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John Peel OBE, 1939 - 2004
Early Blues Interview
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Guitarist/singer/songwriter/producer, Norman has been
involved in the British blues scene since the early 1970s,
leading a five piece band reckoned to be one of Britain's best and most
original blues bands; their legendary live performances played with a
lot of emotion, a lot of excitement but also with a lot of humour.
I caught up with Norman and the band at the Skegness Rock and Blues Festival. Alan: What are your first musical memories growing up in Manchester? Norman: The major memories are that my brother, Malcolm, was really mad on blues music. I was more into the pop but he’s 3 years older than me so he used to go and see Howlin’ Wolf and these people, tell me about them and I just gradually picked it up from his records. The record that really got me turned on to blues music was probably Five Live Yardbirds. I heard it and thought that I didn’t really get it so I started looking at it and I’ve been hooked on it ever since. Alan: Did you come from a musical family? Norman: No, not really. My Dad used to play piano and accordion badly and my Mum had a few piano lessons but my brother was a drummer. I was crazy about playing. I had a road accident when I was 7 and I had to stay in bed for 18 months so my Dad bought me a guitar to pass the time and that’s how it all started so I had a lot of time on my own to learn. Alan: What kind of material were you playing in the early days? Norman: Mainly blues, I suppose, although even when I tried to play pop music people used to say that it sounded like blues, even though I wasn’t really sure what blues was. Even years later when I played in restaurants and stuff for a few quid, people used to say, “Oh, we like your blues” so I think it’s a lot to do with the way you play. If I was playing Fly me to the Moon it’d probably still sound like a blues number. Alan: So what does the blues mean to you? Norman: It’s a fantastic way of venting your feelings when you are playing, more so than a lot of music. It’s mainly ad-libbed so you get a lot of yourself into it. I always think that musicians, given a chance, pretty much play the way they are in real life. You know, if they are a bit shy like Peter Green, he plays in a very withheld way but if you’re more outgoing and crackers like me then you play in that sort of cheeky way. So I think it’s a way of getting your personality out. Alan: In 1967 you formed your first band 'Morning After', together with brother Malcolm on drums, Ian Stocks on bass and John McCormick on keyboards. Tell me about those early days, what type of blues were you playing? Norman: They were great. You’d do anything for a performance and we used to play every single night and I remember we didn’t have one night off in two years. If you got a night off you felt ashamed of yourself – you had to gig. What else would you do? I remember that we were so tired once when we finished touring and I came home on the Friday night and I went to the cinema and thought I’d go and see and the match because I hadn't seen one for months (I’m a big Manchester United fan – not the Blues!) but I went home after the cinema and didn’t wake up until Sunday evening. So I think I needed the break!
Alan: Your real name is Norman Hume but nobody knows you are that. Is it true that you got the name “Beaker” from Victor Brox? Norman: That’s right. His real name is Victor Hickling so we were discussing names and I said that I could see why he changed it and he said, “Well, Victor was my grandfather’s name” and I said that I thought I’d change mine. “What?”, he said. “Change Norman? The only people to conquer Britain and assume a great British name? You could be a direct descendent of the Beaker folk – you know, the Neolithic man. The following night we did a television programme and he just said, “And Norman Beaker on guitar” and the following day somebody phoned me up and said, “Mr Beaker, I’ve got this blah” and within minutes almost it was there. I still do a double-take when anybody says my name.
