UK September/October 2002

Recently, Scotty did 9 shows in England and one in Wales .  These shows started with the Eddie Cochran festival on Sept. 28, 2002 , and went through the BMG party at Le Café Paris in London on Oct. 17, 2002 .  These are some notes about the trip.
As usual, his band was headed up by Peter Pritchard on bass and Liam Grundy on keyboards.  Pete has played with Scotty in the U.K. and also in other European countries and even in the U.S. with Scotty since 1992.  Liam has been with Scotty since 1999.  Pete and Liam also booked and road-managed the tour, which Scotty said was the best-arranged and most fun of any tour he has done…thanks, guys.  The drummer was Jimmy Russell, who has worked also with Scotty in Europe , the U.S. and in the U.K. since around 2000.  Jimmy is the one we love to tease…. The second guitar was David Briggs, who could be the first guitar in any band he played with.  Dave is great, and he is also writing a piece for the next NOW DIG THIS magazine in U.K. about the tour.  The singer this trip was Paul Ansell, who is a singer on his own, but has such a knowledge of Elvis material that he was able to add so much to each show just telling the audience about the songs as well as singing them so very well.
We traveled for most of the trip in a Mercedes van and hit all the spots from South Shields to Ebbw Vale in Wales .  Look on a map….that’s a long ride!  In Liverpool we were to meet a beautiful young woman who was an extremely skilled black and white photographer.  Karen McBride has decided to make B&W her medium, and the pics she made were so artistic, and I just loved the one of Scotty’s hands and guitar…..a combination of technology and experience, or maybe beauty (the guitar) and age (the hands).  She has given us permission to use these on the website.  She was also at the last show in the West End in London , and the job she did was out of sight.  If you need a good black and white photographer in U.K. she is at www.karenmcbride.com.

Photo by Karen McBride©

Photo by Karen McBride©

We stayed in a beautiful hotel there, and we can never go back. That is just a hilarious story that I’d better not tell on the Internet.  We also met the couple who are the backbone of the group Magna Carta.  They are Chris and Linda Simpson.  Linda had sent me an email some time ago saying that Chris was having a significant birthday (I won’t tell the number) and his only wish was to meet Scotty Moore.  We did not know them at the time, but we told them that we were going to be in England later this year and invited them to come to one of the shows.  They came to Liverpool and they were just a great couple.  They stayed over and talked for some time after Scotty finished autographing, and we really liked them.  They live in a beautiful part of England , and I hope we can go back someday and visit them at their home.
When we went to South Shield, it happened to be the day of the half-marathon, and the streets had been blocked off for the runners.  We spent about 2 hours going around a detour

Pete Pritchard at Piccadilly Circus

We have for several years known the people at NOW DIG THIS, and Trevor, Howard Cockburn, and Gordon Minto and his family (who have visited us here in the US ) were all there.  That show was like old home week.
When we went over to Weymouth , Pete surprised me on the way and stopped at Stonehenge .  He knows from previous visits that I am a history nut who loves to come to England more than anyplace else just for the history of the place.  Pete, David Briggs, and I went into the historic site and saw it as close as possible with the little chain barriers around it.  I would have loved to go and put my hands on the stones and feel the vibes, but that is not allowed.  It was such a beautiful day, and the whole scene was just what I had wanted it to look like…..a real memory.
We had been to Ebbw Vale before in 1999 and had done a show at the same theater.  The people there are so gracious to us.  The audience is so quiet when the guys are performing….they clap, but they do not dance nor yell out to the band.  But they are so respectful of Scotty, as if he is not a rock and roller, but a historical artifact.  After the show, almost everyone stayed and got an autograph and were so warm and welcoming to Scotty…and one even had a picture he made of me on the last trip!
The show where the audience had the most fun was the show in north London ( Southgate ) at the Tennessee Club.  It was the last show in the Tour and the guys were pretty tired, but that crowd was there TO HAVE A GOOD TIME!  Ritchie Gee, the owner, had been promoting it since Scotty had done a show there on June 4, and the crowd was READY FOR HIM!  Everybody there stood and danced to every song and sang every word of every Elvis song done.  There is a picture of the guys at the rehearsal, and Pete said this was a typical English gig…the speakers stacked on empty beer cases.

Rehearsal at the Tennessee Club

We had a great time on the tour, spent several days in London after the Tour, and did a show for BMG put together for Scotty by our good friend at Gibson International, Pat Foley.  In passing, I might mention another good friend from Dallas , Texas .  His name is Jacques Vroom (a Texan!) and he flew to London twice during the tour to see shows.   He is either Scotty’s greatest fan or just out of his mind!  Thanks, Jacques!

Gail Pollock

Scotty at the Tennessee Club October 11, 2002
photo© courtesy Deke Martin