Terry Clarke & Wes McGhee

'Night Ride to Birmingham'

Wes McGhee and I first met when I started working with Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore in the mid 80's, although I knew his music and reputation long before that.

Spool back to the early 60's in Leicestershire, England where Wes was born. This was the pre-Beatles music scene, a music scene shaped and informed by the early American rock 'n' roll, doo-wop and rhythm & blues. These influences gave birth to a distinctly British form of rock 'n' roll, one that gave us Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Billy Fury and the Blue Flames and Johnny Kidd and The Pirates to name but a few.

The guitar styles and songs of these people drew heavily on country and rockabilly music. It was from this rich heritage that Wes McGhee emerged. He told me that by the time he was thirteen years old, he had saved enough money from playing gigs to travel down to London and purchase a brand new Fender 'Jazzmaster' guitar ( as played by Luther Perkins with Johnny Cash ). He still has that instrument today and you can hear it on 'John Lennon & Johnny Cash' on this album.

The 1960's saw him go on to play in bands at the Star Club in Hamburg and be Gene Vincent's guitarist on one of his last British tours.

His deep love of Texas music drew him to Austin, Texas, where throughout the 70's he built a formidable reputation as a sideman and bandleader. He went on to work with some of the legendary names of the Texas scene such as; Butch Hancock, Joe Gracey, R.C. Banks, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and pedal steel player Jimmy Day.

As part of Kimmie Rhodes band he worked with producer 'Cowboy' Jack Clement at Sun Studios in Memphis. In that very studio Jack Clement had written, engineered and produced many songs which had cast their spell on Wes back in Leicestershire many years before.

These connections and friendships enabled Wes to assemble great bands for his own gigs and recording dates in Austin. Musicians such as Ponty Bone on accordion and Freddie Krc on drums blended beautifully with long time English band members John Gordon on bass and Patty Vetta on harmonies. With these sessions he created a fusion of styles which which are the roots of the music he still makes now; Tex-Mex, country, conjunto, blues and flamenco. To this music he adds his own distinctive touches which recall vintage British rock 'n' roll. His use of tremolo on his lead work is reminiscent of Hank B. Marvin of The Shadows , and it was their bass player Jet Harris who inspired him to play the Fender 6 string bass.

 

Fast forward now to 2004.

Last Christmas - Dec 2003 - Wes and I did a show at the Verge in Kentish Town, London. Although we'd shared the stage many times before as part of a line-up with our friends Butch Hancock, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Rosie Flores or on party nights at our old north London haunt The Weavers, we had never actually done a duo show ourselves.

For this occasion we each did solo sets and then played together. We both had a lot of fun exploring the different song styles together and I know the audience enjoyed it too.

So, when Wes suggested we record together at his studio in Essex I was immediately excited by the idea. As of writing we've just finished, maybe a few re-mixes and it'll be complete.

It's a collection of songs I've written which are homages/character sketches and tributes to people whose music I've loved and which has inspired me over the years.

People such as Johnny Burnette, Johnny Cash, Laura Nyro, Gene Vincent and Maria Callas. Two of them, 'Degas in New Orleans' and 'Last Days of Tampa Red' were collaborations with my friend Ronny Elliott from Tampa, Florida'. We also cut a version of a wonderful song by Gillian Welch called 'Elvis Presley Blues'.

Wes produced and engineered and got to play most of the guitars in his collection ... I knew that one day I'd get to make a record with a 69 vintage pink paisley Fender 'Telecaster' and now I have !

 

Available from Proper Music Distribution, The New Powerhouse,
Gateway Business Centre, Kangley Bridge Road London, SE26 5AN
Tel: 44 (0)870 444 0799 www.properdistribution.com Connect

Also available from Wes McGhee at www.wesmcghee.com Connect

In the United Staes from Texamericana Connect

 

Artwork by Shaun Belcher
www.flyinshoes.fsnet.co.uk

 

 

 

Listen to 'Me and Johnny Burnette' from forthcoming

'Night Ride To Birmingham' by Terry Clarke and Wes McGhee

written by Terry Clarke © Bucks Music 2006 www.bucksmusicgroup.com

Listen to 'Night Ride To Birmingham' by Terry Clarke and Wes McGhee

written by Terry Clarke & Kathryn Lay © Bucks Music 2006 www.bucksmusicgroup.com