April 26th 2007. JOHN MONTAGUE,MICK SMITH and FRIENDS It's twelve months since we saw this great ensemble and tonight in addition to Mick (Smith), John and Tim ( Smith), they had invited visiting friends from Germany, Len and Doris, to accompany them for a couple of spots. The whole concert was a wonderful mix of lovely, lively music, super instrumentation and humerous stories. Unfortunately there was a downside to the concert beyond the group's control - incessant talking from certain sections of the audience. Nevertheless, those of us who had come to listen, thoroughly enjoyed this fine show. Starting with, A Little Bitty Tear, a hit for it's composer, Hank Cochran and Burl Ives, Mick continued to vocalise with, Hank Williams', Lost Highway and Johnny Russell's, Act Naturally, which was popularised by Buck Owens. Next to sing was John, George Jone's, She Thinks I Still Care and Hal David's, Sea Of Heartbreak, a smash for Don Gibson, of course. Lots of Country Classics followed eg. Your Cheatin' Heart, King Of The road, Have I Told you Lately, Send Me The Pillow etc. but Mick surprised us all by including a 19th century music hall ballad, Granny's Old Armchair, which has been covered by several Folk singers including, Bob Davenport and The Yetties. He also sang some of his own compositions, Sam, Who Knows, and an untitled gunslinger ballad I christened, The Showdown, all great songs. Len and Doris were invited to the stage and in their set included, Hank Thompson's, Wild Side Of Life, Tom Paxton's, The Last Thing On My Mind and one of my all time favourite Irish songs, Jimmy McCarthy's, Bright, Blue Rose, Len taking vocal lead and Doris accompanying on fiddle. Mick returned to sing, England's Rose, which was written by his friend Barry Smith, who was in our audience tonight. John then gave us his personal interpretation of the Beatles', Get Back, a smashing rendition. The finale brought all the entertainers together for a resounding conclusion with Hoyte Axton's, Greenback Dollar, Ned Miller's, From A Jack To A King and Huddie Ledbetter's, Goodnight Irene. Anytime this group of friends is performing in your area, I can heartily reccomend you go to see them. Cyril Insley
April 2nd2006 Mick, Mont and The Bassman
Making their first appearance at our club, this superbcombo comprises MICK SMITH, Popular Presenter of East Midlands Radio, JOHN MONTAGUE and TIM SMITH, each of whom has a long and distinguished career in music. Mick started playing Skiffle when only fourteen, ventured into Rock and Roll but eventually settled for Country Music as the genre to participate. He plays both Acoustic and Electric Guitar and Mandolin, and shares lead vocals with John. John has thirty years experience in the music business and has been involved in it full time since 1991. He plays Acoustic, and is also a member of three other bands and runs two Acoustic clubs in Leicestershire. He is mainly involved in Roots Music - Folk, Country, Blues etc. Last but no means least is Tim, who plays Upright Bass and also has over thirty years experience, mainly in Bluegrass, Blues, Country etc. Like John, he also plays in another band. Not knowing what to expect from this group, I was more than impressed with their show, as was the entire audience. Not only did they sing, play and harmonise in super style, they involved the audience, inviting them to join in and sing-along, even to the extent of having a competition between the ladies and fellas to determine who could sing ' You Are My Sunshine' the best. Great stuff! Nearly all of the show consisted of popular Country songs including several that you never hear elsewhere. These included Johnny Cash's ' Don't Step On Mother's Roses ' and Cocaine Blues, Kris Kristofferson's One Day At A Time, a number one hit for Christy Lane in 1980, Just Beyond The Moon, which charted for thirteen weeks for Tex Ritter in 1967, Dr Hook's Sylvia's Mother, Bobby Darrin's, Dream Lover, a Country smash for Billy 'Crash' Craddock in 1971 and How's The World Treating You, a hit for Eddie Arnold in 1953 and the Louvin Brothers in 1961, and incidentally, written by the late, great, Chet Atkins and Boudleaux Bryant. On several occasions between songs, Mick and John peppered us with jokes which had the good crowd in fits of laughter. In tonight's audience Mick spotted Mel Paul and Mary Lacey and Mary's sister, Susie, and invited them to sing a couple of numbers, ' Will The Circle Be Unbroken' in which Mary took lead vocals and ' Blanket On The Ground' led by Susie. To conclude the evening Mick invited the audience to name a singer or group of the fifties and if the band was unable to sing a song connected with that artiste the reward was half-a-pint of lager. After thirteen failed attempts by the listeners Mick gave us the Londoner's Adult version of My Old Man's A Dustman which again resulted in rapturous applause as each song had all evening. Having spoken to all three band members during the evening, each said they wanted their show to be enjoyable, amusing and entertaining with loads of fun. This certainly was so, and I can only imagine everyone left tonight's concert full of the feel good factor. |
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