Here's a shot in the dark. When I saw BBD in Toronto during their "Drastic Plastic" tour, Bill played an instrumental that he called "Working Man". It was a mind blower and I've been wondering if it ever got recorded and even more importantly, will it ever see the light of day.
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If that really was the last ever and not just the last North American show, I really want a certificate of attendance from Bill! It will be framed.
I contacted one of the friends who I saw that show with and asked him about that piece I mentioned and the show in general. He said he will get back to me after thinking about it. This is someone I haven't seen in almost 15 years. He has an eidetic memory (it's actually bizarre) and I hope he can confirm or deny my recollection of the name of the piece. I'm sure I misheard what Bill said.
Despite what Bill says, I am sticking with my "last ever piece at the last ever BBD gig" theory!
The Toronto gig supporting Nazareth has been listed, Bill - the very last one at http://www.billnelsonmusic.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20696
Hi Bill,
Yes, it was in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens and the Drastic Plastic Tour, and you opened for Nazareth. As to the title, I might have misheard you but I do recall thinking it an odd and unusual title for you. Whatever it's title, it was wonderful.
My other memory was of seeing/hearing "New Precision" live. I spent days trying to get the sound of your guitar lines out of my guitar and failing miserably...
Thanks so much for the input!
I'll try to clear this one up. If I recall correctly, we supported Nazareth in Holland, probably in Amsterdam. There may have been a stateside gig with them, but if so, I've forgotten it.
But I definitely don't know of an instrumental titled 'Working Man.' It's not the sort of title I'd give to a Be Bop Deluxe instrumental piece, though I did come up with the title for a vocal song many years later. If there was no keyboards on the piece, it must have been prior to Andy being in the band, in which case we were a three piece, (guitar, bass and drums.) And that would fit with the Holland gig we did with Nazareth.
There was a loose, semi improvised instrumental I did with the first line up of Be Bop, which could have carried over into the three piece band. It's title was 'Watch This Space' and it was a flashy guitar work out which always seemed to bring the house down. Maybe this is what you heard? Otherwise, it remains a mystery, perhaps a one-off improvisation, performed on the spur of the moment, never to be repeated. Improvisations are like that, like catching lightning in a bottle...😉
Interesting; I just happened to fire up the Hammersmith Odeon performance and the solo at the end of Blazing Apostles was very much like the solo I heard him perform and that he titled "Working Man". Perhaps that is it. At a minimum it is very similar to the best of my recollection.
Oxford New Theatre 1978 for the DP tour is available as a soundboard recording, search & it's out there. Nine song setlist.
Funny how the memories star streaming back. A local radio station had the members of Nazareth in the studio and they brought up Drastic Plastic and BBD and the comment from the front man was something akin to "We don't know what the hell he's doing with this record."
Hmmm. There were no vocals and definitely no keyboard. It was a killer relentless solo. So I'm going to say no. Thanks for the link. Great song regardless.
If that is the case I demand an award of some sort!
Great so now I have to go rob a bank and get the MM Boxset on top of the DP and AV ones I have.
Sigh.
It has dawned on me that that was probably the last BBD show EVER - not just last one in North America. (Someone please correct me if I am wrong.) Bill would have known that he would be breaking up the band.
In which case, finishing with a special piece, and the comment "This is for you" - possibly directed at BBD's own fans - makes some sense.
BTW, the 1976 Chicago show recently officially released as part of the Modern Music boxset includes an improvised blues known simply as "Bill's Blues".
The only thing Bill said before breaking into it was "This is for you". I took that as a comment directed towards the Nazareth Crowd who were there for the main act.
Given that all of the Modern Music tour was recorded, I wonder how much of the Drastic Plastic tour was committed to tape live, would be good to hear some of this if it exists, anybody aware of boots ?
I do remember that there was an instrumental played on the Drastic plastic tour (I saw them in Leeds ) that Bill said was a work in progress and it had a similar riff to "Shine" and it was a cracker ... could this be it ?
@colanmitchell] interesting. 😊
Have you ever heard the song Working Man from the Chimes And Rings CD (Demonstrations Of Affection)?