Country Joe and The Bevis Frond Jam Again at the Aberdeen Alternative Festival
(You'll need RealAudio to listen.)
From the Aberdeen, Scotland Evening Express, Oct. 22, 1998:
Country Joe breezes in
NEIL HORNE saw Country Joe
McDonald last night at His
Majesty's Theatre as Part of the
Aberdeen Alternative Festival.
GIVE us an "F" ... give us a "U."
The legendary "F... Cheer" (invented at a 1968 Central Park performance to introduce
anti-Vietnam "Fixin' to Die" anthem)
was the only proper way to start the
second half of the show.
Pity they couldn't have dreamed
up a better way to open the first
half.
I thought we'd come early. The
stalls were still far from full and
centre stage a badger-bearded
roadie in a bandana was tuning an
acoustic guitar.
"I'm Country Joe McDonald," he
announced without so much as a
kazoo fanfare.
"And I'm happy to be here."
It was a bit like one of those Talking Frankly tours -- with blurred
recollections of psychadelia; great
names like Janis Joplin, and great
music from the likes of Woody
Guthrie.
It was a Save the Earth, hippyish
sort of first half with Shaker hymns
and whaling songs and anecdotes
of the Sixties.
But for a man who described himself as "older than a redwood tree"
he turned the first half stroll into a
second half rock 'n' roll gallop
down memory lane.
He dismissed the hiccups and
false starts with his barely-rehearsed backing band as "effing
magic -- just like The Fish all over
again."
But by the end of the all too short
set they were definitely cookin' with
gas and serving up tasty twin guitar
solos.
One minor moan. OK, a "Hello
Aberdeen" or "Nice Festival"
wouldn't have hurt, Joe.
About The Bevis Frond
Nick Saloman, lead guitar
Adrian Shaw, bass guitar
Andy Ward, drums
Aaron Shaw, keyboards/lead guitar
Left to right:
Country Joe (with badger beard), Andy Ward, Aaron Shaw, Adrian Shaw, Nick Saloman.
Listen to Rock Coast Blues, recorded at the Festival
Nick Saloman is the singer/songwriter/guitarist behind the Bevis Frond, the founder of Woronzow Records and publisher of psyche-rock magazine Ptolemaic Terrascope. Having started playing in bands in the 60s, he quit for a while until the compensation from a motorcycle accident enabled him to buy a 4-track recording set up. He recorded his first album Miasma, in 1986, which received sufficient critical acclaim and sales to encourage him to take the project further. The latest Frond album is Nick's
eleventh and the live line-up tours regularly in Europe and the USA.
Adrian Shaw is a veteran of many bands, some well known, some not, dating back to the 1960s. Having played with such groups and artists as Hawkwind, Arthur Brown and Atomic Rooster, he was a founder member of heavy-duty psychedelic band Magic Muscle.
Ade now combines running Woronzow Records with Nick, alongside a successful solo recording career and has been in the touring Bevis Frond line-up since it's inception.
Andy has been playing professionally since he was 14 years old. A founder member and leading light of celebrated 70s prog-rockers Camel, he also had a stint in Marillion amongst many others. Andy joined the Bevis Frond in 1994.
Aaron is 19 years old and the son of the aforementioned Adrian. He was drafted into the Bevis Frond to supplement their line-up specifically for the Country Joe gigs on both guitar and keyboards. The Country Joe dates were his first ever live
performances.