Robert Hart & Dave 'Bucket' Colwell - The Cavern, Raynes Park, London
Robert Hart & Dave ‘Bucket’ Colwell
The Cavern, Raynes Park, London
14 October, 2021
By Andy Rawll
Keeping up with Joneses - Hart and Colwell gang-up for an evening of stories old and gold, soundtracked by the songs of Bad Company, The Faces, Humble Pie and more.
You simply can't get enough of nights like this. An engaging, reflective, entertaining and uplifting show that stirred the soul. They might have started the evening in the company of strangers, but in the end we were all running with the same pack.
It's true to say that Dave and Robert have history.
It traces way-back to the mid-80s, when both harboured their own rock n roll fantasies and dreams of shooting stars.
By the time these long-time friends had united in the early 90s reboot of Bad Company, they had already established strong individual reputations: Robert through his major label solo albums and the band 'The Distance' masterminded by Tony Thompson and Bernard Edwards of Chic and Dave as a versatile guitarist, notably working with Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith on a number of projects, silver and golden.
Since those days, both musicians have kept good company, with their skills in constant demand, with Robert as the long-time lead singer with Manfred Mann's Earth Band and Dave now fronting his band 'Bucket's Rebel Heart' and as a member of the reformed Humble Pie.
Most notably, both Hart and Colwell have been mainstays of Kenney Jones' all-star band 'The Jones Gang', since its inception in 2001, whose electric sets combine originals from their acclaimed album 'Any day now' and songs from the band-members' auspicious pasts.
Tonight's show was heralded as a one-off 'Stories told and untold' event. It echoed the title of the final Bad Company studio album, upon which they collaborated, with an equal mix of new songs and Americana-style reworkings of Bad Co classics, embellished by guest performances by Nashville royalty, including Vince Gill and Alison Krauss.
However, judging by the fervent reaction to this engaging and uplifting evening, it would be a crying shame not to take this show on the road. With a such deep well of great songs and intriguing stories to draw upon, there's plenty to quench this nation’s pent-up thirst for a great night of tunes and talk.
Better still, the opening song proved that this was not to be some gentle, unplugged ramble through a landscape of old masters. There was grit and fire throughout, with tales and songs of the unexpected complementing the familiar favourites. The strutting rhythm of opening song, Free's 'A little bit of love', was propelled by the fully-plugged, chiming tone of Dave's Vintage Icon V52 Tele, as Robert's rich and wonderfully weathered voice rose above.
Bad Co's 'Moving on' was equally embellished by Bucket's exquisite slide work on his Fret-King Black Label Eclat DBC. This signature guitar was modeled on the shape and sound of the Gibson Les Paul Juniors, which served him so well during his time with Bad Company. Let’s not forget that he started as Mick Ralph's rhythmic wingman in 1984 and rose to the role of sole guitarist by the time of his final tour with the band in 2001.
How bass icon and fellow Bad Co alumnus, Jazz Lochrie must have been yearning to swap his front row seat for a place on the stage, such was the soulful power of the two-man gang band as they launched into a swoonsome 'Feel like makin' love'.
Equally, Tank-man Mark Brabbs (who also played alongside Bucket in Paul Samson's band) was no doubt eyeing-up the well-battered drum-kit, just out of reach above the bar area, as Dave and Robert served up a tasty slice of the debut Humble Pie single ‘Natural Born Bugie’ (sic).
Twin acoustics were unleashed, to stunning effect, for Robert's wonderfully soulful version of one of the Earth Band's most beloved tracks, ‘Davy's on the road again’, as if it was an ode to the much-travelled Mr Colwell, while that band's original and current guitarist, Mick Rogers, looked on in admiration.
'Send me somebody to love' from Bucket's 2010 debut solo album 'Guitars, beers and tears', co-written with Nashville songsmith Tommy-Lee James was a touching and expertly-crafted country ballad and harked back to the easy-going ambiance of the 'Stories' album.
An unplugged, yet raucously accompanied, 'Shooting star', featuring the well-oiled Cavern choir, closed the first set on a stellar high.
The second half was just as good, kicked-off by the solid-gold pairing of 'Can't get enough' and 'Ready for love', dedicated to an ailing Mick Ralphs with Bucket injecting a dash of 'All the young dudes' as a further tribute to his original musical mentor.
It was a true delight to hear the exquisite 'Little Martha', an Americana-style gem from the excellent 'Company of strangers' album, where the talents of Hart and Colwell first combined in the studio.
It's also great to know that The Jones Gang remains a going concern, with the original core of Kenney, Dave and Robert still to the fore and with their next show coming soon on 3rd December 2021 at the 229 in Great Portland Street, central London.
It was Robert's song 'Angel' (co-written with Russ Ballard and first released on his Disney-funded solo album in 1992) that propelled The Jones Gang to the top of the US charts in 2005 and remains ever-present in his set-lists ever since. However, hearing 'Mr Brown' from the same album was a real surprise, particularly when its writer revealed how its pithy refrain "Mr Brown you're robbing me" proved to be such a hit with the opposition party, that the song became the feature song at the Tory party conference that year. Whatever your political inclination, it's a great song and dispels any association with the drug-addled song of a similar name by Guns N' Roses.
The memory of the peerless voice of Steve Marriott was invoked with a striking version of the Small Faces' 'All of nothing'. This is the song title that inspired Carol Harrison's excellent West End musical that continues to tour the UK, eight years on from a rocking Brighton debut that featured Danny Dyer in the role of narrator and John 'Nasty Nick' perfectly cast as Don Arden. That said, read Kenney Jones' autobiography 'Let the good times roll' for the undramatised first-person account of that heady time.
As the set drew to a close, Robert reminded us of the legacy of Jones and Marriott's bandmate and songwriting partner Ronnie Lane, whose work with Rod and Ronnie in the Faces is equally inspired. The uplifting coda of Lane-Wood's perennial 'Ooh la la', with its poignant refrain "I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger", reverberated throughout the cavern. This evoked a present sense of reflective celebration of times past and good times to come.
They might of started the evening in the company of strangers, but in the end we were all running with the same pack.
You simply can't get enough of nights like this.
‘Send me somebody to love’ - live at the Cavern (SW20) - Robert Hart & Dave ‘Bucket’ Colwell