'Stone The Crows!', shouted legendary manager Peter Grant, when he first heard this splendid young Scottish band roaring into action. Although it was the Londoner's favourite Cockney expression, he wasn't a man to be easily impressed. After all, he was the manager of Led Zeppelin, the most successful heavy rock band in history. Yet there was something earthy and appealing about the Crows that excited his enthusiasm and support.
Rock fans too were enthralled by the band, founded by guitarist Leslie Harvey and featuring the passionate vocal style of dynamic singer Maggie Bell. Their blues-based rock was imbued with that extra power and authentic flavour that sprang from their tough Glasgowegian roots.
Every new group expects to conquer the world, and Stone The Crows were no exception. But Maggie Bell and Leslie Harvey had both been working long and hard before their latest venture finally took shape, way back in 1969. They deserved the success that finally came their way.
As teenagers Maggie and Leslie had worked together in a local group. Maggie (born Glasgow, January 12, 1945) came from a musical family who supported her ambitions. Leslie was the younger brother of singer Alex Harvey who led the Sensational Alex Harvey Band (SAHB).
Maggie was just 17 years old when she started singing professionally in the city’s Locarno Ballroom. Maggie soon found herself earning œ70 a week singing pop hits of the day under the spotlights. It was a much better life than earning a pittance as a window dresser. "It was big bucks!" remembers Maggie.
"I used to sing with a 15 piece big band on a revolving stage, and as the stage came round for the second set, there would be a rock band playing. I didn't really dig singing all the Shirley Bassey and Dionne Warwick songs, so after a year and a half I went over and joined the rock band!"
In 1967 Maggie teamed up with a couple of brass players, Bill and Bobby Patrick, for a tour of American airforce bases in Germany. "It was hard work and we played five hours a night, seven nights a week. But it was a great experience and helped me to get my music together and learn my craft. I stayed there for two years."
The guitar player in the band was her old mate Leslie Harvey. "We'd met even before I sang at the Locarno. He had a group called the Kenning Park Ramblers. That was in the days when his older brother Alex was doing the Star Club in Hamburg. Leslie was just a youngster like myself and we used to go to all these far away, obscure gigs around Scotland.
Anyway we all went to Germany and earned enough to buy ourselves a reel to reel Revox tape recorder!" The assassination of Martin Luther King in America led to a tense situation on all the U.S. bases and foreigners found themselves 'off limits.' The musicians returned to Scotland and the scene was set for the formation of a new band that eventually became Stone The Crows.
In 1968 Maggie and Leslie formed Power, which became a regular attraction at the Burns Howff bar in Glasgow. "We heard about a couple of guys who were really good musicians. John McGinnis was the keyboard player and Jimmy Dewar was bass player and singer. He later went to work with Robin Trower when he left Stone The Crows."
Leslie and Maggie went along to join in a Saturday afternoon session at the Burns Howff with John and Jimmy. It went so well they decided to form a group together. Power was an instant success and this set up lasted quite a while as Maggie, Leslie, John and Jimmy gained a strong local following.
Then Leslie was invited to tour America with another Scots outfit called Cartoone, when their guitar player dropped out at the last minute. Leslie was brought in by manager Mark London and spent two months touring the States. During his trip he jammed with The Allman Brothers band and his whole musical perspective was altered. Remembers Maggie: "He came back a totally different person, with long hair and little John Lennon glasses and a fringed suede jacket. He had a new stratocaster too!"
Leslie sat down with his old friends and told them they should stop playing 'covers' at the Burns Howff and start to write their own songs. "That's when we all started to write music. We changed everything from our look to our politics." Mark London then announced he wanted to bring Peter Grant up to hear them.
"Led Zeppelin were just starting to happen. Peter came up in a big limo with his partner Richard Cole. Peter liked what he heard but I found out later they didn't really know if I could sing. The band had been so loud they couldn't hear me at the gig. When I opened up my mouth in the studio that night they all come over and said ‘Fabulous voice!’"
In late 1969 Peter and Mark London signed Power and became their managers. At the same time the band changed its name to Stone The Crows and brought in drummer Colin Allen (Ex- Zoot Money's Big Roll Band and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers).
"Peter picked our new name. When he said: 'Cor blimey, stone the crows' we thought - what a name! But it stuck and people remember it." 'Stone The Crows' (Polydor) was produced by Mark London and released in 1970. Jimmy Dewar shared some vocal duties with Maggie and co-wrote the material. "We recorded the album in Advision studios, London, with Jimmy Dewar and John McGinnis. Jimmy was a great singer and he sounded a bit like David Clayton Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears. We shared the vocals on that album and we made a great team."
One of their first collective pieces was opening cut 'The Touch Of Your Loving Hand.' Says Maggie: "That was a really melodic piece and could have been done by a big band. It's a song that could still be performed today and wouldn't seem out of place. It was done in the style of Ray Charles or Roberta Flack. There is a great guitar solo on this by Leslie." 'Raining In Your Heart' was by Jimmy Dewar and it was quite an up tempo thing with lots of breaks and cymbal crashes."
Most of the album material was a regular part of their stage set including the bluesy 'Blind Man.' Maggie re-recorded this in November, 1996 during sessions for the 'History Of The British Blues' an album produced by Pete Brown. Jack Bruce, Peter Green, Mick Taylor and Big Jim Sullivan are all on the album intended as a tribute to the late blues harp player Cyril Davies.
Says Maggie: 'Blind Man' is a traditional song that Josh White used to perform. It's a real blues song. One of the reasons I got into black music was from listening to Josh White."
Another 'cover' on 'Stone The Crows' is The Beatles' 'Fool On The Hill' and explains Maggie: "I always wanted to do this because it's got great lyrics. We didn't really do it like the Beatles but I remember Petula Clark once said it was the finest version she'd ever heard!"
'I Saw America' is a massive epic that covered side two of the original vinyl album. It was born out of the band's first trip to America and was intended as a tribute to that great country. Some U.S. record executive however thought it was a rather odd idea.
Maggie: "It's in four parts and starts off with the different States we visited, from the Deep South to California. Musically we tried to describe how we felt about the different places. It's like a musical travelogue! Other members of the band had been to the States before, but it was my first trip. It was a strange situation though, because the American record people said: ‘but why do you want to write a song about America?’ They seemed to think only Americans should write about their country!"
Album sales weren't huge but as Maggie says: "It did all right and enabled us to make another couple of albums."
Enjoy this fantastic album!
Stone The Crows - The Touch Of Your Loving Hand
Track list:
01. The Touch Of Your Loving Hand (06:01)
02. Raining In Your Heart (05:09)
03. Blind Man (05:12)
04. Fool On The Hill (04:09)
05. I Saw America (17:21)
Stone The Crows:
*Les Harvey - guitar
*Jim Dewar - bass and vocals
*Colin Allen - drums and percussion
*John Mcginnis - organ and piano
*Maggie Bell - vocals
[ Thank you NELWIZARD for sending this post ]
CODE: 52095
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