Joe Brown

UK classic icon Joe Brown came to Grimsby Auditorium....
Joe Brown

Joe Brown

Some things they do better in France.  Football, cigarettes, unpasteurized cheese and appreciating their rock and roll heritage.  In France Johnny Hallyday (QRO photos) remains a bona fide major star more than fifty years after his first hit record and draws crowds of all ages wherever he plays, including last year’s sold out two night stand at the Albert Hall.  Refusing to grow old gracefully, Hallyday still takes to the stage in full black leather, struts and swaggers his way through his set and stares broodingly into the camera for his publicity shots.

Joe BrownWho do we have in the UK who can match up to le grand Johnny?  On the evidence of his current tour I would suggest that we might offer the great Joe Brown.  Brown had his first hit in 1960 with The Darktown Strutters Ball, the same year as Hallyday’s first single “Laisse Les Filles”, and is still going strong with a hectic touring schedule that sees him playing more than a hundred shows a year, but there the similarity ends.

One of Brown’s most endearing qualities has long been his refusal to take himself too seriously.  Not only does he eschew the leathers, but it seems that barely a photo of him exists where he is not giving that well known cheeky chappy smile, and these days many of his biggest hits have been excised from his set because in his seventies he finds it hard to relate to the teenage angst and romantic shenanigans of their lyrics.

In Grimsby Auditorium on Thursday, March 14th, Brown’s set was made up of a mixture of his hits, such as “Picture of You”, “That’s What Love Will Do” and “Henry The Eighth” and covers of songs drawn from a wide variety of genres, all performed with considerable panache by a band who shifted from 1920s hula music to rock and roll to country and gospel at the drop of a hat, and included Phil Capaldi (brother of Traffic founder Jim) on drums, Ben Lee on guitar, Mike Nichols on electric and upright bass and Brown’s son Pete on guitar and vocals.

Brown himself is a fine musician and over the course of the evening he switched between a bright yellow f hole Gibson, a cherry red resonator, bass and standard ukulele and violin, giving a fine display on them all while also content to hand over the spotlight to other members of the band for instrumental or vocal spots.  The ukulele has become a major feature of Brown’s gigs in recent years – he was at the forefront of its re-emergence as a fashionable instrument and both he and Ben Lee gave a display of just how versatile and tuneful this much under rated instrument can be.

It is traditional in reviewing gigs of this kind to assure the reader that the performer showed no sign of advancing years and was still as athletic and youthful as when they first took to the stage, but although it is true that Joe Brown is remarkably youthful and the set proceeded at a cracking rate, the highlights of the show were the occasions when he allowed the pace to slow and sang almost unaccompanied.  On a version of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” his voice seemed suddenly fragile, wavering slightly and investing a song which many people loath cordially with emotional resonances that no one would have suspected it possessed, and his version of Rowland Salley’s “Killing the Blues” was every bit the equal of better known versions by Shawn Colvin or Plant and Krauss.

Highlights of the night included a version of George Harrison’s “Any Road” from the posthumous Brainwashed album (Harrison was a close friend of Brown’s and was best man at his wedding), a spectacular skiffle rockabilly version of “Ace of Spades” (yes really) and the delicate closer “I’ll See You In My Dreams”.  All in all an excellent night of diverse songs from a group of fine musicians and what it lacked in black leather and moody strutting it more than made up for in quality and charm.  Terrific.

Joe Brown

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Concert Reviews
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