chris Ravel & The Ravers 1963)
03 I Can Tell (The Zephyrs 1963)
04 Bald Headed Woman (The Sneekers 1964) 
05 Leave My Kitten Alone (The First Gear 1964)
06 Money Honey (Mickie Most & The Gear 1964)
07 Was She Tall (The Lancastrians 1964)
08 Climbing Through (The Authentics 1964)
09 I'll Go Crazy (The Untamed 1964)
10 Honey Hush (Neil Christian 1964)
11 You Said (The Primitives 1965)
12 The Bells of Rhymney (The Fifth Avenue 1965)
13 Night Comes Down (The Mickey Finn 1965) 
14 I've Got Everything You Need, Babe (The Fenmen 1965) 
15 Everybody Knows (Sean Buckley & The Breadcrumbs 1965)
16 She Belongs to Me (The Masterminds 1965)   
17 Can't Go Home Anymore My Love (The Factotums 1966)
18 Circles (Les Fleur de Lys 1966)

I don't usually bother with bonus tracks, but this one is just too good to omit, although it is slightly outside the timeframe of the rest of the album. In 1968 Scotty McKay contacted Jimmy Page about recording a version of 'The Train Kept A-Rollin'' together, but Page was unable to get to the session so McKay got his band to record the song and then sent Page the master tape, which he took into the studio and laid down his guitar solo. When McKay received the tape he finished mixing it and then found himself without a record label to release it on, so he formed his own and put the A side to the previous single on the B side.

19 The Train Kept A-Rollin' (Scotty McKay Quintet 1968)