Here's a shot in the dark. When I saw BBD in Toronto during their "Drastic Plastic" tour, Bill played an instrumental that he called "Working Man". It was a mind blower and I've been wondering if it ever got recorded and even more importantly, will it ever see the light of day.
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To see this working, head to your live site.
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If that really was the last ever and not just the last North American show, I really want a certificate of attendance from Bill! It will be framed.
I contacted one of the friends who I saw that show with and asked him about that piece I mentioned and the show in general. He said he will get back to me after thinking about it. This is someone I haven't seen in almost 15 years. He has an eidetic memory (it's actually bizarre) and I hope he can confirm or deny my recollection of the name of the piece. I'm sure I misheard what Bill said.
Despite what Bill says, I am sticking with my "last ever piece at the last ever BBD gig" theory!
The Toronto gig supporting Nazareth has been listed, Bill - the very last one at http://www.billnelsonmusic.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=20696
Hi Bill,
Yes, it was in Toronto at Maple Leaf Gardens and the Drastic Plastic Tour, and you opened for Nazareth. As to the title, I might have misheard you but I do recall thinking it an odd and unusual title for you. Whatever it's title, it was wonderful.
My other memory was of seeing/hearing "New Precision" live. I spent days trying to get the sound of your guitar lines out of my guitar and failing miserably...
Thanks so much for the input!
I'll try to clear this one up. If I recall correctly, we supported Nazareth in Holland, probably in Amsterdam. There may have been a stateside gig with them, but if so, I've forgotten it.
But I definitely don't know of an instrumental titled 'Working Man.' It's not the sort of title I'd give to a Be Bop Deluxe instrumental piece, though I did come up with the title for a vocal song many years later. If there was no keyboards on the piece, it must have been prior to Andy being in the band, in which case we were a three piece, (guitar, bass and drums.) And that would fit with the Holland gig we did with Nazareth.
There was a loose, semi improvised instrumental I did with the first line up of Be Bop, which could have carried over into the three piece band. It's title was 'Watch This Space' and it was a flashy guitar work out which always seemed to bring the house down. Maybe this is what you heard? Otherwise, it remains a mystery, perhaps a one-off improvisation, performed on the spur of the moment, never to be repeated. Improvisations are like that, like catching lightning in a bottle...😉
Interesting; I just happened to fire up the Hammersmith Odeon performance and the solo at the end of Blazing Apostles was very much like the solo I heard him perform and that he titled "Working Man". Perhaps that is it. At a minimum it is very similar to the best of my recollection.