Sassafras..anyone else remember them?
As a little lightener and bit of escapism from the dark times and problems we're all facing right now, I've been listening to a bit of 70's music of late and here's a great song from a fine Welsh band, Sassafras. They got together in 1970, and were one of the first bands I ever saw, with a fine 3-piece rock outfit called Strife, in support, around 1974 (ish), at a venue called The Golden Diamond..pretty awesome it was too!..and Dai Shell (lead guitar (No.1) in Sassafras), has always been a favourite player of mine, great feeling, especially in the quieter and more introspective guitar passages/solos.....and, a little statistic with rather large magnitude, in the early 70's, Sassafras held the record for the most number of gigs played in a single year (just checked this online) at 332!..beating another favourite band of mine from that era, Slade, by 1....Pretty mind blowing...another way of looking at this figure is, they only had 33 nights off in the year, which equals playing more than 6 nights a week, every week, for a full year!!...this would probably kill most 'normal mortals'..throw into that all the travelling in crappy transport, being away from home, staying in lots of seedy and rundown B&B's, not eating properly, the total lack of sleep and rest, the crappy conditions backstage which most people know nothing about (dirty, run-down 'dressing-rooms', unhygienic, shower facilities if you're lucky and if you dare use them), and all the 'recreational' activities that accompany the lifestyle etc, etc....reflections of bygone, but happy, happy days!
...anyone else here remember them?, or other similar bands from that era?, for example another favourite band of mine The Groundhogs, featuring legendary frontman, vocalist and guitarist, Tony (TS) McPhee.
..I think I'll have to pop a Groundhogs video on as well.
Sassafras ~ 'New York Collapse'
The Groundhogs ~ Eleventh Hour...ā¦...from the mighty Crosscut Saw album.
..Awsome lead guitar from Tony McPhee in this!!
...escape for a while, stay safe and look out for others who may be struggling.
Yep, happy days mate...We also used to frequent The Green Dragon quite a lot too, especially on gig nights. A good juke box they had in there, back then. Think it's just called The Dragon now, up by Yates, on Long Row.
But not The Peggers Inn (Sneinton Market), err, no...No disrespect to their clientele of those times, but no.šš...I believe it used to open around 8 in the morning, for the market traders, or whoever wanted a drink at that time, something like that (must have had a special licence).
I used to do quite a lot of work just a stones throw from there, in Hockley. We has a firm that did shop painting, shop fronts and refits, shop signs, office refits etc, and window cleaning, at that time, and did lots of shops around there and Slab Square, and beyond. Actually, that was the 80s and 90s. Happy days.
Coincidentally, my mum passed away in 2017, and I've been through Hucknall many times. As a nipper we lived in Sutton for a while, so not far away. I've not been to Hucknall for many years.
Anyway, take care Dave,
and best wishes.