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Title: The GPs Post by: abby (tank girl) on October 13, 2008, 07:54:25 AM hi everyone,
at the weekend, whilst perusing cds at talking elephant, i noticed a cd by a band called 'The GPs', who consist of ralph mctell, dave pegg, dave mattacks and richard thompson. now i'm no expert on folk music or fairport or indeed ralph related things, but i was amazed that i'd never heard of this before, especially on a site such as this. does anyone know anything about it? was it any good? abby. Title: Re: The GPs Post by: davidmjs on October 13, 2008, 07:58:18 AM hi everyone, at the weekend, whilst perusing cds at talking elephant, i noticed a cd by a band called 'The GPs', who consist of ralph mctell, dave pegg, dave mattacks and richard thompson. now i'm no expert on folk music or fairport or indeed ralph related things, but i was amazed that i'd never heard of this before, especially on a site such as this. does anyone know anything about it? was it any good? abby. Yes. And yes....absolutely. You need it..... They only played (something like) 4 gigs.... 1980 or 1981 if I remember correctly. Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Angela on October 13, 2008, 08:00:32 AM It is one of their finest {:-)
Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Amethyst (Jenny) on October 13, 2008, 08:01:48 AM The name stands for Grazed Pontiffs... someone had tried to assassinate the Pope at the time!
Title: Re: The GPs Post by: abby (tank girl) on October 13, 2008, 08:02:13 AM i din't know if you two are being sarky or not.
how come no-one talks about it/them? Title: Re: The GPs Post by: davidmjs on October 13, 2008, 08:07:45 AM i din't know if you two are being sarky or not. how come no-one talks about it/them? They do, they do.... do a google search - they are normally mentioned as an appendix to Ralph/Thomo/Fairport biogs.... Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Amethyst (Jenny) on October 13, 2008, 08:15:35 AM Buy it Groove.. it's fab!
Title: Re: The GPs Post by: abby (tank girl) on October 13, 2008, 08:30:22 AM thanks everyone, i may just invest then!
Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Brendan on October 13, 2008, 09:06:14 AM It is a class set of musicians just letting rip at some old Rock N' Roll and I may be mistaken, but they appear to be loving it, to me it is a bit like "The Bunch" with a bit more omph!
Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Staffan on October 13, 2008, 09:34:06 AM It is a class set of musicians just letting rip at some old Rock N' Roll and I may be mistaken, but they appear to be loving it, to me it is a bit like "The Bunch" with a bit more omph! Definitely! I saw them at Broughton Castle and they were having great fun. Several 50´s rock standards and more anonymous songs were played and enjoyed by everyone.RT & the others certainly have some weak spots for that music. A record well worth having. To my mind, apart from the Sandy vocals, "The Bunch" cannot compete! Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Sir Martin on October 13, 2008, 12:28:56 PM I have definitely heard of it - in fact I had a vinyl copy once upon a time.
But I categorise it in the same pile as John Lennon's 'Rock and Roll' - glad you enjoyed it chaps, but I'd rather hear the originals thanks. Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Nick the Stick on October 13, 2008, 01:12:51 PM I too was at Broughton Castle, and also saw them a short time after on their 'tour', such as it was.
Brilliant live, but the album's sound quality isn't up to much. Still worth having though. Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Nick Reg on October 13, 2008, 02:47:40 PM It was promoted heavily at FC gigs during early 90's. I bought the cassette and T shirt!
Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Bob Barrows on October 13, 2008, 03:54:42 PM They appear on the Cropredy Box Set.
There's also a recording of a live concert I got from Dime I think. Supposedly their final gig ... Title: Re: The GPs Post by: MarkC on October 14, 2008, 02:31:39 PM I have the CD and it is one of my favorites...but fair warning: the recording quality is abysmal. Bootleg level at best, but still great fun.
Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Jim on October 14, 2008, 02:49:35 PM the bootleg is better quality than the official release
and its twice as long and has a better cover Title: Re: The GPs Post by: david stevenson on October 14, 2008, 03:31:47 PM I saw them live but didn't buy the album. :-[
It was old friends playing rock'n'roll and having fun. Watching Mr McTell thrashing away on a Telecaster was worth the price of admission in itself. But it was definitely all about the live experience. Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Amethyst (Jenny) on October 14, 2008, 04:14:59 PM Well worth having the cd though if you weren't around for the live performances ;D
Title: Re: The GPs Post by: david stevenson on October 14, 2008, 04:18:35 PM Well worth having the cd though if you weren't around for the live performances ;D Definitely. Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Edthefolkie on October 14, 2008, 09:28:08 PM The original CD is very strongly recommended actually. The sound quality's not that fab - it was recorded off the desk on a Revox (Peggy's I think) but the tape sat under the bed for some years and no doubt got some Scotch-mites in it!
Worth it for RT's sarky comments alone - Ralph does an erudite introduction to one of the songs & Richard remarks "Is it time for the bad acid announcement yet?" Collapse of McTell. Pretty Boy Floyd is cosmic, with a couple of the best lines Woody Guthrie ever wrote: Well it's through this world I've travelled, Met lots of funny men Some rob you with a six-gun, Some with a fountain pen Certain bank chief executives might like to take that one to heart eh? PS Weird, we were at Broughton Castle on Sun - we were in the MSA Classic Car rally and arrived in a Jaguar MKII. I stopped looking for the Fairport reunion location in order to enjoy the sight of my mate jump starting a Ferrari from the MKII, ho ho. Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Jack O Diamonds on October 17, 2008, 02:52:12 PM The Woolwich Tramshed... 1981... what a gig that was!!!
Title: Re: The GPs Post by: GubGub (Al) on October 17, 2008, 03:08:17 PM It is a good companion piece to Moat On The Ledge from the same festival. Sound quality is not polished but it is OK.
The version of Cut Across Shorty is probably my favourite of that song other than one by The Faces. Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Delfini (Diane) on October 17, 2008, 06:28:03 PM Great fun - just ENJOY ;D ;D
Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Staffan on October 17, 2008, 07:15:03 PM Great fun - just ENJOY ;D ;D How right you are!! ;D ;D ;D 8) Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Nick Reg on October 17, 2008, 07:20:45 PM The version of Cut Across Shorty is probably my favourite of that song other than one by The Faces. Wasnyitit on a Rod solo "Gasolene Alley" - unless there was a live release. Title: Re: The GPs Post by: GubGub (Al) on October 17, 2008, 10:50:41 PM The version of Cut Across Shorty is probably my favourite of that song other than one by The Faces. Wasnyitit on a Rod solo "Gasolene Alley" - unless there was a live release. Yes, the version I am thinking of is live. It is on the box set. Title: Re: The GPs Post by: Jonathan on October 20, 2008, 02:28:29 AM I remember finding a copy of the cd in a store in Moscow in 2003, which the same place I found the "Who Knows Where the Time Goes" box-set in 1995 when it was out of print during the mid-'90's (at least in the US). Russians apparently have a love for rare-ish Fairport related material. It's a good CD, I don't pull it out that often, but it's good. I think there's one picture in the booklet with Peggy in his Tull "A" baseball hat.
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