Norman: With the blues thing it can be a great place for making you feel bad or good, whatever and I think you need to balance it. The music I play is pretty serious and is lyrically quite serious. I’m crazy about old comedy, you know Tony Hancock and that crowd, and I’ve always been someone who’s always joked and messed about. When I’m with Chris Farlowe we are always scoring off each other and people love it, they don’t get upset by it at all, they think it adds to the entertainment. Although you still kinda play music with feeling, you are still in the entertainment business, although obviously it can’t take over your music. Alan: Who has influenced you the most in your music writing and playing? Norman: Probably Stevie Wonder in the writing, although I don’t really write that sort of stuff but I like his ideas. Playing-wise, as far as blues goes, probably Freddie King. Alan: Are there any particular songs you play that have special meaning to you? Norman: Most of them really. Modern Days, Lonely Nights was about having everything. I remember I had all these albums, DVDs, and this and that and everybody was out of the house and I just thought, oh, modern days...so yes, I do think about where songs were written. Alan: You’ve been on the British Blues Scene for 3 decades. Norman: Only 3? I think it’s just 4 now! Alan: Okay, 4 now! You’ve played with such greats as Chuck Berry, Jack Bruce, Alexis Korner, Buddy Guy and BB King. You must have some special memories? Norman: Well, it sounds a bit trite but I’ve had a really good time. When I set out playing all I wanted to do was play with really great musicians. Well, with my band I’ve got some not bad ones but it doesn’t always go far enough (much raucous laughter from his band mates listening in!) but people like Jack Bruce were all my heroes. They were all about ten years older than me so of course it’s just fantastic when you play with people whose records you used to buy. I’ve been lucky that way.
Alan: I understand that in the 90s you did some producing work? Do you still do that? Norman: Yes, I still do that, we did Ruby Turner’s album. It’s better with your own band, for example on Chris’s album, in fact that’s how we got together when Pete was producing his album. The band we had at the time were good players but they didn’t really do it for this album so I said I would produce it but I want to use my band and we’ve been with him for 16 years. Alan: Tell me about the current Norman Beaker Band, when did you get together? Norman: I’ve been together with John Price, the bass player, for about 20 years now. The band got together in about 1982, mainly because of the transition of musicians coming in and we had a name such as No Mystery and I always thought it a bit unfair if people turned up and it was a different drummer or a different sax player but if it’s my band then they’re going to see me. Not one of the members has ever been asked to join and they can’t leave either! Alan: When did you first meet Larry Garner? Norman: Oh, probably 15 years ago. He was fantastic, I loved him. We were the first band that he played with when he came over, so we had a great time and he stayed with us and we got really friendly. But then he got a quite big deal with Epic I think in the States so he didn’t come over quite so much and we were doing other stuff so we didn’t meet up for about 15 years and then he got on touch through Facebook. So I asked him when he was coming to England again and he said, “When do you want me” so I spoke to Toni Weeks, the agent, and she put a tour together. Alan: This year sees the first Yorkshire Blues Festival. How did you get involved with that with Rudi Enos? Norman: I did the Alexis Korner Memorial Concert at Buxton and met up with Rudi. He went to them all and just loved the shows. He wanted to try and get it back together again. He knew that I was sort of a catalyst for it, you know, I could tap a few people up to come and do a bit. I’m doing the easy bit really with the line-up but Rudy is doing all the hard stuff with the logistics.
Alan: According to the line-up you’ve got a fantastic array of guests including Colin Hodgkinson, Zoot Money, Maggie Bell, Mike Sanchez, Cliff Bennett, Larry Garner, Geoff Whitehorn and Herbie Goins. How did you get all these eminent artists together? Norman: As soon as I mentioned Alexis, most people wanted to do it. Colin Hodgkinson was with Alexis for years, and Herbie of course. We’re all friends together and it’s not that difficult really. Even when we did the Buxton ones, Robert Plant came and did one, Jimmy Paige said, “Oh, I’ll do it with him”. They’d barely spoken for years and hadn’t played together for 15 years and they turned up to that. So, it’s great and it makes me feel good to keep his legacy going. Not me duty but I feel it should be done. Alan: Some music styles may be fads but the blues is always with us. Why do you think that is? Norman: I think it's a simple frame of music that most people can play. And they can, even if they might play it really badly it may be still good enough to get up and have a go and enjoy themselves. It never really gets more popular but it just seems to when there’s no movements. There’s always been punk rock, or rock or whatever and when they start to come down, blues seems to get bigger and seems to resurface. Alan: Thank you very much for your time Norman, really appreciate it.
Photos of The Norman Beaker Band at Skegness Rock & Blues Festival
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Alan: Following
the Morning After Band you formed a band called 'No Mystery'.
According to your biography you “played the blues with a sense of
humour, gaining widespread admiration by other artists”. What’s all
that about?
