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Unlucky Wally return to rock the 70s
BACK in the days of platform heels and other trappings of Seventies Rock, the world was at the feet of Yorkshire band Wally – who were being groomed for fame by superstar Rick Wakeman and TV presenter Bob Harris.
Before Queen even had an album out, Harrogate based Wally shared a record label with Led Zeppelin, a manager with chart toppers Yes, and were just about to embark on another tour of the US, this time playing to stadium audiences.
Then without warning it all fell apart – their mentor Wakeman split with Yes and because Wally were under his wing their deal with Atlantic Records also collapsed and the US tour was off.
The band, which had become overnight successes after their first gigs in Harrogate and had played in Japan and America, was forced to make ends meet on the university circuit. Then punk came along – and that was that.
Or so everyone thought - until a chance meeting between former Wally members Roy Webber, of Beech Grove, Harrogate, and Nick Glennie-Smith, who now works in the US scoring Hollywood blockbusters.
Mr Glennie-Smith suggested a reunion concert and leaping at the chance Mr Webber started ringing around the rest of the band members – only to find keyboard player Paul Gerrett had died in his sleep in Thailand a few days before.
Believed to be suffering from heart problems, the founder member and keyboard player was the band's second casualty. Lead guitarist Pete Cosker became a drug addict after the break up and died in 1990.
"So now we had a real reason to do a reunion concert – as a tribute to Paul," added Mr Webber, who will turn 60 just before the gig where Wally will be supported by Kneagle, an up and coming Harrogate four piece, three them sons of Wally members.
The question was how the fans would react. It had been 36 years since Rick Wakeman spotted them supporting Cockney Rebel and former Old Grey Whistle Test host "Whispering" Bob invited them on his show.
It had been a long time since appearing on Whistle Test and playing alongside the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Jackson Brown, and being a cutting edge act on Radio One's Sounds of the Seventies, which Harris also compered.
He said: "I first saw Wally play in 1972 at a Melody Maker Battle of the Bands competition at the Roundhouse in London. They did not win but I really liked them.
"They slept on the floor of my London flat, we did big tours together, bought one-legged pedal steel guitars and broke the bar-bill record as half of Harrogate arrived to put a drink on our tab. We didn't care. We were having far too much of a good time.
"After a four year blaze of glory that took in five-star album reviews, American visits and Japanese tours, the Wally juggernaut spectacularly hit the wall...with a call to Roy from someone threatening to break his legs if they didn't get their equipment back."
The Wally sound featuring a grand piano, pedal steel guitar, and violin, could no longer cut it after Sex Pistols and safety pins arrived particularly since some of the tracks ran to 16 minutes.
Staging the reunion gig at the Royal Hall in Harrogate on April 4 was also going to be a huge financial gamble involving flying people in from all over the world.
Then there was the cost of the huge backdrop and all the other costs of bringing a Seventies Rock back to the stage in the download era.
Of course the band had a bit of a "pension" from the release on their first album Wally on CD. It sold out three times on Amazon, resulting in the re-release of its follow up, Valley Gardens.
Mr Glennie-Smith, who has made his name in Hollywood scoring music for films such as Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, and We Were Soldiers, is also not short of a bob or two.
But neither need have worried – the first 500 or the 950 seats sold out in a matter of weeks – helped by the prospect of Wakeman joining Wally on stage and the presence of Bob Harris.
Mr Harris added: "Here we are nearly thirty six years after that first night at the Roundhouse and the Wally and Valley Gardens albums are re-released, and the band are an unexpected hit on YouTube.
"It's official. Wally are now neo-cool. The gig will be for Pete, Paul and for all the memories of all the great times in board rooms, bar rooms, hotel rooms, control rooms and rock 'n' roll venues all over Britain."
WALLY FACT FILE
The Harrogate band's third professional gig was playing in front of 58,000 people at the Crystal Palace Open Air Bowl for Rick Wakeman's Journey to the Centre Earth gig - with inflated dragons in the lake.
But this is how unlucky Wally was...
The single off the second album, Nezperce', was made Johnnie Walker's Record of the Week on Radio One, played three times a day at peak listening times for three weeks. Unfortunately, if you wanted to buy it you couldn't - because Atlantic Records did not get it pressed and distributed in time.
In 1973 the band was signed to tour as the support act for The Eagles but the tour was cancelled at the last minute when the Eagles changed their guitar player for Joe Walsh and decided to stay in the States to rehearse. The Eagles later cut an uncharacteristically funky album with Walsh called Hotel California.
In late 1974 Wally was lined up to do a stadium tour of America supporting Yes. Yes keyboard player Rick Wakeman walked out over musical differences just before the tour, taking Wally with him.
So if you want to support the Wally comeback... tickets are 12.50 from the box office on 0845 130 8840. The evening is compered by Bob Harris with a special performance by Rick Wakeman, subject to availabllity. Five of the original band will be performing.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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