GENO WASHINGTON & THE RAM JAM BAND - 40th. Anniversary Tour - Narberth Queens Hall - Friday February 13 - 2004
Artists2Events
40th. Anniversary Tour
Narberth Queens Hall
Friday February 13 - 2004
BOX OFFICE 01834 861212
Always ready to rock the house, The King of the Swingers is the incarnation
of all things sixties. Hipsters and Flipsters, Movers and Shakers alike, are
all rendered incapable of having a bad time, when the Good Time Guru gets
his army of fans on the good foot! The old Geno magic still drags 'em in and
sends them home high!
With his irrepressible showmanship and professionalism Geno will be knocking
audiences dead for years to come. His super-tight band is one of the hardest
working outfits in the country. It's not all Old Skool though, Geno has
recently recorded with Adamski and Big Dog (ex Black Grape).
HISTORY.
Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band had two of the biggest selling UK albums
of the sixties. Amazingly both of these were live albums. Hand Clappin, Foot
Stompin, Funky Butt Live was in the album charts for 48 weeks of the year
1966 and was only out-sold by 'The Sound of Music' and 'Bridge over Troubled
Water.
US soul acts rarely visited the UK and, having come over as a part of the US
Airforce and stayed, Geno was our soul man. His level of touring and the
high energy of his gigs was, and still is (as immortalized by Dexy's
Midnight Runners in the 80's hit 'Geno') the stuff of legends. During his
sets, the beat was continuous and the hits (mostly covers) were incessant.
It was really Geno who pioneered this Go, Go style of performing and the
audiences simply could not get enough of him.
Eventually, having made Pye records and numerous managers millions of
pounds, Geno decided a break might be a good idea. Rock and Roll had taken
its toll and being on the road with every sixties act you care to think of
had finally drained the mighty Washington batteries. Geno did do some
recordings in the States in the seventies, some never released stuff with
the Beach Boys for example, but he largely retreated from the world of show
biz and studied hypnosis and meditation.
But these spiritual meanderings were abruptly halted when, in 1980, old
'Blighty' beckoned once more. A call came from old friends in the UK that a
'tribute' called 'Geno' (mentioned above) had gone to number one in the
charts. In interviews the singer, Kevin Roland, was speaking of this
legendary soul man, whose name they used to chant up and down the land and
public interest in Geno was growing for a new generation. Soon, Anglophile
Geno, was back in the UK and back on the road.
The arrival of the nineties saw Geno go back to his roots (he was a Blues
singer originally in his home, town of Evansville, Indiana) doing a show he
called Cut Loose and Singing the Blues. This was a great success and spawned
the band The Purple Aces. He then took this band to Edinburgh for the Fringe
Festival, had a great reaction and a three week sell-out run. This in turn
resulted in a collaboration with Ray Fenwick (The Spencer Davies Band) and a
stunning album of original material called Change Your Thoughts You Change
Your Life.
Mike Stevens
Artists2Events
mi...@artists2events.co.uk
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