Monday 11 November 2013

Proud to be a honky woman

Regular readers may have formed the conclusion that in the seventies I was a fan of British rock bands fronted by women - and they'd be right. And so I have been to see Elkie Brooks. Now you may never have heard of her, or you may associate her with "Pearl's a Singer", but either way check this out to see why she stirred the adolescent male of forty odd years ago. Her Vinegar Joe bandmate the late Robert Palmer (who incidentally was a very keen scale modeller) went on to have more success, but she has been constantly performing for more than fifty years.

"Don't let the bastards grind you down"

It would seem that notwithstanding the subsequent middle-of-the-road hits her heart remains in the Blues/Rock of those days. She and her band benefited from an astute choice of playlist with fine covers of 'Nights in White Satin', 'Purple Rain' and songs from such as the Doors and Bob Seger. I was also surprised, but delighted by their version of "Burlesque" by the much under-rated Family.

"Rolling and Tumbling ain't done me no harm"

She did perform both her big solo hits, 'Lilac Wine' being the better of the two on the night. Like Ralph McTell she threw in the one they'd all come to hear half-way through as a singalong, but this time it didn't really work.

6 comments:

  1. She had a lot more than two solo hits. Great voice.

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  3. Pearls a Singer" Don't cry out Loud"LilacWine"Fool if You Think it's Over"Only Love can Break your HeartT"The Runaway" Nights in White Satin"No More the Fool"

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  4. Oh !!! for got her second hit " Sunshine after the Rain "

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  5. Blimey! A reader of the blog who knows what she's talking about. That's rather undermined my modus operandi of bluffing continuously on the assumption that no-one would notice.

    Anyway, I am delighted to be corrected and I certainly won't argue about her voice. She actually performed most of the songs you list; her version of 'Nights in White Satin' was especially fine. I still think that she doesn't like 'Pearl's a Singer' any more than I do.

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  6. Look forward to hear her sing on the Paul O'Grady show. Hope I can pick it up on the net, as I don't live in the U.K.
    Not only has she preformed ALL of the songs I mentioned, but also recorded ALL of them.

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